Appendix 5

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

(Form updated April 2019)

The proposal by the Governing Body of Danby CE Primary School to change the category of Danby CE Primary School from voluntary controlled to voluntary aided with effect from 16th September 2021

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 Strategic Planning Team
Lead Officer and contact details	Andrew Dixon, County Hall
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA	Matt George, Strategic Planning officer
How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer	LA Officers and School Governing Body
When did the due regard process start?	Consultation started in January 2021

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?)

The proposal by the Governing Body of Danby CE Primary School to change the category of Danby CE Primary School from voluntary controlled to voluntary aided with effect from 16th September 2021.

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.)

The reasons listed below are the key reasons for the Governors proposal as set out in their consultation document and in the Statutory proposal:

1. Greater protection of, and the ability to further develop, Danby’s Church School Ethos

Governors state that as a Voluntary Aided school, Danby would have greater formal links with the Diocese and local Church whilst maintaining a strong and effective relationship with North Yorkshire County Council, and would be able to enhance provision for Religious Education (RE) teaching and learning.

2. More effective joint working with Egton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School (“Egton”) due to increased alignment

Danby C.E Governors state that this would be enhanced should Danby become a Voluntary Aided School in line with these proposals due to greater alignment between the two schools. For example:

-           The schools would have the same RE syllabus enabling greater shared provision;

-           The federated Governing Body would be the single employer of staff, making shared staffing arrangements in appropriate cases easier; and

-           The inspection processes under the SIAMS framework would be more aligned.

With greater similarities between the schools, the Danby V.C Governing Body believe that even greater benefit can be obtained from this Federation.

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

To change the category of Danby CE Primary School from voluntary controlled to voluntary aided with effect from 16th September 2021.

There will be no change for customers but for staff the School Governors will become their employers rather than the Local Authority.

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 11 February 2021 to 25 March 2021. Consultation documents were distributed to a wide range of stakeholders. The consultation document and responses are included in the report to the Executive on 22 June 2021.

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 only change to Local Authority budgets will be that for any Capital Works to be carried out at the school in future allocations would be made via the LEA (Local Education Authority) Co-ordinated Voluntary Aided Programme rather than as part of the Local Authority Schools Capital Programme. The School’s Governing Body would need to provide 10% towards any agreed project.

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			No impact is anticipated.
Disability	X			No impact is anticipated.
Sex	X			No impact is anticipated.
Race	X			No impact is anticipated.
Gender reassignment	X			No impact is anticipated.
Sexual orientation	X			No impact is anticipated.
Religion or belief	X			No impact is anticipated.
Pregnancy or maternity	X			No impact is anticipated.
Marriage or civil partnership	X			No impact is anticipated.

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			No impact anticipated.
…have a low income?	x			No impact anticipated
…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?	x			No impact anticipated

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
Richmondshire district
Ryedale district
Scarborough district	X
Selby district
If you have ticked one or more districts, will specific town(s)/village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below.
Danby

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.

No impact anticipated

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.) The assessment has been that this proposal will have no impact with regard to Equalities.

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 standards will be carried out through the County Council’s Education and Skills Team and through Ofsted inspections.

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 assessment has been that this proposal will have no impact with regard to Equalities.

Section 14. Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name: Matt George

Job title: Strategic Planning Officer

Directorate: CYPS

Signature:

Completion date: 04/06/2021

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Amanda Newbold

Date: 04/06/2021