City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		People Directorate
Service Area:		Children’s Services
Name of the proposal :		Youth Justice Plan
Lead officer:		Sara Orton, Youth Justice Practice Manager
Date assessment completed:		06 September 2023
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Sara Orton	YJS Manager		York Youth Justice Service	Youth Justice
Ellen Fletcher	Probation Officer		The Probation Service	Rehabilitation of offenders
Nicola Elliot	Police Officer		North Yorkshire Police	Criminal Justice

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.
	This proposal is to put the Youth Justice Service plan before the wider local authority and partners for consideration. The plan is a requirement of the Youth Justice Board and completed annually.

1.2	Are there any external considerations? (Legislation/government directive/codes of practice etc.)
	. Local authorities have a statutory duty to submit an annual Youth Justice Plan relating to their provision of Youth Justice Services. Section 40 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 sets out the Youth Justice partnership’s responsibilities in producing a plan.

1.3	Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?
	City of York Council – Youth Justice Service and partners Youth Justice Board which includes a range of partners from education, housing, Social Care and Police.

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 Youth Justice Plan sets out how Youth Justice Services are provided and the functions. The overall outcomes of the plan is to set a partnership vision which is focused on prevention, diversion and reducing the number of young people entering the Youth Justice system. The plan is in line with the Youth Justice Board Vision of child first justice system and Council Plan of improving outcomes for children, young people, families and the wider community.

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
City of York Council Plan		To ensure the Youth Justice Plan reflects the wider Council Plan
Youth Justice Board guidance		To ensure the Youth Justice Plan is in line with the guidance set out by the Youth Justice Board regarding what must be set out in the plan.
Data/Performance from the Youth Justice Service		To inform the Plan
Consultation and feedback from the Youth Justice Board		To ensure partners are engaged in the development of the plan.
Youth Justice Inspection Guidance and inspection Report		To inform the plan

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
No known gaps in data or knowledge relating to the Youth Justice Plan.		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		The Youth Justice Service has a core duty of working with young people aged 10 – 18. The age of young people will be considered when looking at policy, procedure and practice.	+	L
Disability		The plan takes ensures a vision that children and young people’s needs are considered through an individual and holistic approach through a range of partners to not only consider issues of offending but young persons broader needs.	+	L
Gender		Gender neutral language is used within the Strategic Plan. Where identified in the context of this Strategic Plan, Youth Justice case workers will identify specific needs in order to provide services that cater for individual characteristics. Approaches are based on research and as highlighted in the plan the service have created a female specification intervention.	+	L
Gender Reassignment		See above	+	L
Marriage and civil partnership		Young people who are working with the Youth Justice Service would not be married or in a civil partnership.	0
Pregnancy and maternity		Within the scope of youth justice work, some young people may be pregnant or parents. Where identified in the context of this Strategic Plan, Youth Justice case workers will identify specific needs in order to provide services that cater for individual characteristics.	+	L
Race		The Youth Justice Service ensures plans are individual, holistic and signed up to the pledge as outlines in section 4.	+	L
Religion and belief		It is intended that religion or belief will taken into account in individual case work and holistic view of the young person in their community as outlined in the plan.	+	L
Sexual orientation		The strategic plan does not differentiate between sexual orientation. Case workers will work individually with young people and ensure confidentiality and privacy in line with young people’s choices.	+	L
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		The plan recognises the need to work with young people and their carers and wider network, working with a vision to ingrate young people and create safer communities.	+	L
Low income groups		The plan sets a vision to work with young people on an individual basis and to consider individual factors and respond accordingly.	+	L
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		The Youth Justice Service has a duty to work with all young people across the City therefore there would be no impact.	+	L
Other		Data is tracked on young people who are excluded from education, children from gypsy, roma and traveller backgrounds. The inspection this year commented ‘work with children from travelling families was very good, with knowledge, skills and relationships having being built over time’.
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 Youth Justice Plan sets out the vision, function and priority of the service. The Service works on both a statutory and preventative basis. The service user group is often diverse and we ensure that opportunities for all young people and their parents/carer are optimised. There is no foreseeable reason the Youth Justice plan will cause concern regarding unlawful prohibited conduct or unwanted adverse impact.

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		This EIA demonstrates the plan’s vision to work with children and young people from a range of diverse backgrounds in a child focused, individual, and holistic way to ensure their needs are considered with the overall aim of prevention and improving their outcomes which in turn promotes safer communities.

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
None

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 Youth Justice Plan is monitored on a regular basis by the Youth Justice Management Board.