To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to his Department's Audit of Inequalities 2026, whether the Arts Council NI's funding programmes are assessed against the participation inequalities, identified in the report.

This issue is an operational matter for the Arts Council, they have advised me as follows:

‘The Arts Council evaluates its programmes against the factors identified in the Departments Audit of Inequalities 2026. All new programmes are fully screened, monitored and evaluated.

The Arts Council conducts outreach programmes to engage communities who would not normally engage or avail of arts provision. We work with partners to deliver outreach programmes and schemes to include Minority Ethnic Artist, Rural Arts Engagement, Arts & Older People, Community Engagement, Arts & Young People, Arts and Health programme engagement, Disability Arts engagement. There is an ongoing focus on Arts and Men’s Mental Health Arts engagement.

The Arts Council conducts external surveys and collaborates with external partners to gain additional data insights within programmes and collaborates with external partners to acquire enhanced section 75 data information. We also conduct internal staff surveys to identify inequalities and are currently undertaking a Social Class survey of Artists in Northern Ireland.’