Funding provided to Stonewall by the Northern Ireland Assembly

Information Standards Freedom of Information Response

Our Ref: FOI 55-21

6 December 2021

Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”)

I am writing to confirm that the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) has processed your request dated 10 November 2021 in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In your request, you asked:

“1. In respect of each of the years 2015-2021, please confirm what funding has been provided to Stonewall by: Northern Ireland Assembly

The Assembly Commission joined the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme in 2019, membership payments are outlined at Appendix A.

2. Please specify whether the funding in 1 above has been in the form of:

(a) Direct grants for unlimited purposes;

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

(b) Direct grants for limited purposes (in that event, stating the purpose);

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

(c) Payments for goods or services (specifying the relevant goods and services).

Please refer to Appendix A, which outlines membership costs paid by the Assembly Commission to Stonewall.

3. Where the funding in 1 above has been by way of payment for goods or services, please specify:

(a) What analysis has been conducted to ascertain whether these goods or services meet contractual and/or legal requirements?

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

(b) What contractual or other recourse exists to reclaim in respect of goods or services that are defective, substandard or delivered in contravention of the law;

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

(c) What steps are being taken to seek recourse for any such contractual or legal shortfalls?

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

4. In respect of the payments referred to in 1 above, please state:

(a) What criteria were applied in deciding to make payments by way of direct grants?

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

(b) What tendering process was conducted with regard to provision of goods or services?

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

(c) What alternative suppliers of goods or services were considered?”

The Assembly Commission does not hold any information in relation to this question.

You have the right to request a formal review by the Assembly Commission and if you wish to do so, please write to me at the above address.

If after such an internal review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF who will undertake an independent review.

The Assembly Commission may publish details of your FOI request and our official response within the organisational disclosure log. The request will be completely anonymised and you will not be identified in any way. This is to meet the requirements as laid out by in the agreed publication scheme with the Information Commissioners’ Office.

Yours sincerely

INFORMATION STANDARDS OFFICE

Appendix A

Membership payments made by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission to Stonewall.