Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council employs significant higher number of Protestants than other religions

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council employs a significantly higher number of Protestants, than staff of other religions, according to figures.

In response to an FOI request, Causeway Council revealed that staff in 2016 were made up of 408 Protestants, 249 Catholics and 36 people of ‘non-determined religion.’

Every public authority in the north, including councils, are required to take steps to promote equality in recruitment under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Their duties include ensuring that they must have “due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity” between people of different gender, age, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religious belief as well as promote equality between those with a disability and those without.

On their website Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council states their commitment to their Section 75 duties, saying that the council “aspires to ensure that fairness, inclusion and respect are at the heart of everything we do.”

The council state that they will publish their Equality Scheme which gives details on how Section 75 are being fulfilled. The Equality Scheme from when the current council began in March 2015 is available on their website, but no update is available.

In the Equality Scheme, the council states that Equality Screening Reports will be published quarterly on the council website, however the most recent document on equality at the council is a Screening Report covering July to September 2015, meaning that no further updates have been made available on the site for more than a year.

The document also outlines the council’s commitment to transparency on the issue.

“The Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is committed to ensuring that the information we disseminate and the services we provide are fully accessible to all parts of the community in Northern Ireland”

In contrast, Derry and Strabane Council published their most recent Screening Report at the end of January 2017, while Mid Ulster District Council have published a Screening Report covering issues up to March.

A recent FOI request showed that in 2015 Mid Ulster District Council employed 306 Protestants, 338 Catholics and 26 employees of ‘non-determined religion.’

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough council did not respond to queries from the Co Derry Post when asked what steps were being taken to promote equality of opportunity between staff of different religion.