This article is the text of a paper presented by Robert Sutherland at Terra Firma Chambers’ Local Government Conference on Thursday 29th October 2015.  The talk examined the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) set out in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 in the specific context of a local authority’s functions and decision making at a time when the financial resources continue to be cut, but demands and expectations at best remain unchanged, and are often increasing.