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.
| Name of Directorate and Service Area | Central Services, Strategic Resources – Property Service |
|---|---|
| Lead Officer and contact details | Jon Holden, Head of Property Service 01609 534076 |
| Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Karen Adamson, Rationalisation Manager 01609 535288. |
| How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer | Via consultation meetings with the services who utilise the buildings |
| When did the due regard process start? | Started in 2019 and continues running up to the end of the associated leases / vacation of properties and beyond to ensure the transition to the new locations |
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?)
A review of the properties within the Selby area commenced in 2019, with officers developing the County Council’s property requirements, and what options are available in the short, medium and longer term. The approach is aimed at improving the effectiveness of the Council’s management of corporate assets, including consolidating and rationalising property within the Workplace Portfolio where possible, as well as staff working in a more flexible way. The proposal within this EIA is around the relocating of staff across properties within the Selby geographical under a phased approach; with this being around phase one.
The Workplace Strategy Study showed that there were a total of 194.3 FTEs based in office/delivery – type accommodation in and around the Selby sites covered by this EIA. The properties covered within this EIA include:
- Brook Lodge site
- Sandpiper House – maintain building and maximise occupancy
- Brook Lodge – vacate building
- Brook Lodge Annex – building already vacated
- Flaxley Road site (based on Selby Community Primary School - as a result of the agreement when the school transferred to an Academy that NYCC would vacate areas of the site by the end of November 2022)
- Selby North Childrens Centre – maintain building and enhance usage
- Youth delivery building – maintain building and enhance usage
- Green portacabin – vacate from the portacabin
- Brown portacabin – vacate from the portacabin
- Westbourne House – vacate building
- Community House – cease license for using of the building
As a result at the end of the works and movement of staff and customer access points across the above sites the following sites will be vacated and released from the Corporate Workplace Portfolio:
- Brook Lodge building on the Brook Lodge site
- Green and Brown portacabins on the Flaxley Road site (based on Selby Community Primary School – as a result of the agreement when the school transferred to an Academy)
- Westbourne House
- Community House
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.)
The 2020 Property Programme will result in the transformation of the County Council’s property portfolio to achieve a reduction of in excess of £1.5 million in respect of revenue expenditure and to optimise the use of the property portfolio.
This will be achieved through:
- a reduction in the total floor area for the delivery and management of front line services
- the delivery of the Beyond 2020 Modern Council Programme
The overarching objectives of the 2020 Property Programme, are to achieve:
- the implementation of more efficient working practices within all of the County Council’s property
- a reduction in the total floor area occupied by the County Council, resulting in a reduction in revenue expenditure
Buildings which are either leased, underutilised or where service delivery could be transferred to be delivered out of another building are being reviewed as part of the Programme, as this enhances usage of Property Assets, with the staff and services utilising the associated buildings moved to other locations within the Property estate. The relocation of the services to other locations will not have an impact on the delivery of front line services or staffing structure in relation to the properties.
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
Services will be relocated to alternative locations within the NYCC Property estate, which will result in a change of location for customers and staff of the current services located across the properties within scope of this EIA, to locations within the geographical area.
Communication will occur with any customers that visit the services to ensure that they are aware of their new location and where to visit the services in the future. The new locations are within the same district and will offer the same access to transportation links as previously.
The new locations offer improved accessibility for both staff and customers than some of the buildings that are being vacated i.e. Westbourne House has no DDA access above ground floor and the Green & Brown cabins and Brook Lodge are in poor condition with limited DDA facilities.
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?)
Consultation has commenced and will continue with the services that are located within the buildings, so that they have been aware of the proposals and involved in the discussions around locations to be re-located to.
Communication will occur with any customers of the services to ensure that they are aware of their new location and where to visit them in the future as required.
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.
The review of the area and the sites changes as a result of the changes within this EIA contributes towards a reduction in Property’s revenue budget and the total floor space within the Corporate Workplace Property portfolio, contributing towards Property’s overarching saving target.
Section 6. How will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics ?
| 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | X |
Staff: It is not anticipated that there will be an impact as a result of the changes. We will be compliant with the legislation to ensure that staff are not disadvantaged because of their age. Customer: It is not anticipated that there will be an impact as a result of the changes. As a result there will be no reduction in levels of accessibility and facilities for both customers and staff. |
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| Disability | X |
Staff / Customer: There will be no reduction in levels of accessibility and facilities for both customers and staff. As an organisation, NYCC must continue to meet the requirements of the Equality Act, which obligates us to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled individuals as employees, service users or customers in any location. The new locations offer improved accessibility for both staff and customers than some of the buildings that are being vacated i.e. Westbourne House has no DDA access above ground floor and the Green & Brown cabins and Brook Lodge are in poor condition with limited DDA facilities. |
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| Sex | X |
Staff: The change to staffs location does not introduce any change in terms of the current profile. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| Race | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| Gender reassignment | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| Sexual orientation | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| Religion or belief | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| Pregnancy or maternity | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| Marriage or civil partnership | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
Section 7. How will this proposal affect people who…
| 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ..live in a rural area? | X |
Staff: There might be proposed changes in the work location for the staff located within the buildings closed / proposed to close, but the impact of this will be minimised due to discussions occurring as part of the consultation. Customer: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes, with this offset by communicating with customers of the services so that they are aware of the change of location as this situations occur. |
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| …have a low income? | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
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| …are carers (unpaid family or friend)? | X |
Staff: No impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. Customer: No adverse impact is anticipated as a result of the changes. |
Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply)
| Section 8. Geographic impact – Please detail where the impact will be (please tick all that apply) | |
|---|---|
| North Yorkshire wide | |
| Craven district | |
| Hambleton district | |
| Harrogate district | |
| Richmondshire district | |
| Ryedale district | |
| Scarborough district | |
| Selby district | The sites are all within Selby |
| If you have ticked one or more districts, will specific town(s)/village(s) be particularly impacted? If so, please specify below. | |
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.
There is no anticipated adverse impact on a combination of any protected characteristics but it will be monitored through the process and this document will be updated if anything is raised which needs to be included.
Section 10. 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.
There is no anticipated impact on a combination of any protected characteristics but it will be monitored through the process and this document will be updated if anything is raised which needs to be included.
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 1. No adverse impact - no major change needed to the proposal. There is no potential for discrimination or adverse impact identified. | X |
| 2. Adverse impact - adjust the proposal - The EIA identifies potential problems or missed opportunities. We will change our proposal to reduce or remove these adverse impacts, or we will achieve our aim in another way which will not make things worse for people. | |
| 3. Adverse impact - continue the proposal - The EIA identifies potential problems or missed opportunities. We cannot change our proposal to reduce or remove these adverse impacts, nor can we achieve our aim in another way which will not make things worse for people. (There must be compelling reasons for continuing with proposals which will have the most adverse impacts. Get advice from Legal Services) | |
| 4. Actual or potential unlawful discrimination - stop and remove the proposal – The EIA identifies actual or potential unlawful discrimination. It must be stopped. | |
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Explanation of why option has been chosen. (Include any advice given by Legal Services.) This is an office building closure to maximise the use of other properties across the Property estate, license end at Community House, as well as vacating the portacabins on the Flaxley Road site as per the agreed when Selby Community Primary School transferred to an Academy. As a result, there is no requirement to consult with community, however communication has / will occur with any customers of the services to ensure that they are aware of their new locations and where to visit them in the future as required. For staff affected discussion has commenced with the services that are located within the buildings, as they will have to re-locate to other locations within the NYCC Property estate within the same district. HR representation has also been included as part of the discussions including the discussion of changes to staff locations within the NYCC Property estate within the same district. |
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?)
Discussions will occur with members of the services that have been re-located following re-location to talk through any issues and concerns and monitor how things have gone etc.
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.
| Action | Lead | By when | Progress | Monitoring arrangements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Post move review meetings with services | Property | Will occur following all building closures | On-going | Property with links to Modern Council Programme (where relevant) |
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.
The spaces are used by NYCC staff who have been involved in discussions around the relocation of their services within the same district. There is no anticipated impact on people with protected characteristics as a result of the proposals.
Section 14. Sign off section
This full EIA was completed by:
Name: Katherine Edge
Job title: Senior Property Officer
Directorate: Strategic Resources
Signature: Katherine Edge
Completion date: 8 April 2021
This is an updated version of v0.3 of the EIA which was agreed by the relevant Assistant Director on the 18/01/2018
Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Howard Emmett
Date: 20 October 2021