Department for the Economy Equality
Topics:
Information on Equality
Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (the Act) requires a public authority, in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland, to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between:
- persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation
- men and women generally
- persons with a disability and persons without
- persons with dependants and persons without
The Department for the Economy (DfE) will endeavour to ensure that the necessary resources, in terms of people, time and money, are in place to meet the Section 75 duties and to mainstream equality.
The department has had a specialist Equality Unit since 1995 and had already developed considerable equality research, evaluation and statistical expertise to inform policy development. Awareness raising and training have also been constant features of the Department’s efforts to ensure the mainstreaming of equality.
Without prejudice to these obligations, a public authority is also required, in carrying out its functions, to have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.
Schedule 9 of the Act requires each public authority to produce an Equality Scheme stating how it proposes to fulfill the duties.
New reports and screening documents for DfE will be added as they become available. The documents below relate to the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) which merged functions to become DfE.
Annual reports to the Equality Commissioner
Annual progress reports on section 75 of the NI Act 1998 and section 49A of the Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
- Annual Report to the Equality Commission 2021
- Annual Report to the Equality Commission 2020
- Annual Report to the Equality Commission 2019
- Annual Report to the Equality Commission 2018
- Annual Report to the Equality Commission 2017
Disability action plan
Under Section 49B of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the department is required to submit to the Equality Commission a disability action plan showing how it proposes to fulfill its equality duties.
Audit of inequalities
Section 75 guidance issued by the Equality Commission for Northern recommends that public authorities undertake an audit of inequalities to identify inequalities, across the 9 Section 75 categories, relevant to its functions and to inform the development of an action plan to promote equality of opportunity and good relations.
Equality scheme
In our equality scheme we set out how the Department proposes to fulfil the Section 75 statutory duties.
Equality screening
The purpose of policy scoping is to help prepare the background and context and set out the aims and objectives for the policy, being screened. At this stage, scoping the policy will help identify potential constraints as well as opportunities and will help the policy maker work through the screening process on a step by step basis.
Public authorities should remember that the Section 75 statutory duties apply to internal policies (relating to people who work for the authority), as well as external policies (relating to those who are, or could be, served by the authority).
DfE policies screened during 2024
- Implementation of Great British Energy Bill in North of Ireland
- Amendment of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
- The Companies (Disqualification Orders) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Apprenticeship Inclusion Challenge Fund
- Social Enterprise Strategic Action Plan
- Three Yearly Review of DfE Careers Service Safeguarding Policy and Procedures for Children, Young People and Adults
- Increasing the basic and higher amounts of tuition fees that may be charged to full-time undergraduates in respect of an academic year beginning on or after 1st September 2025
- Policy development with regards to providing support for consumers to transition from fossil fuel heating systems to low or zero carbon heating systems
- Extension of funding attributed to additional 893 students for Financial Years 2024/2025-2027/2028 at the Magee campus
- Utility Regulator (Support for Decarbonisation Preparation) Bill
- Amendments to higher education student support policy to reflect changes to the Immigration Rules to introduce a designated route of entry to the UK for persons who have been abandoned overseas due to domestic violence
- Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave)
- Proposal to reform existing rights and entitlements of employees to flexible working
- Proposal for the introduction of Carer’s Leave
- Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave)
- Proposed amendments to NI Paternity Leave entitlement
- Employment Rights Bill
- Proposals for the introduction of a New Employment Right to Neonatal Care Leave & Pay
- Review of the Postgraduate Award (PGA) Scheme
- Developing biomethane production in Northern Ireland
- Onshore Petroleum Licensing Policy
- The Further Education - Student Support - Eligibility - Amendment etc Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Extension of Student Support Funding (£1m)
- Flood Damage Business Grant Scheme
- Amendments to higher education student support policy to reflect changes in immigration statuses and fee support for family members of ‘settled persons’
DfE policies screened during 2023
- Design Considerations for the development of A Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan (SSFP)
- Equality screening - Flood damage Business Grant Scheme
- Equality screening - Draft Offshore Renewable Energy Installations Policy
- Equality screening - US Ireland Research and Development Partnership Programme - proposed change
- Draft Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland: 10 Year Plan
- Project Gigabit
- Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP) additional £1m funding package (£0.9m capital grant funding and £0.1m resource funding)
- Invest NI Review Action Plan
- Development of Approach to 10X Technology and Cluster workstream
- Tourism - The Grading Inspection of Certified Tourist Establishments (Fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023
- Period Poverty Pilot Programme Year 3
- Phase 2 Ignite Your Skills pilot - eight months
- Ignite Your Skills - six week pilot
- Connect and Grow pilot programme
- Renewable Electricity Support Scheme
- DfE Resource Budget 2022-2023 Equality Screening
- Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland
DfE policies screened during 2022
- The Education (Student Support, etc.) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022
- Proposed replacement of ‘Drop In’ Service with a client booking system at Orchard House, Careers Resource Centre, Derry/Londonderry
- Draft Offshore Renewable Energy Action Plan
- Principles for Vocational Qualifications in Northern Ireland
- Review of Level 4 and 5 provision and higher education in further education (HE in FE)
- Energy One Stop Shop Implementation Plan - consultation on policy option
- Department for the Economy (DfE) - Proposed Closure of Careers Resource Centre, Ann Street, Belfast
- Amendment of the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Regulations to include Miscarriage Leave and Pay entitlement
- The Education (Student Fees (Amounts), Loan Repayment and Support etc.) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021
- 10X Performance Management Framework
- Transition of Young People into Careers (14-19) Project - Framework
- Revocation of EU Guarantees of Origin (GoOs) and Combined Heat and Power GoOs – public consultation
- The Further Education (Student Support) (Eligibility) (Amendment etc) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022
- The Assessment and Award of Vocational Qualifications and Essential Skills in Northern Ireland (NI) in response to the Covid 19 Pandemic – Commencing in March 2020 and remaining in place until no further contingency arrangements are required
- The Education (Student Support, etc.) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022 No. 75)
- Relief for Energy Intensive Industries from the indirect costs of the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO) – public consultation on options for implementation
DfE policies screened during 2021
- DFE Organisational Development and Transformation Programme
- Heat Networks Market Framework
- ApprenticeshipsNI 2021
- Energy Strategy - the Path to Net Zero
- The Insolvency (Monetary Limits) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2022 and the Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2022
- Department for the Economy (DfE) New Ways of Working (NWW)
- Economic Recovery Master’s Degree Studentship Scheme
- PGA Studentship Scheme
- The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Coronavirus) (Amendment of Schedule 11) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021
- Turing Scheme (NI perspective)
- High Street Scheme (HSS)
- Higher education period poverty pilot programme
- Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland - Skills for a 10x Economy
- 10x Economy: an economic vision for a decade of innovation
- Provision of additional funding of £283,834 to Open University (OU) to support the expansion of Community Partnerships Projects (CPP)
- The Further Education (Student Support) (Eligibility) (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021
- Continuation of compensation payments to HEIs in AY 21/22 for students on residual full year Erasmus+ and Turing Scheme placements
- Third call for applications to the NI European Social Fund Programme, 2014 - 2020
- Legislative consent motion to amend Northern Ireland company director disqualification legislation
- Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021
- Wet Pubs Business Support Scheme
- Large Tourism and Hospitality Business Support Scheme (LTHBSS)
- Employment Rights (NI) Order 1996 (Protection from Suffering Detriment in Health and Safety Cases) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021
- Energy Strategy policy options consultation
- Delivery of additional financial support to HE students in Northern Ireland who have been impacted by Covid-19
- DfE Resource Departmental Expenditure Budget 2021/22 - equality screening
- Existing Policy and a Revision of– The Education (Student Support) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009/373 (The Student Support Regulations)
- Amendment to Standards within the Local Government (Performance Indicators and Standards) Order (NI) 2015
DfE policies screened during 2020
- Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay
- Review of the NI Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan consultation
- Presbyterian Mutual Society (PMS)
- Covid Restrictions Business Support Scheme Parts A and B
- US-Ireland Research and Development (R&D) Partnership - change to eligibility criteria for NI applicants
- Framework for the safe resumption of on-site educational provision and related activity
- Challenge Fund incentive scheme
- Recruit an apprentice incentive scheme
- The Education (Student Fees and Support) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
- Transposition of the 2019 Electricity (Recast) Directive ((EU) 2019/944
- The Posted Workers (Agency Workers) Order (Northern Ireland) 2020
- Priority Dispatch Provisions of the 2019 Electricity (Recast) Regulation ((EU) 2019/943)
- Northern Ireland Committee Irish Congress of Trades Unions - Employment Training Programme 2020/21
- Costed postgraduate awards extensions
- Framework for recommencing on-site educational delivery in FE colleges and non-statutory contractors
- Legislative powers to close or direct FE and HE institutions in NI during Covid-19
- COVID-19 supplier relief schemes
- Provision of £126m Financial Transactions Capital (FTC) loan financing to Ulster University
- Business Support Grant Schemes
- EU Exit - Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications – miscellaneous provisions
- The Electricity and Gas etc. (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020
- Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications – proportionality test
- Science Foundation Ireland Covid-19 rapid response call
- The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
- The Student Fees (Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
- Insolvency and company legislation
- Proposed Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) Budget 2020/21 Internal Allocations
- 2020/21 Resource Budget – Summary Equality Screening
DfE policies screened during 2019
- Traineeship programme
- Project Stratum (Confidence and Supply Broadband Project)
- Early Conciliation (Employment Act (NI) 2016)
- Developing modern, efficient and effective employment tribunals
- The Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019
- The Student Fees (Amounts) and Education (Student Support (No.2)) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019
- Higher and Further Education Collaboration Fund - Connected 4
- Assured Skills pre-employment programme
- Extension of the HE-EU Framework Support Fund
- Future of the Northern Ireland non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme
- The Education (Student Support) (NO. 2) Student Fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons) and Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019
- Law Centre - employment rights project
DfE policies screened during 2018
- Gas (Designation of Pipelines) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019
- Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry) Order (Northern Ireland) 2018
- Future of Northern Ireland non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme
- Funding Model for Higher Level Apprenticeships
- The Education (Student Support) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2018
- Continuation of Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive cost control measures
DfE policies screened during 2017
- The Student Fees (Amounts) (Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017
- Revocation of 2008 Offshore Electricity Development (EIA) Regulations
- Proposed Interim Change in Funding Learning Unit (FLU) Unit of Resource (UoR)
- Industrial Strategy Equality Screening
- Applications by Gas Licence Holders for the Grant of Necessary Wayleaves- Proposed Guidance for Applicants and Landowners and/or Occupiers (note the Equality Screening Form is Annex B of the consultation document)