Equality impact assessment (EIA) form: evidencing paying due regard to protected characteristics
(form updated June 2023)
Proposal to establish a new special school provision for Autistic children aged 11-19 at the site of the former Woodfield Community Primary School, Harrogate
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If you would like this information in another language or format such as Braille, large print or audio, please contact the Communications Unit on 01609 53 2013 or email communications@northyorks.gov.uk.
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Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are public documents. EIAs accompanying reports going to County Councillors for decisions are published with the committee papers on our website and are available in hard copy at the relevant meeting. To help people find completed EIAs, we also publish them in our website's Equality and Diversity section. This will help people to see for themselves how we have paid due regard in order to meet statutory requirements.
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Name of Directorate and Service Area |
Children and Young People’s Service, Inclusion |
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Lead Officer and contact details |
Janet Crawford Assistant Director - Inclusion |
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Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Chris Reynolds – Head of SEND Strategic Planning Andrew Dixon, Strategic Planning Manager
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How will you pay due regard? for example, working group, individual officer |
Officer groups – SEND Partnership Board, SEND Capital Board
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When did the due regard process start? |
June 2022
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Section 1. Please describe briefly what this EIA is about. (for example, are you starting a new service, changing how you do something, stopping doing something?)
This assessment is in relation to the proposal to establish a new Free School for pupils with Autism as a primary need in Harrogate. The proposal is to locate this school on the site previously occupied by Woodfield Primary School. |
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Section 2. Why is this being proposed? What are the aims? What does the authority hope to achieve by it? (for example, to save money, meet increased demand, do things in a better way.)
The Council has a statutory responsibility under the Children and Families Act 2014 to keep its special educational provision under review, to ensure sufficiency in placements to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), working with parents/carers, young people and providers.
The Council’s vision is for all children and young people with SEND in North Yorkshire:
This proposal will help the Council to deliver on all three of those aspects.
There is a cohort of pupils, where Autism is the primary presenting need, living in the Harrogate area where the Council struggles to find maintained sector special school places. This provision will be distinctly different from other maintained and academy special schools in North Yorkshire. It will provide a more local offer for more children with Autism who require a specialist setting but with access to specialist subject teaching.
A new Special School for pupils with Autism as a primary need would enable the Council to support more pupils in appropriate local specialist provision, reducing their travel time. It would also reduce the ongoing financial pressure on the high needs revenue budget (where the LA has experienced a spiralling of costs incurred in supporting higher cost placements in independent and non-maintained special schools).
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Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
The proposal is to develop a special school with up to 80 places for pupils with Autism as a primary need. The age range would be 11 – 19. The location in Harrogate would be more accessible for most pupils than are the existing options.
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Section 4. Involvement and consultation (What involvement and consultation has been done regarding the proposal and what are the results? What consultation will be needed and how will it be done?)
A new provision supporting pupils with Autism as a primary need has been a long- standing priority for the local authority. The need for such provision was identified within the SEND capital programme after considering the highest priority SEND provision requirement
Subsequent to that process, we have continued to emphasise this priority through our various stakeholder forums and engaged with the SEND Partnership Board regularly during the development of the principle of this proposal.
A consultation process was carried out for 6 weeks during June and July 2023, and the results of this consultation well be reported to the decision makers alongside this Equalities Impact Assessment.
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Section 5. What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?
Please explain briefly why this will be the result.
The new Special Free School would require financial input of a one-off nature from the Council as a result of: 1. The capital costs of establishing the school. This is planned as a phased approach to development and the final scope is subject to ongoing feasibility work. 2. Any Pre and post opening revenue costs that may be the Council’s responsibility subject to the prevailing requirements of the Department for Education at the time.
However, on a recurring basis it is expected that the new provision would reduce the ongoing financial pressure on the high needs revenue budget as a result of reducing the incidence of higher cost placements in independent and non-maintained special schools.
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Section 6. How will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics? |
No impact |
Make things better |
Make things worse |
Why will it have this effect? Provide evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc. |
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Age |
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ü |
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The proposed introduction of a new special school provision for Autistic children aged 11-19 will create additional and more local provision for children aged 11 – 19. |
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Disability |
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ü |
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Children with disability aged 11-19 with Autism as a primary need will, subject to assessment, be able to access local provision which is suitable for their needs. |
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Sex |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their sex. The new school would be co-educational. |
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Race |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their race. |
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Gender reassignment |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to gender reassignment. |
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Sexual orientation |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to sexual orientation. |
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Religion or belief |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to religion or beliefs. |
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Pregnancy or maternity |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to pregnancy or maternity. |
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Marriage or civil partnership |
ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to marriage or civil partnership. |
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Section 7. How will this proposal affect people who… |
No impact |
Make things better |
Make things worse |
Why will it have this effect? Provide evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc. |
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..live in a rural area? |
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ü |
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The introduction of a new special school provision for Autistic children aged 11-19 will serve children and families in the wider area which is largely rural in nature |
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…have a low income? |
ü
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their family receiving a low income |
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…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?
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ü |
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It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on either SEND pupils or people in their family who are carers |
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….. are from the Armed Forces Community
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ü |
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The introduction of a new special school provision for Autistic children aged 11-19 will serve the central area of the county and be closer than the current alternatives for the Armed Forced community based in that area. It will place the authority in a better position to meet needs more rapidly for young people who move into the authority due to deployment of their parents. |
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Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply) |
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North Yorkshire wide |
x |
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Craven district |
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Hambleton district |
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Harrogate district |
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Richmondshire district |
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Ryedale district |
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Scarborough district |
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Selby district |
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If you have ticked one or more districts, will specific town(s)/village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below. |
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Section 9. Will the proposal affect anyone more because of a combination of protected characteristics? (for example, older women or young gay men) State what you think the effect may be and why, providing evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc.
No
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Section 10. Next steps to address the anticipated impact. Select one of the following options and explain why this has been chosen. (Remember: we have an anticipatory duty to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people can access services and work for us) |
Tick option chosen |
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1. No adverse impact - no major change is needed to the proposal. There is no potential for discrimination or adverse impact identified. |
ü |
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2. Adverse impact - adjust the proposal - The EIA identifies potential problems or missed opportunities. We will change our proposal to reduce or remove these adverse impacts, or we will achieve our aim in another way which will not make things worse for people. |
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3. Adverse impact - continue the proposal - The EIA identifies potential problems or missed opportunities. We cannot change our proposal to reduce or remove these adverse impacts, nor can we achieve our aim in another way which will not make things worse for people. (There must be compelling reasons for continuing with proposals which will have the most adverse impacts. Get advice from Legal Services) |
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4. Actual or potential unlawful discrimination - stop and remove the proposal – The EIA identifies actual or potential unlawful discrimination. It must be stopped. |
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Explanation of why the option has been chosen (include any advice given by Legal Services.)
The proposal is for the introduction of new provision and is a positive development for children with SEND in the local area. It is expected to have positive impacts for those with some protected characteristics.
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Section 11. If the proposal is to be implemented how will you find out how it is really affecting people? (How will you monitor and review the changes?)
This EIA will be kept under review during the consultation and decision making process, and post implementation if decisions are made on these proposals. Number of placements at independent or out of county residential settings for children and young people with Autism as a primary need will be monitored.
Feedback will be sought from parents/carers of children and young people with SEND to determine lived experience impact. This is likely to be through EHCP annual reviews and ongoing engagement with North Yorkshire Parent Carer Voice.
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Section 12. Action plan. List any actions you need to take which have been identified in this EIA, including post implementation review to find out how the outcomes have been achieved in practice and what impacts there have actually been on people with protected characteristics. |
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Action |
Lead |
By when |
Progress |
Monitoring arrangements |
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Section 13. Summary Summarise the findings of your EIA, including impacts, recommendation in relation to addressing impacts, including any legal advice, and next steps. This summary should be used as part of the report to the decision maker.
The proposed new special school provision for Autistic children aged 11-19 will be a positive development for both the Council and the local communities it serves.
The Council’s vision is for all children and young people with SEND in North Yorkshire:
This proposal will help the Council to deliver on all three of those aspects. |
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Section 14. Sign off section
This full EIA was completed by:
Name: Matt George Job title: Strategic Planning Officer Directorate: CYPS Signature: Chris Reynolds
Completion date: 2 August 2023
Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Janet Crawford
Date: 10 August 2023
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