Corporate report

Northern Ireland Office Outcome Delivery Plan: 2021 to 2022

Published 15 July 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to Northern Ireland

This document sets out the Secretary of State’s strategic priorities for Northern Ireland and details how the department will deliver these in 2021/2022 in line with its allocated Budget from Spending Review 2020.

Foreword from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office

We have a clear ambition for Northern Ireland: to make it a better place to live, to work and to invest. All communities in Northern Ireland and the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and our friends and counterparts in Ireland, must work together to resolve differences, ease tensions and to get back to focussing on the coronavirus (COVID-19) recovery and to addressing the systemic issues that hold Northern Ireland back.

Northern Ireland has huge potential, great talent to be tapped into, the ambition to succeed, and the determination never to return to the conflict and division of the past. There is a brighter future to look towards and the way to get there is by working together, resolving issues through dialogue, and leading by example. In launching this Outcome Delivery Plan, the UK Government is making a clear commitment to play our part in helping to improve the lives of the people of Northern Ireland.

Our priorities of Prosperity, Society, Safety and Governance are all aimed at helping Northern Ireland move forwards and we want to do that in a joined-up way, building on the approach that has emerged through our response to Covid-19. In Northern Ireland we want to facilitate a confident UK Government approach to ensure that taxpayers’ money is invested most effectively to improve the lives of all citizens in Northern Ireland. We want to support economic success through growing the private sector and maximising its exports, by backing innovation and improving skills outcomes, and by generating opportunities to strengthen the connectivity of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom and with the rest of the world. Working together with our partners and friends, we will ensure that Northern Ireland reaps the benefits of Brexit, maximising its globally competitive advantage now we have left the EU.

Beyond our ambition for prosperity in Northern Ireland, our department will work tirelessly to support a more open, tolerant and inclusive society. We will continue to help Northern Ireland reconcile with its past; we will deliver on our New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) commitments; and we will mark Northern Ireland’s Centenary year highlighting the value of Northern Ireland’s place in the UK. We will also take a more active role to improve societal cohesion in areas such as education. And for as long as the threat from Northern Ireland Related Terrorism (NIRT) endures, we will continue to work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and security partners to keep communities safe.

We remain deeply committed to the UK Government’s Obligations as set out in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and the institutions it created.

To help Northern Ireland grasp the opportunities and navigate the challenges that lie ahead, we will work with and support the Northern Ireland Executive to maintain stable government. The Covid-19 pandemic serves as an important reminder of the importance of all four nations of the United Kingdom working together. We want better engagement not just with political leaders in Northern Ireland, but with a wide range of social, community and political voices, which will help us to identify emerging issues early and create solutions that avoid the political crises of the past.

The Northern Ireland Office, under our leadership, will deliver this Government’s strategic priorities in Northern Ireland and ensure that we level up Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis CBE MP
NIO Permanent Secretary Madeleine Alessandri CMG

A. Executive Summary

Vision and Mission:

The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) supports the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in delivering the Government’s strategic priorities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State’s vision is to make Northern Ireland a better place to live, work and invest.

With a workforce of fewer than 200 colleagues across its offices in Belfast and London, the NIO is small compared to other Government Departments, but the breadth, complexity and depth of its portfolio is extensive and impactful.

Our priority outcomes

This delivery plan sets out in detail how we will deliver our priority outcomes, how we will measure our success, and how we will ensure we continuously improve.

1. Support the levelling up of Northern Ireland’s economy with the rest of the UK
2. Support greater inclusion, tolerance, and openness in Northern Ireland
3. Contribute to a safer Northern Ireland, where terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities
4. Ensure that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public service

Through the provision of place-specific advice and promoting economic development by working with UKG departments, devolved institutions and partnering stakeholders, as well as leading on Northern Ireland specific communications, the department is also supporting the delivery of the following Priority Outcomes led by other departments.

Priority Outcome	Lead Department
Ensure the benefits of the Union are clear, visible and understood to all citizens	Cabinet Office

Strategic Enablers

To deliver our priority outcomes - and reinforce the ambitions of the Declaration on Government Reform - we will focus on three key enablers:

1. Workforce, Skills and Location
2. Innovation, Technology and Data
3. Delivery, Evaluation and Collaboration

B. Introduction

1. Context

As a relatively small department, the NIO recognises that success is very much dependent on a range of cross-cutting factors and key dependencies. This includes our ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others to support the devolution settlement. We will therefore continue to focus heavily in partnership working with colleagues across the UK Government and in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) and with a range of external stakeholders across Northern Ireland, the wider UK and internationally, particularly Ireland and the United States. We will be working closely with:

• the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE);
• the Irish Government;
• our Arm’s Length Bodies (ALB’s);
• the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and National Security partners;
• the Northern Ireland business community;
• a wide range of groups, individuals and charities representing all aspects of Northern Ireland’s community and interests.

Success in the immediate term and in the longer term will depend on maximising our resources. The NIO’s priority outcomes support a much longer term strategy for improved outcomes for the people of Northern Ireland. With wide reaching ambition, we will continue to use our resources efficiently whilst making best use of the capabilities available across government and within our delivery partners.

Taking a data driven approach will also be important for success in the long term. Recognising that the evidence base on some issues in Northern Ireland has historically been limited, we are committed to building an evidence base to assist policy development throughout 2021/2022. This will help inform a constant cycle of performance improvement in future delivery plans and ensure we optimise available resources through focusing on those activities that drive the greatest benefit.

The context in which the NIO seeks to deliver is not a constant landscape and external factors such as political instability and emerging unforeseen circumstances could affect our delivery plans. We will adapt to change and be agile as we absorb the impact from external events, while staying focussed on our priority outcomes and working closely with our stakeholders on our mutual ambitions to make Northern Ireland a better place to live, work and invest.

2. Governance and delivery agencies

The NIO Board provides strategic and operational leadership to the NIO, bringing together its executive leaders with non-executives from outside the department.

The Board is responsible for the timely, effective and efficient delivery of Ministerial policy and will closely monitor performance and delivery of the NIO Plan within the spending limits agreed by Her Majesty’s Treasury at the 2020 Spending Review. The Board is supported by an independent Audit & Risk Committee and an Executive Committee (ExCo).

In addition to the core department and the independent challenges and assurances provided by the Non-Executive Directors, the NIO is supported by a network of associated bodies, which operate independently of Government. These differ in terms of their size, formal status, statutory or other responsibilities and the degree of independence from Government but they all play an important role. They are described here.

3. Overview of Strategic Risks

The NIO also takes account of a range of corporate, financial, political and operational risks to the delivery of its Outcomes Delivery Plan. Important risks to be managed include ensuring the economy recovers post Covid-19, ensuring the pragmatic and proportionate implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the ongoing threat from Northern Ireland Related Terrorism (NIRT).

To increase the likelihood of delivering successful outcomes for citizens, the NIO has robust structures and processes in place to identify, control and mitigate these risks as part of its governance structures.

4. Our resources

Our finances:

• Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL): £35.03 million
• Resource DEL (including depreciation): £34.77 million
• Capital DEL: £0.26 million
• Annually Managed Expenditure (AME): £nil

Control totals included in this document are in line with those presented in the Main Supply Estimates 2021/22. Any changes arising from the Parliamentary approval process will be reflected in due course. Source: Main Supply Estimates 2021/22

5. Our people

As at 31 December 2020, the NIO had a ceiling headcount of 196 full-time equivalent employees. Source: ONS public sector employment data / Release schedule: quarterly

Breakdown of resource by work

In the current environment, the importance of our work has never been greater. We need to have the resources to do our work effectively and respond to new priorities as they arise. The small size of the NIO alongside the cross-cutting nature of its work means we must deploy resources flexibly, ensuring that we are agile and responsive to emerging priorities. A breakdown by priority outcome is therefore not available.

C. Priority Outcome Delivery Plans

Priority Outcome 1: Prosperity: Support the levelling up of Northern Ireland’s economy with the rest of the UK.

Lead minister

Brandon Lewis CBE MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Senior Sponsor

Colin Perry, Director of Economy

Sub-outcome 1.1	Sub-outcome 1.2	Sub-outcome 1.3
A growing and rebalanced economy, driven by innovative businesses with more people in better jobs.	A well-connected Northern Ireland competing globally and maximising its trade with the rest of the UK, Ireland and across the world.	Sustainable public finances with the Executive providing public services that deliver for all and investing in Northern Ireland’s future.

Outcome Strategy

The UK Government (UKG) is clear on its ambition to turbo charge the Northern Ireland economy. It is committed to taking a targeted approach to deliver for the citizens of Northern Ireland in a way that levels up Northern Ireland along with the rest of the UK and that protects its place in a stronger, more prosperous Union. The Northern Ireland economy was significantly underperforming prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, which underlines the importance of the UK utilising all possible levers to drive economic renewal and growth. The current economic model in Northern Ireland has structural weaknesses which limits Northern Ireland’s resilience to deal with prolonged periods of disruption, such as those caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Making progress in overcoming these structural challenges will create the conditions for transformative growth in the Northern Ireland economy. This, in turn, will drive prosperity including for young people as well as enable progress across all of our other priority outcomes: society, safety and governance. Achieving this prosperity outcome for Northern Ireland will take time and a concerted joint effort between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. We are considering how best to identify and leverage opportunities that would provide long term economic growth for Northern Ireland, in a way that supports the work of the NIE and devolved economic powers. Achieving this prosperity outcome for Northern Ireland will take time and a concerted joint effort between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. We are considering how best to identify and leverage opportunities that would provide long term economic growth for Northern Ireland, in a way that supports the work of the Northern Ireland Executive and devolved economic powers. A key part of that will be identifying and maximising global opportunities, where we consider that the UKG can make the most impact. This includes UKG securing new Free Trade Agreements (FTA) that deliver for Northern Ireland and harnessing the dual market access provided by the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP) that ensures unfettered access to the rest of the UK market and access to the EU Single Market for goods.

Our performance metrics
Metric	Time Period	Available data
GDP per capita in NI(£)	December 2019	£25,981
Percentage of NI businesses that are innovation active	2016-2018	32%
Value of NI exports	2018	£68.4 billion
Percentage of premises in NI passed with a gigabit connection	March 2020	232,000 homes (31%)
NI Fiscal deficit per capita	2017 - 2019	£5,208 (highest in UK)

GDP per capita in NI (£) Source: Office of National Statistics

Release schedule: Annual

Percentage of Northern Ireland businesses that are innovation active Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Release schedule: Every 3 years

Value of NI exports Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Release schedule: Annual

Percentage of premises in Northern Ireland passed with a gigabit connection Source: OFCOM

Release schedule: Annual

NI Fiscal deficit (total) Source: Office of National Statistics

Release schedule: Annual

Projects and Programmes

• Provide further investment that will enable an increase in jobs and productivity and work with the Northern Ireland Executive to help promote better alignment of jobs and skills
• Continue to deliver City and Growth deals
• Work with the Northern Ireland Executive to maximise public sector efficiency alongside a larger, more productive private sector
• Promote Northern Ireland as a tech & innovation hub
• Use New Deal for Northern Ireland funding to boost skills and increase Invest NI’s overseas presence to drive investment that will ensure Northern Ireland is better connected to the UK, Ireland and the world
• Help ensure Northern Ireland businesses and consumers benefit from new FTAs and maximise assistance to businesses to increase the value of exports
• Work with the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver improved outcomes and value for money through sustainable public finances
• Help maximise the impact of UKG investment in Northern Ireland to ensure it is used effectively, contributes to growth and helps level up Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK.

Priority Outcome 2: Society: Support greater inclusion, tolerance, and openness in Northern Ireland.

Lead minister

Brandon Lewis CBE MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Senior Sponsor

Chris Flatt, Director of Strategy, Legacy and Rights

Sub-outcome 2.1	Sub-outcome 2.2	Sub-outcome 2.3
Northern Ireland society has significantly reconciled with its past - with greater understanding of events and respect for different perspectives.	Greater integration between and within communities in Northern Ireland, where benefits of being part of the United Kingdom are felt and the relationship with Ireland respected.	Individuals in Northern Ireland feel increasingly free to affirm and develop their national and cultural identity and rights and equality of opportunity is protected and promoted.

Outcome Strategy:

The UK Government remains unwavering in its commitment to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and its promise of a society firmly dedicated to inclusion, tolerance, openness, and human rights for all. In upholding its responsibilities to the people of Northern Ireland and in delivering its commitments in agreements, including the NDNA, this Government has a strong interest in supporting and facilitating positive action on rights and equality issues in Northern Ireland.

As Northern Ireland marks its centenary in 2021, there is an opportunity to build on these values of inclusion, tolerance and openness in a way that will help people move forward together and support the transition to long-term peace and stability and a brighter future for Northern Ireland.

Finding a way forward for dealing with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past is a longstanding political issue as evidenced by numerous high profile attempts and agreements to find a way forward. The NIO will continue its efforts to find a way forward to help Northern Ireland reconcile with its past.

In everything we do, the NIO will uphold its public sector equality duties and the Section 75 obligations set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 when formulating new policies.

Our performance metrics
Metric	Time Period	Available data
Percentage of Northern Ireland citizens who feel like they ‘belong’ in their neighbourhood and in Northern Ireland	2019	Neighbourhood: Yes, definitely: 67%, Yes, probably: 23%
Northern Ireland	2019	Yes, definitely: 62%, Yes, probably: 23%
Percentage of Northern Ireland citizens who believe that Northern Ireland is a place where people respect one another	2019	Strongly agree: 5%, Agree: 48%

Percentage of Northern Ireland citizens who feel like they ‘belong’ in their neighbourhood and in Northern Ireland Source: https://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2019/

Release schedule: Annual

Percentage of Northern Ireland citizens who believe that Northern Ireland is a place where people respect one another Source: https://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2019/

Release schedule: Annual

Projects and Programmes

• Deliver effective structures to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past
• Manage ongoing legal cases and disclosure obligations linked to the Troubles
• Ensure the centenary of Northern Ireland and other commemorations are appropriately recognised to promote greater understanding of legacy events and respect for different perspectives
• Deliver UKG NDNA commitments to protect, promote and enhance expressions of culture, linguistic diversity, and heritage
• Explore potential opportunities to support greater integration between and within communities in Northern Ireland to improve societal cohesion and individual wellbeing
• Help ensure that all the people of Northern Ireland, regardless of how they identify, enjoy equal treatment and parity of esteem.
• Promote and comply with public equality duties, contribute to reserved human rights work including treaty body requirements and help ensure implementation of the “no diminution” of rights principle in the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• Ensure that the Armed Forces veterans in Northern Ireland have access to the same services and feel connected to veterans throughout the UK.

Priority Outcome 3: Safety: Contribute to a safer Northern Ireland, where terrorist and paramilitary groups are less able to cause harm to communities.

Lead minister

Brandon Lewis CBE MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Senior Sponsor

Mark Larmour, Director Political

Sub-outcome 3.1	Sub-outcome 3.2	Sub-outcome 3.3
Suppressed intent and capability of groups to engage in Northern Ireland-related terrorism and paramilitary activity	Recognising and enjoying the benefits of a prosperous and politically stable Northern Ireland, individuals are less vulnerable to involvement in violence and serious criminality	Strong, resilient and increasingly reconciled communities are empowered to reject the activities of terrorist and paramilitary groups, which are no longer normalised

Outcome Strategy:

The UKG is committed to its vision of a safer Northern Ireland and the NIO will continue to work with all delivery partners to support efforts against the continuing threat and harms posed by terrorist and paramilitary groups. We will do this by working to keep communities safe from terrorism and supporting the Northern Ireland Executive’s work to tackle paramilitary activity as well as supporting more effective security and justice processes. We will also develop interventions that dissuade at-risk individuals and vulnerable young people from joining terrorist and paramilitary groups.

Our ambition to help support strong, resilient and increasingly reconciled communities that can effectively resist terrorism, paramilitary and other criminal activity will help create the vibrant communities we envisage for Northern Ireland society. This in turn will aid the levelling up agenda, support our society outcomes and help ensure that Northern Ireland reaps the benefits of being a safe, strong and valued part of the UK.

Our performance metrics
Metric	Time Period	Available data
Security related deaths	1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019	3
Number of shooting and bombing incidents in Northern Ireland	1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019	15
Number of paramilitary-style assaults and shootings in Northern Ireland	1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019	16 casualties of paramilitary style shootings	56 casualties of paramilitary style assaults

Security related deaths Source: PSNI

Release schedule: Monthly

Number of shooting and bombing incidents in Northern Ireland Source: PSNI

Release schedule: Monthly

Number of paramilitary-style assaults and shootings in Northern Ireland Source: PSNI

Release schedule: Monthly

Projects and Programmes

• Support the development of counter-terrorism legislation to ensure it is effective in a Northern Ireland context.
• Support activity to disrupt terrorist activity and seek robust criminal justice outcomes, including supporting progress to update aspects of Northern Ireland’s criminal justice system that remain excepted or reserved.
• Continue to ensure appropriate and proportionate protective security arrangements are in place for those individuals assessed at highest risk.
• Support our independent reviewers, ensuring the provision of independent advice to UKG.
• Deliver a comprehensive and effective strategic communications approach that supports wider community efforts against terrorist groups to build strong, resilient and increasingly reconciled communities.

Priority Outcome 4: Governance: Ensure that governance in Northern Ireland is responsive, transparent and able to deliver effective public services.

Lead minister

Brandon Lewis CBE MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Senior Sponsor

Mark Larmour, Director Political

Sub-outcome 4.1	Sub-outcome 4.2	Sub-outcome 4.3
A resilient Northern Ireland Executive delivering a better, more prosperous, shared future for the people of Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland is a vibrant democracy, respectful of its cultural diversity, with strong political and community leaders continuing to progress peace and stability, and influencing decisions that affect people at all levels	The principles of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and successor agreements continue to be seen by the people of Northern Ireland as the basis for progressing peace, stability, and governance in Northern Ireland

Outcome Strategy:

Instability and a lack of resilience in political structures and political culture in Northern Ireland continues to be a barrier to thriving communities, limiting the delivery of effective public services for the people of Northern Ireland and having an overall detrimental political, social, and economic impact. The political agreements, collaborations and improved relationships over the last three decades demonstrate that there is an appetite among the people of Northern Ireland for a political climate that is responsive, transparent and capable of delivering in their interests.

The NIO is committed to helping to reduce the fragility of politics and communities in Northern Ireland, to enhance public confidence in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and its successors as the basis for peaceful, resilient politics, and to enable a vibrant, active and thriving democracy at all levels across Northern Ireland.

Through UKG-funded interventions and community engagement (including with young people and youth services), alongside the provision of Peace Plus, we will help strengthen local communities and give them the confidence and skills to feed into a vibrant democracy in a way that ensures that their elected representatives deliver, as well as encouraging a pipeline of talented future political leadership. More confident, active communities free from political tensions will not only support stronger governance but will create communities where people want to live, work and invest. This will, in turn, create a more vibrant and integrated Northern Ireland, helping deliver against our priority outcomes on Prosperity, Society, and Safety.

Our performance metrics
Metric	Time Period	Available data
Percentage of Northern Ireland citizens who trust elected bodies, such as the Northern Ireland Assembly.	2019	22%

Percentage of Northern Ireland citizens who trust elected bodies, such as the Northern Ireland Assembly. Source: https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/Public-Awareness-of-and-Trust-in-Official-Statistics-Northern-Ireland-2019.pdf

Release schedule: Annual

Projects and Programmes

• Support the full operation of all institutions and strands of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
• Deliver UKG commitments in the New Decade, New Approach agreement including: 1. Delivering a legislative framework and codes of conduct that ensure transparency, accountability and governance in Northern Ireland. 2. Taking forward NDNA reforms to ensure effective, sustainable public services and public finances are delivered by the Northern Ireland Executive, reflecting the impact of Covid-19
• Deliver the Northern Ireland Protocol consent mechanism and support its operation through the Assembly.
• Support and invest in effective community initiatives, projects and activities that promote peace, reconciliation, community engagement, integration, and culture.
• Enhance civic engagement that gives the public a stronger voice in UKG policies to ensure that the UK Government adds value to outcomes in Northern Ireland in a positive and inclusive way.
• Support a transparent, efficient, inclusive and trusted electoral system with appropriate and fair boundaries and communications activity to maintain confidence in the electoral system.
• Demonstrate the UK Government’s commitment to Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and its successors, and ensure it is upholding its obligations of parity of esteem.
• Ensure all communities feel the benefits of the peace and stability delivered by Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and successor agreements.
• Demonstrating the commitment of the UK Government to ensuring the constitutional arrangements set out in the devolution settlements.

D. Strategic Enablers

The strategic enablers that sit at the heart of the NIO’s delivery plan and which are critical to our success include:

Workforce, Skills, and Location

The outcomes and outputs committed to in this plan require an agile, diverse department. It needs to be powered by highly skilled people, providing a quality service to ministers and senior officials, working flexibly across London and Belfast. To ensure this we will:

• Place a premium on developing the talents of our workforce and continue to recruit highly talented people who reflect the diversity of the communities that we serve.
• Remove barriers to recruitment, development and promotion of a diverse workforce.
• Develop more flexible cross-departmental working between the NICS and the NIO by increasing the number of secondments and interchange opportunities available between both organisations, and indeed between NICS and the wider Home Civil Service.

People survey engagement score

Year	Engagement score
2020	71%
2019	67%
2018	70%

Source: Civil Service People Survey / Release schedule: annually

Innovation, Technology and Data

With a focus on innovation, technology and data, we are determined to be a modern and efficient organisation. In 2021/22 we will:

• Invest in new tools and establish new frameworks to enable safe, secure data sharing across departments to support decision making and improve services.
• Renew IT systems to automate and fully digitise repetitive manual processes and update outdated legacy IT systems, refocusing civil servants’ time to higher-value activities that can deliver the most impact.

Delivery, Evaluation and Collaboration

With a renewed focus on delivery in line with functional standards, evaluation and collaboration, we will deliver better outcomes by:

• Strengthening functional expertise
• A more efficient, transparent and inclusive planning and reporting cycle
• Investing in new analytical resources and performance management expertise to support effective evidence-based policy-making, ongoing evaluation and a continuous cycle of improvement.

E. Our equality objectives

The NIO puts equality at the heart of everything it does and much of the core work planned for 2021/22 to deliver on our four priority outcomes delivers on our equality agenda. To ensure we meet our equality objectives, we have set specific objectives to help us advance and embed equality in Northern Ireland. We will:

1. Work with the Northern Ireland Executive to promote economic growth and level up opportunities for all. Specifically, we will maximise the impact of the City & Growth programme by developing a pipeline of skills initiatives and support the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver an ambitious new approach to skills delivery in Northern Ireland, tailored to high growth sectors.
2. Design and implement new and effective structures to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past and deliver a project through which experiences and narratives of the Troubles can be shared.
3. Work with the Northern Ireland Executive departments, academics and other stakeholders to improve our understanding of barriers to integration and use that to draw up potential areas for further intervention to improve societal cohesion, education and individual wellbeing.
4. Deliver NDNA commitments to protect, promote and enhance expressions of identity, culture and heritage by: Establishing a Culture and Community fund to support expression of identities and progress cultural development in the region and beyond; Monitoring and influencing implementation of the Northern Ireland Executive NDNA cultural accommodation commitments including an Office of Culture and Identity; Irish language Act; Commissioner and translation services.
5. Ensure that all the people of Northern Ireland, regardless of how they identify, enjoy equal treatment and parity of esteem. Provide funding to establish the Castlereagh Foundation to support academic research through universities and other partners to explore identity and the shifting patterns of social identity in Northern Ireland.
6. Ensure compliance with UK Public Sector Equality Duty and Section 75 requirements of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; contribute to reserved human rights work including treaty body requirements; sponsor the Northern Ireland HRC; and ensure implementation and the “no diminution” of rights principle in the Northern Ireland Protocol.
7. Ensure the Northern Ireland Armed Forces veterans community has access to the same services and feel connected to counterparts throughout the UK by establishing a Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner and support office, informing and supporting passage of UK-wide legislation to further incorporate the Armed Forces Covenant into law. Supporting a review of the Aftercare Service in Northern Ireland (ACS) which will consider whether the remit of the ACS should be widened to cover all HM Forces veterans living in Northern Ireland with service-related injuries and conditions.
8. Provide support to the Electoral Office of Northern Ireland, engaging with Cabinet Office and external stakeholders to ensure the delivery of an electoral canvass and that efficient systems are in place to support and improve the electoral process.