Corporate report

Northern Ireland Disability Action Plan 2023 -2026

Published 5 February 2024

Applies to Northern Ireland

Preface

This Northern Ireland Disability Action Plan sets out DCMS’s commitments to supporting the lives of disabled people. The plan reflects on previous action taken and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to ensure there are equal opportunities for disabled people so they can lead fulfilling lives.

The plan outlines the steps DCMS has taken and what objectives it aims to achieve to improve disabled people’s lives. It will include measurable indicators and goals and provide opportunities that increase awareness of disability issues and support for disabled people in the department. The Action Plan builds on practices already established within the department and aligns with our existing ambition to be the most diverse and inclusive department in the UK government by 2025.

Introduction

Under Section 49A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) (as amended by Article 5 of the Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006), the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is required, when carrying out its functions, “to have due regard to the need to:

• promote positive attitudes towards disabled people; and
• encourage participation by disabled people in public life.”

These are collectively referred to as the ‘disability duties’.

Under Section 49B of the DDA 1995, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is required to submit to the Equality Commission a disability action plan showing how it proposes to fulfil these duties in relation to its functions.

The first point of contact for enquiries about this plan is:

Department for Culture Media and Sport
The People Strategy & Development team 
100 Parliament Street
London SW1A 2NP

Email: strategy.inclusionprojects@dcms.gov.uk

If you require this plan in an alternative format and/or language, please contact us on the details above

About Us

Over the last 30 years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has evolved to meet the challenges of the day. We began as the Department for National Heritage in 1992, incorporated the Office of Civil Society in 2016 and added Digital to our name in 2017.

In 2023, following the latest evolution in how government is structured, we embarked on a bright new chapter in the DCMS Story - one that recognises the vital importance of our sectors to the economy and builds on the UK’s position as a global leader in the creative arts.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport focuses on supporting culture, arts, media, sport, tourism and civil society across every part of England — recognising the UK’s world-leading position in these areas and the importance of these sectors in contributing so much to our economy, way of life and our reputation around the world. The department champions sport for all at every level, supports our world-leading cultural and creative industries and enhances the cohesiveness of our communities.

We work on some of the most exciting and positive policies for the future of the UK. We create economic opportunity, innovation, collective inspiration and enjoyment. We make a difference to people’s everyday lives, we drive growth and enrich lives.

Our strategic priority outcomes include

• Support the UK’s cultural and creative industries to continue to be amongst the best in the world.
• Increase investment in grassroots sport to boost opportunities for participation; and deliver reforms to football governance to protect its competitiveness and excellence, ensure financial sustainability and put fans at the heart of clubs.
• Complete the review of the Gambling Act to make the UK the safest place in the world to gamble.
• Create a broadcasting and media system fit for the 21st century .
• Deliver the National Youth Guarantee to give young people access to more activities, trips away from home and volunteering opportunities.

DCMS is a ministerial department, supported by 42 agencies and public bodies.

DCMS’ function in Northern Ireland generally extends to the excepted and reserved areas set out in the Devolution Settlement. Broadly speaking, this function mainly includes policy areas such as Cultural Property (Export Licensing, Acceptance in Lieu, Cultural Gifts Scheme), World Heritage designation; Heritage Lottery Fund, Public Appointments to UK-wide DCMS bodies (with some exceptions), National Ceremonies and Commemorations, Film Classification, General Broadcasting Policy and Regulation (Ofcom), BBC, Corporation Tax - Creative Industries tax reliefs, Dormant Assets, UK Sport; UK Anti-doping and National Lottery Policy.

 Public Life Positions

The range of public life positions which the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility for in Northern Ireland, are:

Public Body	Role
BBC	Northern Ireland Member
BFI	Northern Ireland Member
National Heritage Memorial Fund	Northern Ireland Member
National Lottery Community Fund	Northern Ireland Chair
UK Sport	Northern Ireland Member (nominated by NIE)

Our work on disability

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport formerly the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport had already taken steps to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people and encourage the participation of disabled people in public life in a number of ways:

● DCMS’ priority for disability is to boost access and participation in our sectors.

● The government’s National Disability Strategy (NDS) sets out the government’s long term vision for disabled people in the UK. DCMS is continuing to implement its NDS commitments.

● DCMS is continuing to embed disability across policy areas including the Creative Industries, Arts, Culture and Heritage, Sport and Tourism in order to ensure our sectors are inclusive to disabled people.

Internally:

● Launching our Diversity and Inclusion strategy in 2020 with disability as one of its priority areas

● Requiring all staff to complete the Civil Service expectations Diversity and Inclusion Training

● Requiring all suppliers to comply with all relevant legislation relating to Equality & Diversity and equal treatment and ensure they have an Equality & Diversity Policy which explicitly bars discrimination, complies with the relevant law, is regularly updated, and is effectively communicated within the organisation.

● Being a signatory of the Disability Confident Scheme and embedding this in all stages of our Civil Servant recruitment and Public Appointments Process

● Advertising all department roles on Civil Service Jobs and ensuring adverts include content on making requests for reasonable adjustments, equal opportunities and the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS).

● Offering a bespoke end-to-end workplace adjustment case management service for DCMS Line Managers and employees (supported by the Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Team (CSWAT).

● Providing the support of Occupational Health assessment to identify measures to help employees with a disability or long-term health condition to either return to work following a sickness absence, remain at work or maintain performance with suitable adjustments put in place.

Our plan: action measures

The following measures reflect our commitment to promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people and encouraging the participation of disabled people in public life.

The plan will remain a living document and as such will be subject to change as actions are completed and new actions added over time. It will be monitored on an annual basis and updated as appropriate.

Planned measures to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people and encourage the participation of disabled people in public life.

The plan will remain a living document and as such will be subject to change as actions are completed and new actions added over time. It will be monitored on an annual basis and updated as appropriate.

Planned measures to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people and encourage the participation of disabled people in public life

What we will do	What we are trying to achieve	Performance Indicator and Target	By whom and when
Promote all public appointment opportunities using disability job boards like Vercida and Evenbreak to target disabled applicants. Highlight that DCMS participates in the Disability Confident Scheme and guarantees an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria. Host networking events for disabled people to generate awareness of public appointment roles in DCMS	To improve representation of disabled people in public appointments and encourage disabled participation in public life	% increase in disabled people securing public appointments	Public appointments team supported by D&I team
Ensure all new starters are given information on how to access workplace adjustments before starting their role. Periodically review workplace adjustments service including information on the intranet to ensure relevance and accessibility Provide a quarterly report on workplace adjustment cases (including information where Service Level Agreements were not met) to the People Operational Committee (POpCo)	To ensure that new and existing employees feel empowered to declare any disability and/or request any appropriate adjustments Increase accountability and senior leadership awareness of workplace adjustments service. Use the report to identify areas of improvement in the workplace adjustments process	We will track numbers of disabilities declared and adjustments put in place (start)	Workplace adjustments team on a bi-annual basis
Mandate that all staff will complete the “Civil Service Expectations”, a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) training, which includes a section on disability, on the Civil Service Learning site	Increase awareness of disability issues and our shared roles in supporting colleagues with disabilities	Completion of mandatory training - data on training completed is available on Civil Service Learning and will be tracked by HR team	Deputy Directors will monitor and provide assurance through the internal governance process annually
Provide a quarterly progress report to the People Operational Committee (POpCo) in respect of disabled representation and inclusion within the Department; this will be reported in tandem with the Section 75 progress reports	Increase visibility and senior leadership awareness of actions being taken on our equality duties and provide senior leaders with opportunities to assure themselves that actions taken are sufficient	D&I data dashboard as a standing agenda item on POpCo (quarterly), and subsequent minutes	D&I team every quarter
Develop regular communications on the departmental intranet site on matters relating to disability using positive imagery of disabled people.	Keep disability issues visible to colleagues and promote engagement across the department	Disability section of intranet kept up to date, and with regular articles and blogs as evidence of this being a dynamic aspect of our intranet pages	Internal Communications team, D&I team and staff networks, ongoing but with a formal review by 31 July each year
Promote all jobs on diversity job boards like Vercida and Evenbreak to target disabled applicants noting that DCMS participates in the Disability Confident Scheme and guarantees interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria	To increase the number of disabled applicants applying to jobs and remove barriers during the recruitment process. To improve awareness of support available to disabled people in accessing employment	% increase in disabled candidates applying and securing jobs as reported in the D&I dashboard on POpCo	Recruitment team supported by D&I team on a quarterly basis
Promote use of reasonable adjustments at the application and interview stage of recruitment through clear signposting in job advertisements	To improve awareness of support available to disabled people in accessing employment	% increase in disabled candidates progressing to interviewing and hiring stage in recruitment process	Recruitment team supported by D&I team on a quarterly basis
Promote use of employment support programmes, such as Disability Confident Scheme	People with a disability are supported to access and remain in employment	% increase of staff with a disability gaining and remaining in employment	Recruitment team supported by D&I team
Raise awareness of specific barriers faced by people with disabilities including through linking in with National Awareness Days or Weeks	Increase awareness of a range of disabilities	Minimum of 2 awareness days offered every year	Staff networks, supported as required by the D&I team
Encourage staff to declare that they have a disability though awareness raising and providing guidance to staff on the importance of monitoring	More accurate data in place	% increase in completion of disability monitoring information	D&I team - progress to be reviewed quarterly
Encourage participation in DELTA (FLS/SLS) programme - a Cabinet Office led accelerated development scheme designed specifically for disabled staff	Create a talent pipeline by providing progression opportunities and support for disabled colleagues	% increase in DELTA participants. Increased representation in higher grades.	Careers team - progress to be reviewed annually
Promote and encourage staff to participate in Ability network (disabled staff network) and support the network in the delivery of its priorities.	Disabled staff feel more confident that their voice is heard in decision-making Disabled staff feel better supported	Increase in Ability network memberships or increase in participation in network activities	D&I team supported by Staff networks
Ability staff network to have a SCS as Disability champion to provide visible leadership and secure support at senior level.	Create clear accountability for disability inclusion at SCS level. Provide network members with an escalation point for disability related issues	Increased SCS engagement with network activities. Feedback collected from network chairs	SCS supported by D&I team and Network co-chairs
Organise staff training on the two duties under section 49A of DDA. Develop and deliver training to line managers to build capability in managing disabled staff.	To promote understanding of disabled issues and improve experience of disabled staff in department	Decrease in disability related discrimination case work and improvement in Inclusion scores in People Survey	D&I team in collaboration with Learning and Development (L&D) team by April 2024
Support policy makers (when designing policies) to consider the impact from a disability perspective and utilise the most appropriate methods for engaging with disabled people and disability organisations where relevant when running consultations	To ensure that the policies developed and the consultation methods employed are as inclusive as possible and take account of the needs of disabled people	More participation and access of disabled people to DCMS sector activities and workforces	Updated Equality Impact Assessment guidance developed by Corporate Strategy team for delivery by April 2024