Appendix 2

City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		Customer & Communities/Children’s (Education &Skills)
Service Area:		Customer & Communities/ Children’s (Education &Skills)
Name of the proposal :		School Holiday Food Scrutiny Review Final Recommendations
Lead officer:		Pauline Stuchfield/Maxine Squire (in support rather than leading as Scrutiny members authored the report & recommendations)
Date assessment completed:		9/5/2022
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Pauline Stuchfield	Director of Customer & Communities		CYC	Customers, Communities. Financial Inclusion
Maxine Squire	Assistant Director (Education & Skills)		CYC	Education & Skills

Step 1 – Aims and intended outcomes 

1.1

What is the purpose of the proposal? Please explain your proposal in Plain English avoiding acronyms and jargon.

The recommendations made by scrutiny are as follows: · Recommendation 1            Holiday food provision should be put in place for the remaining school holidays in 2022/23 in line with the recommendations below, acknowledging that the provision of vouchers at a cost £50k to £60k per school holiday week is not affordable without direct government funding. · Recommendation 2 Despite its acknowledged limitations, the Holiday Activities and Food project (HAF) will remain an important part of the school holiday food offer, and CYC should continue to promote it and work with providers to make activities as genuinely accessible as possible, whilst also lobbying Government for greater flexibility in how the programme can be delivered. · Recommendation 3            In determining how the £200,000 for Covid recovery efforts is spent, Ward teams should prioritise supporting settings and providers that, with appropriate support, could deliver a school holiday food offer targeted at those most in need and for whom other support may not be accessible. · Recommendation 4            The remaining £43,000 in the school holiday food budget should be made available for LACs, schools and community organisations to use to issue supermarket vouchers to families who are in need and for whom other support may be inaccessible. If demand proves to be high, Executive should look at ways in which this fund could be supplemented from other sources. · Recommendation 5            When details of the new Household Support Fund are available, CYC should identify how its delivery can be targeted to specifically benefit FSM (Free School Meals) families. · Recommendation 6            CYC should produce an advice and information pack designed to signpost families, advice partners and ward councillors to sources of information and support. This should be accessible to all but promoted specifically to FSM families.

1.2

Are there any external considerations? (Legislation/government directive/codes of practice etc.)

This  is discretionary activity in that the government do not provide funding for free school meals during the school holidays however they do provide funding for the Holiday Activity & Food scheme which is an integral part of the solutions recommended in this report. In addition they fund the Household Support Fund which gives short term assistance for food and fuel for families.  All recommendations support our local equalities protected characteristic around people experiencing financial difficulty.

1.3

Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?

The key stake holders are: · The Council in providing  welfare support, grant funded support or community based for its residents to alleviate food poverty · The children and residents of the city who will benefit from any support provided – this could include people who represent all communities with protected characteristics · Schools in respect of free school meal support for their eligible pupils · Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities through the HAF programme · Third sector agencies who provide similar support and or advice who will contribute to coproducing food solutions in the city.

1.4

What results/outcomes do we want to achieve and for whom?  This section should explain what outcomes you want to achieve for service users, staff and/or the wider community. Demonstrate how the proposal links to the Council Plan (2019- 2023) and other corporate strategies and plans.

The council is not in a position to alleviate poverty as it has neither the financial resource nor the power to reshape national policy which is to not provide free school meals other than through the HAF programme during school holidays. This paper looks to set out a plan at least for the 21/22  and 22/23  that seeks mitigate some of the impacts of school holiday food poverty and  financial pressures whilst building in some community resilience.l

Step 2 – Gathering the information and feedback 

2.1	What sources of data, evidence and consultation feedback do we have to help us understand the impact of the proposal on equality rights and human rights? Please consider a range of sources, including: consultation exercises, surveys, feedback from staff, stakeholders, participants, research reports, the views of equality groups, as well your own experience of working in this area etc.
Source of data/supporting evidence		Reason for using
All evidence is contained in the scrutiny report		As per the report

Step 3 – Gaps in data and knowledge

3.1	What are the main gaps in information and understanding of the impact of your proposal?  Please indicate how any gaps will be dealt with.
Gaps in data or knowledge		Action to deal with this
These proposals seek to put in place activities and resources to address in gaps in provisions around school holiday  food insufficiency and associated solutions		No further action.  If the proposals are not supported then there is a risk that there is a detrimental effect on some our residents who are suffering from the impacts of poverty and hunger.

Step 4 – Analysing the impacts or effects.

4.1	Please consider what the evidence tells you about the likely impact (positive or negative) on people sharing a protected characteristic, i.e. how significant could the impacts be if we did not make any adjustments? Remember the duty is also positive – so please identify where the proposal offers opportunities to promote equality and/or foster good relations.
Equality Groups and Human Rights.		Key Findings/Impacts	Positive (+) Negative (-) Neutral (0)	Medium (M) Low (L)
Age		The recommendations in this report essentially mitigate impacts on school age children and their families, but the wraparound solutions in worst affected communities will be relevant to all ages	Positive (+)	High (H) impacts if the decisions were not supported
Disability		The recommendations in this report around wrap a around solutions will mitigate impacts for this group who may have complex needs in relation to food	Positive (+)	As above
Gender		n/a
Gender Reassignment		n/a
Marriage and civil partnership		n/a
Pregnancy and maternity		n/a
Race		The recommendations in this report will mitigate outcomes for this group who may have complex needs in relation to welfare benefits and food The pandemic is known to have greater impacts on BAME communities.	Positive (+)	High
Religion and belief		n/a
Sexual orientation		n/a
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		Yes if living in poverty and little access to support	Positive (+)	High
Low income groups		Yes	Positive (+)	High
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		Yes if living in poverty	Positive (+)	High
Other
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.		None

Use the following guidance to inform your responses:

Indicate:

- Where you think that the proposal could have a POSITIVE impact on any of the equality groups like promoting equality and equal opportunities or improving relations within equality groups

- Where you think that the proposal could have a NEGATIVE impact on any of the equality groups, i.e. it could disadvantage them

- Where you think that this proposal has a NEUTRAL effect on any of the equality groups listed below i.e. it has no effect currently on equality groups.

It is important to remember that a proposal may be highly relevant to one aspect of equality and not relevant to another.

High impact (The proposal or process is very equality relevant)	There is significant potential for or evidence of adverse impact The proposal is institution wide or public facing The proposal has consequences for or affects significant numbers of people The proposal has the potential to make a significant contribution to promoting equality and the exercise of human rights.
Medium impact (The proposal or process is somewhat equality relevant)	There is some evidence to suggest potential for or evidence of adverse impact The proposal is institution wide or across services, but mainly internal The proposal has consequences for or affects some people The proposal has the potential to make a contribution to promoting equality and the exercise of human rights
Low impact (The proposal or process might be equality relevant)	There is little evidence to suggest that the proposal could result in adverse impact The proposal operates in a limited way The proposal has consequences for or affects few people The proposal may have the potential to contribute to promoting equality and the exercise of human rights

Step 5 - Mitigating adverse impacts and maximising positive impacts

5.1	Based on your findings, explain ways you plan to mitigate any unlawful prohibited conduct or unwanted adverse impact. Where positive impacts have been identified, what is been done to optimise opportunities to advance equality or foster good relations?
The recommendations will seek to mitigate impacts of the ending of funding of FSM vouchers during the school holidays so providing both welfare advice and food solutions for some of our most vulnerable children and their families.  Community development activities and co-production activities will ensure residents and partners are involved in generating solutions.

Step 6 – Recommendations and conclusions of the assessment

6.1	Having considered the potential or actual impacts you should be in a position to make an informed judgement on what should be done. In all cases, document your reasoning that justifies your decision. There are four main options you can take:
- No major change to the proposal – the EIA demonstrates the proposal is robust.  There is no                         potential  for unlawful discrimination or adverse impact and you have taken all opportunities to    advance equality and foster good relations, subject to continuing monitor and review.
- Adjust the proposal – the EIA identifies potential problems or missed opportunities. This involves taking steps to remove any barriers, to better advance quality or to foster good relations. - Continue with the proposal (despite the potential for adverse impact) – you should clearly set out the justifications for doing this and how you believe the decision is compatible with our obligations under the duty - Stop and remove the proposal – if there are adverse effects that are not justified and cannot be mitigated, you should consider stopping the proposal altogether. If a proposal leads to unlawful discrimination it should be removed or changed. Important: If there are any adverse impacts you cannot mitigate, please provide a compelling reason in the justification column.
Option selected		Conclusions/justification
No major change to the proposal.		The proposals contained in this report will seek to mitigate the loss of FSM voucher with advice and support, and involvement of  communities in the solutions defined in the report.

Step 7 – Summary of agreed actions resulting from the assessment

7.1	What action, by whom, will be undertaken as a result of the impact assessment.
Impact/issue		Action to be taken	Person responsible	Timescale
N/a

Step 8 - Monitor, review and improve

8. 1	How will the impact of your proposal be monitored and improved upon going forward?   Consider how will you identify the impact of activities on protected characteristics and other marginalised groups going forward? How will any learning and enhancements be capitalised on and embedded?
	All related activity will be reported through the council’s Financial Inclusion Steering Group and mid-year and outturn financial inclusion report to the Executive Portfolio Holders. Regular briefings will also be held with the Executive portfolio holders for food poverty.