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

(Form updated April 2019)

Carbon reduction plan

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	Central Services Policy, Partnerships and Communities
Lead Officer and contact details	Neil Irving, Assistant Director – Policy, Partnerships and Communities
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA	Deborah Hugill – Senior Strategy and Performance Officer
How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer	Individual officer with reference to climate change project leads within the council.
When did the due regard process start?	18 February 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?)

On 24 July 2019 North Yorkshire County Council passed a motion which committed to producing a carbon reduction plan to meet aspirations to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2030, or as near to that date as possible.

The plan sets out our progress to date and our plans for the next three years.

The actions identified in the plan focus on the County Council, but we are also part of a wider leadership team, including District Councils and the Local Enterprise Partnership, working to encourage and support our residents, businesses and communities to be part of the county and country achieving net carbon neutrality.  A comprehensive joint work programme is still to be developed by the partners, although some initial elements are highlighted in the plan.

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.)

Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, from the combustion of fossil fuels are contributing to global warming and climate change. As global temperatures rise the impacts will become more severe, including more extreme weather and rising sea levels due to melting polar ice.

The UK Government target is to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. North Yorkshire County Council supports the Government’s aim for the UK and the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s ambition to be the UK’s first carbon negative region – carbon neutral by 2034 and carbon negative by 2040.

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

Actions identified in this first iteration of the plan focus mainly on the following areas of the council’s emissions:

· Property – decarbonising heating and ventilation in corporate buildings, structural improvements to buildings, continue rationalisation of property, behavioural change, smarter working practices.

       Staff will benefit from structural improvements to buildings and heating and ventilation systems. Rationalisation of property may entail a change of office base for some staff. However, a blended mix of home working and office working will also reduce commuting for some staff. Greater use of digital will reduce the need to travel for meetings. Staff will be made aware of the importance of changes in their behaviour to reduce carbon emissions.

       Access to services in person may entail customers travelling to a different premises due to rationalisation of our estate.

· Business travel – move towards using electric vehicles for corporate fleet, behavioural change

       Relevant staff will use electric vehicles and other low emission alternatives to carry out their job. Greater use of digital will reduce the need to travel for meetings. Staff will be made aware of the importance of changes in their behaviour to reduce carbon emissions.

· Carbon sequestration through tree planting – work with White Rose Forest.  Some of the Council’s land holdings may be utilised for tree planting.

· Carbon literacy training – develop and roll out training in conjunction with LEP, districts and York

       Staff will understand more about climate change, carbon emissions and actions required to reduce the impact. They will be better equipped to make decisions and carry out actions which contribute to the Council’s aspiration to be carbon neutral.

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 plan’s primary focus is on the Council’s own emissions, although there is acknowledgement that these are only a small part of the emissions of the whole county and that work to engage the community and harness enthusiasm for reducing carbon emissions needs to be carried out. The Council cannot, and should not, do this in isolation and will work with District Councils, York City Council, the LEP and other partners to ensure messages and support are consistent.

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.

There will need to be considerable financial investment to achieve the Council’s aspiration to be carbon neutral. Some of this investment, for example in improvements to thermal insulation and heating systems, will save money in the longer term and a number of funding streams are available to support some elements of the required action e.g. tree planting, decarbonisation of heating of public sector buildings.

However, we and other local authorities will not be able to tackle every aspect of carbon reduction nor achieve net carbon neutrality without government support and action through legislation and fiscal measures. 

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	Customer – Older people may be more likely to wish to access services physically. Property rationalisation may require customers to attend different buildings to access services. This may entail greater travel. Specific equality impact assessments will carried out on decisions to remove properties from the estate and opportunities to improve accessibility will be taken up. Other access options, for example digital, will be made available wherever possible.
Disability		X	X	Customer – property rationalisation may require customers to attend different buildings to access services. Specific equality impact assessments will carried out on decisions to remove properties from the estate and opportunities to improve accessibility will be taken up. Other access options, for example digital, will be made available wherever possible. Staff - Rationalisation of property may entail a change of office base for some staff. However, a blended mix of home working and office working will also provide greater flexibility to provide an appropriate working environment. Any changes to office base will be subject to equality impact assessment and reasonable adjustments implemented. More use of digital meetings may make attendance for some disabled staff easier. All – Reductions in air pollution due to reduced travel and greater use of electric vehicles will positively impact on people with certain health conditions.
Sex	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are anticipated.
Race	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are anticipated.
Gender reassignment	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are anticipated.
Sexual orientation	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are anticipated.
Religion or belief	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are anticipated.
Pregnancy or maternity	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are anticipated.
Marriage or civil partnership	X			No impacts specific to people with this protected characteristic are 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	X	Customer – Property rationalisation may require customers to attend different buildings to access services. This may entail greater travel and potentially expense. Specific equality impact assessments will carried out on decisions to remove properties from the estate and distance to travel will be considered. Other access options, for example digital, will be made available wherever possible. Staff - Rationalisation of property may entail a change of office base for some staff. However, a blended mix of home working and office working will also provide greater flexibility to reduce the need to travel for staff in rural areas.
…have a low income?		X	X	Customer – Property rationalisation may require customers to attend different buildings to access services. This may entail greater travel and potentially expense. Specific equality impact assessments will carried out on decisions to remove properties from the estate and distance to travel will be considered. Other access options, for example digital, will be made available wherever possible. Staff - Rationalisation of property may entail a change of office base for some staff increasing travel costs. However, a blended mix of home working and office working will also provide greater flexibility to reduce the need to travel for staff. More home working may increase heating and power costs for staff.
…are carers (unpaid family or friend)?		X	X	Potential impacts referenced under Age and Disability may affect carers of people with these protected characteristics as part of their caring role.

Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply)
North Yorkshire wide	ü
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.

There is no evidence that the proposal will 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 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 option has been chosen. (Include any advice given by Legal Services.) Although mixed potential impacts have been identified in some areas these will be subject to more specific equality impact assessments when particular decisions are made. Overall the plan’s aim to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint and its impact on climate change is positive for everyone in the county.

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?)

Progress will be regularly monitored as part of our corporate performance management framework including quarterly performance reports to Management Board and Executive.

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

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.

Overall the plan’s aim to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint and its impact on climate change is positive for everyone in the county, including those with protected characteristics. The plan is an overarching document and specific equality impact assessments will be carried out on decisions made in relation to actions in each area.

Section 14. Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name: Deborah Hugill

Job title: Senior Strategy and Performance Officer

Directorate: Central Services

Signature: Deborah Hugill

Completion date: 28 May 2021

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Neil Irving

Date:  28 May 2021