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Equality impact assessments are public documents. Equality impact assessments accompanying reports going to 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 equality impact assessments 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.
| Area | Contact |
|---|---|
| Name of directorate and service area | Education and skills - admissions and transport inclusion |
| Lead officer and contact details | Amanda Newbold, AD Education and Skills |
| Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the equality impact assessment |
Andrew Dixon – Strategic Planning Manager Chris Reynolds – Head of SEND Strategic Planning |
| How will you pay due regard? e.g. working group, individual officer | All proposed changes will be subject to a formal public consultation of no shorter than 28 days and the recommendations if approved will influence changes to be made to the home to school travel policy. The equality impact assessment will be reviewed as part of the consultation. |
| When did the due regard process start? | The original project initially started in September 2023 following revised department for education guidance |
Section 1. Please describe briefly what this equality impact assessment is about.
For example are you starting a new service, changing how you do something, stopping doing something
This equality impact assessment is about the proposed changes to the current home to school travel policy following the new statutory guidance.
The council has a statutory duty to provide home to school travel for eligible children of compulsory school age in accordance with statutory guidance issued by the department for education.
The aim of the changes is to ensure the proposed home to school travel policy is compliant with the guidance.
The proposals for consultation include discretionary arrangements which the current policy makes provision.
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.
The proposed changes are due to the current home to school transport policy not meeting the requirement of the checklist produced in the revised statutory guidance.
The overall cost to the council of the provision of home to school travel is significant and rising at pace. The current policy makes provision for eligibility above and beyond statutory requirements that have associated costs, and the consultation provides opportunity to review these ‘discretionary’ elements.
The policy publication is linked to the school admissions round, therefore any changes to the travel policy would apply to new admissions and/or travel applications received on or after 1 September 2024 and would affect new entrants to schools (reception and Year 7) with effect from September 2025.
Pupils in the admission round 2024/2025 and those who applied for a school place prior to September 2024 would not be impacted.
Transport eligibility awarded prior to September 2024 would be honoured (effectively protected from subsequent policy changes) under the current policy, unless there was a material change of circumstance (for example, of school, or of address that changed eligibility) for a pupil which required a reassessment of eligibility.
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
There are six discretionary areas to consider:
- extended eligibility in the Reception year
- extended eligibility in Year 3
- 50/50 second address
- primary phase denominational transport
- two days of transition, where possible, for pupils with SEND
- the main eligibility criteria - nearest school / catchment school
Census data from May 2023 shows that in North Yorkshire there are c.75,000 school aged children (reception to year 11) children. There are currently c.10500 pupils accessing home to school transport.
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?
The consultation must last for at least 28 working days during term time this is anticipated to be from 5 February 2024 to 20 March 2024
As a minimum, the guidance recommends we consult:
- schools whose pupils will be affected by the proposed changes, including those located in other local authority areas
- parents whose children will (or may) be affected by the proposed changes, including those whose children attend school in a neighbouring authority, and those whose children may be affected in the future – for example, because they live in the catchment area of, or attend the feeder school of, a school affected by the proposed changes
- the local parent carer forum
The consultation will be publicised to a broad range of other stakeholders including early years providers and their parents, our councillors, parish councils in North Yorkshire and neighbouring local authorities. Throughout the consultation a weekly breakdown will be provided for the policy owners to review and reflect any issues arising. Several face to face consultation events will be held across North Yorkshire. These will be supplemented by online opportunities for engagement.
The consultation events will be held at different times to allow those with childcare and working arrangements to opportunity to attend and engage at times which are more convenient. These events will be widely published on social media and within local media and community groups as well as on the council’s own media: Schools E-red bag, the council website, corporate Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The consultation will also be promoted through SEND parent and community group networks.
Section 5. What impact will this proposal have on council budgets? Will it be cost neutral, have increased cost, or reduce costs?
The current financial projection for home to school transport is demonstrating a continuous growth which is applying budgetary pressures on the council to meet its statutory duties.
These proposals will not impact on the current expenditure as the local authority’s offer is based on the policy in place at the time of allocation.
If the proposals are implemented it will ensure the council is meeting it statutory duties. The new policy requirements in the guidance are likely to increase the number of pupils with medical and mobility needs who meet eligibility criteria and potentially lead to increased expenditure.
Whilst some aspects of the policy review may reduce additional travel provision above statutory minimum – the financial benefits of this proposal will not be full achieved for a seven year period. Analysis undertaken to date on a large sample of currently eligible travellers suggests that the annual saving at the end of the transition period (when the new policy applies to all) on a like for like basis could be up to £3.2million. This figure is based on a number of assumptions, and much will depend on the extent to which the change in the transport arrangements influences future parental preference for schools, and that is difficult to predict with any certainty.
Section 6. How will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics?
| Characteristic | 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 | - | - | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on pupils attending mainstream or specialist provision because of their age. |
| Disability | - | X | - |
The requirement for individual assessment under SEN may increase the number of pupil eligible for assistance. Individual assessment will ensure children with disability needs are met on transport. |
| Sex | X | - | - | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on pupils attending mainstream or specialist provision because of their sex. |
| Race | X | - | - | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific ethnic groups because of the proposals. |
| Gender reassignment | X | - | - | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific groups in relation to gender reassignment as a result of the proposals. |
| Sexual orientation | X | - | - | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific groups in relation to gender reassignment as a result of the proposals. |
| Religion or belief | - | - | X | The removal of denominational transport for primary age pupils will have an adverse impact, it is anticipated these number are less than 0.01% of the population and the requests are minimal each year. |
| Pregnancy or maternity | X | - | - | The removal of denominational transport for primary age pupils will have an adverse impact, it is anticipated these number are less than 0.01% of the population and the requests are minimal each year. |
| Marriage or civil partnership | X | - | - | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific groups in relation to marriage or civil partnership as a result of the proposals. |
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 | X | The proposals may reduce travel eligibility to the catchment school in rural communities in which the catchment school is not the nearest school, however eligibility to the nearest school, when distances are over the minimum threshold will remain in place. |
| Have a low income? | X | - | - | There remains statutory provision for low income families for children aged 8 and above. |
Section 8. 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.
This is unknown at this time but will be reviewed during the consultation.
Section 9. Next steps to address the anticipated impact
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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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- |
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- |
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- |
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Explanation of why option has been chosen. (Include any advice given by Legal Services.) The reason why ‘No adverse impact - no major change needed to the proposal’ has been selected is because we have not yet consulted on the changes. |
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Section 10. 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?
Subject to decision being made to implement the proposals the effect of the changes will be phased over 7 years as the council has a legal requirement to protect those who transport arrangements were awarded on the previous policies.
Following implementation there will be a 12 month and 24 month post implementation review.
Section 11. Action plan
List any actions you need to take which have been identified in this equality impact assessment, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28-day public consultation to commence | Amanda Newbold | 5 February 2024 | - | - |
| Public events to be held across localities | Amanda Newbold / Chris Reynolds | Throughout February and March 2024 | - | Public events and feedback from these events will be monitored through a working group |
| Public consultation to end. | Amanda Newbold | 12 April 2024 | - | - |
| All responses and feedback to be collated and reviewed following consultation. | Amanda Newbold / Chris Reynolds | 13 April to mid May 2024 | - | Reviewed by lead officers |
| Options to be revised (if required), equality impact assessment to be revised and draft policy to be updated. | Amanda Newbold | May 2024 | - | - |
| Sign-off of revised proposals and updated Home to School Travel Policy | Amanda Newbold | 18 June 2024 (Executive committee) | - | - |
| Adoption of home to school travel policy | Amanda Newbold | 24 July 2024 (Full council) | - | - |
| Publish updated home to school travel policy | Amanda Newbold | c.31 August 2024 | - | - |
| Development and sign-off of implementation and transition plan | Amanda Newbold/ Janet Crawford | 1 August to 31 August 2024 | - | This will be completed by a working group |
| Implementation and transition arrangements commence | Amanda Newbold/ Janet Crawford | 1 September 2024 onwards for up to seven years. | - | - |
Section 12. Summary
(Summarise the findings of your equality impact assessment, 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 proposals to inform the new Home to school travel policy will form part of a consultation process. Feedback from the process will consider the impacts and make recommendations if required as part of the policy review process.
Section 13. Sign off section
This revised equality impact assessment was completed by: Andrew Dixon / Chris Reynolds
Name: Andrew Dixon
Job title: Strategic Planning Manager
Directorate: Children and Young People’s Services
Signature: A Dixon
Completion date: 12 February 2024
Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): A Newbold
Date: 12 February 2024