HL Deb 29 October 1980 vol 414 cc533-4WA
Lord HYLTON

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list the Northern Irish local authorities which have and which have not so far, signed the "Declaration of Principle and Intent to be a Fair Employer" drawn up by the Fair Employment Agency; and whether those that have failed to sign have given any reasons for their behaviour.

The PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY of STATE, NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE (Lord Elton)

The information for Northern Ireland District Councils is as follows:

Signatories

  • Belfast City Council
  • Down District Council
  • Fermanagh District Council
  • Magherafelt District Council
  • Newry & Mourne District Council
  • Newtownabbey Borough Council
  • Omagh District Council

Non-Signatories

  • Antrim Borough Council
  • Ards Borough Council
  • Armagh District Council
  • Ballymena Borough Council
  • Ballymoney Borough Council
  • Banbridge District Council
  • Carrickfergus Borough Council
  • Castlereagh Borough Council
  • Coleraine Borough Council
  • Cookstown District Council
  • Craigavon Borough Council
  • Dungannon District Council
  • Larne Borough Council
  • Limavady District Council
  • Lisburn Borough Council
  • Londonderry City Council
  • Moyle District Council
  • North Down Borough Council
  • Strabane District Council
The signing of the Declaration is a voluntary action. I understand from the Fair Employment Agency that, where reasons for failure to sign have been given, they usually contain the assertions that the body in question has never discriminated in employment, that signing the Declaration would suggest it had done so in the past, and that the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1976 is an unnecessary piece of legislation.