Equality Screening Debt Management Policy

Equality Screening Debt Management Policy p2

Available evidence

Evidence to help inform the screening process may take many forms.  Public authorities should ensure that their screening decision is informed by relevant data. The Commission has produced this guide to signpost to S75 data.

What evidence/information (both qualitative and quantitative) have you gathered to inform this policy?  Specify details for each of the Section 75 categories.

Section 75 category  Details of evidence/information
Religious belief

2021 Census

Protestant and other Christian religions comprise the majority of citizens within MEA Borough at 58% compared to 17% Catholic respectively.

Citizens with a non-Christian belief comprise 1% of the Borough and citizens without a religion is represented by 24% of the Borough.

Political opinion 

Local Government Elections – May 2023

The political opinion within MEA Borough is broken down as follows:

Party MEA Borough (%)
DUP 30.9
UUP 17.3
Alliance 18.9
TUV 15.9
Sinn Fein 9.3
SDLP 2.0
Green 0.9
Others 4.7

 

Racial group 

2021 Census

The racial breakdown within MEA Borough is as follows:

NI Census 2021 MEA Borough (%)
White 97.78
Other/None recorded 2.22
Age

2021 Census

The largest age range in MEA Borough is 40-64 at 34% followed by citizens aged between 15 and 39 at 29%.

Over 65s make up 20% with those aged 0-14 comprise 17% of the Borough.

 

Marital status

2021 Census

NI Census 2021 MEA Borough (%)
Single 33.43
Married 49.15
Civil Partnership 0.16
Separated 3.53
Divorced 6.83
Widowed 6.91

The number of residents who are single, in a civil partnership or divorced has risen since the 2011 Census.

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