[1]
Title of EIA: This should clearly explain what service / policy /
strategy / change you are assessing
[2]
ID no: The unique reference for this
EIA. If in doubt, contact your CCG or BHCC equality lead (see page
1)
[3]
Team/Department: Main team responsible for the
policy, practice, service or
function being assessed
[4]
Focus of EIA: A member of the public should have a good
understanding of the policy or service and any proposals after
reading this section. Please use plain English and write any
acronyms in full first time - e.g.: ‘Equality Impact
Assessment (EIA)’
This section should explain what you are
assessing:
- What are the main
aims or purpose of the policy, practice, service or function?
- Who implements,
carries out or delivers the policy, practice, service or function?
Please state where this is more than one person/team/body and where
other organisations deliver under procurement or partnership
arrangements.
- How does it fit with other services?
- Who is affected by the policy, practice,
service or function, or by how it is delivered? Who are the
external and internal service-users, groups, or communities?
- What outcomes do you want to achieve, why and
for whom? E.g.: what do you want to provide, what changes or
improvements, and what should the benefits be?
- What do existing or previous inspections of
the policy, practice, service or function tell you?
- What is the reason for the proposal or
change (financial, service, legal etc)? The Act requires us to make
these clear.
[5]
Previous actions: If there is
no previous EIA or this assessment if of a new service, then simply
write ‘not applicable’.
[6] Data: Make sure you have enough
data to inform your EIA.
·
What data relevant to the impact on specific groups of the
policy/decision/service is available?
·
What further evidence is needed and how can you get it? (E.g.:
further research or engagement with the affected groups).
·
What do you already know about needs, access and outcomes? Focus on
each of the groups identified above in turn. E.g.: who uses the
service? Who doesn’t and why? Are there differences in
outcomes? Why?
·
Have there been any important demographic changes or trends
locally? What might they mean for the service or function?
·
Does data/monitoring show that any policies or practices create
particular problems or difficulties for any groups?
·
Do any equality objectives already exist? What is current
performance like against them?
·
Is the service having a positive or negative effect on particular
people in the community, or particular groups or communities?
[7] Engagement: You must engage
appropriately with those likely to be affected to fulfil the
equality duty.
·
What do people tell you about the services?
·
Are there patterns or differences in what people from different
groups tell you?
·
What information or data will you need from communities?
·
How should people be consulted? Consider:
(a) consult when proposals are still at a formative stage;
(b) explain what is proposed and why, to allow intelligent
consideration and response;
(c) allow enough time for consultation;
(d) make sure what people tell you is properly considered in the
final decision.
·
Try to consult in ways that ensure all perspectives can be
considered.
·
Identify any gaps in who has been consulted and identify ways to
address this.
[8] Your EIA must get to grips fully and
properly with actual and potential impacts.
·
The equality duty does not stop decisions or changes, but means we
must conscientiously and deliberately confront the anticipated
impacts on people.
·
Be realistic: don’t exaggerate speculative risks and negative
impacts.
·
Be detailed and specific so decision-makers have a concrete sense
of potential effects. Instead of “the policy is likely to
disadvantage older women”, say how many or what percentage
are likely to be affected, how, and to what extent.
·
Questions to ask when assessing impacts depend on the context.
Examples:
o Are one
or more groups affected differently and/or disadvantaged? How, and
to what extent?
o Is there
evidence of higher/lower uptake among different groups? Which, and
to what extent?
o If there
are likely to be different impacts on different groups, is that
consistent with the overall objective?
o If there
is negative differential impact, how can you minimise that while
taking into account your overall aims
o Do the
effects amount to unlawful discrimination? If so the plan
must be modified.
o Does the
proposal advance equality of opportunity and/or foster good
relations? If not, could it?
[9]
Consider all three aims of the Act: removing barriers, and also
identifying positive actions we can take.
·
Where you have identified impacts you must state what actions will
be taken to remove, reduce or avoid any negative impacts and
maximise any positive impacts or advance equality of
opportunity.
·
Be specific and detailed and explain how far these actions are
expected to improve the negative impacts.
·
If mitigating measures are contemplated, explain clearly what the
measures are, and the extent to which they can be expected to
reduce / remove the adverse effects identified.
·
An EIA which has attempted to airbrush the facts is an EIA that is
vulnerable to challenge.
[10]
Age: People of all
ages
[11]
Disability:
A person is disabled if they have a
physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term
adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day
activities. The definition includes: sensory impairments,
impairments with fluctuating or recurring effects, progressive,
organ specific, developmental, learning difficulties, mental health
conditions and mental illnesses, produced by injury to the body or
brain. Persons with cancer, multiple sclerosis or HIV infection are
all now deemed to be disabled persons from the point of
diagnosis.
[12]
Gender Reassignment: A
transgender person is someone who
proposes to, starts or has completed a process to change their
gender. A person does not need to be under medical
supervision to be protected
[13]
Pregnancy and Maternity:
Protection is during
pregnancy and any statutory maternity leave to which the woman is
entitled.
[14]
Race/Ethnicity: This includes
ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality, and includes
refugees and migrants, and Gypsies and Travellers.
Refugees and migrants means people
whose intention is to stay in the UK for at least twelve months
(excluding visitors, short term students or tourists). This
definition includes asylum seekers; voluntary and involuntary
migrants; people who are undocumented; and the children of
migrants, even if they were born in the UK.
[15]
Religion and Belief:
Religion includes any
religion with a clear structure and belief system. Belief means any
religious or philosophical belief. The Act also covers lack of
religion or belief.
[16]
Sex/Gender: Both men and
women are covered under the Act.
[17]
Sexual Orientation:
The Act protects bisexual,
gay, heterosexual and lesbian people
[18]
Marriage and Civil
Partnership: Only in relation to due
regard to the need to eliminate discrimination.
[19]
Community Cohesion: What must
happen in all communities to enable different groups of people to
get on well together.
[20]
Other relevant groups: e.g.: Carers, people experiencing
domestic and/or sexual violence, substance misusers, homeless
people, looked after children, ex-armed forces personnel, people on
the Autistic spectrum etc
[21]
Cumulative Impact: This is an
impact that appears when you consider services or activities
together. A change or activity in one area may create an impact
somewhere else
[22] Assessment of overall impacts and
any further recommendations
- Make a frank and
realistic assessment of the overall extent to which the negative
impacts can be reduced or avoided by the mitigating measures.
Explain what positive impacts will result from the actions and how
you can make the most of these.
- Countervailing
considerations: These may include the reasons behind the
formulation of the policy, the benefits it is expected to deliver,
budget reductions, the need to avert a graver crisis by introducing
a policy now and not later, and so on. The weight of these factors
in favour of implementing the policy must then be measured
against the weight of any evidence as to the potential
negative equality impacts of the policy.
- Are there any
further recommendations? Is further engagement needed? Is more
research or monitoring needed? Does there need to be a change in
the proposal itself?
Data taking from Low
Income Family Tracker (LIFT), using our January 2023 data set (most
recent refresh), representing available equalities groups by their
financial resilience status.
Age:
Disability (by age):
Single Parents (by age):
Couples with Children (by age):
