Skip the NI Direct Bar
Skip navigation

Distributional Effects (Equality of Opportunity and Lifetime Opportunities)

2.7.25Policies, programmes and projects may give rise to distributional effects, for example, between people of different incomes, ages, genders, religions, ethnic groups, health states, skills, or locations. Expenditures or other policy proposals often lead to both gainers and losers, and information on how the costs and benefits are distributed among different individuals, organisations, or sectors of the economy can be very important. In general, proposals that deliver greater net benefits to lower income groups should be rated more favourably than those that benefit higher income groups.
2.7.26Significant distributional effects should be identified and, as far as possible, quantified in appraisals and evaluations. How the options differ regarding these effects should be analysed in much the same way as for other non-monetary factors. For instance, where an impact statement is being used, the distributional impacts may be summarised in it, together with those of all the other non-monetary factors. Alternatively, they may be scored as attributes in a weighted scoring exercise.
2.7.27

In Northern Ireland, particular attention should be paid to local policies and legislation including, for example, the Statutory Equality Obligations of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Government's Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland : Lifetime Opportunities. Further details of how to assess equality impact and Lifetime Opportunities impact are given below.

Equality of Opportunity
2.7.28Section 75 and Schedule 9 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 came into force on 1st January 2000. The legislation places a statutory obligation on public authorities (including some UK Departments operating in Northern Ireland) in carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity between the range of social categories (i.e. religious belief, political opinion, gender, marital status, having or not having dependants, ethnicity, disability, age, or sexual orientation); and, without prejudice to this obligation, to have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.
2.7.29The main vehicle by which a public authority fulfils its statutory obligations is through its Equality Scheme and the commitment to carry out Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs) on new policies which satisfy the screening criteria set out in the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland Guide to the Statutory Duties ( Feb 2005). The Commission has also issued guidelines on carrying out EQIAs, Practical Guidance on Equality Impact Assessment (Feb 2005). These and other information on equality issues are available at the Equality Commission website.
2.7.30The legislation only requires an EQIA for new policies that meet the Equality Commission's screening criteria. However, as indicated in 2.7.16 above, DAO(DFP)05/08 has introduced specific guidance that requires consideration of Equality of Opportunity in every public procurement. Equality must be considered at the outset of any procurement process and then throughout the life of the project.
2.7.31Equality Impact, where relevant, should be taken into consideration in broadly the same way as environmental impact, health impact, transport impact and so on. The impact on each option should be considered. As when considering sustainability, proportionate effort should be applied to equality assessment. In some cases, screening may reveal no significant equality issues. In others, there may be substantial equality impacts to take into account, in which event the principles of the EQIA guidance should be applied, with proportionate effort. The appropriate depth of analysis is a matter for judgement depending upon the importance of the equality issues in individual cases.
2.7.32

The Equality Commission has issued specific guidance on how to screen for equality and conduct an EQIA, and they can advise Departments on their requirements under the statutory obligations. The Equality Directorate within OFMDFM provides general advice on equality issues. In addition, all Departments have Equality branches, usually located within Central Management Units. The Policylink website includes pro formas which can be used for equality screening and for documenting the results of an EQIA.

Lifetime Opportunities: The Government's Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland
2.7.33The Government's Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland (herein referred to as Lifetime Opportunities), was published in November 2006 by the then Secretary of State and aims to tackle the issues of poverty and social exclusion by targeting efforts and available resources on people, groups and areas in greatest social need. The Lifetime Opportunities strategy was developed in response to a commitment by the 2002 Executive to review the New Targeting Social Need (New TSN) policy, which led in turn to evaluation, analysis and extensive consultation. The strategy builds on the progress made under New TSN, sets out the challenges facing government and in particular stresses the need to prioritise the issue of child poverty.
2.7.34

The strategy is structured into four key life stages - Early Years (0-4), Children and Young People (5-16), Working Age Adults and Older Citizens. Each of the life stages is expresssed in terms of an overarching goal followed by a series of long-term targets that will work towards achieving the goal. The challenges and resulting goals and priorities outlined in Lifetime Opportunities are as follows:

  • Eliminating Poverty
  • Eliminating Social Exclusion
  • Tackling Area Based Deprivation
  • Eliminating Poverty from Rural Areas
  • Shared Future - Shared Challenges
  • Tackling Inequality in the Labour Market
  • Tackling Health Inequalities
  • Tackling Cycles of Deprivation.
2.7.35Lifetime Opportunities targets social need objectively, wherever it is found, and does not favour or discriminate against any section of the community. It is not a spending programme and it does not have a separate budget. It is a policy running through all relevant existing spending programmes, across all Northern Ireland Departments, including Next Steps Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and North-South Implementation Bodies. It means changing the way they target the money they have, so that more of it can be used to benefit those who are most disadvantaged.
2.7.36Lifetime Opportunities is one of the impacts listed for screening in Policy Toolkit No.4. The approach to assessing it in economic appraisal and evaluations is broadly similar to that for sustainability and equality. The first step is to screen the project to determine its relevance to Lifetime Opportunities. Where a project is considered to have relevant and significant implications for Lifetime Opportunities, the next step is to assess their impact in suitable detail for each option under consideration.
2.7.37General advice on Lifetime Opportunities is available from the Central Anti-Poverty Unit in OFMDFM.

Back to Topic Index