Findings of Equality Impact Assessments
By undertaking Equality Impact Assessments we:
- Ensure that the service or employment practice, which you
follow, meets the needs of specific groups and does not have
discriminatory outcomes or unmet needs.
- Fulfill statutory duty, under the Equality Act 2010.
Below is a summary of the key themes and actions emerging from a
range of Equality Impact Assessments undertaken by each of the
services within Rochdale Borough Council.
Adult Care
The Community Restart Team have undertaken an Equality Impact
Assessment to provide quality, accessible housing support services
to adults with mental illness and/or significant mental health
problems within a variety of staff supported schemes located
throughout the Borough.
The assessment will ensure equality of access to the Community
Restart Team services for adults with a mental illness and/or
significant mental health problems. It will also help ensure that
the Community Restart Team can provide an inclusive service within
the confines of positive risk assessment and management within a
health and safety legislative framework. This has the overall aim
of improving social inclusion and making improvements in health and
social care and wealth.
The Moving On Service have an Equality Impact Assessment to
monitor the removal barriers for people of working age with a
physical and/or sensory impairment to access employment and
education. This will include all aspects of social inclusion units
linked to the adult care services, local education providers and
voluntary sector services.
Environmental Management
Environmental Management conducted an Equality Impact Assessment
for the access of transport and fleet services as this is a service
which operates as a support to client and user departments such as
transport provision to Special schools/ Social services
establishments and also the school meal service and Meals on
Wheels.
The assessment aims to review barriers to accessing the service
whilst ensuring fairness and equality within employment and
embracing the inclusive workforce strategy.
Another assessment performed by Environmental Management is for
domestic refuse collections, waste minimisation and waste
recycling. The aim of which is to provide an efficient, high
quality service for domestic household waste collection to every
property in the Borough and also to encourage waste minimisation by
offering opportunities for participation and prioritising
awareness/ encouraging recycling, including an assisted bin scheme
to those who require it.
Financial Services
The Finance service have produced an Equality Impact Assessments
for the Code of Corporate Governance and the Statement of Internal
Control, both of which are used to provide a statement to
stakeholders about the standard of governance arrangements at RMBC,
whilst meeting the good practice guidance and Audit Commission
requirements to be inclusive of all stakeholders within the
Borough. Both of these documents were assessed to meet acceptable
Equality and Diversity Standards.
Information and Libraries
Information and Libraries produced an Equality Impact Assessment
for the Advice Service which will provide advice, information and
representation in the areas of welfare rights, housing and debt to
all people who require it within the Borough.
This will include training in all these areas of work to
internal and external customers and to provide publicity materials
for paper, web and electronic.
Customer Services have devised an Equality Impact Assessment for
the One Stop Shop Principle of Service Delivery which concentrates
on issues such as customer service standards, best value review,
service monitoring and the zero tolerance procedure. This
assessment has the aim to provide access to and information about
the Council and related services whilst maintaining excellent
standards of customer service. This will ensure that all customers
receive all the help, information and assistance, to which they are
entitled regardless of their personal circumstances. Customers are
taken to mean any resident within the Borough.
Learners and Young People
An Equality Impact Assessment was conducted by The Education
Welfare Service regarding the enforcement of legal action- a policy
and procedure to enforce regular attendance at school.
This assessment covers the current review of the policy and
protocol of taking legal action for non- school attendance. It
ensures that the education welfare service is pursuing the local
authority statutory duty in respect of non- attendance at school or
failure by parents/ carers to provide a suitable alternative,
always meeting acceptable equality and diversity standards.
The Youth Service produced an Equality Impact Assessment to
ensure that the service is available to all groups of young people
and that their achievements match their involvements.
It will analyse the percentage of white male, white female, male
BME and female BME young people that the service contacts at each
age of the 13-19 band compared to the % of each of these groups in
the population as a whole. It then analyses the achievement rates
of each group in terms of accredited awards.
Legal and Democratic
Legal and Democratic have introduced an Equality Impact
Assessment for Local Land Charge Searches. This has provided
solicitors with details of and charges associated with land and
property and their clients/ members of the public who are selling/
purchasing. This also includes a facility to allow personal search
agencies to carry out local land searches. All equality objectives
and targets are met to address any unequal/ unmet needs and ensures
all staff are aware of what actions are required to remove
inequalities as and when they occur.
Human Resource Service
The Human Resource Service devised the Equality Impact
Assessment to monitor the recruitment and selection framework. The
Council’s Fair Recruitment and Selection Policy is an integral part
of the Equality and Diversity Strategy. It is a key component
within the Council’s overall equality framework and can work
positively to promote equality and fairness for all.
The policy provides a framework for managers and support to the
Council’s aim by seeking to appoint employees with appropriate
qualifications and skills and experience to be able to deliver
services to the community of the Borough irrespective of age,
disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex,
sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy
and maternity.
An Equality Impact Assessment was developed to assess the
modernisation of HR processes through the use of technology and
electronic service delivery which will improve business processes
and reduce duplication.
This will also improve reporting and allow accurate monitoring
of workforce data for management purposes and performance
indicator, statutory reporting. It aims to bring out the accuracy
and timelessness of workforce data and management information for
internal and external reporting purposes.
Performance and Development
The Performance and Development Service have undertaken an
Equality Impact Assessment concerning Training and Development,
providing a range of development, assessment and consultancy
services to the Council in order to develop employees to contribute
towards their service objectives and the objectives of the Council.
This has led to improved access to learning opportunities across
the organisation and a more flexible provision of services to meet
customer needs. It has provided equal access to learning
opportunities and improved access to learning opportunities for
all.
The Policy & Research and Improvement Team developed
Equality Impact Assessments for developing, supporting and
implementing strategies and policies such as Aiming High, Pride of
Place, Single Equality Scheme & Community Cohesion Strategy.
This will enable us to assist in creating a thriving place where
people want to live, work, visit and do business in a place which
we can all take pride.
Regeneration
Regeneration have implemented an Equality Impact Assessment
regarding the Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) Strategy which aims to
reduce ASB, criminal damage and youth nuisance which includes the
delivery of a Borough Families Project to tackle the behaviour of
the most challenging families and deliver ASB presentations to
young people to educate them about the consequences of their
actions for both them and their victims. It has also developed a
support network to assist victims of ASB on grounds of
discrimination in terms of re-housing and/or support to retain
residency and all of which aim to meet acceptable Equality and
Diversity Standards. There is also currently a new strategy under
development.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing introduced an Equality Impact
Assessment for the provision of Digital TV reception to sheltered
flats, maisonettes and flats above 2 storeys. By consulting with
tenants, residents and different working groups, such as the BME
steering group, on a quarterly basis to provide information and
gain feedback and include all residents in the communication
process.
Schools
The Schools Service have produced an Equality Impact Assessment
for the Ethnic Minority Achievement Team which works as part of the
schools service within Children, Schools & Families to support
schools across the age range in raising the achievement of ethnic
minority pupils. This will meet the need to provide guidance and
support to all schools regarding the needs of minority ethnic
pupils and also meets obligations under The Race Relations
Amendments Act with regard to reporting and recording racist
incidents.
Schools have also developed an Equality Impact Assessment for
the Evolve system which is being configured to allow schools to
upload group/ class lists off pupils undertaking visits off site.
When this facility is fully functional it will enable the LA to
identify the numbers and age ranges of male/ female pupils and
young people participating in off-site visits.
This will enable the Local Authority to monitor that Learning
Outside the Classroom (LOTC) experiences are available to all
irrespective of gender, age, ethnic, disability and financial
status.
Strategic Housing Service
The Equality Impact Assessments developed by the Strategic
Housing Service include a referrals procedure for SHS- Homelessness
Service for admission to Leopold Court. This has enabled agencies
to ascertain information about individuals in order to make an
informed decision about whether it can meet individual needs, as
well as maintaining their safety. The development of this has
helped to meet the individual needs of vulnerable people homeless
as well as maintaining the health and safety of referred person and
other residents and staff in the scheme.
Another assessment has been to implement a policy and process
for Rochdale MBC Supporting People which has impacted the
decommissioning of services. The new process means Rochdale
Supporting People cannot decommission a service without a thorough
assessment of the impact of a service closing. The policy looks at
the impact of decommissioning on the service user group and sets
actions to mitigate any risk.
Revenues and Benefits
The Revenues and Benefits Service have produced Equality Impact
Assessments for service areas such as Collection and Payment,
Benefits Processing and for the production of documents. Each of
which aims for the procedures and processes to provide a wide range
of options the payments and collections can be issued. This
involves making collection and recovery information and guidance
available in community languages, large print, Braille or other
format whilst treating all customers equally.