Equality and Human Rights, Consultation

The Act requires the Board to state in its Scheme, the Board’s arrangements for consulting on matters to which an equality of opportunity promotional duty, or a good relations promotional duty, is likely to be relevant (including details of the persons to be consulted).

 

The Board will consult with the Equality Commission and the Community Relations Council, as appropriate, on any issue which it believes to be relevant to the fulfilment of its statutory obligations and it will take account of any proposals from those bodies arising from such consultation.

 

As an integral part of the detailed equality impact assessment the Board will consult with relevant public sector organisations and representative groups of the Section 75 categories. For each consultation, the public sector bodies and representative groups will be identified from the list included at Appendix A of this Scheme. This list is not exhaustive and may be amended in the light of experience. The Board will work with representative groups and individuals of the Section 75 categories in order to identify how best to obtain their views.

 

In addition to consultation on equality impact assessments, the Board may also from time to time have a need to consult on matters to which an equality of opportunity promotional duty or a good relations promotional duty is likely to be relevant. For such consultation the public sector bodies and representative groups will be identified from the list included at Appendix A.

 

Consultation will commence as soon as possible to allow adequate time for groups to consult among themselves. The Board will aim to provide a period of response of at least two months. However, there may be circumstances when this time scale is not feasible for example in circumstances of considerable urgency.

 

Such circumstances will be monitored, kept under review, justified very clearly and detailed in the Board’s annual report to the Equality Commission. The Board will also be sensitive to the different needs and customs of consultees.

 

Normally, consultations will be initiated through the publication of written proposals. In consulting on any matter to which this scheme relates, the Board will also use a range of other methods.