Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) - Building closure due to lease end - Station Bridge

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	Council-wide
Name of Directorate and Service Area	Central Services, Strategic Resources – Property Services
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, Accommodation Service Manager - 01609 535288
How will you pay due regard? For example, working group, individual officer	Via consultation meetings with the services who utilise the building
When did the due regard process start?	Commenced in late 2018, continued into 2019 and will be on-going up to the end of the lease and beyond to ensure the transition to the new locations

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?)

Ending of the lease on the 15th March 2019 at Station Bridge (TRAX) in Harrogate, with staff and services utilising the building relocated to other buildings within the NYCC Property estate.

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 2020 Property Programme will result in the transformation of the County Council’s property portfolio to achieve a reduction 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 2020 Modern Council NWOW 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 leased are being reviewed as part of the Programme and where possible when these approach the end of their lease agreements these will not be extended, 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 within Station Bridge (TRAX), Harrogate, to locations within the geographical area.

The following services currently deliver out of the building:

Prevention Service – with staff and services that are delivered from Station Bridge (TRAX) relocated to be delivered out of the Children Centre buildings across Harrogate and Knaresborough in the future.
Adult Learning Service (ALSS) – with staff and services that are delivered from Station Bridge (TRAX) relocated to be delivered out of Harrogate Library in the future.

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 town and will offer the same access to transportation links as previously.

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 occurred regularly with the services that are located within the building, 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 by the individual services.

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 ending of the lease contributes towards a reduction in Property’s revenue budget and the total floor space within the Corporate Accommodation 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	Why will it have this effect? Provide evidence from engagement, consultation and/or service user data or demographic information etc.
Age		X	Staff / Customer: 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. There may be a positive impact in relation to the moves as the buildings relocated too are more accessible. As a result there will be no reduction in levels of accessibility and facilities for both customers and staff.
Disability		X	Staff / Customer: There will be a positive impact in relation to the move as the buildings relocated too are more accessible. As a result 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 is a proposed change in the work location for the staff located in the building, but the impact of this has been minimised as the new locations are within the same town and discussion has occurred as part of the discussions with services. Customer: The impact of the change in location has been minimised as the new locations are within the same town, with this offset by communicating with customers of the services so that they are aware of the change of location.
…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.

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?

Staff:
There is a proposed change in the work location for the staff located in the building, but the impact of this has been minimised as the new locations are within the same town and discussion has occurred as part of the discussions with services.

Customer:
The impact of the change in location has been minimised as the new locations are within the same town, with this offset by communicating with customers of the services so that they are aware of the change of location.

…have a low income?

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. 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.

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 9. Next steps to address the anticipated impact. Select one of the following options and explain why this has been chosen.

Section 9. 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.
Explanation of why option has been chosen. (Include any advice given by Legal Services.) This is an office building closure end of lease – 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 location and where to visit them in the future as required (this will be carried out by the associated services as required). For staff affected discussion has occurred with the services that are located within the building, as they will have to re-locate to other locations within the NYCC Property estate within the same town. The new buildings relocated to offer additional accessibility and facilitates which include lift, showers, kitchen and break out spaces.

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?)

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 11. 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 the services	Property	Will occur following the building closures / relocation of services	On-going	Property Service with links to Modern Council Programme (where relevant)

Section 12. 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 property lease ends on the 15th March 2019 – the space is used by NYCC staff who have been involved in discussions around the relocation of their services within the same town. There is no anticipated impact on people with protected characteristics as a result of the proposals.

Section 13. Sign off section

This full EIA was completed by:

Name: Katherine Edge

Job title: Project Manager

Directorate: Central Services

Signature: Katherine Edge

Completion date: 12/02/19

Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature): Howard Emmett

Date: 26/07/2019