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Equality and Human Rights, Screening of Policies
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The Board carried out a systematic review of its existing and proposed policies in 2001 as required by the Act.
In concert with the Department of Education and the other four Education and Library Boards it consulted widely on the impact of policies and a report on the exercise was published in December 2001.
The report contains in its Appendix 4 a final timetable for the Equality Impact Assessment of policies for the next five years.
Screening of policies is an on-going process as no new policy can be presented to the Board for approval unless it has been screened.
The purpose of screening is to consider whether or not a policy, in practice, has the potential to significantly affect the prospects for success or failure in relation to one or more of the equality of opportunity promotional duties. That issue should be separately considered in the context of each of the equality of opportunity promotional duties. In considering the issue, in relation to any such duty, due regard should be paid to the following questions:
1. Is there any evidence of higher or lower participation or uptake by different groups?
2. Is there any evidence that different groups have different needs, experiences, issues and priorities in relation to the particular policy issue?
3. Is there an opportunity to promote equality of opportunity between the relevant different groups, either by altering the policy, or by working with others, in Government, or in the larger community, in the context of the policy?
4. Have consultations with relevant groups, organisations or individuals indicated that policies of that type create problems specific to any relevant group?
If the answer to any of the criteria set out above is positive, the Board will consider whether to subject the policy to an equality impact assessment. The Board considers that not all its policies require a detailed equality impact assessment to be undertaken. It believes that only those policies which may present a significant risk to the statutory duty in Section 75 (1) of the Act to “have due regardto the need to promote equality of opportunity” should be subject to such detailed assessment.
