General Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) Form

Support:

An EIA toolkit, workshop content, and guidance for completing an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) form are available on the EIA page of the EDI Internal Hub. Please read these before completing this form.

For enquiries and further support if the toolkit and guidance do not answer your questions, contact your Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Business Partneras follows:

· Economy, Environment and Culture (EEC) – Chris Brown,

· Families, Children, and Learning (FCL) – Jamarl Billy,

· Governance, People, and Resources (GPR) – Eric Page.

· Health and Adult Social Care (HASC) – Zofia Danin,

· Housing, Neighbourhoods, and Communities (HNC) – Jamarl Billy

Processing Time:

· EIAs can take up to 10 business days to approve after a completed EIA of a good standard is submitted to the EDI Business Partner. This is not considering unknown and unplanned impacts of capacity, resource constraints, and work pressures on the EDI team at the time your EIA is submitted.

· If your request is urgent, we can explore support exceptionally on request.

· We encourage improved planning and thinking around EIAs to avoid urgent turnarounds as these make EIAs riskier, limiting, and blind spots may remain unaddressed for the ‘activity’ you are assessing.

Process:

· Once fully completed, submit your EIA to your EDI Business Partner, copying in your Head of Service, Business Improvement Manager (if one exists in your directorate), Equalities inbox, and any other relevant service colleagues to enable EIA communication, tracking and saving.

· When your EIA is reviewed, discussed, and then approved, the EDI Business Partner will assign a reference to it and send the approved EIA form back to you with the EDI Manager or Head of Communities, Equality, and Third Sector (CETS) Service’s approval as appropriate.

· Only approved EIAs are to be attached to Committee reports. Unapproved EIAs are invalid.

1. Assessment details

Throughout this form, ‘activity’ is used to refer to many different types of proposals being assessed.

Read the EIA toolkit for more information.

Name of activity or proposal being assessed:	A23 North (Patcham) Bus & Cycle Lane
Directorate:	City Services
Service:	Transport
Team:	Transport Project & Engineering
Is this a new or existing activity?	New
Are there related EIAs that could help inform this EIA? Yes or No (If Yes, please use this to inform this assessment)	Yes – Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Enhanced Partnership (EP)

2. Contributors to the assessment (Name and Job title)

Responsible Lead Officer:	Russell McMillan – Senior Project Manager
Accountable Manager:	Tracy Beverley – Transport Capital Programme Manager
Additional stakeholders collaborating or contributing to this assessment:

3. About the activity

Briefly describe the purpose of the activity being assessed:

The objectives of the project are as follows:  

· Proposed southbound bus and cycle lane between Brangwyn Crescent & Brangwyn Drive. This will mainly be provided through lining and signing without changes to existing number of traffic lanes. 

· Replacement of pedestrian crossing near to Old London Road (Southern entrance) with a signalised crossing.

The bus lane is intended to improve reliability given the variability in queueing at this location, especially during the morning peak hours.  It will also provide a shared cycle lane away from general traffic for cycles travelling southwards and better crossing facilities for pedestrians travelling East/West on A23.

If approved, the project will be constructed Spring 2025 and operational in Summer 2025 via a Traffic Regulation Order (hereafter TRO). This allows for comments to be made before the scheme is implemented, any changes, if deemed necessary, to be completed before the bus lane is operational.

What are the desired outcomes of the activity?

The bus lane provides improved reliability for those traveling on services from the north to the city centre. A23 crossing improves increasing accessibility and safety in the area.

Which key groups of people do you think are likely to be affected by the activity?

Positive impact for disabled, age, gender, race and ethnicity, socio-economic status.

4. Consultation and engagement

What consultations or engagement activities have already happened that you can use to inform this assessment?

· For example, relevant stakeholders, groups, people from within the council and externally consulted and engaged on this assessment. If no consultation has been done or it is not enough or in process – state this and describe your plans to address any gaps.

A survey was published on Your Voice for 6 weeks to get comments from the public on the proposed plans. Comments received have informed the detailed design. The consultation survey was disseminated via[CB1] [RM2] [CB3] [RM4] :

· Post

o Leaflets to 295 addresses

o Postcards to 454 addresses

· Emails to key internal and external stakeholders including members of the Transport Partnership, and local equalities groups for disability, race and ethnicity, age and LGBTQ+ groups.

· Press release

· Information distributed by Brighton & Hove Bus Company

o Email sent to their distribution list of 280,000 people

o Postcards within 5, 5a buses

o Electronic poster displayed on screen within 5, 5A buses

There were low levels of interest shown from respondents living within the mailed areas. 4.1% of total responses were received from the leafletted area and 14.2% for the area sent a postcard. The overwhelming numbers of responses came from people living in other areas of the city (71%) with a further 8.7% responses from outside the city[CB5] [RM6] [CB7] [RM8] .

The overall themes drawn out of the survey reference “ Removal of Filter lane, wanting a separate cycle lane, spend money on potholes, longer bus lane required.”

Equalities data was collected as part of the consultation on Your Voice[CB9] [RM10] [CB11] but cannot be linked to the comments made or the impacts for each group.

5. Current data and impact monitoring

Do you currently collect and analyse the following data to enable monitoring of the impact of this activity? Consider all possible intersections.

(State Yes, No, Not Applicable as appropriate)

Age	NO
Disability and inclusive adjustments, coverage under equality act and not	NO
Ethnicity, ‘Race’, ethnic heritage (including Gypsy, Roma, Travellers)	NO
Religion, Belief, Spirituality, Faith, or Atheism	NO
Gender Identity and Sex (including non-binary and Intersex people)	NO
Gender Reassignment	NO
Sexual Orientation	NO
Marriage and Civil Partnership	NO
Pregnant people, Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Menopause, (In)fertility (across the gender spectrum)	NO
Armed Forces Personnel, their families, and Veterans	NO
Expatriates, Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees	NO
Carers	NO
Looked after children, Care Leavers, Care and fostering experienced people	NO
Domestic and/or Sexual Abuse and Violence Survivors, and   people in vulnerable situations (All aspects and intersections)	NO
Socio-economic Disadvantage	NO
Homelessness and associated risk and vulnerability	NO
Human Rights	NO
Another relevant group (please specify here and add additional rows as needed)	NO

Additional relevant groups that may be widely disadvantaged and have intersecting experiences that create exclusion and systemic barriers may include:

· Ex-offenders and people with unrelated convictions

· Lone parents

· People experiencing homelessness

· People facing literacy, numeracy and /or digital barriers

· People on a low income and people living in the most deprived areas

· People who have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM)

· People who have experienced human trafficking or modern slavery

· People with experience of or living with addiction and/ or a substance use disorder (SUD)

· Sex workers

If you answered “NO” to any of the above, how will you gather this data to enable improved monitoring of impact for this activity?

[CB12] [CB13] [RM14] It is not possible to collect equalities data from road users and bus users. See below for proposed impact measures.

What are the arrangements you and your service have for monitoring, and reviewing the impact of this activity?

As the bus lane is being installed under a TRO this includes a 21-day statutory consultation period[CB15] [RM16] [CB17] [RM18] . This will allow us to gather comments on the proposals before the bus lane is operational. It also allows us to make minor changes before the scheme is implemented, should they be deemed suitable.

There is also potential for post construction surveys to be carried out on Your Voice.

Data and resident feedback will also be monitored through emails and the enquiries system.

Feedback received is monitored via Your Voice/emails, complaints and concerns, Stakeholder meetings (e.g. Transport Partnership[CB19] [RM20] [CB21] [RM22] [CB23] [RM24] ).

We hold historical traffic counts (base line data) for bus, cycle and vehicle usage along this route; we can compare the historical data to current to show use of the shared bus and cycle lane once installed to compare usage/impact following the scheme implementation.

6. Impacts

Advisory Note:

· Impact:

o Assessing disproportionate impact means understanding potential negative impact (that may cause direct or indirect discrimination), and then assessing the relevance (that is:  the potential effect of your activity on people with protected characteristics) and proportionality (that is: how strong the effect is).

o These impacts should be identified in the EIA and then re-visited regularly as you review the EIA every 12 to 18 months as applicable to the duration of your activity.

· SMART Actions mean: Actions that are (SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, T = Time-bound)

· Cumulative Assessment: If there is impact on all groups equally, complete only the cumulative assessment section.

· Data analysis and Insights:

o In each protected characteristic or group, in answer to the question ‘If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?’, describe what you have learnt from your data analysis about disproportionate impacts, stating relevant insights and data sources.

o Find and use contextual and wide ranges of data analysis (including community feedback) to describe what the disproportionate positive and negative impacts are on different, and intersecting populations impacted by your activity, especially considering for Health inequalities, review guidance and inter-related impacts, and the impact of various identities.

o For example: If you are doing road works or closures in a particular street or ward – look at a variety of data and do so from various protected characteristic lenses. Understand and analyse what that means for your project and its impact on different types of people, residents, family types and so on. State your understanding of impact in both effect of impact and strength of that effect on those impacted.

· Data Sources:

o Consider a wide range (including but not limited to):

§ Census and local intelligence data

§ Service specific data

§ Community consultations

§ Insights from customer feedback including complaints and survey results

§ Lived experiences and qualitative data

§ Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) data

§ Health Inequalities data

§ Good practice research

§ National data and reports relevant to the service

§ Workforce, leaver, and recruitment data, surveys, insights

§ Feedback from internal ‘staff as residents’ consultations

§ Insights, gaps, and data analyses on intersectionality, accessibility, sustainability requirements, and impacts.

§ Insights, gaps, and data analyses on ‘who’ the most intersectionally marginalised and excluded under-represented people and communities are in the context of this EIA.

· Learn more about the Equality Act 2010 and about our Public Sector Equality Duty.

6.1 Age

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to any particular Age group? For example: those under 16, young adults, with other intersections.

YES

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

The bus and cycle lane will provide positive impacts for those that rely on public transport, this includes older adults and children travelling to school. The bus services which will benefit from the bus lane (due to increased bus reliability) run to and from northern areas of the city such as Patcham, Withdean. These locations have a higher proportion of over 65s residents[CB25] [RM26] .

Those aged 17-29 report proportionally higher bus use when compared to other age groups, except for those aged over 70 who also report higher bus usage. Statistic taken from UK Parliament Committees – Current levels of public transport demand.

There will be positive impacts for cyclists by providing a space for them to cycle at a distance from general traffic.

We will continue to monitor vehicle, cycle and pedestrian counts.

Signage will be implemented to make it clear where each mode of transport should be travelling.

6.2 Disability:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Disability, considering our anticipatory duty?

YES

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

The bus and cycle lane will provide positive impacts for disabled people that do not drive as it will enhance their accessibility and reliability to and from the city centre. Disabled people and those with neurodivergence could rely on bus services running to schedule to make appointments and reduce stress[CB27] [RM28] [CB29] [RM30] .

A pedestrian crossing will be upgraded to a signalised crossing which will provide a benefit for pedestrians who may find this type of crossing easier to use on a busy road like A23 for example, those who have visual impairments or those who are less mobile.

Changes to the road layout could result in negative impacts for those with sight disabilities and neurodivergence.

What inclusive adjustments are you making for diverse disabled people impacted? For example: D/deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, blind, neurodivergent people, those with non-visible disabilities, and with access requirements that may not identify as disabled or meet the legal definition of disability, and have various intersections (Black and disabled, LGBTQIA+ and disabled).

Potential negative impacts for those with sight disabilities and neurodivergence will be mitigated against by having a new signalised pedestrian crossing, clear road signage and ensuring road lining and contrasting colour materials are used correctly in construction. BHCC will also offer walk throughs of the new road layout for those with sight disabilities on request[CB31] [RM32] [CB33] [RM34] .

6.3 Ethnicity, ‘Race’, ethnic heritage (including Gypsy, Roma, Travellers):

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to ethnicity?

NO[CB35] [RM36] [CB37] [RM38]

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.4 Religion, Belief, Spirituality, Faith, or Atheism:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Religion, Belief, Spirituality, Faith, or Atheism?

NO[CB39] [RM40]

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

Any potential language barriers regarding the changes are the responsibility of the bus operators, who provide information and timetables to users. Road markings and signage are unable to be changed as this is authorised for use by the DfT; the council follows these strictly and cannot deviate from them.

6.5 Gender Identity and Sex:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Gender Identity and Sex (including non-binary and intersex people)?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

Women make a third more bus journeys than men so the bus and cycle lane will improve bus reliability for those women using this route. Statistic taken from the Women's Budget Group report titled ‘Public Transport and Gender 2019’.

6.6 Gender Reassignment:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Gender Reassignment?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.7 Sexual Orientation:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Sexual Orientation?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.8 Marriage and Civil Partnership:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Marriage and Civil Partnership?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.9 Pregnant people, Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Menopause, (In)fertility (across the gender spectrum):

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Pregnant people, Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Menopause, (In)fertility (across the gender spectrum)?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.10 Armed Forces Personnel, their families, and Veterans:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Armed Forces Members and Veterans?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.11 Expatriates, Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Expatriates, Migrants, Asylum seekers, Refugees, those New to the UK, and UK visa or assigned legal status? (Especially considering for age, ethnicity, language, and various intersections)

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.12 Carers:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Carers (Especially considering for age, ethnicity, language, and various intersections).

YES

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

The bus lane will provide a positive impact for carers that use the bus by providing improved bus reliability to and from the city.

6.13 Looked after children, Care Leavers, Care and fostering experienced people:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Looked after children, Care Leavers, Care and fostering experienced children and adults (Especially considering for age, ethnicity, language, and various intersections). Also consider our Corporate Parenting Responsibility in connection to your activity.

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.14 Homelessness:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to people experiencing homelessness, and associated risk and vulnerability? (Especially considering for age, veteran, ethnicity, language, and various intersections)

No

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.15 Domestic and/or Sexual Abuse and Violence Survivors, people in vulnerable situations:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Domestic Abuse and Violence Survivors, and people in vulnerable situations (All aspects and intersections)?

NO

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.16 Socio-economic Disadvantage:

Does your analysis indicate a disproportionate impact relating to Socio-economic Disadvantage? (Especially considering for age, disability, D/deaf/ blind, ethnicity, expatriate background, and various intersections)

YES

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

The bus lane will positively impact those people of lower socio-economic background as they are more likely to use public transport and the bus lane will improve travel times.

The less time it takes for travelling has a positive impact on groups that get paid by the hour and enables them to interact in an easier way due to an improved bus service.

6.17 Human Rights:

Will your activity have a disproportionate impact relating to Human Rights?

No

If “YES”, what are the positive and negative disproportionate impacts?

Please share relevant insights from data and engagement to show how conclusions about impact have been shaped. Include relevant data sources or references.

No disproportionate negative impacts identified for this group at this time. 

6.18 Cumulative, multiple intersectional, and complex impacts (including on additional relevant groups):

What cumulative or complex impacts might the activity have on people who are members of multiple Minoritised groups?

· For example: people belonging to the Gypsy, Roma, and/or Traveller community who are also disabled, LGBTQIA+, older disabled trans and non-binary people, older Black and Racially Minoritised disabled people of faith, young autistic people.

· Also consider wider disadvantaged and intersecting experiences that create exclusion and systemic barriers:

o People experiencing homelessness

o People on a low income and people living in the most deprived areas

o People facing literacy, numeracy and/or digital barriers

o Lone parents

o People with experience of or living with addiction and/ or a substance use disorder (SUD)

o Sex workers

o Ex-offenders and people with unrelated convictions

o People who have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM)

o People who have experienced human trafficking or modern slavery

Please see sections 6.1, 6.2, 6.12 and 6.16[CB41] [RM42] [CB43] [RM44] .

7. Action planning

What SMART actions will be taken to address the disproportionate and cumulative impacts you have identified?

· Summarise relevant SMART actions from your data insights and disproportionate impacts below for this assessment, listing appropriate activities per action as bullets. (This will help your Business Manager or Fair and Inclusive Action Plan (FIAP) Service representative to add these to the Directorate FIAP, discuss success measures and timelines with you, and monitor this EIA’s progress as part of quarterly and regular internal and external auditing and monitoring)

1. To provide a public awareness campaign for those that live, work and travel through the area[CB45] [RM46] .

· Provide adequate clear and accessible signage before (advanced warning signage), during (appropriate traffic management) and after construction (‘New road layout ahead’ etc) informing those that live, work and travel through the area of potential disruption in advance of construction this will remain in place for 6 months, as well as appropriate statutory signage after to ensure all modes of transport are aware of what road space to use.

· During the consultation period of the Traffic Regulation Order comments regarding signage and the modes of transport using the space will be monitored and any improvements made where possible. The TRO consultation runs for 21 days before implementation.

· Existing cameras and traffic counters will continue to monitor vehicle counts. This should provide clear pre and post construction data for comparison.

2. Continued monitoring and reviewing of the implementation of the bus and cycle lane on A23

· A post construction survey can be made and disseminated amongst residents/businesses and users to monitor the public’s comments on the new bus and cycle lane within a year of the scheme being implemented. 

· Existing cameras and traffic counters will continue to monitor vehicle counts. This should provide clear pre and post construction data for comparison[CB47] [RM48] .

· Review this EIA in 18 months following implementation, ensuring actions are reflected on, have been implemented, are effective or changed if they are not[CB49] [RM50] .  

Which action plans will the identified actions be transferred to?

· For example: Team or Service Plan, Local Implementation Plan, a project plan related to this EIA, FIAP (Fair and Inclusive Action Plan) – mandatory noting of the EIA on the Directorate EIA Tracker to enable monitoring of all equalities related actions identified in this EIA. This is done as part of FIAP performance reporting and auditing. Speak to your Directorate’s Business Improvement Manager (if one exists for your Directorate) or to the Head of Service/ lead who enters actions and performance updates on FIAP and seek support from your Directorate’s EDI Business Partner.

A project plan related to this EIA

8. Outcome of your assessment

What decision have you reached upon completing this Equality Impact Assessment? (Mark ‘X’ for any ONE option below)

Stop or pause the activity due to unmitigable disproportionate impacts because the evidence shows bias towards one or more groups.
Adapt or change the activity to eliminate or mitigate disproportionate impacts and/or bias.
Proceed with the activity as currently planned – no disproportionate impacts have been identified, or impacts will be mitigated by specified SMART actions.	X
Proceed with caution – disproportionate impacts have been identified but having considered all available options there are no other or proportionate ways to achieve the aim of the activity (for example, in extreme cases or where positive action is taken). Therefore, you are going to proceed with caution with this policy or practice knowing that it may favour some people less than others, providing justification for this decision.

If your decision is to “Proceed with caution”, please provide a reasoning for this:

Summarise your overall equality impact assessment recommendations to include in any committee papers to help guide and support councillor decision-making:

Overall, the implementation of the bus and cycle lane on A23 will have positive effects for the following protected characteristics, age, disability, carers, socio economic disadvantage, as it will improve bus reliability to and from the city.

Potential negative impacts identified in this EIA will be mitigated through the project action plan.

A23 bus and cycle lane project will continually work to ensure groups are aware of the project through clear communication and campaigns. The project will have post construction surveys carried out

9. Publication

All Equality Impact Assessments will be published. If you are recommending, and choosing not to publish your EIA, please provide a reason:

10. Directorate and Service Approval

Signatory:	Name and Job Title:	Date: DD-MMM-YY
Responsible Lead Officer:	Russell McMillan	13 Jan 25
Accountable Manager:	Tracy Beverley	13 Jan 25

Notes, relevant information, and requests (if any) from Responsible Lead Officer and Accountable Manager submitting this assessment:

EDI Review, Actions, and Approval:

Equality Impact Assessment sign-off

EIA Reference number assigned:

For example, HNC##-25-Dec-23-EIA-Home-Energy-Saving-Landlord-Scheme

EDI Business Partner to cross-check against aims of the equality duty, public sector duty and our civic responsibilities the activity considers and refer to relevant internal checklists and guidance prior to recommending sign-off.

Once the EDI Business Partner has considered the equalities impact to provide first level approval for by those submitting the EIA, they will get the EIA signed off and sent to the requester copying the Head of Service, Business Improvement Manager, Equalities inbox, any other service colleagues as appropriate to enable EIA tracking, accountability, and saving for publishing.

Signatory:	Name:	Date: DD-MMM-YY
EDI Business Partner:	Chris Brown	13-Jan-2025
EDI Manager:	Sabah Holmes	14-Jan-2025
Head of Communities, Equality, and Third Sector (CETS) Service: (For Budget EIAs/ in absence of EDI Manager/ as final approver)

Notes and recommendations from EDI Business Partner reviewing this assessment:

Notes and recommendations (if any) from EDI Manager reviewing this assessment:

Notes and recommendations (if any) from Head of CETS Service reviewing this assessment:

---

[CB1]While consultation methods are detailed, there's no analysis of the actual feedback received, What did you learn from the feedback, especially from different equalities groups?

Include a summary here of key feedback themes and how they informed the design

[RM2]We wouldn’t include the feedback as this is published in the report due to the large amount of detail, this would include the most common themes received. Feedback from the Stakeholders is published in full for the public to view.

[CB3]Thanks Russell - can you hyperlink to the report?  Assume members of the public who read this might want to take a look.

[RM4]Hi chris, due to the new cabinet system we do not old this data inline which is annoying, we will produce the report with all the findings and keep on file until its requested by ward Cllrs/ residents

[CB5]I’ve added alt-text to this image so someone using a screen reader can access it. Right click on the table to see what I’ve added.

[RM6]@Chris Brown  This doesn't work for me?

[CB7]Thanks - I’ve just done a bit of research and it looks like Word’s read aloud feature doesn’t yet read out tables, but someone using alternatives like Jaws will be able to hear it. Alt-text visible to me so I’m not sure what the issue is.

[RM8]Ok, well if you are happy with it then that’s good with me too.

[CB9]Are you able to extract from the data how different equalities groups responded to the proposals?  Add findings into the relevant impact section below, especially age and disability. If you can’t pull out that specific data, what are the overall themes - in support of the scheme?  Any barriers identified?

[RM10]I can extract the figures of age, gender, ethnic background, disability but this doesn't link to their comments made/ impact for each group. The overall themes reference “ Removal of Filter lane, wanting a separate cycle lane, spend money on potholes, longer bus lane required”  the sight council requested further information which was provided.  But no barriers identified. 

[CB11]Thanks Russell - I’ve added a couple of lines for you to approve or edit.

[CB12]Please explain here why this baseline equalities data isn't available/possible to collect for road users.

[CB13]I’ve drafted a sentence for your approval or edit.

[RM14]Slight amendment, but this is ok.

[CB15]Are we able to extend this at all?  We’ve had feedback from disabled communities that individuals often need extra time to engage, especially if there are other intersections e.g. caring responsibilities.

[RM16]No this is a standard legal process we cannot alter, we do make exceptions in some instances but wouldn't publicise this. i.e as we did fir Gardner St and allowed more time.  We ensure all disability groups are sent the TRO to ensure they can make comments if they feel appropriate.

[CB17]Thanks Russell - for my understanding, can I ask under what circumstances you would make those exceptions?

[RM18]If a resident/ person got in touch asking for more time and explained why this was required I would be happy to allow for some additional time, as long as this didn’t impact on the delivery of a scheme ( Which it isn't likely to)  The example above Gardner St the resident reached out and requested more time, I granted this but in the end this wasn’t required be them.

[CB19]Do you engage with the Disabled Car Users Advisory Group? Any other groups/forums?

[RM20]No these provide advise to the DfT who then instruct us as an authority. We use local groups such as BADGE for feedback on these schemes as they have a better understanding for local users and  local knowledge.

[CB21]Do you have baseline data for vehicle, cycle and pedestrian usage that you can use to monitor impact of the change? Or any other baseline data?

[RM22]Yes we have  ATC data from permanent sites near to this site which we can use ( vehicle and cycles)., we also did independent traffic counts to compare with.  We hold ped data, however this is at a location that is now out of the scheme remit due to project scope/creep

[CB23]Great - please could you include a note in this section about what baseline data is available and how you will use it to monitor impact?  Then you can add a commitment to the action plan re: monitoring impact through this data.

[RM24]This has been added

[CB25]What local population data do you have about this (and other) group? You can use the interactive Local Insight map to generate a report for the area: Map | Local Insight

[RM26]I thought I had answered this, are you able to advise further? Those 65+ was the only category I felt that fit the question form this data.

[CB27]What local population data do you have about this group?

[RM28]This was added following comments received from a visually impaired stakeholder group we consulted on the proposals with.

[CB29]Great - please add a line about this feedback and which group you received it from if possible.

[RM30]This was via a phone call following questions they had, this isn't noted in the report so I don’t think wise to reference it.

[CB31]Great - can you add how this will be publicised?

[RM32]This has already been offered to one of our internal stakeholders who we engage with regularly on all our schemes, their feedback helps us design out any potential issues they may have.

[CB33]Great - please can you add that detail to this section.

[RM34]I think this is already within the text. BHCC will offer walk throughs of the new road layout

[CB35]Marked as "NO" impact but no justification given here, despite potential language barriers or cultural differences in transport usage. Can you include any analysis of these groups' specific transportation needs and patterns?

[RM36]I believe this would fall upon the bus service provider for its passengers to read/ understand services available and timetables etc.  Road markings and signage are unable to be changed as this is authorised for use by the DfT, we have to follow these strictly and cannot deviate from them. We do have info about “bus lanes” on our website which can be requested in a more accessible format, but I don’t think this is what we are referring to in this instance.

[CB37]Thanks Russell - I’ve drafted a comment in the section to this effect - please edit as needed.

[RM38]Perfect.

[CB39]No consideration of how the route might affect access to places of worship. Can you include any analysis of these groups' specific transportation needs and patterns?

[RM40]This bus route is already in place,  we are simply dedicating a lane to the bus service to prioritise  so no impact is being made to these groups by the scheme.

[CB41]This section could be strengthened - it’s about looking at how these group interact and the impacts on them.

Can you provide any deeper analysis of how multiple protected characteristics might interact (e.g., elderly disabled people, or women from minoritised ethnic backgrounds)?

[RM42]I have referenced carers in 6.12, so I’ve added some text about interaction.

[CB43]I can’t see any text other than ‘Please see…’  - is that what you’re referring to?

[RM44]No it reads The bus lane will provide a positive impact for carers that use the bus by providing improved bus reliability to and from the city.

[CB45]The timing for some mitigations and monitoring isn't clearly specified - can you tighten this up to support implementation of your monitoring plan?

[RM46]This has now been added.

[CB47]Include specific timeline for EIA review/update

[RM48]I’ve added a timeframe for the post construction survey

[CB49]Hi Russell, I’ve added this in line with our toolkit guidance - could you amend to either 12 or 18 months as you see fit?

[RM50]Yes sure, 18 is preferable and I'll diarise this in.