Equality Matters 

Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998  requires designated public authorities, in carrying out their functions relating to Northern Ireland, to have due regard to:

• the need to promote equality of opportunity between the nine equality categories of person: between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation;  men and women generally; persons with a disability and persons without; persons with dependants and persons without.
• the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.

In our Equality Scheme we set out how Radius Housing Association proposes to fulfil the Section 75 statutory duties, summarised below:

• We will commit the necessary resources in terms of people, time and money to make sure that the Section 75 statutory duties are complied with and that the equality scheme is implemented effectively, and on time.
• We commit to having effective internal arrangements in place for ensuring our effective compliance with the Section 75 statutory duties and for monitoring and reviewing our progress.
• We will develop and deliver a programme of communication and training with the aim of ensuring that all our staff and board members are made fully aware of our equality scheme and understand the commitments and obligations within it.

The Chair and Chief Executive of Radius Housing Association are fully committed to effectively fulfilling Section 75 statutory duties across all our functions (including service provision, employment and procurement) through the effective implementation of our equality scheme.

We realise the important role that the community and voluntary sector and the general public have to play to ensure the Section 75 statutory duties are effectively implemented. Our Equality Scheme demonstrates our commitment to the promotion of equality of opportunity and good relations.

It also offers a means for people who perceive that we have not complied with our Equality Scheme to raise their concerns.