Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK or Ireland where there is no protection against age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services. A private member’s bill is being brought forward by Claire Sugden MLA to propose legislation to tackle this issue and close the gap in our equality laws to […]
The Department of Health is consulting on proposals to amend the minimum standards for childminding and day care for children aged under 12. The purpose of this consultation is to get feedback on proposals to changes two key areas of childcare regulation. The first area is in relation to vetting (the requirement for all prospective […]
There has been much discussion about the forthcoming draft Anti-Poverty Strategy which has been signed off by the NI Executive and is due to be released soon for public consultation. The Anti-Poverty Strategy Group has been formed and is made up of former members of the Anti-Poverty Co-Design Group who worked alongside the Department for […]
Siobhán continues to lobby around the findings and recommendations of a number of Consortium research papers as follows: Meeting with Fermanagh & Omagh Council on Women, Skills & Barriers to Work research paper findings and recommendations Recording podcast for Women’s Platform on Women’s Experiences of the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Northern Ireland research paper available to […]
Campaigns: Guarantee our Essentials Siobhán is part of a campaign from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust calling for an Essentials Guarantee within Universal Credit. The Essentials Guarantee would embed in the social security system a principle that at a minimum Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials. You can read […]
This document details the Minister for Communities’ initial Budget 2025-26 decisions and how they will impact on the Department’s ability to deliver public services. Siobhán hopes to make a detailed response to this consultation. If you have any input to this consultation please contact Siobhán as soon as possible at policy@wsn.org.uk The deadline for comments […]
There has been considerable coverage in the media about the Labour Government’s proposed cuts to disability benefits including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit health support. The Pathways to Work consultation outlines the Government’s proposals including: Scrapping the work capability assessment. Any extra financial support for health conditions in Universal Credit will therefore be solely based […]
Siobhán continues to lobby around the findings and recommendations of a number of Consortium research papers as follows: Meeting with Fermanagh & Omagh Council on Women, Skills & Barriers to Work research paper findings and recommendations Recording podcast for Women’s Platform on Women’s Experiences of the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Northern Ireland research paper Blog piece […]
NIRWN attended the Joseph Rowntree Foundation at Ulster University for seminar on “Poverty & Disability: The Pathways to Work” where we discussed the anticipated impact in NI of the UK Government’s Pathways to Work Green Paper and explored operational and policy options and the impact of changes to Disability benefits. NIRWN travelled to Co Down […]
The Women’s Spaces team along with all four project partners (Women’s Platform, WRDA, NIRWN and WSN) would like to invite NIRWN members to the launch of our new digital toolkit Pillars for Peacebuilding, a toolkit on women’s activism in Northern Ireland. This toolkit has been funded by the DFA Reconciliation Fund. The team are very […]
