Bob Collins
Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
Equality House
7-9 Shaftsbury Square
Belfast
BT2 7DP


22nd February 2006


Dear Bob


Re. Equality for all – Continuing Progress in a Changing Environment
Draft Corporate Plan 2006-2009


We welcome the opportunity to comment on the Equality Commission’s Draft Corporate Plan which is currently being consulted on. We appreciate that a Corporate Plan is a strategic plan in terms of the work the Commission aims to undertake over the next three years and that the detail of the Commission’s work will be contained within operational or work plans. Our comments seek to be constructive and it may be more appropriate in some instances to address these comments in respect of operational plans.

We are pleased to note in the foreword that the Commission continues to be convinced of the importance of the role which Parliament outlined for it in the statutory provisions from which it derives its responsibilities, duties and powers. This is very much in keeping with the comments made by Girvan J in relation to the Commission in the Neill judgement (2005 No. 21782),

“The Schedule (Schedule 9) thus envisages a dynamic role for the Commission to advance equality of opportunity, a role that falls to be carried out in accordance with the statutory remit contained in the Schedule.” (para 43)

We are very supportive of the Commission playing a dynamic role in the advancement of equality of opportunity and agree that this was the intention of those who negotiated the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Parliament in establishing the Equality Commission. We wish to see a much greater, renewed emphasis by the Commission in developing it’s dynamic role permeating through all of its work.

We are also pleased to see an emphasis on the Commission reaching out to the entire community to ensure that the public realise that the work of the Commission is about and for everyone. This is an area where much concern has been expressed about the lack of success of the Commission in communicating both its existence, agenda and availability to the Northern Ireland public. This is particularly the case in relation to those people who are most vulnerable and in need of the Commission’s services, such as children and young people, including those from minority ethnic communities and those with disabilities. In relation to the Commission’s duty and commitment to children and young people specifically, recent events have caused us some concern. One such incident which came ro our attention related to research commissioned recently by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister on equality indicators. We were surprised to learn that the consultation list, which aimed to cover all of the nine categories detailed in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, included no children’s organisations, despite being approved by the Equality Commission. We wish to query the Commission’s approval of this list and also wish to see, as per the Commission’s statutory duty and remit, a much greater emphasis on children and young people throughout the work of the Commission to ensure that the Commission can indeed overcome any perception that its, “...focus or its emphasis is evenly located.” (page 6) This is particularly concerning given that the Commission anticipates the extension of its responsibilities to cover the age ground in 2006 (page 13).

In the section on the, “powers and duties” of the Commission, we are disappointed to note the omission of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as a, “main piece of legislation” from which the Commission derives both its powers and duties. Section 75 is a powerful tool which affords vital powers to the Commission, but also places a number of fundamental duties on the Commission in terms of the advancement of equality of opportunity. To omit section 75, while the Commission has a specific statutory duty unit and is about to undertake a review of the effectiveness of section 75, we feel undermines the stated commitment to the advancement of equality of opportunity and the potential of section 75 to deliver equality of opportunity for the ordinary people in Northern Ireland. Further it is at odds with the statement of Girvan J cited above.

We would also welcome a commitment in the Commission’s Corporate Plan to carrying out its duties in a timely manner. This would reflect the commitment given by the Chief Commissioner at a recent event on “The Nature, Impact and Future of Section 75” (QUB 20/1/2006) where he stated that timeliness is central to the discharge of the Equality Commission’s duties. This is an area which we would greatly welcome the Commission to focus on in carrying out its business. By way of example, the Children’s Law Centre has had meetings with and written to the Commission on a number of occasions regarding the Commission’s, “duty to advise” a particular Government Department on what we view as a breach of the Department’s Equality Scheme. Despite this extensive contact, we have still not been informed by the Commission about whether it has actually advised the Department and the outcome of such advice. The most recent letter which was sent by the Children’s Law Centre on the matter was on 6th December 2005 and we are still awaiting a reply. It is very apparent that the Commission needs to devote its attention to the timeliness of its actions in order to deliver the, “high quality, efficient and effective” service that it aims to (page 21). At present, delays and inaction on behalf of the Commission are acting as barriers to the delivery of equality of opportunity and resulting in the lack of a remedy when a statutory body is not fulfilling its statutory duties under section 75 as exemplified in respect of the introduction of ASBO’s into this jurisdiction.

On a similar note, we welcome the commitment by the Commission to conduct its work in an, “...open, accountable and professional manner.” (Page 21) We are very much in favour of greater transparency being introduced to the work of the Commission as we have had some problems with transparency in the past. The Children’s Law Centre provided comments to the Commission on the draft terms of reference for the Commission’s Effectiveness Review on 15th November 2005. We followed this up with an e-mail to the Commission asking for sight of the agreed terms of reference and a timetable for the review on 7th December 2005. We received no reply and to date have not had sight of either the terms of reference or any timetable for work. There is obviously a need for increased transparency in the work of the Commission and we would whole-heartedly welcome an increased emphasis on the Commission working in a more open manner.

We are pleased to note the Commission’s commitment to,

“challenge unlawful discrimination across all strands within our remit through effective enforcement strategies covering investigations and legal assistance to individuals.” (Page 18)

This is relevant in respect of all discrimination experienced by children and young people but of particular relevance in terms of the impending introduction of the Age Regulations. The Commission should be preparing for the introduction of the Regulations at present and identifying areas of unlawful discrimination as relating to children and young people which it will if necessary seek to challenge including through strategic litigation. The Children’s Law Centre would advocate that this should in the first instance be in relation to the blatantly discriminatory national minimum wage. The Commission should also be devoting resources to cases which will inevitably flow from the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005. This new piece of legislation will require capacity building for it to bed down in our society and we feel that it is something that the Commission should be giving consideration to in its Corporate and resultant operational plans.

The Commission states that it worked closely with the Review of Public Administration (RPA) team, seeking to ensure that equality and good relations are central features of the new structures for Northern Ireland. We congratulate the Commission on this work, but have some concerns that the Commission did not ensure that the RPA team carried out an equality impact assessment (EQIA) on the proposed new structures. While we recognise the challenge that high-level EQIA’s pose for statutory bodies, we feel that they are not only a statutory requirement but essential components to ensuring equality concerns are central to high-level policies and strategies. We wish to see an increased emphasis in the work of the Commission to ensuring that high-level EQIA’s are undertaken by public bodies.

We would very much welcome a commitment in the Commission’s Corporate Plan to the production of an Equality Scheme by the Commission as a model of best practice, which affirms the Commission’s commitment to the promotion of equality of opportunity. We are acutely aware that the Commission does not have any disaggregated information on the age or socio-economic background etc. of those accessing its services. We recommend that the Commission collects such disaggregated information and as a matter of urgency undertake EQIA’s of key areas of its work, such as its Legal Enforcement Casework Strategy in order to ensure that those obtaining legal assistance are those who need it most and that any groups not accessing the Commission’s are targeted to ensure they can access its services.

We hope these comments have been useful to you and we wish to be kept informed of any progress in the development of the Commission’s Corporate Plan. If you require any further information in respect of any issue we have raised in our response do not hesitate to contact us. We would appreciate the Commission addressing issues raised in this response and I look forward to hearing from you.



Yours sincerely





Paddy Kelly
Director

Cc. Evelyn Collins
Chief Executive