Annex C

City of York Council

Equalities Impact Assessment

Who is submitting the proposal?

Directorate:		Housing and Communities Directorate
Service Area:		Customer, Communities and Inclusion
Name of the proposal:		Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Lead officer:		Laura Williams and Laura Swiszczowski
Date assessment completed:		20/04/2025
Names of those who contributed to the assessment :
Name	Job title		Organisation	Area of expertise
Laura Williams Laura Swiszczowski	Assistant Director Customer, Communities and Inclusion Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion		City of York Council	Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Human Rights

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 is the final version of an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and associated annual action plan.  As a core commitment within our Council Plan, we are ambitious for, and committed to, achieving continuous improvement and equity across all our services and functions. We aim to deliver services that are equally accessible to all our customers and to implement robust strategies and policies that are person centred and considerate of needs. As an employer we want to ensure equity in the recruitment, training and promotion of our employees. We also want celebrate diversity within the workplace and our city, encourage our employees to embrace continuous learning and development in all aspects of their role as officers and as individuals supporting our communities. Our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion strategy will ensure we deliver on our commitments and drive change at all levels of the Council. The strategy builds on the city’s designation and partnership working with regard to City of Sanctuary, Human Rights City and pledge to be an Anti-Racist City and recognised growing cross partnership strengths in these areas.

1.2

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

· The Council needs to take into account the Public Sector Equality Duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited conduct; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it in the exercise of a public authority’s functions). · Under the Human Rights Act 1998 it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with the rights set out in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, agreed by the Council of Europe at Rome on 4th November 1950 (“the Convention”). In particular, the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention must be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. · The report gives an update on how the council is seeking to meet its obligations under both the Equalities and Human Rights Acts with regard to all people protected under those Acts. · CYC is also working towards securing ‘excellent’ against the Equality Framework for Local Government | Local Government Association

1.3	Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?
	Stakeholders: Internal CYC teams, trade unions, civil society organisations, universities, VCS partners and community groups, all York citizens and in particular those with protected characteristics.

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 (2023- 2027) and other corporate strategies and plans. This work sits alongside other recent areas of development and action including re-establishment of the Human Rights & Equalities Board, the council’s adoption of the Social Model of Disability and its Anti-Racism Action Plan and Gypsy and Traveller Action Plan. It builds on the city’s designation and partnership working with regard to City of Sanctuary, York Human Rights City and the pledge to be an Anti-Racist City and recognised growing cross partnership strengths in these areas. The successful implementation of this strategy would enable the Council to address the Plan’s four key commitments in the following ways: a) Equalities & Human Rights – this report is fully focussed on meeting this core commitment. b) Affordability – inequity and exclusion can impact on access to jobs, skills development and economic opportunity and so any improvements made will have direct benefits of the financial and economic wellbeing of the community. c) Climate & Environment– there are no likely direct impacts on the Environment of this report although celebration of diverse cultures will bring a positive contribution to our community places and spaces. d) Health – there are known health disparities for people from all groups with protected characteristics, both nationally and as seen in data on the health of people in York, and any improvement in opportunity impacting on health and wellbeing will have a positive impact on communities.

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.
	Feedback from an 8 week public consultation is included at Annex A to the main report. This was used to amend the draft strategy considered at Executive in April 2024.

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
We try to ensure consistent protected characteristic data across all service areas, but for some groups such as Gypsy and Traveller communities, the Trans* community, etc engagement could be improved. A significant proportion of staff and service users select ‘prefer not to say’ and work needs to be done to reduce this, ensuring confidence to declare protected characteristic data. This will be dealt with via training for Human Rights & Equity Champions who will be responsible for educating colleagues on the confidentiality of protected characteristic data, how this data is used and what it is used for, to encourage increased confidence talking about protected characteristic data and higher declaration from staff and service users.

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 EDI Strategy is expected to have a positive impact across all protected characteristics. We have used quantitative and qualitative data, including the results of the public consultation to inform the Strategy’s development. Where necessary we have developed target interventions for protected characteristics and have considered intersections of protected characteristics throughout.	Positive (+)	High
Disability			Positive (+)
Gender			Positive
Gender Reassignment			Positive
Pregnancy and maternity			Positive
Race			Positive
Religion and belief			Positive
Sexual orientation			Positive
Children with experience of care			Positive
Other Socio-economic groups including :		Could other socio-economic groups be affected e.g. carers, ex-offenders, low incomes?
Carer			Positive
Low income groups			Positive
Veterans, Armed Forces Community		.	Positive
Other
Impact on human rights:
List any human rights impacted.		The new Human Rights and Equalities Analysis Tool which is included in the annual action plan will take into consideration human rights impacts of any changes to policy, practice or and service delivery alongside equalities impacts. HREB will be monitoring the quality of these once they are rolled out and start to be completed by service areas. The City of York Council and the York Human Rights City Steering Group established the Human Rights and Equalities Board with a remit to: provide strategic direction for the council’s human rights and equalities work tackle the issues raised within the York Human Rights City Indicator Report	Positive (+)

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?
There is no indication that there is potential for negative impacts on the above groups.

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		No potential negative impacts that would require a major change.

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?
	An annual report on progress against this strategy and action plan will be considered at a public meeting of the Human Rights and Equalities Board.