Memorials Policy Equality Screening

S75 Equality And Good Relations Screening Form

General Information:  Policy/ Procedure

Is this an existing, revised or a new function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?     New

Operational Area:   Corporate Policy 
 

Title:    Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Memorials policy 

Brief Summary:

In the absence of any overarching direction from the Northern Ireland Executive 
as to the management of memorials and commemorations, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council recognises the need to implement a policy framework that provides clarity for Elected Members, Council Officers and the broader public, on decision-making within Council when considering memorials of any kind.

What is it trying to achieve? (intended aims and outcomes)

The policy framework is designed to support and facilitate consistent, fair, transparent and ethical approaches to decision-making that has the confidence of the Elected Members, Council Officers, and the wider constituency of the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.

The purpose of the policy is to provide an overview of the Council’s principles and 
conditions with regard to memorials, together with a framework and set of criteria to be applied in the assessment of all applications made to Council.

Who owns and who implements each element of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

All council departments, relevant officers and elected members will be responsible for implementing the policy and following procedures within the policy framework.

Other policies etc. which have a bearing on this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

Councils memorial trees policy has been considered and incorporated into this policy and framework.

Council’s Good Relations 
Equality policy 
Planning guidance / legal position 

Available Evidence

Evidence to help inform the screening process may take many forms.  Public authorities should ensure that their screening decision is informed by relevant data.
What evidence/information (both qualitative and quantitative have you gathered to inform this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?  Specify details for relevant Section 75 categories.

It is proposed that all Section 75 categories will be considered via:
• Quantitative evidence has been sourced via the NI Census in 2021 and the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2020.  
• The policy details that any decision-making on commemoration and memorialisation must accommodate all relevant statutes and guidance:
o Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (NI) Order 1995
o Disability Discrimination Act 1995
o Sex Discrimination Act 1976
o Race Relations (NI) Order 1997
o Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998
o Section 75 & Schedule 9 (NI) Act 1998
o Human Rights Act 1998
o Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998
o St Andrew’s Agreement (NI) Act 2006
o ECNI Guidance; Promoting a Good and Harmonious Environment 2009
o OFMDFM: Together Building a United Community 2013
Significant desk research and relevant consultation with statutory and legal agencies was carried out in preparation for developing the draft policy. Consultation also included staff officer, SLT and elected members.
research was carried out from July 2021 – Jan 2022 and included the following: 
 

Direct Research / Consultation Meetings 
• Kevin Oakes, Equality Officer, Advice and Compliance, Equality Commission (NI).
• Ms Rhyannon Blythe, NI Human Rights Commission, Director (Legal, Research and Investigations, and Advice to Government).
• Gemma Attwood Policy Officer with Community Relations Council. 
• Jacqueline Irwin, CEO Community Relations Council. 
• Prof. Dominic Bryan Anthropology, Fellow of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, School of History, Anthropology, Politics and Philosophy |Queen’s University Belfast. Dominic Bryan is on the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition, set up through Stormont as part of their remit to address legacy related issues. The paper to inform local Councils has not yet been published. 
• Chris Reynolds, Professor of Contemporary European History and Memory Studies, School of Arts and Humanities, The Nottingham Trent University. Chris is the founder of Transnational Perspectives of 1968 and has been working closely with agencies across NI on Remembering and Commemoration.
• Colin Moffett, Head of Corporate Policy, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. 
• Eliza Browning Equality Duty Enforcement Project Coordinator, Commission for the Administration of Justice.
• Gemma Reid, Quarto Collective. Work on Cultural Expression and Evaluation.
• Helen Perry, Museums Services, Coleraine.

Documents (Northern Ireland) Research: 
• Peace Monitoring Reports (1-5) to glean information on Commemoration practice.
• Equality Commission Reports; McCreesh Park (Children’s Play Area named after an IRA bomber) and the legalities of the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.
• Human Rights Commission NI: Technical Analysis on Dealing with the Past.
• Nolan Principles for Local Authorities
• CAIN Website and Jane Leonard on Memorials (commissioned by CRC). National and international examples (separate paper).
• Healing Through Remembering: On ‘Commemoration’ and ‘Forward Thinking Into The Past’.
• Marching Bands in NI and Traditional Protestant Parading
DOCUMENTS (INTERNATIONAL) RESEARCH:
• Joe Robinson: Transitional Justice: Inscribing the Past in N.I. National and international examples.
• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (USA) and Advisers to the President of the USA.
• United Nations Human Rights Council, Special Rapporteur, Farida Shaheed, addresses memorialisation processes of the events of the past in post-conflict and divided societies, with a specific focus on memorials and museums of history/memory. 
• Commemorative Works in District of Columbia, USA.
• LGBT Memorial Competition, New York USA.
• Policy on National Commemorative Monuments, Canada.
• Guardian: Why Every Single Statue Should Come Down, Gary Younge
• The Invention of Tradition (Eds Hobsbawm and Ranger)
• CAJ: Unequal Relations? Policy, the Section 75 duties and Equality Commission Advice: Has ‘good relations’ been allowed to undermine equality?