Is this legal?

OneYorkshireLass

and I just found this:

https://www.gov.uk/employer-preventing-discrimination/recruitment

Employing people with protected characteristics

You can choose a job candidate who has a protected characteristic over one who doesn’t if they’re as suitable for the job and you think that people with that characteristic:

• are underrepresented in the workforce, profession or industry
• suffer a disadvantage connected to that characteristic (eg people from a certain ethnic group are not often given jobs in your sector)

You can only do this if you’re trying to address the under-representation or disadvantage for that particular person. You must make decisions on a case by case basis and not because of a certain policy.
You can’t choose a candidate who isn’t as suitable for the job just because they have a protected characteristic.


And at the bottom of the page -

Disabled people

When recruiting you can treat a disabled person more favourably than a non-disabled person because of their disability.

Interesting.

The website is now idiot-proof in its layout which is great as the old orange was not easy on the eye.