www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Equality Impact Assessment - Disability Equality Scheme
1. What is the name of the policy, function or service that is being assessed?
The function is to consult on the Draft Action Plan of the Wiltshire Disability Equality Scheme
2. What are the aims of the policy, function or service? Whose needs is it designed to meet? What are the current priorities?
The function is to carry out a process of consultation about the Draft Action Plan of the Wiltshire Disability Equality Scheme (DES). The consultation process is to seek the views of the ‘people of Wiltshire’ and obtain feedback about the proposed actions, to ensure that the actions are relevant to the needs of the people of Wiltshire. The views of disabled people and carers are specifically relevant as many of the actions are concerned with making services and opportunities more accessible to disabled people, making services and job opportunities more equitable.
The consultation will use a range of approaches with the aim of being accessible to everyone.
- Acknowledge and a ‘snap survey’ on the Wiltshire County Council website with access to the summarised Action Plan and the full Scheme with Action Plan.
- A leaflet including a summarised Action Plan with questionnaire and monitoring form for individuals which will be:
- on display in libraries, doctor’s surgeries, Youth Development Centres, WCC receptions, Contact Points.
- made accessible with translation at meetings of community groups and voluntary organisations who are engaging people of BME community groups and/or who are primarily for disabled people and/or their carers
- sent to voluntary and community organisations working with ‘hard to reach’ groups, asking that they support individuals to complete the consultation.
- sent to individuals who have been involved in previous consultation related to equality and diversity and have indicated a willingness to be involved in further consultation.
A letter with a questionnaire will be sent to organisations in Wiltshire requesting their views on the Action Plan. They will be referred to the Scheme and Action Plan on the Wiltshire County Council website.
Wiltshire County Council staff will be consulted through a questionnaire on the Intranet with access to the summarised Action Plan and the full Scheme with Action Plan.
The Staff Disability Forum and the BEM staff forum will each be consulted through a meeting.
3. In what ways might this 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 function, policy or service?
Some groups/individuals will readily access the consultation through the Internet, Acknowledge or their library/other premises as the Action Plan and questionnaire will be placed on the Internet and will be in hard copy in the local library/other premises.
This is more likely to happen if-
- they use a home computer with Internet access
- they are computer literate and use the Internet in a WCC library
- they have time to look at the Internet
- they are interested in responding to questionnaires.
- they are library users and seek out information on display in the library.
- they are ‘watchers’ of the decisions of the County Council and take time to challenge and comment on the decisions and actions of the council.
- they are confident and competent in the written English language or have access to the information through technology, translation or interpretation.
- their local library, GP surgery or Youth Centre is proactive in displaying the information and encouraging participation
- they are supported by an actively interested carer if they have an impairment that restricts mobility or communication
The consultation documentation will be sent to those organisations in Wiltshire that are on the consultation register. These groups are likely to have a commitment and organisational structures which enable them to engage in consultation.
For ‘hard to reach’ groups there is greater likelihood of their engagement if the consultation is taken by community members, into community groups or organisations. Copies of the Action Plan, sign-posting to the Internet and access to translation/interpretation will be used to encourage and enable their participation. These groups include: -
- community groups/voluntary organisations working with disabled people will be asked to consider the documentation and will be provided with interpretation as necessary.
- BEM community groups/voluntary organisations, a member of the WREC staff team will meet with them, explain the Action Plan and provide interpretation.
The documentation will be sent to a range of other organisations who are understood to be engaging with ‘hard to reach’ groups requesting that they pass on the individual ‘consultation documentation’ to their contacts and also consider responding as an organisation.
The shortened Action Plan and questionnaire will be sent to those individuals who have attended specific events and indicated a willingness to be involved in future consultation. This includes people of BEM communities and people who have engaged with the development of the Disability Equality Scheme.
Awareness of this process of consultation will be raised through the Wiltshire press, community newsletters and through the consultation of County Council staff using the shortened Action Plan and questionnaire on the intranet.
There is a risk that disabled people who do not belong to a support group, do not go out, and do not have access to the internet, may not have access to this consultation other than reading in the press.
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?
Evidence from previous surveys, consultation and community engagement indicates that some groups are ‘hard to reach’. Information from initial engagement and consultation in relation to the Disability Equality Scheme and the Race Equality Scheme evidenced that ‘hard to reach’ groups are not effectively engaged in consultation. The barriers can be communication, access to the internet, lack of awareness of the consultation process, lack of willingness or motivation to participate in the process.
This was supported by feedback from WCC staff involved in other consultation processes and discussion with members of organisations specifically responding to the needs of ‘Hard to Reach Groups’ including WREC.
Awareness that some members of the community who do not have English as their first language may not fully understand spoken English and may not read English. Some people with sight or hearing impairments or a learning disability may require documents in a specific format or for an interpreter or an advocacy partner to work with them in responding to the documents.
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?
Corporate Equality and Diversity Steering group members, equality team colleagues, WREC, Staff Disability Forum, Wilts and Swindon Users Network (asked for email, large print, easy read and hard copies), participants and visitors to the Disability Awareness Event (30/34 respondents asked to be kept informed, all of whom asked for email, Internet or Intranet), Westlea Housing Association asked for a presentation of the consultation document, Adult Resource Centre staff (Marlborough) prefer to discuss with service users, WCC Community Research Team (discussing format of effective consultation).
6. If you have found that the process, policy or service might have an adverse impact on a particular group of people, can you justify this?
Aware that the process could exclude some people, have sought to address this and find ways of being inclusive. Will monitor the returns from individuals and organisations and will be proactive in seeking the involvement of community organisations who are engaged with ‘hard to reach’ groups. Consultation forms request that individuals identify their gender, age group, ethnicity, sexuality and if they consider themself to be disabled.
Involving the Primary Care Trust - health visitors and GPs, and Social Services staff - occupational therapists, might help to reach those people who were not supported by a community group, unable to access the Internet and do not go out. This would take more time and resources than we have available at the moment.
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 policy or service work better for this group of people? Is further research or consultation required?
The Disability Equality Scheme Action Plan is a living document and will be revisited every 12 months. During the next 12 months this pathway to customers should be further investigated.
Feedback and evidence from this process of consultation will be used to inform and improve future consultation.
8. How will you monitor the take-up or impact of the policy or service in future?
Consultation forms request that individuals identify their gender, age group, ethnicity, sexuality and if they consider themself to be disabled.
Throughout the consultation the diversity of people who engage in the consultation will be monitored; this will identify groups who are not engaging in the process and will be used by the equality team to identify those ‘hard to reach’ groups who need to be further targeted to encourage their engagement in the consultation.
9. What actions do you plan to take as a result of this equality impact assessment? Please state any resource implications.
The consultation will be initiated as identified in question 3.
During 2007 the effectiveness and the practicality of using PCT and WCC DACS staff as a pathway to isolated disabled people will be investigated, reported and a procedure established.
10. There is a legal requirement to publish the outcomes of Equality Impact Assessments. Please outline how / where this will happen.
WCC website
11. Name of person completing form
Equality & Diversity Officer
Date assessment completed
Draft 19th Jan 2007
12. Senior manager approval
Assistant Director Development Services
Date
26 September 2007
Contact Details
By Post
Equality & Diversity Team
Development Services
Wiltshire County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JN
By Email
By Telephone
01225 713510
By Hand
County Hall, Trowbridge
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
