Summary of Northern Ireland Audit Office Equality Scheme

Summary of the Northern Ireland Audit Office Equality Scheme Background 1. The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), headed by the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland, undertakes the external audit of public sector bodies in Northern Ireland, including: • Northern Ireland Departments and their Executive Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and Health Service Bodies in the central government sector; and • District Councils in the local government sector. The results of NIAO’s audit work on central government bodies are reported to the Northern Ireland Assembly, or Parliament during the suspension of devolution, and on local government bodies to the Department of the Environment. 2. The vision of NIAO is to promote accountability and the best use of public money. NIAO Equality Scheme 3. Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires NIAO, in carrying out its functions, to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity 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; and • persons with dependants and persons without. It must also have due regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group. 4. The NIAO Equality Scheme, approved by the Equality ...