Equality impact assessment - committee services

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1. What is the name of the function, policy or service that is being assessed?

Democratic and Member Services

2. What are the aims of the function, policy or service? Whose needs it is designed to meet? What are the current priorities?

The service provides high quality support to Councillors in their governance and community leadership roles and to providing crucial administrative support to ensure that meetings of the council, its committees and sub committees and task groups are properly constituted and effective, thus ensuring that the council is a transparent and local council.

3. In what ways might this function, policy or service affect some groups of people differently? Might some groups find it harder to access the service? Do some groups have particular needs that are not well met by the current policy or service?

Members need information and/or training relating to all equalities issues and legislation to enable them to fulfil their duties.

Members must abide by a nationally agreed and locally implemented code of conduct which includes promoting equality and by not discriminating unlawfully against any person and by treating people with respect regardless of the their race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Members with disabilities may need additional support in terms of access to papers or meetings and this will be reviewed as and when the situation arises.

Our service is not provided directly to the public or other user groups. All interested parties have to access our service and therefore to some degree some groups may find it harder to access the service or be less aware of it. This however is tempered by the fact that those officers within the council writing reports for decisions on services provided by the council or policies of that council, should have consulted, or made aware, those groups of people most affected by the proposals. The issue then becomes one of access to the meeting or the papers and this will be dealt with as follows:

• Race - Translation services can be accessed for both the papers and the meeting.
• Age – May require large size print documents and hard copies rather than on line access. Also access to meetings may be more difficult. Arrangements will be put in hand for both requirements.
• Religion – No issues identified other than the general requirement that these groups should be consulted on proposals which affect them. Again translation services can be accessed if required.
• Gender – No issues identified.
• Sexual Orientation - No issues identified.
• Disability - Access to meetings may be more difficult and arrangements are put in place where we anticipate such difficulties, to hold the meeting in an accessible venue.

4. What evidence do you have for your judgement? Is there evidence of public concern (e.g. complaints)? Have staff raised concerns? Is there local or national research to suggest that there could be a problem?

The report of the District Auditor on the review of Equalities and Diversity, published in January 2007, recommended that all councillors should be supported in increasing their awareness and commitment to disability and race equality.

5. Who have you consulted with as part of your assessment? What were the results? Have you published the results of that consultation? If so, where?

No

6. If you have found that the function, policy or service might have an adverse impact on a particular group of people, can you justify this?

It is possible that without additional training for members that particular groups could be adversely affected.

7. If the impact cannot be justified, what do you intend to do about this? Are there changes that you could introduce which would make the function, policy or service work better for this group of people? Is further research or consultation required?

We are running a series of training event for members on equalities issues (2 sessions run so far – 3 more planned) plus we are running 2 sessions for all members of the council on the new code of conduct which will include the promotion of equal opportunities. The council at its meeting on 10 July 2007 adopted the revise code with effect from 1 September 2007.

All cabinet reports should now contain an equalities impact assessment alerting members to the implications for certain groups of people of decisions/policies before them.

8. How will you monitor the take-up or impact of the function, policy or service in future?

Take up will be monitored by attendance figures and some evaluation of the benefits of the training.

9. What actions do you plan to take as a result of this equality impact assessment? Please state any resource implications

As above

10. There is a legal requirement to publish the outcomes of Equality Impact Assessments. Please outline how / where this will happen

11. Name of person completing form

Head of Democratic & Member Services

Date assessment completed

August 07

12. Senior manager approval

Assistant Director - Corporate Services

Date

27 September 2007

Last updated: 13 May 2009