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

(Form updated April 2019)

National Bus Strategy

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	Business and Environmental Services Integrated Passenger Transport
Lead Officer and contact details	Cathy Knight cathy.knight@northyorks.gov.uk
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA
How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer	Officers will consider the Council’s equality duty and be mindful of the impact and potential effects of any proposed changes in fees and charges to people with any of the protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010, or NYCC’s additional agreed characteristics throughout the proposals considers North Yorkshire County Council’s response to the National Bus Strategy.
When did the due regard process start?	April 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 National Bus Strategy sets out some requirements for local transport authorities:

•           By the end of June 2021 all Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) (except MCAs which have started the statutory process of franchising bus services) to commit to establishing Enhanced Partnerships

•           By the end of October 2021 all LTAs to publish a local Bus Service Improvement Plan

The proposal considers North Yorkshire County Council’s response.

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.)

To ensure that the council responds appropriately to the recently issued National Bus Strategy.

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

The proposal considers North Yorkshire County Council’s response to the National Bus Strategy.  A number of options are currently being considered:

•           Franchising

•           Enhanced Partnership

•           ‘Do Nothing’

•           A combination of two of the above

This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.

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?)

Consultation will take place with key stakeholders and bus operators.  It is likely that a public consultation will take place later in 2021, unless the ‘Do Nothing’ option is chosen.

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

There are no financial impacts to NYCC in relation to the options set out above, at this stage.  However, should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.

This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.

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	x	Impacts vary dependent upon the option chosen.  This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.  However should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  People aged under 30 and over 60 usually make proportionally more bus trips per person than other age groups.
Disability		x	x	Impacts vary dependent upon the option chosen.  This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.  However should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  No specific data available but it is possible that some groups of people with a disability are less likely to hold a full driving licence compared to someone without a disability.
Sex		x	x	Impacts vary dependent upon the option chosen.  This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.  However should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  No current specific data available but historic data has suggested that women make more bus trips than men.  Women are also less likely to have access to a car.
Race	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of race.
Gender reassignment	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of gender reassignment.
Sexual orientation	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of sexual orientation.
Religion or belief	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of religion or belief.
Pregnancy or maternity	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of pregnancy or maternity.
Marriage or civil partnership	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of 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	x	Impacts vary dependent upon the option chosen.  This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.  However should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  Accessing services can be problematic for people living in rural areas, for example lack of transport is often cited as a barrier to accessing employment by people living in rural areas.
…have a low income?		x	x	Impacts vary dependent upon the option chosen.  This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.  However should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  People on low income are less likely to have access to a car and are therefore likely to be more reliant on using buses.
…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?	x			No evidence of impact on grounds of people who are carers (unpaid family or friend).

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.

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.

· Older women

· People on low income living in rural areas particularly women

· Women living in rural areas

· Disabled people living in rural areas

· Disabled people on low income

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)	x
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 number of options are currently being considered: •           Franchising •           Enhanced Partnership •           ‘Do Nothing’ •           A combination of two of the above Some options have the potential for no adverse impact and could result in making things better for people with protected characteristics.  However with other options there is potential for adverse impact for people with protected characteristics.  Should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  Older people, women, people with disabilities are the particularly groups that might be adversely impacted as these groups are either likely to use public transport more often or may be more dependent upon public transport or may find using public transport harder to use. Officers will be mindful of the impact and potential effects the proposed recommendation may have on these groups and monitoring will be undertaken as detailed in section 11. This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.

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?)

· Monitor correspondence and complaints following the introduction of any changes

· Monitoring of the services through on-going contract management

· Feedback from users, operators, Parish Councils, County Councillors and other

· stakeholders

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
Monitor bus patronage usage	Operator/contract manager	Ongoing	Ongoing	Through normal business processes
Monitor ENCTS usage	Operator/contract manager	Ongoing	Ongoing	Through normal business processes

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 proposal considers North Yorkshire County Council’s response to the National Bus Strategy and a number of options are currently being considered.  There is potential for adverse impact dependent upon the option chosen.  This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work.  However should the ‘do nothing’ option be pursued there will be a financial impact to local bus service operators across North Yorkshire.  The likely result of which will be a sudden retrenchment of commercial bus services across North Yorkshire negatively impacting on bus users.  This option may adversely affect some groups of people with protected characteristics.

Officers will be mindful of the impact and potential effects the proposed recommendation may have on these groups and monitoring will be undertaken as detailed in section 11.

This Equalities Impact Assessment will need to be reviewed and refreshed throughout the proposal work. 

Section 14. Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name: Cathy Knight

Job title: Commercial Sector Service Development Manager

Directorate: Business and Environmental Services

Signature: Cathy Knight

Completion date: 29/04/2021

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): M Leah

Date: 08.06.2021