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

New Section 75 Agreement for planning and delivering community‑based emotional wellbeing support for Children and Young People (including The Go‑To website)

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) form is a document that proves paying due regard by considering protected characteristics. EIAs that accompany reports presented to Councillors for decision-making are published with the committee papers on our website and are also available in hard copy at the relevant meetings.

Section 1: Initial Equality Impact Assessment Screening

This section documents the equality screening process of actual or potential impacts of the proposed activity on a specific protected characteristic, along with NYC's additional agreed-upon characteristics, to determine whether a full Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is necessary or appropriate.

Basic Details

Directorate

Children and Young People’s Service

Service area

Commissioning/Public Health

Proposal being screened

New Section 75 Agreement for planning and delivering community‑based emotional wellbeing support for Children and Young People (including The Go‑To website)

Officer(s) carrying out screening

Emma Lonsdale

Lead Officer and contact details

Emma Lonsdale – Head of Public Health Children and Families

Date of the assessment

April 2026

Please describe briefly what this EIA is about.

(e.g. are you starting a new service, changing how you do something, or stopping doing something?)

This Equality Impact Assessment considers the potential impacts of consulting on and entering into a new Section 75 partnership agreement for community‑based emotional wellbeing services for children and young people. The assessment accompanies a Management Board and Executive decision to proceed with public consultation on proposed new joint commissioning arrangements

What does the authority hope to achieve by it? (E.g. to save money, meet increased demand, do things in a better way.)

· Maintain continuity of a county‑wide community‑based emotional wellbeing offer for children and young people.

· Strengthen early intervention and prevention for low‑to‑moderate emotional and mental health need.

· Improve integration, efficiency and system coordination through joint commissioning.

· Reduce escalation to crisis services and long‑term inequalities in mental health outcomes.

Further Details

1.1 How have stakeholders been involved in this policy/ decision/ proposal? (e.g. a consultation exercise)

Engagement has taken place through the Integrated Commissioning Group overseeing the current Section 75. Monitoring reports and quarterly service contract meetings. A multi‑agency system workshop was held in March 2026 and a further one is planned for May. Ongoing engagement with children and young people via established participation forum (NABUWU). Subject to approval, a formal 60‑day public consultation will be undertaken prior to finalising any new Section 75 agreement

1.2 Will the proposal have a significant effect on how other organisations operate? (e.g. partners, funding criteria, etc.). Please explain briefly

Yes some effect. The proposal affects NHS ICB’s, NYC NHS provider trusts, schools, and VCSE. For the named partners in the agreement particularly through continued joint commissioning, agreed joint funding and governance along with service delivery arrangements in scope of the agreement.

1.3 Impact on people with any of the following protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010, or NYC’s additional agreed characteristics

As part of this assessment, please consider the following questions:

To what extent is this service used by particular groups of people with protected characteristics?

Does the proposal relate to functions that previous consultation has identified as important?

Do different groups have different needs or experiences in the area the proposal relates to?

If for any characteristic, it is considered that there is likely to be an adverse impact or you have ticked ‘Don’t know/no info available’, then a full EIA should be carried out where this is proportionate. You are advised to speak to your directorate representative for advice if you are in any doubt.

Tick and indicate which protected characteristics are identified as relevant to the proposal (positive, negative, neutral or don’t know).

Protected characteristic

Impact

Comments

Positive

Negative

Neutral

Don't know

Age

Disability

Sex

Race (including GRTS)

Gender reassignment

Sexual orientation

Religion or belief

Pregnancy or maternity

Marriage or civil partnership

NYC’s additional characteristics

People in rural areas

People on a low income

Carer (unpaid family or friend)

Are from the Armed Forces Community (including veterans)

1.4 To which Part(s) of the Public Sector Equality Duties is the Policy/decision/proposal relevant? Tick and briefly describe.

General Duties	Yes	No	Details
Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation	x		Inclusive service design and access requirements.
Advance equality of opportunity	x		Focus on early help, prevention and equity of access.
Foster good relations between different groups	x		Partnership working across sectors and communities.

1.5 Decision (Please tick one option)

Decision to recommend this policy/ decision for an Equality Impact Assessment?

Yes

If the answer is “Yes”, or you indicate a negative impact on any of the characteristics mentioned in the table above, please continue to Section 2 and complete the full Equality Impact Assessment.

If the answer is “No”, please give a brief reason here.

Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)

Date

Section 2: Equality Impact Assessment

This section aims to provide a full assessment of the actual or potential impacts on specific protected characteristics, along with NYC's additional characteristics. It will also identify the proper actions to mitigate these impacts, if needed.

2.1 Evidence, Consultation and Data: What data or evidence source(s) has/ have been used to inform this assessment? Select the relevant source (s): · Demographic data and service usage data - Service activity, access and performance information from the current community‑based emotional wellbeing service. · Consultation feedback - Learning from the March 2026 workshop. Feedback from children, young people and families through existing service and participation mechanisms. · National/local research and report - National and local evidence on children and young people’s mental health, early intervention and prevention. · Expert opinion – partners represented at the workshop · Others – Growing up in North Yorkshire Service – needs, intelligence and priority groups.
2.2 Stakeholder Engagement: What engagement has been done regarding the proposal and what are the results? Stakeholders engaged include NHS commissioners and providers, local authority services, schools, voluntary and community sector organisations, and children and young people. Engagement highlights the importance of maintaining accessible community‑based provision, improving pathways and communication, addressing inequalities and ensuring system stability during transition. In particular the workshop aimed to identify areas that needed to be changed or strengthened across several areas including: - Integrated system of mental health and wellbeing support, moving away from a purely medical model, recognising the benefits of early intervention and prevention, the impact of the wider determinants of health, including childhood trauma, and the impact of health inequalities. - Information sharing opportunities across all stakeholders. - Clear access points and referral sources across the pathway. - Communication, marketing and awareness of the offer. - Workforce development and skill mix, including contributing to a co-ordinated training offer for all staff in contact with children, young people and their families. - Working with vulnerable families and vulnerable children and young people. The workshop also identified the following gaps which will need to be considered as potential priorities/areas of work when developing the new agreement and subsequent service (s) in scope. • Trauma – all aspects single event and enduring impact • Offer to children not in school or home educated • Multi-disciplinary working, where one referral, and one triage team with joint consent to share information becomes the norm • Conditions, usually low-moderate risk, but requiring a longer than 6–8-week intervention (which would usually be provided by specialist CAMHS, but only for the high risk cases) i.e. the missing middle • Universal emotional literacy model for schools – we can guide schools on what should be included, accepting they will deliver and or commission programmes outside of the Local Authority traded offer
2.3 What positive impact will this proposal have on the council budget, people, community, economic growth and environment, etc? Please explain briefly · Sustained access to early emotional wellbeing support. · Potential for reduced pressure on specialist CAMHS and crisis services. · Improved integration and efficiency across health, education and community partners. · More consistent provision across North Yorkshire. · Improved long‑term outcomes for children, young people and families.
2.4 Please briefly describe how will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics? Only those who are identified as relevant to the proposal in section 1.
protected characteristics	Negative	Don’t know	Why will it have this effect? Provide evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information, etc.
Age			Service is designed specifically for children and young people and shows positive outcomes.
Disability			Inclusive offer for SEND and emotional wellbeing needs up to age 25
Sex			No impact identified in service data it is accessible by both males and females generally equally in numbers.
Race (including GRTS)			Inclusive service expectations - Data collection requires improvement to ensure reach
Gender reassignment			Inclusive service expectations Data collection requires improvement to ensure reach
Sexual orientation			Inclusive service expectations Data collection requires improvement to ensure reach
Religion or belief			Inclusive service expectations Data collection requires improvement to ensure reach
Pregnancy or maternity			NA
Marriage or civil partnership			NA
NYC’s additional characteristics
People in rural areas			Community and digital delivery mitigate rural access barriers.
People on a low income			Free access and prevention model
Carer (unpaid family or friend)			Support may reduce burden on parent carers
Are from the Armed Forces Community (including veterans)			NA

2.5 Geographic impact: Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply)

North Yorkshire wide

Craven

Hambleton

Harrogate

Richmondshire

Ryedale

Scarborough

Selby

If you have ticked one or more areas, will specific town(s)/ village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below.

2.6 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, citing evidence from Q2.1 & Q2.2, e.g. engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information, etc.

Some children may experience compounded disadvantage (e.g. SEND, low income and rurality). The integrated commissioning model will always consider these cumulative impacts and aim to mitigate them.

2.7 Mitigation and Actions: List the actions that will be taken to reduce or eliminate any negative impact identified above and how positive impacts will be enhanced. Briefly describe the action you defined.

Actions	Lead	By when
Embed equality and access requirements into the new service specification and data/information requirements.	NYC/ICB	Ongoing through life of agreement
Monitor access, waiting times and outcomes by protected characteristics.	NYC/ICB	Ongoing through life of agreement
Use ongoing consultation to refine pathways and service design across the system.	NYC/ICB	Ongoing through life of agreement

2.8 Monitoring and Review: If the proposal is to be implemented, how will the impact be monitored? Briefly describe the monitoring arrangements/systems that will be put in place to find out how the expected outcomes have been achieved in practice.

Impacts will be monitored through contract performance reporting, service user feedback, participation activity and Integrated Commissioning Group oversight, with findings informing continuous improvement.

2.9 Conclusion: Please summarise the findings of your EIA, including impacts, recommendations 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 concludes that the proposal to consult on and implement a new Section 75 agreement is likely to have a positive equality impact, supporting early intervention, reducing inequalities and improving access to emotional wellbeing support. No disproportionate negative impacts have been identified. Proceeding with consultation is recommended, with continued monitoring and mitigation.

2.10 Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name:

Job title:

Directorate:

Signature:

Completion date:

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): A Fielding

Date: 23/04/2026

Once this has been signed off, please send it to webteam@northyorks.gov.uk for publication on the appropriate webpage.

Publication:

To help people find completed EIAs, we publish them in the Equality and Diversity section of the NY Council website.

Contact details

If you need further support and guidance about carrying out EIA, please contact your directorate equality representative as listed in Stage 4 on our Intranet: Paying due regard to equality using equality impact assessments

Or contact North Yorkshire Council’s equality team on email Equality@northyorks.gov.uk