Consultation: Update of Northern Ireland Equality Scheme

As a UK-wide public authority operating in Northern Ireland, Ofcom is required to have a Northern Ireland Equality Scheme.

The scheme describes the arrangements that a public authority has in place to fulfil the duties imposed on it by Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998). These duties are: to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity; and regard to the desirability of promoting good relations.

At the beginning of 2025 we conducted a statutory 5-year review of our scheme and consulted on the changes we proposed to make.

The changes related to the additional duties and powers Ofcom has been given since the last 5-year review, most notably as the UK’s Online Safety regulator. We also reflected changes to Ofcom’s senior management, governance structures and approach to Impact Assessments, and we also presented a new Action Plan.

The updated scheme continues to follow the model template provided by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and is presented in an accompanying document.