OTHER RELEVANT GOVERNMENT POLICIES
18. Two other government policies adopted after the
1989 legislation was enacted are particularly relevant for this
inquiry. In 1991, the then Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Peter
Brooke MP, launched Targeting Social Need (TSN). The former Government's
intention in developing TSN was "to examine carefully the
impact of existing major policies and programmes ...
to pursue the scope for targeting these policies and programmes
even more sharply on areas and people in greatest need."[33]
The Secretary of State announced TSN as a third public spending
priority after "law and order" and "strengthening
the economy".
19. In a separate development, in December 1993,
Government guidelines were finalised which required Northern Ireland
government departments to take equality issues more centrally
into account in policy-making generally. The non-statutory guidelines,
called Policy Appraisal and Fair Treatment (PAFT), came into effect
in January 1994. "Equality and equity," it said, "are
central issues which must condition and influence policy- making
in all spheres and at all levels of Government activity ..."[34]
33 See Employment Equality: Building for the Future
(the SACHR report referred to in paragraph 20) Cm 3684, para 4.2. Back
34 Central
Secretariat Circular, 5/93, Policy Appraisal and Fair Treatment,
December 22 1993. Back
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