Annex B

City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		Housing and Communities
Service Area:		Policy and Strategy
Name of the proposal :		Corporate Improvement Action Plan
Lead officer:		Claire Foale
Date assessment completed:		24 June 2024
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Helen Whiting	Chief Officer HR		CYC	HR, OD, ICT

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 Corporate Improvement Action Plan sets out actions the council will take to continuously improve how it operates, in response to the LGA Peer Challenge recommendations and the Council Plan action “how the council operates”.

1.2	Are there any external considerations? (Legislation/government directive/codes of practice etc.)
	The LGA Peer Challenge report - February 2024 https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=14497&Ver=4 item 129 The Government’s Best Value Regulations.

1.3	Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?
	The workforce and staff groups Trade Unions Members Residents and partners

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 Corporate Improvement Action Plan responds to the Council Plan strategic theme “how the council operates”.  The benefits of corporate improvement will be primarily felt by officers, however, by becoming a more efficient and effective organisation, residents will experience a better service and the council will be better able to identify savings.

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
Workshops with officers and Trade Unions		Workshops were held to understand how the council could improve, and through discussion what the impact might be on different groups.
Corporate Improvement Framework Consultation with residents		The consultation helped identify key considerations by residents, who broadly agreed with the framework, with more detail shared in their comments about the impact on different characteristics.
LGA Peer Challenge evidence – in the report		Evidence collated during the peer challenge helped identify issues and barriers experienced by the workforce
Staff surveys		Different staff surveys identified issues that were also reported through the peer challenge
Poverty Truth Commission report		The commissioner’s experience of the council helped provide more information about the council values, behaviours and leadership culture.

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
Discussions did not take place with groups with protected characteristics		Demographic data from the survey shows the data is representative and the comments included help identify specific issues from a qualitative perspective, rather than quantitative.
Staff groups were not specifically consulted in the development of the action plan		Staff groups will be invited to discuss actions within the action plan, such as co-designing the cultural improvement plan or leadership framework.  This is to ensure there is sufficient representation in developing the tools that will drive continuous improvement.

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)	High (H) Medium (M) Low (L)
Age		The officer cohort is ageing and therefore age-related issues were shared.  This includes a lack of development opportunities and a feeling that experience isn’t shared or heard.	-	M
Disability		Residents reported that officers do not understand or aware enough of the Social Model of Disability and how to remove barriers negatively impacting on the disabled community. Accessible information was highlighted as a requirement with improved communications and transparency.	-	M
Gender		Although not specifically gender related, some of the roles in the council are predominately female or male.  With the council being seen as operating in silos there is a concern that the silo-working is preventing movement between directorates.	-	L
Gender Reassignment		No issues identified
Marriage and civil partnership		No issues identified
Pregnancy and maternity		No issues identified
Race		Not specifically race related, there is a view that more junior staff feel like their voice isn’t heard.  Some managers highlighted a lack of understanding or awareness to support them manage issues raised by officers in their teams.	-	l
Religion and belief		Not specifically religion or belief related, there is a view that more junior staff feel like their voice isn’t heard.	-	l
Sexual orientation		Not specifically sexually orientated, there is a view that more junior staff feel like their voice isn’t heard.	-	l
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		Carer time and valuing carer responsibilities was highlighted as part of the need to improve the culture of the organisation	-	L
Low income groups		The poverty Truth Commission have told the council the negative impact of current behaviours on their experience of the council.	-	H
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		No issues identified
Other
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.		Officers ability to work and exercise their responsibilities in a safe, efficient and effective organisation covers a variety of Human Rights, including Right to Life. Residents opportunity to engage with a council in a positive, constructive and appropriate way covers Right to Life, Respect and not to be discriminated against (noting York has identified additional protected characteristics).

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 Corporate Improvement Action Plan has been developed, based on resident and officer feedback and so includes several actions to mitigate the impacts listed above: · Co-designing leadership behaviours, values and actions – together with staff groups · Establishing workforce shadowing to help break down boundaries between directorates · Launching a managing customer relations policy to help ensure residents and officers know roles and responsibilities · Embedding trauma-informed practice to ensure officers know how to support residents during difficult transactions · Embedding improved internal governance, including the corporate improvement board, to steer and monitor actions identified from the staff survey and the Equalities Action Plan · Introducing ways to encourage officers to celebrate success and share experience · Launching a staff ideas hub to encourage staff to get involved and share their thoughts (have a voice) · Providing more induction and training of heads of service to better support teams · Ensuring personal development review process has equalities embedded into it

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		The corporate improvement action plan are those actions officers, partners and residents would like put in place to continue the council’s improvement journey.  How the actions are delivered is more important to address the above, than what the actions are.

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
Ensure the actions when delivered address the feedback raised throughout the development process		Staff groups are to be consulted throughout the deliver of the different activities identified above, and throughout the action plan.	Chief HR ADPS Corporate Strategy Mgr	Ongoing / by May 2025

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?
	The Corporate Improvement Board will monitor delivery of the Corporate Improvement Action Plan, reviewing staff feedback through surveys and the ideas hub to sense check the actions are appropriate and driving the expected outcomes. The LGA are reviewing progress against the action plan in December, with a report to Executive in May 2025.