Fair Employment (Specification of Public Authorities) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000

Made: 25th May 2000

Coming into operation: 1st July 2000

Now, therefore, the Department in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 50(1) and (2) and Article 51(2) of the 1998 Order and now vested in it[^f00003] and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Fair Employment (Specification of Public Authorities) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 1st July 2000.

• (2) In this Order—

• “the 1998 Order” means the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998[^f00004];

• “member of the home service forces” means any member of the armed forces whose service (or service otherwise than for the purposes of training) is restricted to Northern Ireland and who is in such service there for not less than sixteen hours weekly;

• “Northern Ireland civil servant” means any person appointed to a situation in the Northern Ireland Civil Service, other than a person whose service in such a situation normally involves less than sixteen hours weekly;

• “police force” has the same meaning as in the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998[^f00005];

• “reserve force” means a reserve force within the meaning of section 1(2) of the Reserve Forces Act 1996[^f00006];

• “reservist” means a member of any reserve force who serves wholly or mainly in Northern Ireland, other than a person whose service normally involves less than sixteen hours weekly; and

• “United Kingdom civil servant” means any person serving wholly or mainly in Northern Ireland in the civil service of the Crown other than— a person whose service normally involves less than sixteen hours weekly; or a Northern Ireland civil servant.

Specification of public authorities

2

For the purposes of Articles 52 to 61 of the 1998 Order:—

• (a) the Minister for the Department of Finance and Personnel shall be a public authority and all Northern Ireland civil servants shall be treated as employees of that authority;

• (b) the Minister for the Civil Service shall be a public authority and all United Kingdom civil servants shall be treated as employees of that authority;

• (c) the Secretary of State for Defence shall be a public authority and all reservists and members of the home service forces shall be treated as employees of that authority; and

• (d) the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary shall be a public authority and all members of the police force shall be treated as employees of that authority.

3

Each of the persons specified in Part I of Schedule 1 shall be a public authority for the purposes of Articles 52 to 65 of the 1998 Order.

4

Each of the persons specified in Part II of Schedule 1 shall be a public authority for the purposes of Articles 62 to 65 of the 1998 Order.

Revocation

5

The Orders specified in column (1) of Schedule 2 are hereby revoked.

SCHEDULE 1

Part I — Public Authorities for the purposes of Articles 52 to 65 of the 1998 Order

• Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland

• Altnagelvin Hospitals Health and Social Services Trust

• Armagh and Dungannon Health and Social Services Trust

• Arts Council of Northern Ireland

• Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

• Belfast City Hospital Health and Social Services Trust

• Belfast Education and Library Board

• Belfast Harbour Commissioners

• The Board of Governors of Stranmillis College of Education, Belfast

• Board of Trustees of the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland

• British Broadcasting Corporation

• Causeway Health and Social Services Trust

• Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland

• Citybus Limited

• Coleraine Harbour Commissioners

• Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland

• Construction Industry Training Board

• Council for Catholic Maintained Schools

• Craigavon Area Hospital Group Health and Social Services Trust

• Craigavon and Banbridge Community Health and Social Services Trust

• Any District Council

• Down Lisburn Health and Social Services Trust

• Eastern Health and Social Services Board

• Enterprise Ulster

• Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

• Fire Authority for Northern Ireland

• Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland

• Flexibus Limited

• Foyle Health and Social Services Trust

• General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland

• The governing body of the Armagh College of Further Education

• The governing body of the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the Castlereagh College of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the Causeway Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the East Antrim Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the East Down Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the East Tyrone College of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the Fermanagh College of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the Limavady College of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the Lisburn Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the Newry and Kilkeel Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the North Down and Ards Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the North East Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of the North West Institute of Further and Higher Education

• The governing body of Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College

• The governing body of the Omagh College of Further Education

• The governing body of the Upper Bann Institute of Further and Higher Education

• Green Park Health and Social Services Trust

• Homefirst Community Health and Social Services Trust

• Independent Commission for Police Complaints for Northern Ireland

• The Juvenile Justice Board

• Labour Relations Agency

• Laganside Corporation

• Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland

• Local Enterprise Development Unit

• Local Government Staff Commission for Northern Ireland

• Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners

• Mater Infirmorum Hospital Health and Social Services Trust

• Mental Health Commission for Northern Ireland

• National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Northern Ireland

• Newry and Mourne Health and Social Services Trust

• North Eastern Education and Library Board

• North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust

• Northern Health and Social Services Board

• Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Services Trust

• Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service Agency

• Northern Ireland Central Services Agency for the Health and Social Services

• Northern Ireland Commissioner for Complaints

• Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

• Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment

• Northern Ireland Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education

• Northern Ireland Economic Development Office

• Northern Ireland Fishery Harbour Authority

• Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency

• Northern Ireland Health Promotion Agency

• Northern Ireland Housing Executive

• Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

• Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee

• Northern Ireland Railways Company Limited

• Northern Ireland Regional Medical Physics Agency

• Northern Ireland Tourist Board

• Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company

• Police Authority for Northern Ireland

• Post Office

• Probation Board for Northern Ireland

• Royal Group of Hospitals and Dental Hospital Health and Social Services Trust

• South and East Belfast Health and Social Services Trust

• South Eastern Education and Library Board

• Southern Education and Library Board

• Southern Health and Social Services Board

• Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Services Trust

• Sports Council for Northern Ireland

• Staff Commission for Education and Library Boards

• Ulster Community and Hospitals Health and Social Services Trust

• Ulster Supported Employment Limited

• Ulsterbus Limited

• United Hospitals Health and Social Services Trust

• Warrenpoint Harbour Authority

• Western Education and Library Board

• Western Health and Social Services Board

• Youth Council for Northern Ireland

Part II — Public authorities for the purposes of Articles 62 to 65 of the 1998 Order

• Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

• Commissioners of Customs and Excise

• Secretary of State for Defence

• Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions

• Secretary of State for the Home Department

• Board of Inland Revenue

• The Lord Chancellor

• The Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary

• The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

• The Director-General for Electricity Supply for Northern Ireland

• The Director-General of Gas for Northern Ireland

• The Director of Savings (Department for National Savings)

• Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland

• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

• Secretary of State for Social Security

• Secretary of State for Trade and Industry

• Any Northern Ireland Department

• Any Northern Ireland Minister

• The governing body of an Institution of Further Education within the meaning of the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

• Any Health and Social Services trust established under Article 10(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991

SCHEDULE 2 — Orders Revoked

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister on 25th May 2000.

J. A. Canavan — A senior officer of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order revokes and replaces the Fair Employment (Specification of Public Authorities) Order (Northern Ireland) 1989 as amended. It specifies a number of persons or bodies as public authorities for certain purposes under Part VII of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (“the 1998 Order”) and provides for the persons who are to be treated for such purposes as the employees of some of those authorities.

For the purpose of Articles 52 to 61 of the 1998 Order, Article 2—

• (a) specifies the Minister for the Department of Finance and Personnel as a public authority and provides that all Northern Ireland civil servants (as defined) shall be treated as employees of that authority;

• (b) specifies the Minister for the Civil Service as a public authority and provides that all United Kingdom civil servants (as defined) shall be treated as employees of that authority;

• (c) specifies the Secretary of State for Defence as a public authority and provides that all reservists and members of the home service forces (as defined) shall be treated as employees of that authority; and

• (d) specifies the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary as a public authority and provides that all members of the police force (as defined) shall be treated as employees of that authority.

Article 3 specifies each of the persons listed in Part I of Schedule 1 as a public authority for the purposes of Articles 52 to 65 of the 1998 Order.

Article 4 specifies each of the persons listed in Part II of Schedule 1 as a public authority for the purposes of Articles 62 to 65 of the 1998 Order.

Where a person who is specified as a public authority for the purposes of Articles 52 to 61 of the 1998 Order is the employer, or by virtue of Article 2 becomes the employer, of certain persons then Part VII of the 1998 Order imposes certain duties on him, particularly with respect to those persons. He is required to prepare and serve for each year on the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (“the Commission”) a return (referred to as a “monitoring return”) to enable the composition of his workforce to be ascertained; that is to say the number who belong to the Protestant community and the number who belong to the Roman Catholic community in Northern Ireland. In addition the monitoring return he is required to serve must show the composition of applicants for employment in his workforce and the composition of those ceasing to be employed by him. Other provisions of Articles 52 to 61 of the 1998 Order such as those requiring periodic review of recruitment, training and promotion practices; those relating to enquiries by the Commission and undertakings by and directions to employers; and those providing for the setting of goals and timetables also apply to public authorities specified for the purposes of those Articles.

Where a public authority is specified for the purposes of Articles 62 to 65 of the 1998 Order it is prohibited from entering into any contract with a person who is not qualified for the purposes of Articles 64 to 66 of that Order and who, in response to an invitation by the authority offers to execute any work or supply any goods or services to it. Any contravention of or failure to comply with this duty is actionable by any person who, in consequence, suffers loss or damage.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1998/3162 (N.I. 21)

[^f00002]: See S.R. 1999 No. 481; Article 4(a) and Part I Schedule 2

[^f00003]: S.R. 1999 No. 481. Schedule 2, Part 1

[^f00004]: S.I. 1998/3162 (N.I. 21)

[^f00005]: 1998 c. 32

[^f00006]: 1996 c. 14