Title: Investing in Stockport overall programme Date: December 2014 Stage: Final Service Area: CSS Lead Officer: Steve Skelton Stage 1: Do you need to complete an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)? Not all policies will require an EIA: these key questions will help you to decide whether you need to conduct an EIA (see guidance notes at the end of this form). Yes, the Investing in Stockport (IIS) Programme involves a number of changes to services and as such requires an EIA. This EIA focuses on the potential cumulative equality implications of the nine IIS proposals for 2015/16. A further cumulative EIA will be carried out to assess the potential implications of the IIS proposals planned for 2016/17. It is not within the scope of this EIA to detail or evaluate the potential equality implications that may arise from each specific IIS proposal. Due to the diverse range of service restructures or changes taking place this must be carried out at a service level to ensure detailed and robust consideration is given to each proposal. To this end, individual EIAs have been completed for each proposal as part of the business case development process. The scope of this cumulative EIA includes: - The process carried out to assess the equality impact of the nine IIS proposals Potential cumulative impact on residents / service users Potential cumulative impact on the Council s workforce Stage 2: What do you know? An EIA should be based upon robust evidence. This stage will guide you through potential sources of information and how to interpret it. Understanding the current context is a key stage in all policy making and planning (see guidance notes at the end of this form). The process carried out to assess the equality impact of the nine IIS proposals EIAs have been carried out for all nine IIS proposals for 2015/16. For particularly complex proposals (e.g. Preventative Commissioning) an overarching EIA has been carried out, and further detailed EIAs will consider the impact of de-commissioning / re-commissioning decisions relating to specific services. In the case of the Leisure Services proposal a stage one EIA has been carried out, explaining why a full EIA is not currently required. The following mechanisms have been put in place to ensure robust equality assessments across all IIS proposals. Project Managers (from the CSS Reform Team) and Directorate equality representatives have been identified to provide service specific support for Heads of Service / Project Leads developing EIAs. The Corporate Strategy and Performance Team have provided advice and guidance and quality checked the most complex EIAs. 1
In addition an extensive programme of consultation has been carried out to inform the development of the specific proposals, as well as wider consultation relating to the ISS programme as a whole. A range of methodologies and communications were used in order to attract engagement from a wide range of groups. Those consulted included scrutiny committees, residents, service users, partners, employees and trade unions; and focus groups were held with the general public, a disability group, young people s group and the BME network Nexus. Targeted consultation with people identified as being affected by specific service changes has also been carried out. Consultation reports summarising the key consultation findings have been prepared for the individual proposals and the overall IIS Programme. The findings have informed the on-going development of the proposals and individual EIAs. Potential impact on residents / service users The Council has a range of data which it uses to understand the demographics and needs of the population, including: - Census demographic data Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Ethnic diversity service data Performance data Service user profile data (including data collected by providers of commissioned services) Financial data Pilot projects Feedback from complaints This data shows the following key demographic trends: - Stockport has a predominantly White population, with the White ethnic group accounting for 92.07% of the Borough s population. However the Borough is becoming more ethnically diverse with increasing numbers of people identifying with minority ethnic groups in the 2011 Census. The most ethically diverse age group in the Borough is the 0-15 age group where just over 15% are from BME groups. Though not one of the statutory protected characteristics, socio-economic inequalities are a key issue in the Borough. Analysis of deprivation and poverty within Stockport identifies that socio-economic status has links with other protected characteristics such as gender (particularly female), age (young and older people), and disability (across all spectrums). The Borough has an ageing population and population projections suggest that by 2019 there will be an additional 9,200 people in Stockport aged 65+. However substantial residential developments due to be built over the next few years, including provision for affordable homes, may attract younger people and families to the Borough and consequently impact on the current demographic. Based on national estimates of prevalence, it is estimated that approximately 2.8% of the Borough s adult population have a learning disability and 8.6% of 2
the adult population have a disability that limits their day-to-day activities a lot ; meanwhile around 1.2% of the Borough s children and young people have a disability. The IIS proposals involve service changes that may have a disproportionate impact on some of the Borough s equality groups: - Disability a number of the proposals have identified a potential cumulative impact on people with a disability. Preventative Commissioning proposals may entail a change of service delivery model for service users with disabilities; the Learning Disability Review may have an impact on services for adults with learning disabilities; proposals to reform the Short Breaks Service and SEN Transport may impact on children and young people with disabilities; and it is anticipated that the proposals relating to Integrated Health and Social Care may also impact upon this equality group. Age Preventative Commissioning and Integrated Health and Social Care proposals may lead to changes to service delivery models for older people. In addition Accelerated Growth proposals may impact on the housing options and choices available to older people in rented or bought accommodation. Meanwhile proposals to reform the Short Breaks Service and SEN Transport will impact most heavily on 5-18 year olds with a disability. Carers though not one of the statutory protected characteristics, a number of the IIS proposals may impact on carers. Carers may fall into one or more of the protected characteristics and further work will be carried out to assess / monitor potential accumulative impact. From the available information it is not considered that there will be any negative impact on the following equality groups: - Race Sexual Orientation Religion and Belief Pregnancy and Maternity Gender Reassignment Potential impact on staff A number of proposals will impact on the Council s employees. In particular the proposals relating to Accelerated Growth and New Models of Regulation involve staff reductions. It is not expected, however, that these staff reductions will have a disproportionate impact on any equality group. Disaggregated data relating to the staff in scope of these proposals is included in the individual EIAs. The Learning Disability Review and Integrated Health and Social Care proposals will involve renegotiation of current job roles. Such service restructures may disproportionally impact on gender 67% of staff in scope of the Learning Disability Review are female and 80% of staff in scope of Integrated Health and Social Care proposals are female. In addition there may be a disproportional socio-economic impact, as the majority of staff in scope of the Learning Disability Review and Integrated Health and Social Care proposals are currently Scale 4 SO2. Further specific details and mitigating 3
actions are included in the individual EIAs for both proposals. Stage 2a: Further Data and Consultation If you feel that the data and past consultation feedback you have is not sufficient to properly consider the impact before a decision is made then you may wish to supplement your evidence base with more data or further consultation. This should be proportionate to the scale of the decision and will depend on the gaps in your current understanding (see guidance notes at the end of this form). Stage 3: Results and Measures As a result of what you have learned in Stage 2 what will you do to ensure that no group is unfairly and unlawfully impacted upon as a result of the proposed change(s)? (see guidance notes at the end of this form) As noted above, individual EIAs have been carried out for all IIS proposals. These EIAs include more detailed and specific monitoring arrangements and provide details of mitigation arrangements where potential disproportionate equality impacts have been identified. These arrangements will ensure that no group is unfairly impacted upon by the implementation of the proposed service changes. Further work will be carried out, including engagement with service users, to continue to develop monitoring and mitigation arrangements as proposals are developed. In particular further consideration will be given in relation to the potential cumulative impact on the equality groups identified in Section 2 (disability, age / older people and carers) In addition as mentioned in Section 2, an overarching EIA has been carried out for the Integrated Preventative Commissioning proposal, and further detailed EIAs will consider the impact of de-commissioning / re-commissioning decisions relating to specific services in scope of the proposal. This will ensure our understanding of the equality impact of the significant changes to the way preventative services are commissioned and delivered develops in line with the implementation of the proposal. In addition to the arrangements set out above, the following measures are outlined as overall monitoring and mitigation arrangements for the IIS programme. These overarching arrangements are designed to ensure no equality group is unfairly affected by the accumulative impact of the IIS proposals. Further consultation and development On-going consultation and coproduction events will provide opportunities for service users and other stakeholders to take a proactive role in informing the development of IIS proposals. For example (but not exclusively) coproduction activity will enable service users to continue to shape the community offer as part of the Integrated Health and Social Care proposal and the Parents in Partnership Group will continue to be involved in the development of SEN Transport proposals. In addition equality impact is built into the Council s commissioning procedures 4
Robust monitoring Robust monitoring arrangements will be developed to assess the equality impact of specific service changes (and where appropriate the impact of planned mitigating actions) as IIS proposals are implemented. Any emerging inequalities will be identified at an early stage and where appropriate further mitigating action will be developed. In addition a robust Strategic Outcomes Framework has been developed to monitor the overall outcomes of the IIS Programme, this will be aligned with the Council s Corporate Portfolio Performance and Resource Reporting arrangements (see below). The Council Plan The Council Plan is currently being refreshed for 2015-17 and it is proposed that the Plan adopts the IIS Strategic Outcomes Framework. The Plan will be a key strategic mechanism for delivering against the IIS outcomes. The Council s Performance Reporting Framework The Council s quarterly Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports (PPRRs) provide an overview of performance against the Council s key priorities. The PPRRs will be aligned with IIS outcomes to provide the information decision makers need to monitor the overall outcomes of the IIS Programme. Where statistically possible, performance indicators will be disaggregated by protected characteristic to ensure any emerging inequalities are identified. Equality Statement and Objectives The Council has developed its Equality Objectives, as directed by the Equality Act 2010 and is developing supporting performance measures to monitor these objectives as part of the Council s wider PPRR framework. This, alongside the other monitoring arrangements set out above, will further develop an understanding of any emerging equality issues. Stage 4: Decision Stage Once your plan/policy is fully developed it will need to go through the correct scrutiny and approval channels: the EIA should be included as part of this (see guidance notes at the end of this form). This EIA will accompany the IIS business cases to Executive on 16 th December. This meeting represents the final approval stage. 5
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