§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to make policy appraisal and fair treatment analyses available to those who contribute to, or are affected by, them. [48357]
§ Mr. Worthington[holding answer 6 July 1998]: Appraisals carried out under the terms of the 1993 Policy Appraisal for Fair Treatment (PAFT) guidelines are not published. The implementation of PAFT is reported on in annual reports, which are available from the Central Community Relations Unit free of charge. A report for 1997 is in preparation. The White Paper 'Partnership for Equality', contains proposals for a statutory obligation on the public sector to promote equality of opportunity which would include a requirement for equality appraisals of policies, superseding the PAFT initiative.