Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory Duties

1
Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory
Duties

• Awareness Raising
• Introduction
• The Commissions Effectiveness Review included a
  number of key recommendation about revising the
  Guide to the Section 75 Statutory Duties.
• Details of key recommendations and some initial
  development options are set out in the following
  slides.

2
Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory
Duties

• Rec 1 Outline actions in schemes for the
  promotion of equality of opportunity and good
  relations. Possible developments
• Actions and targets to address inequality.
• Cross cutting themes/programmes to be covered.
• Rec 3 Changes to schemes permitted within
  lifetime and equality schemes developed to
  coincide with Corporate Plans, i.e. every three
  years. Possible developments
• Changes to organisational arrangements
  permissible.
• Explicit link to corporate/business planning.
• Consideration of relevance of functions in
  setting actions.

3
Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory
Duties

• Rec 5 Changes to the policy appraisal process
  and measurement of the impact of mainstreaming on
  policy outcomes. Possible developments
• Make screening more of a filter.
• Dont consult at filter stage if further
  assessment planned.
• Make changes in context of assessing equality
  implications.
• Rec 6 Targeted and detailed advice to government
  departments re assessing the impact of high
  level policies. Possible developments
• Identification of potential impacts.
• More focus on monitoring.

4
Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory
Duties

• Rec 7 Consultation to seek the views of the
  public and those directly affected by the policy,
  rather than focusing wholly on representative
  organisations. Possible developments
• Reflection of the four Shelby Principles.
• More focus on feedback and valuing consultee
  input.
• Additional guiding principle on consulting with
  affected individuals.
• Extending the consultation period to 12 weeks.

5
Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory
Duties

• Rec 12 Enhance the timeliness of Commission
  intervention regarding enforcement of the duties.
  Possible developments
• Reduction of conciliation timescale.
• Potential investigations could be put on hold
  pending agreed actions.
• Development of compliance framework.
• More use of Para 11 investigations by
• the Commission.

6
Revision of the Guide to the Section 75 Statutory
Duties

• Next Steps 2008 - 2010
• Engagement with representatives and practitioners
  in various sectors.
• Production of a draft revised Guide.
• Formal consultation process including series of
  workshops.
• Analysis of feedback and production of finalised
  Guide.
• New guidance approved by the Secretary of State
  for Northern Ireland.
• Requests for revised Equality Schemes.