7. Conclusions
Schedule 9 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires that, in making any decision with respect to a policy, a public authority shall take into account any EQIA and consultation carried out in relation to the policy (para. 9.2). There is no strict definition of what “taking into account” entails. However, the Equality Commission guidance on how decisions should be recorded makes it clear that a public authority must be able to record the decision-making process (as well as the decision) and that the decision must be justified.Footnote fourteen
The guidance also advises that all available information should be combined in making the decision. This includes the information gathered during the research phase and the results of the consultation.Footnote fifteen
This information has been brought together in this report in order to ensure that Belfast City Council is in a position to take account of all issues when making a decision in relation to Belfast Stories.
The following analysis of the key points arising from the EQIA and the consultation responses is provided to assist the council, but it is not exhaustive and is not meant to be a substitute for the detailed information presented in this report.
Support for the Belfast Stories concept
The Belfast Stories’ Equality Framework established the broad parameters to help ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion remain at the heart of the project’s development.
Belfast Stories’ engagement plan identified groups who are less likely to access, experience or feel represented in Belfast Stories and set down a range of actions to mitigate potential differential impacts during the public consultation and ongoing engagement.
During the public consultation, the engagement plan ensured that Belfast City Council gathered feedback across a broad range of equality groups, and there were exceptionally high levels of support (for example, in survey responses, 81.6 per cent of survey respondents said they were excited about Belfast Stories), including across all Section 75 equality categories. Many consultees also reflected on the potential positive impact on equality of opportunity and good relations.
Nevertheless, there were concerns that Belfast Stories could present a partisan, binary or narrow perspective of Belfast that would exclude the stories or identities of particular groups. The council should continue to embed equality, diversity and inclusion in the development of Belfast Stories, ensuring that early potential for positive impact can be realised throughout the project design, delivery and implementation.
Ongoing engagement
The next stage of engagement is an opportunity to continue to build on excitement and good will to start to shape a building and an experience that all people and groups can access and feel included in.
During the public consultation, consultees offered further insight in relation to groups of people at risk of missing out and tactics to mitigate potential differential impact.
Tactics to engage people at risk of missing out are considered and included in the engagement plan. These include:
- continuation of the equity steering group
- review and refresh membership of the equity steering group
- identify and connect to “missing voices” and groups of people most at risk of missing out
- co-design an engagement programme that will help ensure that everyone can have their stories heard and can access the building
- co-produce engagement opportunities, for example, by hosting or facilitating meetings or carrying out peer research
- check the accessibility of consultation materials
- equity-proof and shape the design of the building and its experiences
- storytelling ambassadors
- support for community networks to test the story collection process, identifying barriers that might stop people from telling their story and coming up with ideas to overcome them
- pop-up engagement workshops during festivals and events
- an onsite drop-in consultation hub
Ongoing engagement should continue to focus on those most at risk of missing out, and the engagement plan and stakeholder mapping should be reviewed and revised in light of lessons learned and additional evidence uncovered during the public consultation.
Story collection
Belfast City Council plans to start story collection in summer 2023. The engagement plan includes recommendations for engaging around story collection. This should focus on action learning by testing processes and tools with groups that are less likely to share stories (because of their culture, identity or circumstance), in particular older people and the very elderly (no one aged over 85 responded to the survey), whose stories are otherwise at risk of being lost.
Irish and Ulster Scots
The Belfast Stories concept was broadly welcomed by the Irish language community as an opportunity to explore and celebrate the history of the language and the city’s Irish language community. This may in turn enhance good relations by affording respect and recognition to a native minority language in keeping with local and international policy and best practice.
Belfast City Council should continue to consult closely with Irish language and Ulster Scots stakeholders, including in relation to the development of the building, story collection, exhibition and overall experience. Resulting language policy or practice should be subject to an equality screening and (if required) a full equality impact assessment.
Footnotes
Footnote fourteen: Practical Guidance on Equality Impact Assessment, ECNI 2004, p.45
