improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI

Executive Summary
8_
title EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1_Watt, P. and McGaughey,
F. (eds) (2006), How
Public Authorities Provide
Services to Minority Ethnic
Groups, Emerging Findings
Discussion Paper. Available
at: www.nccri.ie.
2_The introduction explores
each of these components
and a short definition of
each is provided in the
glossary at the end of this
report.
This publication outlines findings from research
commissioned by the Office of First Minister and Deputy First
Minister in Northern Ireland. The research focuses on public
authorities’ service provision to minority ethnic (including
migrant and Traveller) groups in three jurisdictions: Northern
Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland. The primary
focus of the research is to identify how public authorities in
the three jurisdictions can learn from the experiences of their
nearest neighbours. This includes highlighting case examples
from each of the jurisdictions.
The Introduction explains that a number of service areas were selected for the
research as sample areas of how public authorities provide services to minority
ethnic groups and to act as a kind of barometer. The service areas selected for
the research were:
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Health
Education
Policing
Employment
Housing (Northern Ireland only).
In Northern Ireland, three main local council areas were chosen for the study:
Belfast, Dungannon and Ballymena. These areas represent urban and rural
contexts and are areas associated with the growth of ethnic diversity in Northern
Ireland.
In order to enhance the participation of interested parties, including service
providers and NGOs, in the research process, this report was preceded by
an emerging findings discussion paper published in March 2006. 1 This paper
outlined emerging findings and provided a basis for discussion at a conference in
Belfast, also in March 2006.
Service Provision Framework
For the purposes of this research, a template was developed to be used by the
research team in each jurisdiction. This template comprised of four key elements
essential for effective service provision to minority ethnic groups. These are:
1. Mainstreaming
2. Targeting
3. Benchmarking
4. Engagement. 2.
Whilst these are described as separate components, they are by no means
mutually exclusive; in fact all are required and there is considerable overlap and
inter-reliance between them.