Article 5: Duties of Public Authorities
23.Article 5 inserts new sections 49A and 49B into the DDA. New section 49A(1)
requires a public authority to have due regard, in carrying out its functions, to the need to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people, and the need to encourage participation by disabled people in public life. For the purposes of this Article, a public authority is defined in the same way as in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
24.New section 49A(3) makes it clear that compliance with the duty in section 49A(1) is without prejudice to a public authority's obligations to comply with any other statutory provision, including other provisions of the DDA. This would also include the public authority’s obligation to comply with section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
25.New section 49A(4) requires the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to keep under review the effectiveness of the duty and to offer advice to public authorities and others in connection with the duty. New section 49A(5) supports the requirement in new section 49(4)(a) by requiring that a report on the effectiveness of the duty be prepared and published by the Commission no later than three years after it comes into operation.
26.New section 49B requires those public authorities subject to 49A to submit to the Equality Commission a disability action plan indicating how they propose to fulfil the new duty, in conformance with guidelines issued by the Equality Commission on form and content. The Commission may request a revised plan. If a public authority fails to submit a plan, or submits a plan that does not, in the opinion of the Commission, comply with new section 49B(4), then the Commission must lay a report of that failure before the Assembly.
27.New section 49B(7) requires a public authority to review its disability action plan when it is required to review its Equality Scheme (under paragraph 8(3) of Schedule 9 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998).
