Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment

Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment (Form created August 2021)

The intention of this document is to help the council to gain an initial understanding of the impact of a project or decision on the environment. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. Dependent on this initial assessment you may need to go on to complete a full Climate Change Impact Assessment. The final document will be published as part of the decision-making process.

If you have any additional queries, which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	Experts at Hand Grant: proposed use of Department for Education grant
Brief description of proposal	The proposal seeks approval to deploy the Department for Education Experts at Hand grant to develop and implement a locality-based, multi-disciplinary support model for mainstream schools and settings across North Yorkshire. The model will build on existing Inclusion Support Hub arrangements and bring together education and health specialists, including Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and specialist teachers, to provide earlier advice, consultation, training, assessment and modelling of inclusive practice. It is intended to strengthen early identification, improve confidence in mainstream provision, support children and young people with SEND to have their needs met locally and reduce avoidable escalation to statutory assessment and higher-cost specialist or out-of-area placements.
Directorate	Children and Young People’s Service
Service area	Education and Inclusion / SEND and Resources
Lead officer	Chris Reynolds, Head of SEND and Resources
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.

Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider

For the council

For the county

Overall

Greenhouse gas emissions

Positive

Waste

Neutral

Water use

Neutral

Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)

Positive

Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)

Neutral

Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)

Neutral

Heritage and landscape

Neutral

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:	X	Continue to full CCIA:
Reason for decision	A full Climate Change Impact Assessment is not considered relevant or proportionate at this stage. The proposal is primarily a service development and workforce deployment programme, using Department for Education grant funding to extend specialist education and health support to mainstream settings. It does not involve construction, land use change, significant new building use, or material procurement. Direct environmental impacts are therefore expected to be limited. There may be some limited operational emissions from staff travel to schools and settings, particularly given North Yorkshire’s rural geography. These will be mitigated through locality-based deployment, efficient scheduling, use of existing Inclusion Support Hub infrastructure, and use of digital meetings, training and consultation where appropriate. Over time, the proposal may have a positive environmental effect by strengthening local mainstream support, reducing avoidable escalation to distant specialist or out-of-area placements, and helping to reduce associated home-to-school transport pressures. The model will also support more coordinated locality working, reducing duplication and avoidable travel by professionals. Implementation should continue to consider carbon impacts through delivery planning, including efficient deployment across locality clusters, minimising unnecessary journeys, use of council buildings and shared spaces where appropriate, and alignment with wider Council climate commitments.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	Howard Emmett
Date	July 2026