City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		Environment, Transport and Planning
Service Area:		Public Protection
Name of the proposal :		Food Service Plan 2024 - 2025
Lead officer:		Matthew Pawson
Date assessment completed:		23/09/2024
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Matthew Pawson	Environmental Health and Trading Standards Manger		City of York Council	Environmental Health and Trading Standards

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.

City of York Council has a legal responsibility to produce an annual food service plan which sets out the aims and objectives for the year, in relation to food safety and hygiene, food standards, and feed. The plan reviews the performance over the previous financial year, considers the likely demands on the service in the year ahead, and considers the resources available to do this. The report is submitted to the Executive Member Session for approval.

1.2

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

There is a central government requirement for local authorities to comply with relevant legislation, codes of practice, guidance on enforcement priorities and a framework document to produce an annual service plan for food law enforcement. This plan is supplementary to the Public Protection Service Plan. The plan provides more specific detail on the Service’s aims and objectives for the forthcoming year in complying with the current Food Law Code of Practice and Food Standards Agency Framework Agreement with Local Authorities, which embodies the requirements of the legislation. In addition, the food plan also considers the views and requirements of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) who provide advice and guidance for food and animal feed interventions required by local authorities.

1.3

Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests? Food producers and retailers in the City Residents of York, and visitors to York who may visit local food premises, or anyone who consumes food labelled in the district Elected members Authorised officers engaged in food enforcement activity Animal feed producers

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

Business customer satisfaction survey results

This survey assesses the effect of interventions undertaken, and how well the advice and service provided is received. 

The Council retains a comprehensive database on which details of all inspections / interventions are recorded. The system identifies all known local premises on the basis of risk, and thereby enables a comprehensive risk-based inspection programme to be identified for the subsequent municipal year.

This data is at the heart of the proposed Service Plan.

This provides an understanding of the types of businesses inspected and the levels of compliance associated with business types.

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
At this moment it is not known precisely how many food premises are managed by persons from particular ethnic groups, although it is suspected that certain types of food business (e.g. takeaways) are run by and tend to be members of the BME communities.		Further information could be gained on this during the inspection process, when the ethnicity of food premises owners could be gathered. This could be cross referenced against compliance and customer satisfaction levels to help ensure these groups are not disadvantaged.

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		None identified	Neutral	Low
Disability		None identified	Neutral	Low
Gender		None identified	Neutral	Low
Gender Reassignment		None identified	Neutral	Low
Marriage and civil partnership		None identified	Neutral	Low
Pregnancy and maternity		None identified	Neutral	Low
Race		Language and literacy may add to the challenges of compliance, but information leaflets and translation services are available and our inspections are aimed at helping businesses towards compliance	Positive	Medium
Religion and belief		Officers need to have a wide knowledge of diverse cultures domestically and commercially within the City. This includes knowledge and respect of different religions and faiths that we come into contact with on a day-to-day basis. E.g. knowledge of slaughterhouse rituals and types of foods consumed by different groups	Positive	Medium
Sexual orientation		None identified	Neutral	Low
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer		None identified	Neutral	Low
Low income groups		Included in the inspection programme are food banks and other premises serving low income groups or those otherwise under financial pressure in the current economic climate to ensure that food is safe and what it says it is.	Positive	Medium
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		None identified	Neutral	Low
Other		None identified	Neutral	Low
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.		No impacts on human rights have been identified as a result of the service plan.

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?

Language and literacy issues may mean that people from BME groups may make compliance even more challenging. The availability of translation services is promoted in our literature and, through use of language line, is available where needed. The training programme on Safer Food and Better Business is designed to improve hygiene standards and reduce the likelihood of enforcement action, and is available in a number of different languages. Applicants are able to carry out food hygiene training in their preferred language.

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		Throughout the report the only potential equalities issue relates to ethnicity and concern of potential language barriers. Translation of advice is made available to all businesses, in order that they are able to understand the legal requirements for their business in their own language, and so provide safe food for the residents and visitors to York.

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
N/a

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?
	Business satisfaction surveys will continue to be undertaken, in order to assess the impact of the food safety, standards and feed work undertaken by Public Protection. Where issues are identified, proactive measures will be implemented to resolve any identified concerns.