CARDIFF COUNCIL. Equality Impact Assessment Corporate Assessment Template

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1 Policy/Strategy/Project/Procedure/Service/Function Title: Proposed Council budget reductions to grant funding to the Third Sector Infrastructure Partners New Who is responsible for developing and implementing the Policy/Strategy/Project/Procedure/Service/Function? Name: Sarah McGill Job Title: DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITIES, HOUSING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE Service Team: Policy, Partnerships and Service Area: Citizen Focus COMMUNITIES, HOUSING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE Assessment Date: November 2014 working draft version What are the objectives of the Policy/Strategy/Project/ Procedure/ Service/Function? The objective of the process is to review the level of grant funding to infrastructure support provided by external Third Sector agencies as part of the budget process for 2015 /16. The City of Cardiff Council is required to make 48 million of savings in 2015/16. As part of this process the City of Cardiff Council proposes is to reduce the amount of direct support we currently give to our third sector infrastructure support providers by 25%. This is in line with level of departmental savings required within the Communities, Housing and Customer Service Directorate. The City of Cardiff Council will continue to engage with the infrastructure grant funding. We will also ensure that through regular monitoring meetings with the organisations that we will target the focus of the future Service Level Agreement on prioritised 2. Please provide background information on the Policy/Strategy/Project/Procedure/Service/Function and any research done [e.g. service users data against demographic statistics, similar EIAs done etc.] 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 1

2 As is indicated above a budget cut to the Infrastructure Partners has been proposed as part of the 2015/16 budget process. As a result of the proposal this is being carried out to enable Council to make an informed choice in deciding to agree or disagree with the budget proposal. This equalities impact assessment is a live document and will be updated as we consult with the partners to understand their ability to make efficiencies to reduce or remove the potential impact of the saving. The organisations that are supported through this fund are: Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC) This funding enables C3SC to provide advice and support to its (approximately 800) Third Sector members in relation to accessing funding opportunities and strengthening voluntary and community action through training and capacity building. C3SC also works at a strategic level to assist the City of Cardiff Council to meeting its statutory obligations, particularly in relation to engaging with the third sector. It also facilitates inclusive third sector representation in a number of partnership initiatives across the city, providing organisations such as the City of Cardiff Council with a coherent method of engaging with the third sector. The Grant provided within the Service Level Agreement allows effective, accessible and high quality support for third sector organisations in taking forward both their strategic and operational functions. The organisation works to support and strengthen Cardiff's Third Sector. This work includes undergoing a review of the services provided in response to anticipated increases in demand for services arising from the changes in the external environment - welfare reform, reductions in public funding, and increased demands on other third sector services. The review will allow the organisation to deliver timely and appropriate infrastructure support and solutions to the third sector and maximise opportunities to offer a responsible influence on the public policy agenda. Race Equality First (REF) Cardiff has a population of approximately 346,000 people with over 10% of this number being made up of people from ethnic minority communities, making Cardiff the largest multi-cultural city in Wales. Whilst Cardiff is viewed as a friendly welcoming City as with all areas of Britain racial and other types of discrimination take place. As a result of this UK Government has created equality legislation to help overcome discrimination. In line with this equality legislation, Cardiff Council has had a number of general and specific duties that it has to adhere to. Historically the City of Cardiff Council has met part of these duties by providing grant funding to the organisation, Race Equality First in the form of a Service 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 2

3 Level Agreement. Race Equality First (REF) is an independent charity, which aims to: Work towards the elimination of racial discrimination and to Promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups. Their research and policy work relating to hate crime are also delivered across all equality strands in partnership with a wide range of equality organisations in Cardiff and across Wales. They achieve there aims through policy work, public education, community development and discrimination casework. The grant funding provided by the City of Cardiff Council has contributed towards the core costs of the organisation and has enabled the organisation to carry out a number of specific pieces of work on behalf of the Council, which have helped to prevent discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations between people of different racial groups. Examples of specific work carried out includes: The provision of an anti discrimination case work service to Cardiff citizens. The delivery of equality based training to Council employees. To deliver anti discrimination workshops in Cardiff Schools. Diverse Cymru Diverse Cymru is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee with the aim of Leading the way to a fairer future for all, by celebrating the value of Equality and Diversity through innovative training, support and networking opportunities. The organisation is working towards being an important resource and the leading body for equality information, advice, guidance, training and support for individuals and organisations in all sectors. However, whilst the organisation is multi equality strand focused, many of its services are specifically focused on Disabled Service users. Cardiff has a population of approximately 346,000 people and research suggests that up to 20% of working age people are disabled or have a long term health condition which affects their day to day living. The organisations approach is based on the social model of disability which it has extended to cover all protected characteristic groups. The organisation recognises that people are not limited by their characteristics but by external barriers (physical, structural and attitudinal). This approach means everyone can be involved in identifying solutions and ultimately removing these barriers. They work with service users in a supportive way, never usurping the rights of 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 3

4 the individual by speaking for them when their voice fails, or is not heard, but by encouraging them to take control and speak for themselves. They aim to remove barriers by working with organisations, from all sectors, and with service users who have direct experience of prejudice and discrimination. The organisation provides a number of services including Advocacy, training, consultation, service user involvement and information services. These services aim to benefit cardiff council by ensuring that: Equality practices and compliance with equality legislation are improved. Under-represented people in Cardiff are consulted and supported to identify service needs and protect their rights. Access for disabled people is improved The work of Diverse Cymru is communicated to people experiencing inequality and the voluntary and public sector organisations Cardiff Council is supported to comply with the Equality Act 2010 Percieved community boundaries are reduced by developing volunteering opportunities for under-represented people. Voluntary Community Services (VCS) VCS is funded by City of Cardiff Council through a service level agreement. They run the Cardiff Volunteer Centre and associated outreach functions and has the primary aim of matching potential volunteers with volunteering opportunities in Cardiff. The vision is that people in Cardiff make a sustained and valued contribution to society through volunteering. VCS provides an open access drop-in service Mon-Fri which enables people interested in volunteering to gain advice on available opportunities and a referral system to organisations currently recruiting volunteers. An information & support service is offered to local organisations which use volunteers through the Cardiff Volunteer Co-ordinators Network. This meets quarterly; and carries out an average of 50 good practice (STAN) visits to volunteer placements per year. Work is carried out with under-represented groups to address barriers to volunteering - including young people not in education, employment or training; ex-offenders; people with support needs due to heath or disability; and people marginalised due to language needs. Work is also undertaken with local organisations to promote good practice in volunteering through outreach visits and by jointly running a network for Volunteer Organisers with Cardiff Third Sector Council. Collaborative activities with partners such as Cardiff Council; Cardiff & Vale University Health Board; South Wales Police and Diverse Cymru will include promoting the development of a volunteering alliance for Cardiff. 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 4

5 VCS also supports: The 4 new Communities First clusters in Cardiff with volunteering initiatives Job Centre Plus and work directly with organisations making significant redundancies in the current economic climate to offer volunteering opportunities to both enhance future employability and provide meaningful activities for people experiencing work-less-ness. Volunteering through traditional & social media and produce a weekly radio programme on Radio Cardiff which offers 2 organisations each week the opportunity to showcase their work and promote current volunteering vacancies, providing also information on new volunteering opportunities which have been registered with VCS. Cardiff and Vale Action for Mental Health (CAVAMH) CAVAMH are an umbrella organisation that work with third sector groups which have an interest in mental health. They also work directly with mental health services users and carers. The City of Cardiff Council contribute funds to 2 strands of their work, Sefyll and Nexus. The overall aim of Sefyll is to create a positive change in mental health services by involving and utilising the expertise of the people who use them. They do this by finding opportunities for involvement for service users and helping service providers develop opportunities for meaningful involvement. This is achieved by: providing information to service users and service providers identifying opportunities for involvement for service users and service providers providing training for service users to increase involvement and confidence developing meaningful involvement Their annual target is to organise 50 meetings to be attended by user representatives; 2 events to be attended by 30 people; have a minimum of 50 service users attending training courses; and have a minimum of 6 service users being trained in recruitment. The overall aim of Nexus is to involve people who use older people s mental health services and their carers to have say in the way that those services are planned, run and developed, both locally and nationally. It s aim is to utilise their opinions based on experience to change ways of working for the better. 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 5

6 3 Assess Impact on the Protected Characteristics 3.1 Age impact [negative] on younger/older people? Yes Up to 18 years x years x Over 65 years x No N/A on younger or older people. This is supported by: Evidence indicates that 2 of the biggest beneficiary groups of voluntary organisations or receiving services from voluntary organisations are Children and young people (58%) and elderly people (28%). Evidence also indicates that volunteering promotes increased self esteem and wellbeing amongst all age groups but is especially true for older people. Evidence indicates that the prevalence of people being disabled rises with age. Around 6 % of children are disabled, compared to 15 % of working age adults and 45 % of adults over State Pension age in Great Britain. 3.2 Disability impact [negative] on disabled people? Hearing Impairment Physical Impairment Visual Impairment Learning Disability Yes No N/A 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 6

7 Long-Standing Illness or Health Condition Mental Health Substance Misuse Other on disabled people. This is supported by: Evidence indicates that another of the biggest beneficiary groups as a result of voluntary organisations or receiving services from volunteers are disabled people (27%). Evidence indicates that a substantially higher than average proportion of disabled people live in poverty, compared to non disabled people. Only half of disabled people of working age are in work (50%), compared with 80% of non disabled people. 23% of disabled people have no qualifications compared to 9% of non disabled people. Around a third of disabled people experience difficulties related to their impairment in accessing public, commercial and leisure goods and services. 3.3 Gender Reassignment impact [negative] on transgender people? Transgender People (People who are proposing to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone a process [or part of a process] to reassign their sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex) Yes No N/A 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 7

8 on the numbers of people who work voluntarily to provide services, opportunities and help to many under-represented, vulnerable groups or those protected by a protected characteristic Marriage and Civil Partnership impact [negative] on marriage and civil partnership? Marriage Civil Partnership Yes No N/A on the numbers of people who work voluntarily to provide services, opportunities and help to many under-represented, vulnerable groups or those protected by a protected characteristic. 3.5 Pregnancy and Maternity impact [negative] on pregnancy and maternity? Pregnancy Yes No N/A 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 8

9 Maternity on the numbers of people who work voluntarily to provide services, opportunities and help to many under-represented, vulnerable groups or those protected by a protected characteristic. 3.6 Race Will this Policy/Strategy/Project//Procedure/Service/Function have a differential impact [negative] on the following groups? White Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Groups Asian / Asian British Black / African / Caribbean / Black British Other Ethnic Groups Yes No N/A on the groups above. This is supported by: Evidence indicates that the number of volunteers coming from BME backgrounds has increased in previous years; a reduction in volunteering opportunities could reduce this increase. Evidence indicates that young people from some BME backgrounds are more likely to be not in education, employment or training. If a reduction in services provision impacts directly on the projects specifically run for this particular group then this could have a negative impact on race. Specifically, the grant funding provided to Race Equality First enables the organisation to carry out a number of specific pieces of work on behalf of Cardiff 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 9

10 Council, which has enabled us to fulfil our duties as set out within the Equality Act, these duties are to: Prevent discrimination, Promote equality of opportunity and Promote good relations between people of different groups. Examples of specific work carried out by the organisation includes: The provision of an anti discrimination case work service to Cardiff citizens. To deliver anti discrimination workshops in Cardiff Schools. And the grant funding to Diverse Cymru provides specific services for disabled service users who are from BME backgrounds, therefore a reduction in service provision could have a negative impact on the grounds of race 3.7 Religion, Belief or Non-Belief impact [negative] on people with different religions, beliefs or non-beliefs? Buddhist Christian Hindu Humanist Jewish Muslim Sikh Other Yes No N/A on the numbers. As described above some of the deliverables from these organisations is based on the prevention of discrimination the promotion of equality of opportunity and the promotion of good relations between people from different groups. Much of 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 10

11 this work is based on the various religions that exist as a result of Cardiff being a multicultural city with the largest population of ethnic minorities in Wales Sex impact [negative] on men and/or women? Men Women Yes No N/A on of people who work voluntarily to provide services, opportunities and help to many under-represented, vulnerable groups or those protected by a protected characteristic. 3.9 Sexual Orientation impact [positive/negative] on the following groups? Bisexual Yes No N/A 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 11

12 Gay Men Gay Women/Lesbians Heterosexual/Straight on of people who work voluntarily to provide services, opportunities and help to many under-represented, vulnerable groups or those protected by a protected characteristic Welsh Language impact [positive/negative] on Welsh Language? Welsh Language Yes No N/A on of people who work voluntarily to provide services, opportunities and help to many under-represented, vulnerable groups or those protected by a protected characteristic. 4. Consultation and Engagement 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 12

13 What arrangements have been made to consult/engage with the various Equalities Groups? A meeting was arranged and held in November 2014 representatives from the infrastructure partners, where the proposed reduction in grant funding of 25% was discussed. This enabled the organisation an opportunity to identify the negative impacts of the proposal. Discussions also took place regarding the infrastructure organisations working in closer collaboration with each other. The aim of this being to achieve efficiency savings and therefore lessen the impact of the proposed reduction in grant funding in 2015/16. The Third Sector infrastructure organisations were sent a letter from the Director for Communities, Housing and Customer Services on 4 th December 2014 detailing the proposals for funding in and providing an opportunity to feedback views and ideas on how to alleviate the affects of the proposed 25% reduction in funding. The infrastructure organisations were also invited to meet with officers from the council on 4 th December to discuss closer working in closer collaboration to help mitigate the proposed funding reductions. On 17 th December 2014 the infrastructure organisations were sent a draft specification of services and invited to submit a joint collaborative proposal of how they intend to meet the Council s required outcomes and outline how they can work together to deliver infrastructure activities in a joined up way. The infrastructure organisations are due to meet officers to further discuss the specification and required outcomes on 9 th February As part of the ongoing discussions with the Third Sector Infrastructure organisations, it is also recognised that activities delivered by CAVAMH and Gypsy & Traveller Project activities are project/service specific and so need to be de-classified as Infrastructure organisations and considered separately from any proposed collaborative arrangements. Representatives of CAVAMH and Gypsy & Traveller Project are therefore due to meet officers on 23 rd January to discuss these issues. 5. Summary of Actions [Listed in the Sections above] Groups Age Disability Actions 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 13

14 Gender Reassignment Marriage & Civil Partnership Pregnancy & Maternity Race Religion/Belief Sex Sexual Orientation Welsh Language Generic Over-Arching [applicable to all the above groups] The City of Cardiff Council will continue to engage with the Infrastructure partners, regarding a closer collaboration between them. The aim of this being to achieve efficiency savings and lessen the impact of the proposed reduction in grant funding. We will also ensure that through regular monitoring meetings that we will target the focus of the future Service Level Agreement on prioritised 6. Further Action Any recommendations for action that you plan to take as a result of this Equality Impact Assessment (listed in Summary of Actions) should be included as part of your Service Area s Business Plan to be monitored on a regular basis. 7. Authorisation The Template should be completed by the Lead Officer of the identified Policy/Strategy/Project/Function and approved by the appropriate Manager in each Service Area. Completed By : Robert Giddings Date: Designation: Corporate Grant Officer 23 rd January 2015 Approved By: Jane Thomas Designation: Assistant Director Housing and Communities Service Area: Communities 7.1 On completion of this Assessment, please ensure that the Form is posted on your Directorate s Page on CIS - Council Wide/Management Systems/Equality Impact Assessments - so that there is a record of all assessments undertaken in the Council. For further information or assistance, please contact the Citizen Focus Team on or [email protected] 4.C.400 Issue 1 Nov 11 Process Owner: Rachel Jones Authorised: Rachel Jones Page 14