Northern Ireland Act 1998

4 (1) A scheme shall show how the public authority proposes to fulfil the duties imposed by section 75 in relation to the relevant functions.

(2) A scheme shall state, in particular, the authority’s arrangements—

(a) for assessing its compliance with the duties under section 75 and for consulting on matters to which a duty under that section is likely to be relevant (including details of the persons to be consulted);

(b) for assessing and consulting on the likely impact of policies adopted or proposed to be adopted by the authority on the promotion of equality of opportunity;

(c) for monitoring any adverse impact of policies adopted by the authority on the promotion of equality of opportunity;

(d) for publishing the results of such assessments as are mentioned in paragraph (b) and such monitoring as is mentioned in paragraph (c);

(e) for training staff;

(f) for ensuring, and assessing, public access to information and to services provided by the authority.

(3) A scheme shall—

(a) conform to any guidelines as to form or content which are issued by the Commission with the approval of the Secretary of State;

(b) specify a timetable for measures proposed in the scheme; and

(c) include details of how it will be published.

(4) In this paragraph—

• “equality of opportunity” means such equality of opportunity as is mentioned in section 75(1);

• “the relevant functions” means the functions of the public authority or, in the case of a scheme submitted in response to a request which specifies particular functions of the public authority, those functions.