Appendix 6

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

(Form updated October 2023)

Statutory Proposal by North Yorkshire Council to increase pupil numbers at Springwater School, Starbeck

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 North Yorkshire 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 Strategic Planning Team
Lead Officer and contact details	Sue Turley, County Hall
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA	Chris Reynolds, County Hall
How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer	LA Officers and School Governing Board
When did the due regard process start?	Consultation started on 6 September 2024

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?)

This EIA considers the proposal to permanently increase pupil numbers at Springwater School, Starbeck from 112 to 157, effective from 1 September 2025.

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.)

North Yorkshire council has a duty to keep its special education provision under review and ensure there is the right type of provision and enough places to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There is a significant need for more school places in North Yorkshire for children with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) both in special schools and Resource Bases in mainstream schools. 

This proposal is expected to have a positive impact on the availability of special school places in the Harrogate area and will achieve longer term savings by reducing the current demand and high cost of placing children out of North Yorkshire settings.

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

If this proposal went ahead, numbers at the school would grow gradually and the increase be phased so the change in pupil numbers will occur over a period of time.

The school will expanded to accommodate the additional pupil numbers at the school and school facilities will be improved.

Staff will generally be unaffected, however, a larger school might offer more opportunities for professional development.

The proposed increase in places means there will be some building work at Springwater School.

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?)

The consultation period ran from 6 September 2024 to 11 October 2024. A consultation paper setting out the proposal was sent to a wide range of stakeholders and a public stakeholder engagement meeting was held. The consultation document, responses, and note of the public meeting are included in the report to the Executive on 5 November 2024.

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 proposed increase in pupil numbers and capital investment at Springwater School will achieve longer term savings by reducing the current demand and high cost of placing children out of North Yorkshire settings.

This is an invest to save scheme: whilst capital will be spent initially, the increase in numbers will ensure that pupils are able to be educated in the right place at their local special school, which will reduce the high needs budget in terms of costs of independent specialist places and the higher costs of travel to schools further away.

invest

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		Children and young people with EHCPs will have increased opportunity to attend a more local specialist school.
Disability		x		The school is a special school and proposed investment in the school’s facilities will improve the working environment considerably and support staff to better meet the needs of children. Staff – As an organisation NYC will continue to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 which obligates us to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled individuals as employees or service users.
Sex	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their sex.
Race	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their race.
Gender reassignment	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their gender reassignment
Sexual orientation	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to sexual orientation.
Religion or belief	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to religion or beliefs.
Pregnancy or maternity	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to pregnancy or maternity
Marriage or civil partnership	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to marriage or civil partnership.

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		The proposed increase in numbers at the school may reduce pupil journey times to and from school, resulting in much greater convenience which will benefit both pupils and their families and provide more social opportunities for children.
…have a low income?	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils due to their family receiving a low income.
…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils who are carers.
….. are from the Armed Forces Community	x			It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on SEND pupils who are from the Armed Forces Community.

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

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.

The proposals may have an impact on children with a combination of protected characteristics. However, this should be a positive impact as more children with EHCPs can have their needs met locally and without the need to travel.

The Council’s Officers now feel that this decision is in the best interests of children and families served by the school.

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.) A detailed analysis of the issues is contained in the Statutory Proposals and the report to Executive.

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 of sufficiency of special school places in the area will be undertaken by CYPS.

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
Not applicable

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 purpose of the consultation and proposed decision is to increase numbers at Springwater School ensure that the children are provided with the best education provision in the area in a sustainable, stable and effective manner. In order to achieve these aims, the proposal is to permanently increase numbers from 112 pupils to 157 pupils.

This is a positive impact for those with equalities. This is an invest to save scheme. Whilst capital will be spent initially, the increase in numbers will ensure that pupils are able to be educated in the right place at their local special school, which will reduce the high needs budget in terms of costs of independent specialist places and the higher costs of travel to schools further away.

Section 14. Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name: S Turley

Job title: Strategic Planning Officer

Directorate: CYPS

Completion date:  28/10/2024

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature):

Date: 28/10/2024