City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		Economy & Place
Service Area:		Regeneration
Name of the proposal :		York Riverside Pedestrian Bridge & Enhanced Connectivity
Lead officer:		Andy Kerr
Date assessment completed:		6^th July 2021
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Ben Murphy	Commercial Project Officer		City of York Council	Regeneration/ planning

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 proposal seeks Member endorsement of the findings of a feasibility study into connectivity improvements (potentially including a river crossing and walkway extension) at the River Ouse in York City Centre. The report seeks Member endorsement of ongoing engagement with private sector developers regarding an associated regeneration scheme ‘Riverside Quarter’, and the undertaking of associated survey works, and deployment of associated budget

1.2	Are there any external considerations? (Legislation/government directive/codes of practice etc.)
	Principal considerations include that public spaces such as those the projects seek to deliver must comply with Equalities Act 2010 with regards accessibility.

1.3

Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?

The proposals seek to improve connectivity within and regenerate a key and central part of the City Centre, and will inevitably affect and be influenced by a very wide range of stakeholders and communities of interest. In terms of stakeholder organisations, these are best articulated around the membership of the My City Centre Stakeholder Group, whose collective membership is comprised from: Indie York, the Retail Forum, York Property Forum, higher york, the hospitality association, the canals & Rivers trust, the city guilds associations, north yorkshire police, the centre for voluntary services, make it york, the Business Improvement District, York Community Safety, Cultural Leaders Group, and York Food Festival. The proposals will be shared with these formal stakeholders as part of the ongoing My City Centre project. The project also involves extensive community engagement, and it is planned to share proposals through this engagement as part of a draft vision to be consulted on later this summer. The engagement has focussed on residents and users of the city centre, as well as the business community, and specific communities of interest such as those with mobility issues.

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 outcomes we hope to achieve are the physical improvement of sustainable connectivity and environment within York City Centre, and associated regeneration with economic and cultural benefits flowing. The schemes will provide new high quality amenity space for all and active travel linkages, as well as improving existing open spaces and supporting diversification of the highstreet, with economic benefits – particularly within those low wage retail tourism and hospitality sectors. The benefits are intended principally for the resident community of York (as well as benefiting visitor and business communities). The proposals also support a number of outcomes outlined in the Council Plan 2019-2023, which sets out the Council’s central ambition to provide the best quality of life for its residents, positively supporting 5 of the Council Plan’s core outcomes: · Well-paid Jobs and an Inclusive Economy – supporting hard hit retail, leisure and tourism sectors to recover from Covid, whilst diversifying the highstreet to benefit York’s economy, and support lowest paid sectors, alongside longer term plans to facilitate growth in higher value sectors. · A Greener and Cleaner City – creation of new pedestrian routes to encourage greater use of active travel to reduce vehicle emissions, and new and improved open spaces in the river corridors · Getting around Sustainably – creation of new pedestrian infrastructure to encourage active travel into York city centre · Creating Homes and World-class Infrastructure – transforming public realm in key city centre locations and providing a world class space that improves the setting of York’s historic monuments and buildings · Safe Communities and Culture for All – the provision of new public spaces in the city centre, and improvement of existing. Supporting the associated Riverside Quarter development, which seeks to consolidate (and access) leisure and evening economy uses away from the traditional family shopping environment on Coney Street.

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
My City Centre engagement  - emerging findings		Focusses on many of the specific issues which the projects are seeking to resolve, explored individuals relationship with the City Centre and its spaces in detail, and seeks to establish how people wish to see it improved
York Open data, ONS and Census data		Provides a variety of regularly reported metrics by which we can measure the proposal’s impact and success against socio-economic parameters should works proceed

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
Works are yet to have a business case established and be designed in detail, and the specific needs of socio-economic groups will be assessed and factored into detailed proposals as they are worked up		Resourcing engagement activity as part of the design development stage of work, and high quality design stage work input

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		My City Centre feedback reveals existing accessibility issues with existing city spaces, sometimes related to age. Connectivity improvements will which are accessible for all and designed to modern standards improve accessibility and active travel opportunities. New and improved public spaces will ultimately accommodate a diverse range of uses and activities for people of different ages from young people to older residents.	+	L
Disability		My City Centre feedback reveals existing accessibility issues with existing city spaces. Connectivity improvements will which are accessible for all and designed to modern standards will improve accessibility and active travel opportunities. Consideration will be given in future design to equality of access and the differing needs of all users, for example those with limited mobility, those that use mobility aids, or have visual or hearing impairment.	+	L
Gender		The safety and security of city spaces, particularly during the evening, is an issue which my city centre is exploring in detail, and which can disproportionately impact non-males. There is an opportunity through the detailed design of spaces, to follow best practice principles and ensure that spaces are naturally surveilled, well used and populated and both operate and feel safe and secure.	+	L
Gender Reassignment		The projects impacts in respect of gender re-assignment are considered to potentially mirror those related to gender itself and no additional impacts or issues are identified in this respect	+	L
Marriage and civil partnership		No additional impacts or issues are identified in this specific respect	0	L
Pregnancy and maternity		No additional impacts or issues are identified in this specific respect	0	L
Race		No additional impacts or issues are identified in this specific respect	0	L
Religion and belief		No additional impacts or issues are identified in this specific respect	0	L
Sexual orientation		The safety and security of city spaces, particularly during the evening, is an issue which my city centre is exploring in detail, and which can impact on the perception of the city as being inclusive of people of all sexual orientation. There is an opportunity through the detailed design of spaces, to follow best practice principles and ensure that spaces are naturally surveilled, well used and populated and both operate and feel safe and secure.	+	L
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		The retail, hospitality and tourism sectors which the proposals seek in part to support are disproportionately staffed by part time employees (42% of staff part time against 32% for all other sectors). Part time employment is potentially beneficial to carers who are managing other challenging life commitments alongside work, and therefore supporting these sectors may provide some beneficial impacts to this socio-economic group	+	L
Low income groups		The proposals has positive impacts in supporting the robustness and economic performance of the city’s low wage retail hospitality and tourism sectors, following the immediate impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic and systemic change which is flowing. This will in turn help to support employment prospects and wages amongst the workers in these sectors, who are lower income groups. New and improved public spaces will ultimately accommodate a range of uses, activities and events which can be accessed and enjoyed at low or no cost to residents.	+	L
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		No additional impacts or issues are identified in this specific respect	0	L
Other		No additional impacts or issues are identified in this specific respect	0	L
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.		The rights to freedom of expression and a fair and public hearing are positively reinforced through the ongoing extensive and open engagement being undertaken through My City Centre, to which this project relates	+	L

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?
Unwanted adverse impacts (and unexploited positive impacts) will be avoided through compliant, sensitive and high quality design of the spaces and connections to be delivered, informed by continuation of detailed and wide ranging engagement as part of My City Centre.

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 intrinsically provide positive impacts for groups sharing a protected characteristic, and there are further opportunities as the proposals progress, to embed additional positive impacts in subsequent stages of development. No adverse impacts are identified

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
Potential for additional positive impacts to be realised in relation to groups with protected characteristics around gender, gender reassignment and sexual orientation as the projects are developed		Ongoing consultation exercises to be continued, and opportunities to deepen debate in these area explored. Brief for detailed design of spaces to capture opportunities, and tender selection process for design stage work to be cognisant of opportunities	Ben Murphy	By close 2021

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?
	Future business case preparation will be accompanied by a monitoring and evaluation plan which sets out how key metrics will be assessed moving forward, a 3 year review process is also built into the my city centre engagement programme. All capital projects operated out of the Council’s regeneration function include ongoing lessons learnt assessment, with these disseminated within the Council.