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 | Children and Young People’s Services |
|---|---|
| Lead Officer and contact details | Chris Reynolds |
| Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the EIA |
Chris Reynolds Nikki Joyce Carol Ann Howe Jane Le Sage |
| When did the due regard process start? |
The new EMS proposals were developed as part of the SEND Strategic Plan for Educational provision which was approved in September 2018. The development of the Plan was undertaken by a number of officers across CYPS and was overseen by the AD for Inclusion. There was significant public consultation on all aspects of the Plan before its finalisation |
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 EIA considers the implications of the changes in the model for enhanced mainstream schools from September 2020. We are decommissioning the current model which focusses on providing outreach support to children and young people with SEND. From September 2020 we intend to recommission a targeted mainstream provision which is based on a place based model
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 changes are being proposed to create more support for children with EHC Plans in mainstream schools. Currently when a child has exhausted the support from the EMS it is likely they will undergo statutory assessment and move into special school. This proposal will allow the creation of over 200 supported places in mainstream school for children with SEND.
Section 3. What will change? What will be different for customers and/or staff?
Children with SEND will have a greater opportunity to remain in mainstream school as they will have to enhanced support and a resource area when required. The new model will also provide more choice for parents/carers as to where their child will receive their education.
The staff working in the new targeted provision schools will have access to higher levels of training to ensure that they have the required knowledge and skills to support the children attending their schools via the Targeted Provision.
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 was undertaken as part of the development of the SEND Strategic Plan for Educational Provision. Further consultation is about to commence on more details including the schools identified for Year 1 roll out and the model of delivery.
The local authority undertook a public consultation between 6 February and 15 March 2020 which involved an online survey together with 11 public meetings in localities and a specific meeting for the current enhanced mainstream schools.
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.
It is hoped that the proposals will ensure that more children and young people can have their needs met in North Yorkshire. This will mean that more children will be able to access mainstream school with enhanced support for their special educational needs.
In turn this should reduce the pressures on North Yorkshire special school placements and mean that they have more capacity. This in turn will reduce the need for higher cost independent and non maintained school places.
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 |
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| Disability | X |
Children with SEMH and C&I needs will have greater opportunities to remain in mainstream provision. |
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| Sex | X |
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| Race | X |
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Gender reassignment |
X | |||
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Sexual orientation |
X | |||
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Religion or belief |
X | |||
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Pregnancy or maternity |
X |
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Marriage or civil partnership |
X |
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 | Children and young people with EHCPs will have more opportunity to remain in a more local mainstream school. This will reduce travel time and provide more social opportunities for children.
In Year 1, 9 schools have expressed an interest in becoming a targeted provision out of a total of 31. This means that some areas will not benefit from the opportunity of a supported placement in mainstream school in year 1. However, the children and young people will still have access to outreach support from the SEND locality hubs when the current EMS are decommissioned. |
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| …have a low income? |
X |
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| …are carers (unpaid family or friend)? | X |
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 | X |
| Craven district | |
| Hambleton district | |
| Harrogate district | |
| Richmondshire district | |
| Ryedale district | |
| Scarborough district | |
| Selby district | |
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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 new targeted provisions will be established across all localities as detailed in the Strategic Plan. In Year 1 we will achieve the first 9 targeted provisions. All areas except for Ryedale and the Craven area will have some targeted provision and we will build on this in Years 2 and 3 of roll out. Children and young people and schools will still be able to access outreach provision via the SEND Hubs. Day 6 provision for primary aged children is currently being planned to ensure that the local authority is able to fulfil its statutory duty in terms of education provision for permanently excluded children. |
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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.
The proposals may have an impact on children with a combination of protected characteristics. However, this should be a positive impact as more children with EHCPs can have their needs met locally. Children with SEND in mainstream schools will still receive the support they require through the locality based SEND Hubs.
There will be a potential impact on the staff in the current enhanced mainstream schools if the school is being decommissioned. Some staff may be at risk of redundancy. We are mitigating against this risk by ensuring staff are aware of current vacancies within the Inclusion service and they may also have the opportunity to move to alternative roles within their school. If they are employed by the Inclusion Service we will try to ensure they are based in an appropriate hub area to reduce unnecessary travel time and ensure a good home work balance.
Vacancies have been shared with head teachers and staff of mainstream enhanced schools and some staff have been appointed into the central hub roles.
Section 10. Next steps to address the anticipated impact. Select one of the following options and explain why this has been chosen.
| 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. | |
| 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) | X |
| 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.) The risk to staff and future employment is subject to mitigating action to reduce risk of unemployment. Post consultation Consideration has been given to the consultation responses. Some responses disagree with aspects of the proposal on the basis of maintaining the existing model of EMS. This has been taken into account. The proposed new model has made provision for the functions of the current EMS to continue but arranged in a different way. Locality Hubs will deliver continued outreach support to mainstream schools whilst the proposed Targeted Provisions will provide a more comprehensive offer of full time places for children with SEND. Some feedback also raised concerns about the numbers of places available but this will be addressed as the full roll out of the targeted provision is achieved. Discussion are continuing with schools who have expressed an initial interest to be considered for Year 2 roll out. We do not consider the need to change the proposal. |
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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?)
The local authority will be working closely with the schools to ensure that the targeted provision is set up effectively and schools receive high levels of advice and guidance. The targeted provision staff will receive support from the relevant SEND lead within the local authority to ensure that any issues can be shared and resolved and good practice identified. Regular reports will be taken to the Locality Board detailing the progress in development of the provision.
Parent and children and young people will be asked for feedback on an annual basis as part of the annual review process and contract management process.
A post implementation review will be undertaken in July 2021 when the new provision has been open for 6 months and lessons used to inform the roll out of Year 2 and 3 schools.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support and guidance to schools | Lead SEND officer | Complete by October | Inclusion Management and Locality Boards | |
| SLA signed off | LA | October | Contract management by the LA | |
| 4 weekly meetings with targeted schools | LA | September onwards | ||
| Post implementation review | LA | July 2021 |
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.
This will be updated post consultation
Section 14. Sign off section
This full EIA was completed by:
Name: Chris Reynolds
Job title: SEND Placement Officer
Directorate: CYPS
Signature:
Completion date: 16 March 2020
Authorised by relevant Assistant Director (signature):
Date: 16 March 2020
For more information contact equality@northyorks.gov.uk