Consultation: Disability Action Plan for Northern Ireland

As a UK-wide public body operating in Northern Ireland, Ofcom is required by legislation  to have a Disability Action Plan (DAP) in place for Northern Ireland and to review it every five years.

The DAP illustrates Ofcom’s ongoing commitment as a regulator and an employer to the promotion of equality of opportunity for disabled people. The DAP complements our Equality Scheme under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Our current DAP was published in July 2022 and covered the period to March 2027. We have conducted a five-year review of our DAP and are consulting on the changes we propose to make for the period from April 2027 to March 2032.

What we are proposing – in brief

We propose to update the DAP to reflect the following changes:

• The additional statutory duties Ofcom has been given since 2022 and subsequent changes to regulations
• Ofcom’s new employer-focused Diversity & Inclusion Strategy
• New technologies and ways of using communications services which are relevant to disabled people
• We have also audited our current DAP’s Action Measures to help us draw up a relevant set of measures for the next five-year period.

Responding to our consultation

Please submit responses using the consultation response form no later than 5pm 5 February 2027.