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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

moved Amendment No. 32:"After Clause 25, insert the following new clause—" ““SHARED FUTURE (1)   A public authority must, in exercising its functions— (a)   ensure that all public expenditure promotes sharing over separation, except where the costs of doing so outweigh the long-term benefits; (b)   have regard to the policy and strategic framework for good relations in Northern Ireland set out in ““A Shared Future”” (published by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in March 2005); (c)   have regard to any further strategy or guidance relating to a shared future issued by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. (2)   In this section ““public authority”” means— (a)   a Northern Ireland department; (b)   a district council in Northern Ireland; and (c)   any other person designated for the purpose of this section by order made by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. (3)   The power to make an order under subsection (2)(c) is exercisable by statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1573 (N.I. 12)). (4)   Such an order may not be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the Northern Ireland Assembly.”” The noble Baroness said: Clause 25 places a duty on public authorities to act in a way which contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. We welcome that provision; it is an aim which we support. However, there is another duty which should be placed on public authorities: to act in a way which contributes to the achievement of the aims of A Shared Future. We welcome the Government’s publication of the first triennial action plan—it is a start—but we are disappointed that, while the Government have been ambitious in their environmental aims, they do not seem to have been so ambitious as to promote sharing over separation in every department. That is what this amendment hopes to achieve. It would place a duty on all public authorities to ensure that all public expenditure promoted sharing over separation, except where the costs of doing so outweighed the long-term benefits; and to have regard to the policy and strategic framework for good relations in Northern Ireland which is set out in A Shared Future. We waste £1 billion every year on the likes of having three leisure centres where there should be one; of having nine health centres where there should be two; of spending money on school buildings instead of schoolchildren. The Government policy and framework document A Shared Future: The Framework for Good Relations in Northern Ireland was published in March last year. A Shared Future outlines realistically the scale of the challenge and indicates that good relations will be built on significant progress of the quality agenda. The objectives outlined in A Shared Future include: the elimination of sectarianism, racism and all form of prejudice to enable people to live without fear of intimidation or harassment; the reduction of tension at interface areas; the facilitation of the development of a shared community, where people wish to live, work and play together; the promotion of civic mindedness via citizenship education through school and lifelong learning; the protection of members of minorities, whether, for example, by religion, race or any other grounds; and the shaping of policies, practices and institutions to enable trust and good relations to grow. Earlier this year we very much welcomed the publication of the Government’s first triennial action plan. As we said, it is a start. However, we are disappointed that the Government were not more ambitious to promote sharing over separation in every department. The promotion of good relations must now be mainstreamed. All departments and agencies have a role and must be held accountable for any failure to deliver. They should stop treating integration as an ““additional strand”” and, instead, treat integration as the only strand, bringing to an end segregated services and facilities. I beg to move.