To ask the Minister for Communities, in line with commitments his Department made to the recommendations from the LGBTQI+ Strategy Expert Advisory Panel in December 2020, (i) whether work on the development of the stage 2 plan is progressing; and (ii) whether he will provide the Assembly with an update on progress of the stage 2 plan.

An Expert Advisory Panel was set up in 2020 to make recommendations to the Department on key themes for development of a Sexual Orientation Strategy. One of the panel’s recommendations was to develop an action plan for delivery of the Strategy, once it had been agreed by the Executive. This Action Plan would be reviewed and refreshed after five years leading to the development of a Stage 2 plan.

Following consideration of the work previously carried out to develop each of the Social Inclusion Strategies, alongside unprecedented pressures on resources across Executive departments, I decided to move forward on development of the Strategies on a phased basis, with work now well progressed on the Anti-Poverty and Disability Strategies. Further detail on the timetable for the development of the Sexual Orientation Strategy will be confirmed shortly. The Expert Panel’s recommendations will be considered as part of this development, including future review arrangements.

Final decisions on content of the Strategy will be subject to Executive agreement.