Has Section 75 kept its promises?

The Equality Commission’s recent review of the effectiveness of Section 75 was a milestone in the life of the legislation. Grainia Long, Director of Policy, outlines the Commission’s conclusions and recommendations and looks forward to improved practice in how government promotes equality of opportunity and good relations.

The requirement on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity and good relations, Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 was intended proactively to change the practices of government and to put equality of opportunity and good relations at the heart of decision making.

The Commission’s decision to embark on a strategic review of the effectiveness of Section 75 in April 2006 was deliberate. Six years on, the time was right to take stock and learn lessons from implementation, and to consider whether the legislation is fit for purpose. Section 75 was intended to ensure that public authorities consider the impact of their policies on all of the people of Northern Ireland. The Commission therefore assessed the effectiveness of the legislation in terms of its impacts and outcomes on individuals.

The success of the review was dependent on the Commission hearing the views of all those who are responsible for, and affected by, implementation of the legislation. As well as contracting six pieces of independent research, the Commission met with over 200 individuals and organisations, all of whom contributed greatly to the Commission’s consideration of review outcomes, and to the review report, which was published in early May. Section 75 has been effective because it is transformative in key areas; public policymaking, consultation and institutional change.

The legislation has resulted in more informed, evidence based, and ultimately more effective public policy. Public authorities have considered, for the first time, the potential implications of their policies on some categories such as carers. While the Commission found some evidence of positive impacts across the equality of opportunity and good relations categories, public authorities must direct their future energies to the achievement of policy outcomes that impact universally across the categories.

Effective consultation in assessing the impacts of policies across the categories has been one of the successes of Section 75. Public authorities have benefited from the inclusion of individuals and organisations in the policy making process. The challenge for the coming years is to ensure more targeted and sustained consultation, with a greater focus on ongoing engagement and participation.

The scale of institutional change that has taken place as a result of Section 75 has been encouraging. The establishment of equality units in a number of public authorities has ensured that resources are attached to implementation of the duties. The most effective public authorities have been those whereby commitment to the legislation is led from the top; leadership is a critical component in ensuring the effectiveness of the duties.

Clearly, the potential of the legislation to effect real change remains. The priority for the coming period is to build on the successes already achieved and to maximise the potential of the legislation. Given the relative youth of the legislation, the recommendations below relate to practical implementation of Section 75. It is the Commission’s view that these changes should be embedded in advance of any consideration of change to the law.

Public authorities have worked hard to get to grips with the Section 75 duties, and have focussed on getting the process right, supported by the Commission. Given the relative familiarity with the duties, public authorities must now turn their attention to achieving and measuring outcomes in terms of promoting equality of opportunity and good relations.

Equality of opportunity and good relations must be part of each organisation’s core business. Public authorities will therefore be required to consider their individual roles, in the context of their functions, and take a more systematic approach to meeting their duties. They must seek an understanding of existing inequalities and the work required to remove them.

On this basis, public authorities will be required, in future equality schemes, to set out actions aimed at achieving outcomes and measuring impact. These actions should be contained within the organisation’s Corporate Plan to ensure that promoting equality of opportunity and good relations is central to the business of the organisation.

For its part, the Commission will take a more strategic approach to enforcement. It will focus its advice provision on sharing practice and ensuring the accessibility of this advice to the public. It will establish a baseline or standard of compliance upon which compliance will be monitored. Public authorities will be required to report progress on outcomes, and detailed assessments of progress by a sample number of public authorities will take place on an annual basis. This approach will allow the Commission to more effectively identify where potential breaches of equality schemes have occurred, and to ensure timely interventions.

The system of policy appraisal will be streamlined, to ensure that equality impact assessment is a more effective way to embed equality of opportunity and good relations in public policy.

The Commission will work with public authorities and the voluntary and community sectors to ensure enhanced capacity amongst individuals and organisations who wish to engage with the policy making process.

The Commission will consider how to best promote the duties, with two aims; to increase public awareness of Section 75 and to ensure that public authorities identify the inequalities that exist, to enable them to take action to promote equality of opportunity and good relations.

The Commission will monitor the impact of the proposed changes as part of its ongoing duty to review the effectiveness of Section 75. This will inform any future consideration of changes to the legislation.

There is no doubt that Section 75 has brought about substantial change in how decisions are made by government. To ensure its intentions are fulfilled, more change is necessary. Public authorities must shift their emphasis from the ‘how’ to the ‘what’; from considering how a decision is made to agreeing what is to be achieved. It is critical that the roles of other actors are maximised; the voluntary and community sectors and the public must have the capacity and interest to engage with the duties, and help to make them work. For its part, the Commission looks forward to this time of change, and to contributing to the effectiveness of a piece of legislation that has the potential to bring real change to all our lives.

The Commission is currently consulting on the review conclusions and recommendations. To download the review report, and for information on consultation meetings log on to www.equalityni.org.