City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		People Directorate
Service Area:		Education Support Services
Name of the proposal:		Clifton Green Primary - Re-organisation and security of the site to develop the provision to support better outcomes for children with SEND.
Lead officer:		Claire McCormick
Date assessment completed:		13-01-23
Names of those who contributed to the assessment:
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Claire McCormick	Planning & Policy Officer		CYC	Project manager for the development of the project working in tandem with Clifton Green Primary.
Nicki Jones	Head teacher		Clifton Green Primary	Head teacher at the school involved in detailed discussions for the development of the project and working in tandem with CYC.

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 report provides details about the capital work needed to re-organise internal rooms and spaces and address safeguarding and security issues that affect the external areas at the school site. The work will impact positively on learning and social and emotional provision as well as crucially, to better meet the needs of SEND.

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

1.3	Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?

	The stakeholders are CYC and Clifton Green Primary who want to create learning and pastoral provision for all pupils including those with SEND, those who are disadvantaged and to improve the security and safeguarding throughout the building and the wider site.
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.
1.4	As above, the outcomes are for the pupils attending the school and the staff that teach and supervise those pupils. Links to the Council Plan: A greener and cleaner city   The adaptations at Clifton Green Primary will be created using the existing footprint. Safe communities and culture for all The works will secure and safeguard the site, creating a safer environment for children, their families and the wider community. A better start for children and young people The spaces being created at Clifton Green Primary will provide better learning and pastoral provision for all pupils including those with SEND and those who are disadvantaged.  An open and effective council This re-organisational proposal has been put together following discussions about the concerns highlighted within the Council’s Rapid Improvement Group.

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
Feedback from stakeholders – school		Helps to demonstrate the full and wider impact of the proposed works.
Children’s Centre colleagues		Developments to the front of the site will impact upon users of the Children Centre who are present on the school site.  Colleagues are working together to come up with a coherent solution.
Virtual School, Safeguarding, Parents		Parents are aware of the limitations and the challenges school faces.  Individual work is consistently taking place with individual families of vulnerable pupils.  Both the Safeguarding Officer and Virtual School Officers are involved with school in the safety planning of this site.
School governors		Governors are working alongside the school leadership team and CYC.
Rapid Improvement Group		Highlights the need for change both within and without the school building which are required to secure the school’s improvement journey and better meet the needs of children with SEND.

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
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		Early intervention will be positively affected as a result of this scheme to enable life-long impacts for pupils.
Disability		The proposed changes will have a positive impact upon pupils who are SEND and SEMH.  Changing the spaces within school will enable interventions and specific support to be provided effectively to those who are vulnerable.  This cannot be done now as rooms throughout the building are the wrong size, located away from year groups, and there are areas that cannot be used by all due to lack of accessibility.  The changes to external site areas will allow safe egress out of and into the building and will vastly improve the safeguarding of pupils.
Gender		Creating spaces that allow equal access for all in the learning environment.
Gender Reassignment		As above.
Marriage and civil partnership		N/A
Pregnancy and maternity		N/A
Race and culture		Creating spaces that allow equal access for all in the learning environment.  Interventions will become more effective for children with English as an additional language (EAL), due to the change to spaces.
Religion and belief		Re-purposing space allows for the creation of smaller rooms/intervention spaces which can flexibly be used as a prayer room for staff and pupils.
Sexual orientation		N/A
Other Socio-economic groups including:		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		The plan incorporates the development of a secure and private meeting space to be used for sensitive meetings e.g. looked after children, SEND and those on safeguarding plans.
Low income groups		The demographic of the school shows a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils with a wide range of needs including SEND, pastoral, speech and language, social and emotional mental health.  The re-design of spaces will enable these needs to be met.
Veterans, Armed Forces Community
Staff		The adaptation of the school’s existing open main entrance to a secure lobby and reception area is crucial to improving safeguarding and lockdown procedures.  The changes proposed throughout school allows teaching staff to access and have enough intervention spaces that are also in the right places and are of the right size across all year groups and that safeguarding in external areas to can be better managed.
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.

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?
As step 4.

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 project will enhance equality, life-long learning experiences, independence and to enable staff to provide better and more effective experiences for all pupils.

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
Safety, security and educational provision for all.		Make adaptations to resolve issues.	Claire McCormick/Nicki Jones	To be complete by September 2024 (2 phases).

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 use of teaching spaces and the effectiveness of interventions will be continually monitored by the SLT and governors and shared with CYC through school improvement partners.  It would further support the school’s improvement journey by securing their recent ‘good’ Ofsted judgment to possibly ‘outstanding’ in the future as they will be better able to meet the needs of children with SEND.