With Westminster elections approaching fast, we asked voluntary and advice sector people and all the main political parties to give us a short pre-election manifesto for change.  With a very busy agenda in politics, particularly around the devolution of justice, and with the usual hectic end to the financial year, some had to decline.  Those who did manage to contribute make up an interesting patchwork of what is on people’s minds coming up to this important election.

1. Bread & butter human rights

Kevin Hanratty, Campaign Manager, Human Rights Consortium

For the Human Rights Consortium, like many other organisations in Northern Ireland, the imminent general election brings with it a degree of uncertainty and quite possibly the prospect of greater challenges.

With the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights campaign now in its tenth year and the government consultation on the issue coming towards an end, human rights campaigners and the people of Northern Ireland have thus far spent a huge amount of time and effort documenting the type of rights protections thought to be fundamental for inclusion in our own Bill of Rights. The current campaign has yielded tens of thousands of responses from the public clearly stating their preference for a local Bill of Rights that protects bread and butter issues such as health, housing and education.

Any attempts post election therefore to undermine the concept of a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights or dismiss the wishes of the public would be detrimental to that process.
As we face the possibility of a Conservative government, their stated preference for the introduction of a wider UK Bill of Rights and Res-ponsibilities with a Northern Ireland specific chapter becomes one possible scenario that may be encountered, an approach which is contrary to current commitments and expectations. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement provides for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, a set of rights guarantees that are particular to our circumstances as a post conflict society. Absorption into a wider UK document does not meet that commitment.

Additionally the Labour govern-ment’s own proposals currently on the table for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights cannot stand as a viable solution to the public desire for a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights. They propose two firm rights – the right to stand and vote in an election and the right to identify oneself as British, Irish or both. While these rights are welcome, they in no way reflect the breadth of the rights that the public have clearly called for in our own Bill of Rights.

The people of Northern Ireland have invested heavily in the Bill of Rights process over the last decade. Regardless of what party is in power, we wish to see a clear commitment that this investment will be treated with the respect it deserves and that the process of delivering a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland will be advanced.

2. More taxes, more public spending

Les Allamby, Director, Law Centre (NI)

It may come as a surprise but I would like to see water charges introduced by the new Assembly.  The introduction of water charges with some improvements to the rebate scheme would mean money being raised from those who can most afford to pay. 

Without water charges, there will be significant public service cuts locally.  Those cuts are likely to disproportionately affect the poor and disadvantaged.  In the absence of local tax raising powers, introducing water charges would be better than providing the middle classes with a further cushion against paying towards public services.

The achievements in the Assembly and elsewhere to date have largely been regressive in their outcome.  The reduction and move towards elimination in prescription charges benefit those on reasonable incomes, given that free prescriptions were already available to people on means-tested benefits.  It is also questionable whether this contributes to health prevention.  Free transport for older people does contribute to well-being and is extremely positive, nonetheless, it is the fit and active who derive most advantage.  Recent research demonstrates the link between ill-health and level of income.

The capping of the value of property to £400,000 for calculation of rates is the most regressive policy of all.  It saves the wealthiest section of society from paying between three to four million pounds a year towards local services.

In a time of difficult economic circumstances, I shall be looking for progressive policies that recognise there are precious few advantages to being poor.

3. Progress in women's rights

Margaret Ward, Director, Women’s Resource and Development Agency

What policies would the Women’s Resource and Development Agency like to see following a general election?  We are not going to speculate on outcomes. As a feminist organization, there are many issues that we regard as crucial and which remain the responsibility of the UK government:

• a full and inclusive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland  that does justice to the aspirations that have been expressed in so many responses to consultations over so many years. This must include socio-economic rights,  guarantees of women’s right to full equality in political and public life. It must also  include all forms of gender-based violence when people’s right to live free from violence is considered;

• improved political representation for women  that takes account of the concluding observations to the United Kingdom of GB and NI by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which noted its concern ‘that wom-en continue to be underrepresented in public and political life, especially in leadership and decision-making positions’. The Committee called upon the UK government to ‘take measures, with benchmarks and concrete timetables, to increase the number of women in political and public life, at all levels and in all areas…’

• reproductive  justice  for the extension of abortion legislation to Northern Ireland so that women would have power and resources to be able to make healthy decisions about our lives and no longer would thousands of women have to resort to lonely and expensive travel to European cities when faced with crisis pregnancies; 

• for non-national women affected by violence in their lives to have recourse to public funds so that agencies that offer them support do not have to do so from their own resources;

• for the UK government to take seriously its international com-mitments – particularly UN Security Council Resolution 1325 ‘Women, Peace and Security’ - which would mandate organizations concerned with peace building and post-conflict reconstruction to ensure that women were fully represented;

• for the government to think again about its lone parents policy and how this will operate in Northern Ireland, which is a region of the UK with higher levels of economic inactivity, lower wages, a woeful lack of childcare provision and as yet, no childcare strategy.

A new beginning for justice

Dr Stephen Farry MLA, Justice Spokesperson, Alliance Party

The likely devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the very near future should create the opportunity for a new beginning for the criminal justice system. Change may not be immediate, but we have the capacity to refashion the system and for Northern Ireland to become a world leader.

Some aspects of the criminal justice system are good, indeed very good, but other aspects badly need reform and better co-ordination. In particular, there are considerable costs pressures that need to be addressed.People have a right to have more confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the system, the speed of justice, and the treatment of victims and witnesses. There is a demand for more visible policing on the streets.

The real added value from devolution lies in the ability to create joined-up solutions to crime and the causes of crime. A Department of Justice is much better placed to co-ordinate the various criminal justice agencies. A new Department can interact with other Departments such as health, education, employment and learning and social development over issues ranging from licensing, rehabilitation and reoff-ending of offenders, mental health issues and the prevention of offending. This can be replicated at a local level through a new community planning model.

Success for our criminal justice system should not be judged in terms of how many people are caught and sentenced for offending, but rather in the fair and impartial application of the rule of law, in the reduction of the level of offending, and in much greater perceptions of community safety.

The Alliance Party’s full proposals for the devolution of policing and justice are available at: www.alliance party.org/pages/justice.html

4. A comprehensive bill of rights

Martina Anderson, Sinn Féin MLA, Derry

With the recent agreement at Hillsborough and the decision of the Assembly to vote for the transfer of powers on policing and justice, many outstanding aspects of the St Andrews and Good Friday Agreements are finally being implemented. Sinn Féin welcomes this. Local politicians having control over important matters on policing and justice must mean a more responsive system for ordinary citizens. 

A major missing piece in the jigsaw remains the outstanding commitment to a Bill of Rights. After eleven years, the British government has finally published a consultation paper, ‘to constitute a Bill of Rights’.  The document ignores the need to include economic and social protections or to address the structural inequalities that reflect our particular social circumstances. This is despite the advice of the Bill of Rights Forum and the Human Rights Commission.

At the Bill of Rights Forum, Sinn Féin endorsed a number of such rights that would make a real and positive impact on the lives of those in greatest need.  We need socio economic rights protections that reflect the particular circumstances of the North.

Structural socio-economic discri-minations and inequalities were contributing factors to the conflict here, not least on issues such as employment and housing. The routine violation of civil, political, economic and social rights – gerrymandering, right to housing, right to a job, internment and the long term suspension of many rights under emergency provisions helped exacerbate and prolong the conflict.  The British government has systematically failed to eradicate the structural inequalities at the heart of the six counties. We still see it in the institutional resistance over the last decade to the equality and human rights elements of the Good Friday Agreement.

It is precisely that past which should compel those who are intent on building a better future to continue to demand that legally enforceable economic and social rights – which go above and beyond the current inadequate protections - are enshrined in any new Bill of Rights.

A Bill of Rights should set the floor, not the ceiling, for guaranteeing rights in our society for generations to come.  It should be an expression of hope for a positive future. It should promote reconciliation, tolerance, mutual trust, the protection of the human rights of all the people living here, and the values of partnership, equality and mutual respect.
Sinn Féin rejects the NIO con-sultation’s approach. We need a Bill of Rights worthy of the aspiration of all in our communities for a rights based society, with protections for the most vulnerable, with respect for the diversity of our community and with equality at its very core.

So this will become a political battleground in the time ahead. The British government approach to date has been a disaster on this issue. Now is the time for groups and ordinary citizens to make their voices heard. A comprehensive Bill of Rights threatens no one.

5. An end to immigration detention

Anna Morvern, Refugee Action Group

In the past year, RAG has focused its energies on launching its new Immigration Detention Emergency Helpline on 0800 8400 495, publicized by the Chair at the Stormont Refugee Week 2009 event organised by NICRAS, by RAG members on local radio and by the dissemination of hundreds of pocket-sized cards advertising the line to the general public. A considerable number of calls have already been taken from people detained by immigration officers in Northern Ireland and from concerned members of the public who have witnessed these detentions.

RAG has also secured funding for a talented researcher to undertake a project on immigration detention, aiming to produce an information booklet which will serve as a compelling campaigning tool.

Members have set up a petition calling for the inhumane practice of immigration detention to end and for UK Border Agency plans to open an immigrant detention centre in Larne to be stopped. In a meeting with Minister for Social Development, RAG asked for an end to the prohibition forbidding asylum-seekers from working in Northern Ireland and called for increased access to education and skills for would-be refugees here.

RAG is an umbrella group and members continue to exchange information on its email list, on Facebook and at meetings, to fulfil its mission as an independent voice advocating on asylum and refugee issues - the Group will continue to seek political support for its projects in support of the refugee and asylum-seeking com-munity in Northern Ireland.
RAG website and link to email and Facebook pages: www.refugeeaction-group.com. Click on ‘News’ for information about the Immigration Detention Helpline and the research project. Immigration detention petition set up by RAG members: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Belfast-Parents/

6. A better welfare support system

Bob Stronge, Director, Advice NI

The need for independent advice services has never been greater at a time when Northern Ireland is still very much affected by the consequences of recession. In the context of people losing their jobs, increasing claimant counts, increasing levels of indebtedness, increasing numbers of people in mortgage arrears; independent advice services are stretched to the limit.

Advice NI is a membership organisation for independent organ-isations that provide advice and information services to the public. Advice NI has 70 member organisations operating throughout Northern Ireland.  Our members provide information and advocacy services to over 100,000 people each year. They deal with over 225,000 enquiries on an extensive range of matters including: social security, housing, debt, consumer and employ-ment issues. For further information, please visit www.adviceni.net.

Advice NI’s mission is to develop an independent advice sector that provides the best possible advice to those who need it most. Our members make a vital contribution to tackling problems that affect people’s day to day lives. In particular, advice services target deprivation and need as it exists within local areas and within particular social groups. Advice NI has worked closely with politicians at local, regional and national level in developing and delivering programmes and services that aim to make a real and tangible difference to the lives of citizens in Northern Ireland.

In terms of the future, there must be greater commitment shown to ‘Opening Doors’: the strategy for the delivery of voluntary advice services to the community; and in this context there are challenges for everyone. We need to find creative and collaborative solutions to help people to survive and overcome the difficulties they are experiencing. This approach needs to involve greater part-nership working within the advice sector.

Advice NI believes in a truly integrated network of voluntary advice services accessible to those people that need them most. This network should be based on an inclusive approach, with recognition given to the particular roles of:

• generalist providers (locally based providing services on a range of issues);

• targeted providers (authoritative and bespoke in understanding and addressing the problems, queries or ‘barriers’ experienced by the par-ticular client groups);

• specialist providers (comprehensive, in depth expert knowledge of a specific subject or topic).

Advice NI also advocates a Systems Thinking approach to service provision, a different way of working which can be applied beyond the advice sector and across the public sector.

This is characterised by services designed approaches towards meeting client demand rather than top-down approaches which appear to be more preoccupied with targets, procedures and structures.

In terms of specific policies affecting people in Northern Ireland, Advice NI would urge that:

• politicians and government in Northern Ireland do not blindly follow the paths taken in GB, but tailor approaches which best meet the needs of people in Northern Ireland;

• pathways from work-to-welfare (as opposed to welfare-to-work), particularly at a time of recession, must be robust and effective in protecting people;

• benefit levels must be uprated to a level where recipients have an adequate standard of living;

• pathways from welfare-to-work must ensure that greatest support is available to help those people furthest from the labour market;

• uptake of benefits and services must be maximised; particularly for the most vulnerable in our society;

• greater provision of accessible, affordable childcare across Northern Ireland must be developed.