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 workstream |
WP- armed forces covenant (locality workstream) |
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Lead Officer and contact details |
Neil Irving - Assistant Director Policy, Partnerships and Communities (Sponsor) |
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Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Anthony Ruddy (NYCC) Deborah Hugill (NYCC) Lisa Ralston (NYCC) |
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How will you pay due regard? for example, working group, individual officer |
Via the EIA process and resulting actions |
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When did the due regard process start? |
EIA Screening Initial Impact completed 6 October 2022 |
Section 1. Please describe briefly what this EIA is about. (for example, are you starting a new service, changing how you do something, stopping doing something?)
The armed forces act 2021 and the new due regard duty on local councils, along with local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire, is a timely opportunity for the new North Yorkshire Council to consolidate all of the good work which is already undertaken within the county and set out the natural next steps that the new council will need to undertake to meet the new duty going forward. There is also the opportunity to continue to build on our work with partners to re-establish a renewed collective commitment to our work with the armed forces.
Section 2. Why is this being proposed? What are the aims? What does the authority hope to achieve by it? (for example, to save money, meet increased demand, do things in a better way.)
This is being proposed in order to ensure compliance with new statutory guidance which came into force 22 November 2022.
The armed forces covenant is a promise from the nation that those who serve or have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly.
The armed forces act 2021 enshrines the covenant into law to help prevent service personnel and veterans from being disadvantaged when accessing public services.
A key feature of the Act is a new statutory duty to have due regard to the principles of the armed forces covenant, as follows:
- the unique obligations of, and sacrifices made by, the armed forces
- the principle that it is desirable to remove disadvantages arising for service people from membership, or former membership, of the armed forces
- the principle that special provision for service people may be justified by the effects on such people of membership, or former membership, of the armed forces
The new statutory duty will apply to specified persons or bodies, including councils, when exercising certain housing, education or healthcare functions (excluding social care).
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
North Yorkshire was one of the first areas in the UK to agree an armed forces community covenant.
The county is proud of its military connections: the armed forces based in the county, the veterans who live in the county, and all their families. The first signatories signed the covenant at a ceremony at Catterick garrison on 30 June 2011. Other organisations have subsequently signed the covenant.
This proposal will ensure statutory guidance is adhered to with the new organisation.
Work is underway to have members of the armed forces community recognised as a protected characteristic within the new constitution.
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?)
A working group is in place which consists of key representatives from policy, educations, health and housing to develop the draft policy. An engagement group consisting of members of the armed forces community and key stakeholders from CYPS has been developed to consult and provide feedback on the policy. Feedback is encouraging and supportive of the idea to have a new policy covering this theme. Wider engagement will take place in due course.
Section 5. What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost or reduce costs?
Please explain briefly why this will be the result.
There will be some resource required in the transition phase in order to promote the covenant. It is proposed that the community covenant network in North Yorkshire is relaunched with a planned event to promote the new duty.
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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The covenant aims to ensure members of the armed forces community are not disadvantaged. This includes children accessing education and veterans ONS Census 2021 indicates 29,831 military veterans in NY – information on age profiles will be published in due course. |
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Disability |
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x |
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Due to the nature of the armed forces there may be a requirement to change bases. Any member of the armed forces community should expect to receive the same level of health care and be placed at the same point on waiting lists as they were previously. There is evidence of delays in treatment for armed forces personnel and heightened impact for high needs children and young people with disabilities. With regards to housing, members of the armed forces community may be able to access adapted housing. |
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Sex |
x |
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Race |
x |
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Gender reassignment |
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x |
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Due to the nature of the armed forces there may be a requirement to change bases. Any member of the armed forces community should expect to receive the same level of health care and be placed at the same point on waiting lists as they were previously. |
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Sexual orientation |
x |
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Religion or belief |
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x |
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Children of the armed forces community should be able to access education based on their religion or beliefs. |
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Pregnancy or maternity |
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x |
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Due to the nature of the armed forces there may be a requirement to change bases. Any member of the armed forces community should expect to receive the same level of health care and be placed at the same point on waiting lists as they were previously. |
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Marriage or civil partnership |
x |
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Section 7. How will this proposal affect people with the following characteristics
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Section 7. How will this proposal affect people with the following 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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Live in a rural area |
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x |
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A proportion of the armed forces community live in rural areas. The covenant aims to ensure they are not disadvantaged when accessing health, education and housing based on locality. |
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Have a low income |
x |
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Carers (unpaid family or friend) |
x |
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Health and wellbeing issues |
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x |
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Due to the nature of the armed forces there may be a requirement to change bases. Any member of the armed forces community should expect to receive the same level of health care and be placed at the same point on waiting lists as they were previously. |
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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The benefits of the policy will cover the armed forces community throughout all districts of North Yorkshire |
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Section 9. Will the proposal affect anyone more because of a combination of protected characteristics? (for example, 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.
Combinations of protected characteristics will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
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.) The purpose of the covenant is to benefit those members of the armed forces community ensuring they are not disadvantaged in accessing certain housing, education or healthcare services. |
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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?)
There is the option to set out an action plan to ensure implementation of the main policy objectives, which could be supported by a performance regime in order to monitor progress and review effectiveness of overall policy aims. It is proposed that the new Council will set up a system wide process to capture data on armed forces personnel, veterans and their families, when they access council services.
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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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.
There are no negative impacts anticipated from the implementation of work to ensure that North Yorkshire Council applies the new statutory duty required under the armed forces act 2021. Impacts are expected to be positive or neutral on people with statutory protected characteristics and with those additional characteristics adopted by the council.
Section 14. Sign off section
This full EIA was completed by:
Name:
Job title:
Signature:
Completion date:
Authorised by relevant senior officer (signature):
Date: