Equality impact assessment (EIA) form: evidencing paying due regard to protected characteristics
(form updated June 2023)
Housing Improvement Plan and Improvement Strategy
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.
|
Name of Directorate and Service Area |
Community Development - Housing |
|
Lead Officer and contact details |
Andrew Rowe – AD Housing |
|
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Vicky Young – Service Improvement Manager
|
|
How will you pay due regard? for example, working group, individual officer |
This overarching EIA has been carried out by the Service Improvement Officer and Tenants will be involved, considering the Improvement Strategy prior to adoption.
|
|
When did the due regard process start? |
September 2024 |
|
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?)
Establishing the Strategy and Action Plan for service improvement, to address non-compliance with the Consumer Standards. |
|
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 and strategies relating to our tenants and leaseholders in our role as their landlord. The new Improvement Strategy and Action Plan sets out how we will address non-compliance and move beyond to deliver exemplar social housing services.
|
|
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
The new strategy provides clear direction for the housing service, it’s staff, tenants, elected members and external bodies. |
|
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?)
This draft improvement plan was presented to involved tenants in September 2024 and the Improvement Strategy will be consulted on in April/ May 2025.
|
|
Section 5. What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?
The proposal does not have an impact on existing budgets
|
|
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 |
|
ü |
|
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.
|
|
Disability |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
Sex |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
Race |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
Gender reassignment |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
Sexual orientation |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
Religion or belief |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
Pregnancy or maternity |
|
ü
|
|
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%.
Our ambitions will not have any anticipated impacts on people specifically due to them sharing this particular protected characteristic
|
|
Marriage or civil partnership |
|
ü
|
|
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. |
|
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? |
ü
|
|
|
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).
We recognise that a lot of our meetings will be held in central locations. We will offer transport and support to access the meetings in person or an option to join on line. We also commit to introducing more community-based activities and involving tenants where they live. This will not be limited to urban areas
|
|
…have a low income? |
ü
|
|
|
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.
|
|
…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?
|
ü
|
|
|
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. |
|
….. are from the Armed Forces Community
|
ü
|
|
|
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. |
|
Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply) |
|
|
North Yorkshire wide |
|
|
Craven district |
|
|
Hambleton district |
|
|
Harrogate district |
ü
|
|
Richmondshire district |
ü
|
|
Ryedale district |
|
|
Scarborough district |
|
|
Selby district |
ü
|
|
If you have ticked one or more districts, will specific town(s)/village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below. |
|
|
No, specific towns and villages will not be impacted. |
|
|
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. |
|
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 is needed to the proposal. There is no potential for discrimination or adverse impact identified. |
ü
|
|
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 the option has been chosen (include any advice given by Legal Services.)
The proposed strategy and action plan highlights the improvements we will make to the housing service, in particular improving our data on our customers and their vulnerabilities, leading to improved housing services tailored to the needs of residents. |
|
|
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 customer data to ensure that our tenants are not feeling any negative impact from the implementation – reviewing complaints data etc. We will use the Tenant Satisfaction survey to ensure that positive impacts are being felt.
|
|
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 TSM results |
Carl Doolan |
June 2025 |
|
TSMs |
|
Collect diverse needs data |
Carl Doolan |
December 2025 |
|
Housing Improvement Board |
|
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 ambitions in the Improvement Strategy will result in increased compliance with the Consumer Standard and better outcomes and improved customer focused service delivery 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.
|
|
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: 10th March 2025
Authorised by Assistant Director: A Rowe
Date: 12 March 2025 |