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 |
Inclusion – Children and Young People's Services Admissions - Children and Young People's Services |
|---|---|
| Lead Officer and contact details | Jane Crawford, Assistant Director Inclusion Amanda Newbold, Assistant Director Education and Skills |
| Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Gail Chester, SEND Transport Manager Lisa Herdman, Lead for Admissions |
| How will you pay due regard? For example, working group, individual officer | The post 16 contribution rate is reviewed annually to ensure that the proposed and adopted fee is reflective of standard practices |
| When did the due regard process start? | The process starts in October every year and concludes before the Home to School Post 16 Policy Statement publication on 31 May |
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?)
This EIA is about reviewing the contribution rate set by North Yorkshire County Council on an annual basis, to ensure the authority can continue to provide support to our young people to access further education.
The council does not have a statutory duty to provide Home to school transport for young people beyond the end of year 11. However, in North Yorkshire the council recognise that assistance is required to enable a number of young people reach their potential, in particular as a rural authority. This EIA is to ensure that the council pay due regard that this review is not detrimental or discriminative to any person with protected characteristics.
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 increases are due to an ongoing budget pressure from the continuous growth of transport costs and demand in North Yorkshire. The local authority must ensure its Home to School Transport policy is fit for purpose and is compliant with the legal requirements and code of practice; this is reviewed on an annual basis to ensure the policy is up to date and remains fit for purpose.
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
The Home to School Transport Statutory Guidance 2014 places a duty on the local authority to provide transport assistance for eligible children of statutory school age (five to 16 years). Therefore transport provision for pupils over 16 years old is a non-statutory duty, that is discretionary. However, the local authority still wants to offer support to ensure students can access their education provision and recognise the rural nature of North Yorkshire and the lack of public transport available. This EIA is to accompany the review of the post 16 contribution rate for 2023 to 2024 academic year.
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 increase of the post 16 contribution fee is a delegated decision made by the Director of Children and Young People's Service in agreement with the Elected Member with the Portfolio of Education and Skills, and Inclusion.
The decision is subject to five working day call in process.
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.
Whilst the council must discharge its responsibilities appropriately, it must also ensure that areas where the council has been able to provide additional support, such as post 16 assistance, is supported where possible with some recuperation of cost in the form of an affordable contribution fee. The contribution fee for the 2023 to 2024 year has been agreed to follow a corporate uplift of 15%.
Section 6. How will this proposal affect people with protected characteristics?
| 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, and so on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | X | The contribution fee is to enable the council to continue to provide support to young people who are no longer entitled to assistance. However, this will only impact young people in years 12, 13 and 14. | ||
| Disability | X | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on mainstream or SEND pupils as a result of their disability. | ||
| Sex | X | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on mainstream or SEND pupils as a result of their sex. | ||
| Race | X | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific ethnic groups as a result 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 sexual orientation as a result of the proposals. | ||
| Religion or belief | X | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific groups in relation to religion or belief as a result of the proposals. | ||
| Pregnancy or maternity | X | It is anticipated there would be no identifiable impact on specific groups in relation to pregnancy or maternity as a result of the proposals. | ||
| 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?
| How will this proposal affect people who... | No impact | Make things better | Make things worse | Why will it have this effect? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| live in a rural area? | X | The ongoing provision of providing assistance is in respect of the rural nature of North Yorkshire, above the statutory requirements. | ||
| have a low income? | X | The contribution fee has a reduction for low income families of 50%. The authority also publishes information about bursary schemes and other transport options in the post 16 policy statement to ensure alternatives and funding stream are available. |
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, and so on.
No. No combination identified at this stage.
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.)
| 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 |
|---|---|
|
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): The reason why '1. No adverse impact - no major change needed to the proposal' has been selected on the proposed changes to the post 16 Home to School Transport contribution rate:
This is an annual review of the contribution rate.
The post 16 policy statement is a review against the Department for Education's guidance.
With a reflect on other county council's contribution fees to ensure that North Yorkshire fees are not excessive.
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?)
The review occurs each year and is monitored for the impact it has on young people. As part of the post 16 policy statement we are required to review alternative provisions and publish these within the policy statement to ensure families have an informed choice before requesting assistance.
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 |
| Report Director and Executive members | 21 March 2023 | Completed | ||
| Call in period | 26 March 2023 | Expired | ||
| Publication of post 16 policy statement | 28 April 2023 | Completed |
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 Home to School Transport budget grows each year through increase costs and demand. The Post 16 contribution fee is reviewed yearly to reflect this growth. The proposed increase options are to ensure that the support can be continued.
Section 13. Sign off section
This revised EIA was completed by:
Name: Gail Chester
Job title: SEND Transport Manager
Directorate: Children and Young People's Services
Signature:
Completion date: 1 May 2023
Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature):
Date: