City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		People
Service Area:		Education, Skills and SEND
Name of the proposal :		Update on the progress of Early Talk for York and plans to scale further
Lead officer:		Rob Newton, Social Mobility Project Manager
Date assessment completed:		21.10.22
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Rob Newton	Social Mobility Project Manager		City of York Council	Social mobility

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.
	To give access to the Early Talk for York approach – training, resources and support – to more professionals in the city working with early years aged children in relation to children’s speech, language and communication development.

1.2	Are there any external considerations? (Legislation/government directive/codes of practice etc.)
·	This proposal directly supports the Local Authority’s statutory duty to · Ensuring that the quality of education within the local area is at least good · Ensuring that the needs of children with SEND and those with defined characteristics and vulnerabilities are being met It also supports schools and setting to meet the statutory requirements as laid out in the Early Years Foundation Stage

1.3	Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?
	Early years practitioners in settings and schools, parents and carers, children (0-5) Members of the York Schools and academies board – provided funding to support Early Talk for York Health – joint commissioning of a SALT to support Early Talk for York

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.

To improve outcomes for all children aged 0 - 5, but particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, in the speech, language and communication domains of their development This links directly to the Council Plan ‘A better start for children and young people’ and the ambition to ‘Continue to prioritise gaining improved outcomes for our most disadvantaged children and young people in the city’ as well as in the 2021 update to ‘Evaluate the potential scalability of the Early Talk for York scheme’ It supports the aims to have a ‘strong quality early years sector’ that ‘engages our most vulnerable children’ and ‘The attainment gap between our most disadvantaged children and young people and their peers will have reduced’

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
Evaluation of the current Early Talk for Yok approach		This is the model that is being considered for scale up so is a real world application.
Feedback from key stakeholders		This allows a multi perspective lens on the proposal
Informal feedback from potential future participants		To understand the ways in which the model can fit with existing practices.

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
None identified		N/A

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		This work is demonstrating a positive impact on improving outcomes for early years aged children	+	H
Disability		This work is demonstrating a positive impact on improving outcomes for children with identified special educational need or disability	+	H
Gender		None identified
Gender Reassignment		None identified
Marriage and civil partnership		None identified
Pregnancy and maternity		None identified
Race		None identified
Religion and belief		None identified
Sexual orientation		None identified
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		None identified
Low income groups		This work is having a particularly positive effect on improving outcomes for children from lower income backgrounds.	+	H
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		None identified
Other		None identified
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.		None identified

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?
This work has a particularly positive impact on outcomes for children from lower income backgrounds.  Future scale up work will use available data to ensure that resources are targeted effectively to maximise the potential for improving outcomes for children from lower income backgrounds.

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 EIA has not identified any adverse effects and has identified several positive effects in relation to equalities.

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

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 work will continue to be evaluated against the evaluation schedule.