Equality impact assessment (EIA) form: evidencing paying due regard to protected characteristics
(form updated June 2023)
Repairs Standard
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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 |
Community Development - Housing |
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Lead Officer and contact details |
Lorraine Larini – Head of Housing Standards
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Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Vicky Young - Service Improvement Manager
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How will you pay due regard? for example, working group, individual officer |
This overarching EIA has been carried out by the Service Improvement Manager. Tenants have been involved in review of the Standard.
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When did the due regard process start? |
September 2024 |
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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?)
Harmonising the Repairs Standard, the standard which tenants can expect our repairs service to operate. |
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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 is transforming landlord services for its own tenants and leaseholders. To support that process, the Council is undertaking a full review of all policies relating to our tenants and leaseholders in our role as their landlord. The new repairs standard sets out that NYC’s Housing Standards Service aim is to deliver an effective, efficient and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for the homes and communal areas for which the Council is responsible. It includes our prioritisation criteria, health and safety commitments and sets out how tenants can hold the Council to account.
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Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
The Repairs Standard is the overall guide to what the Council will deliver on repairs and maintenance, what tenants can expect from the service and how it will be delivered. The Standard sets out how North Yorkshire Council will ensure that works are carried out to the required standard and provide value for money. The Standard is the harmonisation of the existing standards in Harrogate, Richmondshire and Selby. |
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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 tenant focus group was held on January 9th to consult on the draft Standard and the accompanying tenant handbook. Overall tenants felt that the Standard was clear and that the content and priorities felt right. Feedback from the focus group led to several revisions to the Standard and to the Tenant Handbook for example, revisiting some of the priority repair examples where they may be open to interpretation to improve clarity and providing clarity on our approach to tenants with vulnerabilities. |
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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?
The proposal is the harmonisation of existing standards, it will have no impact on council budgets. |
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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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From information currently available we can estimate that 51% of our tenants are aged over 60. In 2021, 25% of the county’s adult population was over the age of 65. This is higher than the national percentage of 18.4%. This means that our tenant population is significantly more aged than the average population for North Yorkshire and the country.
By 2035, 32.60% of North Yorkshire’s total population will be aged 65+ and 5.97% will be aged 85+.
Nationally 23.26% will be 65+ and 4.05% will be 85+ by 2035.
Less that 5% of our tenant population are under 29. North Yorkshire has a lower proportion of young people than the national average- 24.5% under 25 compared to 29.2% nationally.
We introduce a commitment to assessing a tenants specific needs and/or vulnerability at the first point of contact, including their age, which will be taken into account when prioritising repairs.
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Disability |
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North Yorkshire has a lower proportion (19.3%) of people with a disability or long-term limiting illness whose day-to-day activities are limited a lot- against the national average of 23.69%.
However, this will rise to 20.89% of the 65+ population in North Yorkshire, against a national average of 24.86%.
By recognising the needs of our residents who may be more vulnerable or have specific accessibility and adaptability requirements we will improve our service.
We introduce a commitment to assessing a tenant's specific needs and/or vulnerability at the first point of contact, including disability, which will be taken into account when prioritising repairs. |
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Sex |
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The proportion of females is slightly higher (51%) than that of males (49%).
This pattern is reflected across all localities, with the exception of Richmondshire where the large number of predominantly male military personnel have the effect of reversing the proportions.
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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Race |
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North Yorkshire has a much lower proportion (4.77%) of people who identify with a non-UK identity than the national average (12%).
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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Gender reassignment |
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In the 2021 census 1478 (0.28%) of residents across North Yorkshire identified themselves as transsexual or with a gender identity different to that registered at birth.
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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Sexual orientation |
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In the 2021 census 11,291 (2.2%) of residents across North Yorkshire identified themselves as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Other (LGB+).
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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Religion or belief |
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North Yorkshire has higher levels of Christians (55.6%) than the national average (46.2%), and lower levels of all other religions than the national average. Percentages of those with no religion or not stating their religion are broadly similar to the national average.
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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Pregnancy or maternity |
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In 2021 there were 5133 live births in North Yorkshire.
In 2020 the conception rate per 1000 for under 18’s was 10.9. This is below the rate for England (13).
In 2020/21 4.2% of deliveries in North Yorkshire were to mothers from ethnic minorities, compared to the England value of 21.6%.
We introduce a commitment to assessing a tenants specific needs and/or vulnerability at the first point of contact, including pregnancy, which will be taken into account when prioritising repairs.
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Marriage or civil partnership |
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A higher percentage of North Yorkshire’s population is married or in a civil partnership (53.7%) than the national average (46.8%)
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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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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The population in North Yorkshire is generally sparser than the national average (77 people per square kilometre as opposed to 434 nationally). In some parts of the county this is lower still (Ryedale 36, Richmondshire 38, Craven 48, Hambleton 69).
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic.
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…have a low income? |
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The proportion of households in deprivation in North Yorkshire reduced between 2011 and 2021. In 2011 52.1% of households in North Yorkshire were deprived in at least one of the four dimensions (employment, education, health and disability, housing).
By 2021 this had fallen to 46.7%. This 5.4 percentage point reduction in North Yorkshire compared with a 5.9 percentage point reduction across England as a whole, with the proportion of households in deprivation in North Yorkshire remaining below the national average.
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic.
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…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?
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Carers’ allowance claimants make up 0.98% of North Yorkshire’s population.
This is lower than the average for England (1.42%) but there are variations across the county. It is likely, however, that these figures do not reflect the true number of people carrying out caring roles in the county as many do not claim allowances.
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic. |
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….. are from the Armed Forces Community
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North Yorkshire has 29,831 Armed Forces Veterans. Richmondshire has the highest proportion of Armed Forces Veterans in North Yorkshire at 9.5% (3,962), which is the third highest nationally.
The proportion of veterans in Richmondshire is more than double the national average rate, which is 3.8%.
Harrogate has the highest number of Armed Forces Veterans in North Yorkshire with 7,076 (5.2%).
Our ambitions will not have any specific impact on those from the armed forces community and we will deliver services in line with the Armed Forces Covenant. |
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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 |
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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.
The proposal will not affect anyone more because of a combination of protected characteristics. |
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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. |
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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 Repairs Standard is the harmonisation of existing standards, it is guided by our obligations in legislation.
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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?)
We will use service data; customer contact, complaints to ensure that services are not negatively impacting on any protected characteristic.
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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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Review TSM results |
Carl Doolan |
June 2025 |
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TSMs |
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Collect diverse needs data |
Carl Doolan |
December 2025 |
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Housing Improvement Board |
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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.
Our ambitions in the Repairs Standard will result in a clear and transparent approach to repairs and maintenance of our council homes, which will lead to a better outcome for all North Yorkshire Council tenants and leaseholders.
The anticipated impacts of our ambitions are therefore positive ones.
Due regard to equalities will be paid when making decisions on actions to realise these ambitions and, where appropriate, these will be subject to full EIAs.
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Section 14. Sign off section
This full EIA was completed by:
Name: Vicky Young Job title: Service Improvement Manager Directorate: Community Development Signature:
Completion date: 13th January 2025
Authorised by Assistant Director: ANDREW ROWE
Date: 13/1/25
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