Equality impact assessment (EIA) form: evidencing paying due regard to protected characteristics

(Form updated April 2019)

Covid Winter Grant Scheme

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.

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 to find completed EIAs we also publish them in the Equality and Diversity section of our website.  This will help people to see for themselves how we have paid due regard in order to meet statutory requirements. 

Name of Directorate and Service Area	CYPS – All Directorates
Lead Officer and contact details	Howard Emmett, AD Strategic Resources Howard.Emmett@northyorks.gov.uk 01609 532118
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA	Amanda Newbold, AD Education and Skills Sally Dunn, Head of Finance Iain Pick, Strategy and Performance Alice Wild, Project Manager
How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer	Working Group
When did the due regard process start?	17 November 2020

Section 1. Please describe briefly what this EIA is about. (e.g. are you starting a new service, changing how you do something, stopping doing something?)

On Sunday 8 November 2020, the government announced a significant package of extra-targeted financial support for those in need over the winter period.

The £170 million COVID Winter Grant Scheme, which will be made available in the next month, will see new funding issued to County Councils and Unitary Authorities (including Metropolitan Councils and London Boroughs), to support those most in need across England with the cost of food, energy and water bills and other associated costs.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will provide funding to County Councils and Unitary Authorities, under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, who will administer the scheme and provide direct assistance to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic. This will include some families who normally have access to Free School Meals during term time. County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England will have the ability to deliver the scheme through vouchers or grants for example.

This funding will be ring-fenced and cover the period until the end of March 2021. It will be distributed by County Councils or Unitary Authorities in England, who will have the ability to deliver the scheme through vouchers or grants.

There will be a requirement to provide DWP with MI to help us understand which groups have benefited from grants, the administrative costs and payment assurance.

Grant payments will be made to schools, academies and early years’ providers to provide support (in the form of supermarket vouchers) to vulnerable households and families with children. Vouchers will also be provided to eligible Care Leavers.

Section 2. Why is this being proposed? What are the aims? What does the authority hope to achieve by it? (e.g. to save money, meet increased demand, do things in a better way.)

This is being proposed due to additional funding being received by the government.  This will be a temporary change for vulnerable households and families with children in receipt of additional vouchers during the Christmas holidays in 2020 and February half term 2021.

Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?

There will be no long-term changes for staff. Input has been required from staff in Finance, Legal, Education and Skills and project management in the short-term.

Some additional work will be required from schools, EY providers, academies and colleges to distribute the vouchers.

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?)

Given the timescales required, informal discussions have been undertaken with a limited number of early years’ providers and school representatives. No formal consultation is planned as part of this process. Schools, EY providers, academies and colleges will all be communicated with via the Red Bag and letters. Updates will be added to the NYCC website and social media where relevant.

Section 5. What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?

Given the DWP’s parameters on the scheme, the proposal is to ensure a coherent offer for the Easter period. Modelling of payments within the local eligibility framework have been amended since the scheme began reducing the payment for February half-term to £15 per week per recipient (compared to £20 per week per recipient in the two weeks over the Christmas period). However, the proposal considers that the payment period should cover the equivalent of two weeks for the Easter period compared to only three days in the original modelling. Overall, this results in a potential requirement to use up to £148k council funding in additional to the Covid Winter Grant Scheme allocation. However, this will provide a more coherent offer for recipients.

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.
Age		X		There will be a positive impact for children and young people who are eligible for the additional vouchers over the school holidays.
Disability	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and disability will not be taken into account as part of this.
Sex	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and sex will not be taken into account as part of this.
Race	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and race will not be taken into account as part of this.
Gender reassignment	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and gender reassignment will not be taken into account as part of this.
Sexual orientation	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and sexual orientation will not be taken into account as part of this.
Religion or belief	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and religion / belief will not be taken into account as part of this.
Pregnancy or maternity		X		There will be a positive impact for families who are eligible for the additional vouchers over the school holidays.
Marriage or civil partnership	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and marriage / civil partnership will not be taken into account as part of this.

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.
..live in a rural area?		X		There will be a positive impact for children and young people who are eligible for vouchers and live in a rural area.
…have a low income?		X		There will be a positive impact for children and young people who are eligible for vouchers and live within a low-income family.
…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?	X			Vouchers will be provided to children and young people who are eligible and carers (unpaid family or friend) will not be taken into account as part of this.

Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply)
North Yorkshire wide	X
Craven district
Hambleton district
Harrogate district
Richmondshire district
Ryedale district
Scarborough district
Selby district
If you have ticked one or more districts, will specific town(s)/village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below.
N/A

Section 9. Will the proposal affect anyone more because of a combination of protected characteristics? (e.g. 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.

It is not anticipated that this will affect a combination of protected characteristics.

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
1. No adverse impact - no major change needed to the proposal. There is no potential for discrimination or adverse impact identified.	X
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.
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)
4. Actual or potential unlawful discrimination - stop and remove the proposal – The EIA identifies actual or potential unlawful discrimination. It must be stopped.
Explanation of why option has been chosen. (Include any advice given by Legal Services.) This will be a positive change for children and young people who are eligible for the vouchers.

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?)

Monitoring will be completed as per the Department for Work and Pensions monitoring form. Schools, academies and early years’ providers will be required to complete a simple monitoring form. The local authority will review available management information following the Christmas period and will evaluate the scheme including any reasonable adjustments to the scheme in relation to February half-term and a few days in relation to the Easter holiday.

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.
Action	Lead	By when	Progress	Monitoring arrangements
Review available management information and evaluate the scheme post-Christmas	Howard Emmett	22 January 2021	The scheme was reviewed in January (post-Christmas period) and amended for the February half-term. Further proposals to extend the payment for the equivalent of two weeks at Easter (compared to 3 days in the original modelling) at £15 per week (compared to £20 per week) should result in a higher overall allocation per eligible recipient.	CWGS working group
Review available management information and evaluate the scheme post-Easter	Howard Emmett	30 April 2021		CWGS working group

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 local eligibility framework and approach has a potential positive impact for children and young people and their families who are eligible for vouchers. There are no identified adverse impacts.

Section 14. Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name: Alice Wild

Job title: Project Manager

Directorate:Central Services

Signature: Alice Wild

Completion date: 24^th February 2021

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature):Howard Emmett

Date: 24^th February 2021