Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are public documents. EIAs accompanying reports going to County Councillors for decisions are published with the committee papers on our website and are available in hard copy at the relevant meeting. To help people to find completed EIAs we also publish them in the Equality and Diversity section of our website. This will help people to see for themselves how we have paid due regard in order to meet statutory requirements.
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Name of Directorate and Service Area |
Health and Adult Services Service Development - Housing |
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Lead officer and contact details |
Mike Rudd Head of Housing, technology and Sustainability |
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Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Rebecca Dukes – Strategic Service Development Manager |
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How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer |
Lead officers as named above, individual working groups for each Extra Care development scheme |
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When did the due regard process start? |
Original EIA completed June 2011 Updated January 2023 |
Section 1. Please describe briefly what this EIA is about. (e.g. are you starting a new service, changing how you do something, stopping doing something?)
Original 2011 EIA:
We currently have 9 elderly persons homes earmarked for potential replacement although this reduced to 8 following the executive decision (8 March 2011) regarding Harrogate extra care. The ‘housing needs analysis – accommodation with care’ has identified a need for an additional 30 extra care schemes across the county by 2020 to meet existing and future demand.
In November 2010, officers presented to executive members four options for the future of elderly persons’ accommodation in North Yorkshire. The main options were to close all 9 county council-owned elderly persons’ homes (EPHs) without replacement, or to replace all 9 elderly persons’ homes with extra care housing schemes. The outcome of that meeting was that executive members would prefer to re-place the elderly persons’ homes with extra care housing.
Option 3 of the appraisal suggested a procurement exercise be conducted to meet the demands as identified in the housing needs analysis.
In March 2011, executive members agreed to pursue the procurement exercise option, to potentially deliver 30 additional schemes across North Yorkshire.
We have a commissioning strategy that will ensure that older and vulnerable people across North Yorkshire have access to a range of accommodation and services, such as:-
retaining 6 resource centres across the county
providing extra care housing in major towns and villages across the county
nursing home provision in the independent sector
specialist housing such as for people living with dementia, physical or learning disability in both the extra care schemes and in the independent sector
encouraging district and borough partners to ensure any new housing meets lifetime homes standards so that people can remain in their home as their needs change
supporting people to remain at home utilising telecare
The availability of capital grant to support the delivery of extra care housing has diminished severely and there is a need to identify more innovative ways to enable extra care development to continue.
The extra care team has undertaken market testing in the form of an open meeting with potential providers followed by submission of initial proposals. These were considered by a project board consisting of senior officers who also sought legal advice regarding specific aspects of some of the proposals.
The market testing led to the development of a list of outcomes and a second round of market testing has led to the submission of 7 proposals with a varying level of detail. An additional outcome of the robust market testing that has been undertaken is the fact that we have been able to be much more demanding in its requirements and desired outcomes.
Developers and specialist extra care housing associations are keen to increase their offer in order to secure development business within the poor market conditions that currently exist.
It is clear from the results of the market testing that this process would generate a number of benefits for us far and above just meeting the needs of adult and community services. As well as re-providing our elderly persons homes and delivering extra care housing to meet existing and future need, the project would deliver:-
Economic development
- this project would facilitate stimulation of a market that is currently in decline
- it would enable organisations that are currently reducing their development programmes to kick-start development across the county and provide training and employment opportunities
- it would enable social enterprise opportunities to provide training and employment to people who can’t access these through traditional routes such as people with a learning or physical disability or people in isolated rural communities
- the extra care housing schemes will be much larger than the existing elderly persons home’s and will therefore offer higher numbers of employment opportunities than currently available
- undertaking this project would identify us as a national lead in enabling development to continue by utilising an innovative and creative model
An overarching EIA has been completed for the delivery of elderly persons homes in North Yorkshire and also, where an elderly persons home is identified for replacement, an EIA has been undertaken, which is included in the planned closure of a residential home procedure.
Where the identified elderly persons homes are considered for replacement, the above mentioned procedure and EIA will be adopted.
Regardless of which option executive members agree to continue with, i.e. whether to work in partnership to deliver 30 further schemes or to only replace the 8 elderly persons homes with extra care housing, the decision to consult to replace these elderly persons homes has already been ratified.
The development programme for 30+ schemes will enable people in North Yorkshire to access extra care housing in wider locations, than if we only developed extra care housing linked to the 9 elderly persons homes.
2023 Update
Following a highly successful programme there are now 28 active extra care schemes with over 1500 units of accommodation in North Yorkshire. Additional schemes are planned for Harrogate, Malton, Bedale, Whitby and Catterick along with early plans to develop new models of extra care such as smaller scale rural schemes and schemes able to accommodate people with more complex needs.
In line with the original proposal, 14 elderly persons homes have been replaced with extra care since 2011.
In addition to providing over 1500 units of high quality accommodation with support in key locations, the extra care programme has attracted upwards of £100m in external investment into the county via housing providers and grant allocations from homes England.
Extra care has proved adaptable to local need, both in terms of scale and design, with the inclusion of community infrastructure such as libraries creating vibrant and sustainable community hubs.
Section 2. Why is this being proposed? What are the aims? What does the authority hope to achieve by it? (e.g. to save money, meet increased demand, do things in a better way.)
Our elderly person homes estate is ageing and as levels of need and complexity advance, there is a need to look to new models of care and support. Extra care provides people with a home environment with their own front door, with the added security of purpose built environments that support independence and the security of 24/7 onsite support which can be accessed via alert pendants or other technology.
Extra care has been shown to improve outcomes for individuals whilst also being more cost effective for both the person and us as weekly costs in extra care are, on average, significantly lower than those in residential provision.
The programme has also attracted large scale external investment to North Yorkshire, with schemes in many places acting as community hubs, hosting libraries and other services.
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
The replacement programme has seen 14 elderly person homes replaced with extra care all across North Yorkshire.
28 schemes and more than 1500 units of accommodation have been provided, these offer people their own home and front door along with the peace of mind that 24/7 support can bring. Staff roles have changed and adapted as schemes have opened and developed, whilst the core caring role remains, schemes are highly flexible and offer a variety of roles and opportunities that were not present within residential provision.
Section 4. Involvement and consultation (What involvement and consultation has been done regarding the proposal and what are the results? What consultation will be needed and how will it be done?)
Initial consultation on the extra care programme was completed in 2011 prior to the programme starting. Since then, all new schemes and proposed schemes are consulted on with existing residents and their families, as well as our colleagues.
Local communities are consulted through the planning process on developments, and this has led to modifications and changes to scheme proposals. The most successful schemes are those where the community feels some ownership of the scheme and works closely with us and the provider to inform design and layout choices.
Section 5. What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?
The extra care programme has realised significant savings through the difference in costs between extra care homes and residential care. Historically this has included savings against elderly persons home budgets, however this is also the case where no provision is replaced and elderly care homes simply adds capacity to an area at a lower rate than would be the case in residential care.
Section 6. How will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics?
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Section 6. How will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics? |
No impact |
Make things better |
Make things worse |
Why will it have this effect? Provide evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc. |
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Age |
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X |
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Extra Care predominantly supports people over the age of 55, with some exceptions. The programme will create high quality, affordable accommodation to support this group. |
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Disability |
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X |
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People with a disability will be able to access more appropriate accommodation designed to meet their needs. |
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Sex |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
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Race |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
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Gender reassignment |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
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Sexual orientation |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
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Religion or belief |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
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Pregnancy or maternity |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
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Marriage or civil partnership |
X |
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There is no evidence or expectation of an impact based on this characteristic. |
Section 7. How will this proposal affect people who
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Section 7. How will this proposal affect people who… |
No impact |
Make things better |
Make things worse |
Why will it have this effect? Provide evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc. |
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..live in a rural area? |
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X |
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Extra Care provision has been developed in rural settings such as Bainbridge, Settle and Castleton. This allows people to remain in their communities for longer. Work on smaller scale rural schemes is now underway which will further improve this outcome. |
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…have a low income? |
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X |
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Extra care is an affordable option, care costs are financially assessed by us and housing related costs are eligible for housing benefit. |
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…are carers (unpaid family or friend)? |
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X |
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The provision of local accommodation with 24/7 onsite support allows carers peace of mind that their loved one is in a place of safety with support, whilst also fostering independence. |
Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply)
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Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply) |
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North Yorkshire wide |
X |
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Craven district |
X |
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Hambleton district |
X |
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Harrogate district |
X |
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Richmondshire district |
X |
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Ryedale district |
X |
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Scarborough district |
X |
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Selby district |
X |
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If you have ticked one or more districts, will specific town(s)/village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below. |
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Extra care schemes are now open in:
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Section 9. Will the proposal affect anyone more because of a combination of protected characteristics? (e.g. older women or young gay men)
State what you think the effect may be and why, providing evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc.
Based on demographics, most changes to adult social care services have a disproportionate impact on older women as they make up a large part of those accessing services. Any impact is due to this demographic position rather than anything inherent to the programme.
Section 10. Next steps to address the anticipated impact. Select one of the following options and explain why this has been chosen.
(Remember: we have an anticipatory duty to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people can access services and work for us)
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Section 10. Next steps to address the anticipated impact. Select one of the following options and explain why this has been chosen. (Remember: we have an anticipatory duty to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people can access services and work for us) |
Tick option chosen |
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X |
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Explanation of why option has been chosen. (Include any advice given by legal services.) As shown above, and based on the evidence of the period 2011-2023, extra care does represent a positive change in provision, both in terms of outcomes for people and financially for individuals and us. Future provision will follow this this model and as such impacts are expected to be in line with those already established |
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Section 11. If the proposal is to be implemented how will you find out how it is really affecting people? (How will you monitor and review the changes?)
Schemes will continue to be monitored to ensure outcomes for people are met and that extra care remains a suitable option for people needing care and support. Changes to the model will be consulted on and based on national best practice in housing and support.
Section 12. Action plan
List any actions you need to take which have been identified in this EIA, including post implementation review to find out how the outcomes have been achieved in practice and what impacts there have actually been on people with protected characteristics.
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Action |
Lead |
By when |
Progress |
Monitoring arrangements |
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Engagement on new schemes |
Extra Care Team |
Ongoing |
Ongoing |
Team report to internal management structures and regularly update Executive Members |
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Section 13. Summary summarise the findings of your EIA, including impacts, recommendation in relation to addressing impacts, including any legal advice, and next steps.
This summary should be used as part of the report to the decision maker.
When the scheme started there were anticipated adverse impacts identified that related to residents moving from elderly peoples Homes to the extra care facilities that would replace them. This has not materialised, and with the addition of extra care facilities there have been many positives identified.
Specifically relating to the extra care facilities in more rural areas, that allow residents to remain in their local community longer than they would have done previously.
Section 14. Sign off section
This full EIA was completed by:
Name: Mike Rudd
Job title: Head of housing, technology and sustainability
Directorate: Health and Adult Services
Signature: M. Rudd
Completion date: 06/01/2023
Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature):
Date: