There are many definitions of social inclusion but the most straightforward is that developed by the Combat Poverty Agency. The Agency defines social inclusion as being about:

“… building a fair and inclusive society and ensure that people have the resources and opportunities to live life with dignity and have access to quality public services that underpin life chances and experiences .”

The work of the Unit falls under 12 objectives as determined by the Department of Environment, Heritage, and Local Government:

•  To develop and oversee the implementation and evaluation of the local authority's social inclusion strategy in consultation with the Office for Social Inclusion in the D/SCFA and the Combat Poverty Agency.

•  To assist local authorities to incorporate social inclusion objectives in the authorities' corporate planning process.

•  To identify existing data/establish baseline data on the extent, nature and causes of poverty within the local authority area, and by this means, develop local poverty profiles.

•  To ascertain the local authority's current activities relevant to social inclusion and assess their impact

•  To promote an awareness of the social inclusion perspective , through staff training and the provision of information, and bring influence to bear across the breadth of the authority's functions

•  To identify new and innovative opportunities in tackling social exclusion having regard to relevant national polices , and foster their integration with the local authority's existing social inclusion activities

•  To co-operate with other agencies involved in social inclusion and key stakeholders in the county/city to ensure a co-ordinated approach and to avoid displacement and duplication

•  To feed into the work of the City/County Development Board in respect of the local authority's role in social inclusion

•  To support/assist local authority's role in implementation of the Task Force on the Integration of Local Government and Local Development's Social inclusion Measures Report

•  To provide support as appropriate, in relation to the implementation

of the RAPID Programme within the local authority's area

11. To be responsible for advancing the NAPS in the local authority and

monitoring its implementation

12. To keep abreast of policy developments in social inclusion at

national and local levels