Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) Report
Name of policy/ procedure/ function/ service
being assessed:
Valuing People Team Review
Adults & Communities, Personal Care &
Support
Sayeed Patel – Project Manager (A&C
Efficiencies and Service Reduction
Programme)
Heather Pick – A&C Assistant Director –
Personal Care & Support
Department and Section:
Name of lead officer and others completing
this assessment:
Contact telephone numbers:
0116 3057487
Date EIA assessment completed:
14 February 2012
Step 1: Defining the policy/ procedure/ function/ service
Using the information gathered within the Equality Questionnaire, you should begin this full EIA by
defining and outlining its scope. The EIA should consider the impact or likely impact of the policy in
relation to all areas of equality, diversity and human rights, as outlined in the Equality, Diversity and
Human Rights Strategy of Leicestershire County Council.
What are the main aims, purpose and objectives of the policy/ procedure/ function/
service?
How will they be achieved?
The Government’s Valuing People White Paper (2001) required local authorities to establish
Partnership Boards to oversee the implementation of the Valuing People Now strategy. Valuing
People Now is a three year strategy (published in 2009) and builds on the original vision; that all
people with a learning disability are people first with the right to lead their lives like any others,
with the same opportunities and responsibilities and to be treated with the same dignity and
respect. Its delivery plan focuses on the three identified priority areas of:

Health;

Housing;

Employment.
The delivery of the Valuing People Now strategy was to be achieved by the development of
capacity and capability at local levels to design and commission the support services that people
need to enable them to live independently and close to their families and friends. Local
partnership with people with learning disabilities and their families would be crucial this, and
Learning Disability partnership boards would have a vital role to play. This delivery work would be
supported by a National Valuing People team.
The Valuing People (VP) team in Leicestershire was established following decisions made by the
Leicestershire Learning Disabilities Partnership Board (LDPB) using the Learning Disabilities
Development Fund (LDDF). When the original posts were agreed, it was decided that
Leicestershire County Council would ‘host’ the team due to the Board not having the legal status
to employ staff.
See Appendix A for the current structure of the Valuing People Team.
The Leicestershire Learning Disabilities Partnership Board (LDPB):
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
Works to make sure that 'Valuing People Now' happens for people with learning disabilities
and their families in Leicestershire;

Works with the Valuing People team to offer information, support, training and advice to
anyone who is interested in learning disability;

Meets together every two month at County Hall;

Supports a range of groups and events where people can speak up and influence the way
services are planned and run;

Offers training and support to all services to make written information easy to understand;

Has developed training for groups and organisations;
The following are some of the key key stakeholders represented on the LDPB:

Members of Leicestershire County Council (including lead member for Adults & Communities);


Officers from various teams and departments of Leicestershire County Council, e.g. Valuing
People Team, Adult Learning Service, Disabled Children’s Team (CYPS), Market
Development Team etc
Leicestershire Police;

Health Partners;

Connexions;

Service Users, Parents/Family Members & Carers;

LD Locality Groups;

Independent & Voluntary Sector LD service providers.
Main Functions of Current Valuing People Team
The Leicestershire Valuing People team is not an operational team and although their activities
take them out in the community, they are based in County Hall Room 600.
The Valuing People team offers a range of advice, information, training, support and resources
around learning disability to internal departments, local partner organisations (Health, Police,
District and Borough Councils) and also to local businesses. In particular support requested
focuses on effective consultation, communication and engagement activities, community
development, person centred approaches, social inclusion and disability awareness.
The team respond to requests to make written information accessible and are trained to teach
people how to produce ‘easy read’ information. These requests come from both internal
teams/departments (e.g. Chief Executive’s department where they are involved in
consultation/engagement exercises) and external partner organisations.
Several members of the team are trained in PCP approaches and provide support to CYPS. This
support relates to independent facilitation of annual reviews for statemented and/or disabled
children (post-14) aimed at identifying and planning of support through transition from CYPS to
A&C services. These reviews are undertaken in schools and include measurement of outcomes.
The team also provides support to the continued development of the Partnership Board and its
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working groups and key local partners.
Although there are distinctions in role title, there is a considerable amount of cross-over in terms
of activities and the abilities of team members to provide cover for one another.
The following are some of the current key activities of the Valuing People team:

Development and Facilitation of Person Centred Approaches and associated training;

Community development (e.g. consultation, engagement, provision of resources);

Provision of ‘easy read’ documentation for internal departments and external partners;

Support to Learning & Development via development and delivery of training sessions;

Support to the Partnership Board and its working groups in responding to challenges and
opportunities.
The key reasons for the review of the Valuing People Team are:

The Department of Health announced that the National Valuing People Team would no longer
exist from March 2011, although Valuing People Now will continue as a policy;

Leicestershire County Council has to save a large amount of money over the next four years
and has had to look at everything it does to try to work out how things can be done differently
or how to do the same things more efficiently. The Adults and Communities Department is
making lots of changes to ensure it delivers the efficiencies and service reductions set out in
the MTFS. Information about how these savings will be achieved is set out in the Council’s
Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2011/15. Therefore each service area in the council
is undertaking service reviews and identifying efficiency savings;

The Valuing People Team no longer has a ring fenced budget for its work, and therefore the
team is subject to efficiency savings and a substantial reduction is expected for 2012/13 from
its operating budget, most of which covers staff salaries;

The Valuing People Service is a non statutory service and the local authority has no legal
requirement to provide the service. However the department recognizes that Valuing People
service has a contribution to make to the department's overall aims, and has therefore looked
to restructure the team to enable savings to be achieved by delivering the service in a different
way.
The main objectives of the review are to;

Align the team with the existing Adults & Communities Promoting Independence and Personal
Care & Support locality model;

Embed and mainstream approaches such as Person Centred Planning (PCP) and community
involvement/engagement into other areas of A&C service delivery;

Provide more flexibility to the Support Brokerage team via increased staffing levels;

Ensure the project supports the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2011/15;

Ensure that the project deliverables meet the requirements set out within other corporate
programmes, for example, Personalisation and Customer First.
It is proposed to merge the current VP team with one of the existing locality teams i.e. the
Support Brokerage team, reporting into the Locality Manager at Hinckley. This will bring the team
into line with the existing PI/PCS locality model. A temporary transition role will focus on
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transitioning the Learning Disability support to other departments, external partners and Learning
Disability user groups including the LD Partnership Board to review their remits and continued
practice.
Whilst the Valuing People service will merge with the Brokerage Team, there is no proposal to
change the functions, work streams or the number of posts within the team. There will be minimal
impact on the Brokerage Team. See Appendix B for the current structure of the Brokerage Team.
See Appendix C for the proposed structure of the new service.
What are the main activities relating to this policy/ procedure/ function/ service and
distinguish who is likely to benefit from these activities.
A report on the background to the Valuing People Now policy and the requirement for the
council’s Valuing People team to deliver substantial savings in their operating budget was
presented to the 16th November 2011 Adults & Communities Department Change Board. The
report’s recommendations were agreed which was to continue the service through a re-designed
delivery model which would aim to save at least the minimum efficiency saving for 12/13 whilst
taking the opportunity to embed and mainstream approaches such as Person Centred Planning
and community involvement into other areas of A&C service delivery.
Over the last three years Adult Social Care has been changing the way it provides support to
people, this has led to the development of personalised support. This means people are able to
take control of their life, identifying what support they need and how it should be provided. These
changes are happening across the country and are led by the government.
The Government’s White Paper “Our Health, Our Care, Our Say,” says that local authorities need
to give people more choice and control over the care they receive.
The restructuring of the team will enable the council to respond to these national agendas around
Personalisation, Think Local Act Personal, and the priorities from the Government’s Valuing
People Now policy. It also contributes to the other priorities within the A&C Business Plan,
particularly around the continued development of Supported Living.
The proposed service will be merged and co located with the existing Support Brokerage Team
which covers all the localities within the county. There is no expectation that this move will have
any adverse impact either on the service users or staff within the team and department. The
proposed integration will rather enable greater engagement and involvement with localities and
locality groups. This will increase opportunities for self-advocacy by all service user groups, not
just those with learning disabilities. Embedding and mainstreaming of PCP approaches will
spread good practice in these areas to benefit other service user groups.
The redesigned service will deliver the following key benefits to both the A&C Department and
more importantly to the service users and their carers/families:

Continue to build development and understanding of the workforce of the challenges and
opportunities faced by the learning disability community;

Opportunities to share and embed VP learning, Person Centred Planning and community
development/involvement approaches into wider locality work among other A&C
professionals/team members;

Ensure that the council’s strategies around Person Centred Planning and support planning
are standardised and mainstreamed across the department;

Create greater flexibility and capacity for service provision in each of the localities and the
support available to commissioning staff;
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
Provide development opportunities for both the Community Development Workers currently
working in the VP team and also the Community Support Workers based in the Support
Brokerage service;

Provide capacity to support and grow the work of the locality groups enabling them to
develop further around self-advocacy and peer support.
The following are some of the key strategic expected beneficial outcomes from a redesigned
Valuing People Service specifically for Learning Disability (LD) Service Users and their carers
and families:
 Development of capacity and capability at locality levels to support both LD service users and
other staff working with LD service users and their carers;

Development of local knowledge and support network for people with learning disabilities and
their families/carers;

Access to local support service for LD service users in enabling them to make a positive
contribution;

Access to local support service for LD service users to ensure they can lead their lives free
from discrimination;
What outcomes are expected?
The Change Board agreed that the new service would be designed around the following
principles:
To embed the principles of Person Centred Planning (PCP) into Social Care practice;

To support operational teams to improve their communication with service users and carers;

To encourage community involvement and engagement as part of service design, delivery
and monitoring;

To work with service providers to increase the access and availability of appropriate services;

To ensure that information is accessible to community groups and service users.
The new service will be seen as being able to embed PCP approaches and community
development, develop closer links between the community and operational staff and also assist in
taking forward the Personalisation agenda via ‘Think local, act Personal’.
The following would be the priority focus areas to achieve better outcomes for all service users:

Person Centred Approaches

Support planning tools and techniques;

On-site support;

Embedding of PCP in self directed support (SDS);

Case work support;
Community Development

Engagement and involvement;

User and carers forum;

Peer support and advocacy;

Locality groups.
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
Service Development

Brokerage;

Locality market development and improvement;

Partnership working.
It is also proposed to add a temporary Transition role which will focus on transitioning the LD
support to other departments, external partners and LD user group including the LD Partnership
Board to review their remits and continued practice. In addition £50,000 has been included on an
ongoing basis to support user engagement and involvement.
Step 2: Potential Impact
Use the table below to specify if any service users or staff who identify with any of the
‘protected characteristics’ below will be affected by the policy/ procedure/ service you
are proposing (indicate all that apply) and describe why and what barriers these
individuals or groups may face.
Who is affected and what barriers may these individuals or groups face?
Age This service should not discriminate on ground of age as set
out in the Council’s policies and procedures and will not
disproportionately affect people of any age. Many services are
targeted towards specific age groups; however the proposed
valuing people service will be a generic service which will
break down the barriers of segregation. A person who is
currently using the service can continue to do beyond the age
of 65. Some older people may prefer to move to a group
which is predominately for older people and will be managed
as part of individual reviews.
Disability The proposed change to the service has a potentially adverse
impact on people with learning disability, as they are core
users of the current Valuing People services. The impact of
this proposal has been considered carefully and a number of
mitigating actions will be put in place to reduce this impact:

A series of discussions/informal consultation has been
held and efforts have been made to collect responses from
key stakeholders represented on the LDPB representative;

Each service user who receives a care needs assessment
will consider their own particular circumstances, including
any dual impacts (e.g. for disabled people from ethnic
minorities). The assessing worker will give support and
advice tailored to an individual’s needs and considering
choice and preferences;

Service users and carers can access advocacy support
and have the right to make a complaint using the
Complaints Procedure;

Advice and information about a range of community
services will be provided to everyone, regardless of their
level of need.
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Gender Reassignment This service is required to deliver a service in line with the
gender equality strand as set out in the Council’s policies and
procedures. The service considers issues such as privacy
during personal care tasks and the choice of same sex
support worker.
Marriage and Civil This service is required to deliver a service in line with the
Partnership equalities strand as set out in the Council’s policies and
procedures. There will be no barriers to accessing service
based on person’s marital status or sexual orientation.
Pregnancy and Maternity This service is required to deliver a service in line with the
equalities strand as set out in the Council’s policies and
procedures. There will be no barriers to accessing service
based on whether or not a person is on maternity.
Race This service is required to deliver a service in line with the
Race equality strand as set out in the Council’s policies and
procedures. There will be no barrier to accessing the service
based on race where an individual meets the eligibility
threshold. Service provision is led by needs and aspirations of
people using the service regardless of their ethnicity
Religion or Belief This service is required to provide a service that does not
discriminate on grounds of religion or belief as per the
Council’s policies and procedures, and will not
disproportionately affect people according to their religion or
belief. The proposed service will aim to ensure:


Freedom from discrimination;
Promotion of personal dignity.
Sex This service is required to deliver a service in line with the
gender equality strand as set out in the Council’s policies and
procedures. The service considers issues such as privacy
during personal care tasks and the choice of same sex
support worker.
Sexual Orientation This service is required to provide a service that does not
discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation as per the
Council’s policies and procedures and there will be no barriers
to accessing the service based on sexual orientation provided
people meet the eligibility threshold. Personal budgets may
provide a more personalised service to meet individual needs
and preferences and will provide people with more choice and
control.
Other groups e.g. rural
isolation, deprivation, health
inequality, carers, asylum
seeker and refugee
communities, looked after
children, deprived or
disadvantaged communities
This proposed valuing people service will be inclusive and
relate to all people regardless of where they come from or
their economic circumstance. All access to Social Care
Services in Leicestershire is dependent on the requirements
of the Department of Health guidance to Fair Access to Care
Services as set out in the Adult Social Care Eligibility for
Community Care Services.
7
As part of an individual care needs assessment or review the
commissioning worker will indentify if any person has specific
needs. For example this might be related to communication
where their first language is not English and then interpreters
and written information about the service will be provided in
the appropriate language.
Community Cohesion The proposals has been developed as positive action to meet
the needs of service users and their carers/families in order to
maximise choice, independence and social inclusion across
Leicestershire.
It is not envisaged that the proposed service will lead to a
reduction in social cohesion. It will ensure that people will be
empowered and enabled to fully access their rights and
freedoms as a member of society. The personalisation of
service provision will ensure that people with learning
difficulties have access to advice, information and services
that will give them greater choice and control and afford better
access to services.
Step 3: Data Collection & Evidence
In relation to your related findings in ‘Step Two’ are your presumptions on these barriers
based on any existing research, data evidence or other information?
What evidence, research, data and other information do you have which will be relevant
to this EIA?
What does this information / data tell you about each of the diverse groups?
Along with the comprehensive data recorded by Adults & Communities Department in respect of
its service users the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for Leicestershire also provides
detailed breakdown of the various service user groups within Leicestershire including Learning
Disability. The data captured includes some of the equalities strands breakdown but still has gap
on areas such as Gender Reassignment, Sexual Orientation and Marriage and Civil
Partnership. However as mentioned above there is no expectation for this restructure to have
any adverse impact on people accessing our services in respect of these equalities strands.
Leicestershire County Council and the Adults & Communities Department adheres to a robust
Equalities and Diversity policies in its delivery of service, both statutory and non statutory.
The JSNA is a process that identifies the current and projected health and wellbeing needs of
the local population. The JSNA is a key building block in enabling the understanding of the
needs of local people. It contains our collective intelligence about local health and well being
need, and forms a key element of Leicestershire Together’s overall understanding of community
need outlined in the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS). The JSNA is designed to underpin
the commissioning priorities and strategic plans of the Local Authority and Local NHS.
Specifically it should be used to inform the Sustainable Community Strategy, the Local Area
Agreement and the NHS Operating Plan.
The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act (2007) places a joint statutory duty
on upper tier local authorities and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to undertake a JSNA for their
area.
The following is examples of the comprehensive data captured by the JSNA process in respect
8
of Learning Disabilities which assists the Department in the design and commissioning of its
services:

From data received from the Learning Disability Register there are 2,101 people on the
register who are living in Leicestershire (an increase of 158 since 2008) and 1,824 of them
have been interviewed. Of these, 44 are classed as having a borderline learning disability.
Learning disability registers are information systems that seek to collect and maintain
information on the characteristics and needs of people with learning disabilities within a
specified area. People usually included on the registers are either current or potential users
of specialised services (health and/or social care).

The total number of people aged 18 and over predicted to have any type of learning disability
and living in Leicestershire (mild to severe) is 12,283 with an increase of 361 expected by
2015 (an increase of around 3.5 - 4% increase is expected every 5 years). These predicted
cases are significantly greater than the amount of people recorded on the Learning Disability
Register;

The number of people in Leicestershire County with moderate to severe Learning Disabilities
is predicted to be on the increase, with a rise of 271 since 2009. Projections estimate that
the figure will rise from 2,546 in 2011 to 2875 in 2030, an increase of 13%. The majority of
this growth will occur in people aged 65 or over;

There were more males than females with learning disabilities recorded on the learning
disabilities register with a 43% and 57% split, respectively. With the largest proportion for
both males and females in the 18-30 age groups. These ratios are also reflected in the local
Adult Social Care database;

The table below shows the number of people on the learning disability register broken down
into ethnicity and level of learning disability. The highest proportion of people on the register
are of white ethnicity, with a severe learning disability (518). The ethnic profile of people
included on the register is representative of the population of Leicestershire (93.7%
compared to 93.5%). There is a slight under representation of Asian people included in the
register (4.2% compared to 5.5% of Leicestershire’s population) and people within the black/
mixed category of the register are slightly over represented on the register (2% compared to
1%). Once again, these figures match data collected by local Adult Social Care. However,
due to the relatively small numbers it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions from this
information:
Ethnicity
White
Asian
Black/Mixed
Other/ Not
Known

Borderline Mild Moderate Profound Severe Total
44
390 359
361
518
1672
(93.5%)
6
10
29
31
76 (4.2%)
7
12
13
36 (2%)
-
Although in previous studies the prevalence of learning disabilities in South Asian
communities has been found to be higher (as reported in the previous JSNA), evidence
regarding learning disability prevalence and ethnicity is not consistent. Furthermore, the
variations in the definitions of learning disability make establishing the position on this
problematic. For example, local research conducted in 2005 concluded that there was limited
but consistent evidence of no statistically significant difference between the prevalence of
Learning Disabilities between South Asian and White Adult populations. It was also found
that South Asians show similar levels of psychological morbidity, but make significantly lower
9
use than whites of psychiatric services, residential care and respite care. South Asians use
community services as extensively as whites, but feel that they have a substantially greater
unmet need, especially with regard to social services.
People aged 18-64 predicted to have a learning disability, by age
Age
2011
2015
2020
2025
2030
aged 18-64
9,845
9,842
9,937
10,083
10,184
aged 65-74
1,363
1,595
1,703
1,677
1,861
aged 75-84
785
867
1,019
1,259
1,337
85 and over
289
339
418
529
674
65 and over
2,438
2,802
3,141
3,465
3,873
What further research, data or evidence may be required to fill any gaps in your
understanding of the potential or known affects of the policy?
Have you considered carrying out new data or research?
Leicesters
hire
Area
There is already in place within Adults & Communities Department a system for review and
evaluation of service users care needs and services provided. This will allow the department to
continue to measure progress in terms of the extent to which services are leading to better
outcomes for people with learning disabilities and their carers/families in line with the key aims
of the Valuing People Policy.
The JSNA for Leicestershire is also refreshed on a regular basis (every two to three years)
Step 4: Consultation and Involvement
When considering how you to consult and involve people as part of the proposed policy/
procedure/ function/ service, it is important to think about the service users and staff
who may be affected as part of the proposal.
Have you consulted on this policy/ procedure/ function or service?
Outline any consultation and the outcomes of the consultation in relation to this EIA.
The key stakeholder group other than the current staff group working in the Valuing People
team is the Leicestershire Learning Disability Partnership Board (LDPB).
There has to date been very favourable and positive responses to the informal
consultation/discussions of the VP review proposals.
There is also a clear understanding amongst the LDPB that VP is not a statutory duty but unlike
many authorities around the country, the proposals in Leicestershire is not to end the service but
on the main to continue with the Valuing People work through a redesigned service.
The proposals in the review is also to continue funding the LD Partnership Board for a further
year in its current format with a view to undertaking a comprehensive review of its work and
structure, The outcome of the review will inform structure and role of any future partnership
board.
Further discussions are ongoing with the LDPB in the redesign of the service.
An engagement workshop was organised which include not only members from the LDPB but
also the current staff group from both the Valuing People Team and Support Brokerage Team.
The prime aim of the workshop was to engage and contribute towards the redesign of the
service and scope out the proposed team role specification, i.e. prioritise the work streams of
the new team.
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Do any of the barriers you identified actually exist based on this consultation?
The purpose of the informal consultation undertaken through the staff workshop was to identify
the key functions which the proposed team will retain and develop further in order to ensure
there is no adverse impact on any of our current and future service users.
Step 5: Mitigating and assessing the impact
In relation to any research, data, consultation and information you have reviewed and/or
carried out as part of this EIA, it is now essential to assess the impact of the policy/
procedure/ function/ service and distinguish whether a particular group could be affected
differently in either a negative or positive way?
If you consider there to be actual or potential adverse impact or discrimination, please
outline this below. State whether it is justifiable or legitimate and give reasons.
As mentioned above the proposed change to the service has a potentially adverse impact on
people with learning disability, as they are core users of the current Valuing People services.
The impact of this proposal has been considered carefully and a number of mitigating actions
will be put in place to reduce this impact. Please see improvement plan below.
N.B.
a) If you have identified adverse impact or discrimination that is illegal, you are required to take
action to remedy this immediately.
b) If you have identified adverse impact or discrimination that is justifiable or legitimate, you will
need to consider what actions can be taken to mitigate its effect on those groups of people.
What can be done to change the policy/ procedure/ function/ service to mitigate any
adverse impact?
Consider what barriers you can remove, whether reasonable adjustments may be
necessary and how any unmet needs that you have identified can be addressed.
The restructure of the Valuing People Team and the redesign of the service have at all stages
tried to ensure there is no adverse impact on the core service user group of the current Valuing
People Team.
Whilst the full impact will not be clear until the new redesigned service is implemented and
outcomes can be monitored, there is no evidence that the proposed service will definitely have
an adverse impact on any particular group of people within the Learning Disability Service user
group.
Step 6: Making a decision
Summarise your findings and give an overview of whether the policy will meet
Leicestershire County Council’s responsibilities in relation to equality, diversity and
human rights.
The Valuing People Policy and proposals within this review has been developed as positive
action to meet the needs of people with Learning Disabilities and their carers/families in order to
maximise choice, independence and social inclusion across Leicestershire.
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In recognition of the fact that People with Learning Disabilities have limited choice and control
over their lives and are classed as amongst the most socially excluded people, the proposals on
the Valuing People Team review has been to in the main carry on delivering Valuing People
Policy through a redesigned service structure.
The redesigned service will deliver the following key benefits to both the A&C Department and
more importantly to the service users and their carers/families:

Continue to build development and understanding of the workforce of the challenges and
opportunities faced by the learning disability community;

Opportunity to share and embed VP learning, PCP and community development/involvement
approaches into wider locality work among other A&C professionals/team members;

Ensures that the council’s strategies around Person Centred Planning and support planning
are standardised and mainstreamed across the department;

Creates greater flexibility and capacity for service provision in each of the localities and the
support available to commissioning staff;

Provides development opportunities for both the Community Development Workers currently
working in the VP team and also the Community Support Workers based in the Support
Brokerage service;

Provides capacity to support and grow the work of the locality groups enabling them to
develop further around self-advocacy and peer support.
As already mentioned above there is no expectation for this restructure to have any adverse
impact on as a result of these equalities strands. Leicestershire County Council and the Adults &
Communities Department adheres to a robust Equalities and Diversity policies in its delivery of
service, both statutory and non statutory.
Step 7: Monitoring, evaluation & review of your policy/
procedure/service change
How will you monitor the impact and effectiveness of the new policy/ procedure/ service
change and what monitoring systems will you put in place to monitor this and to promote
equality of opportunity and make positive improvements?
There is already in place within Adults & Communities Department a system for review and
evaluation of service users care needs and services provided. This will allow the department to
continue to measure progress in terms of the extent to which services are leading to better
outcomes for people with learning disabilities and their carers/families in line with the key aims
of the Valuing People Policy.
There will also continue to be liaison and partnership working with LD stakeholder and advocacy
groups through the LDPB to ensure consistency of service provision and accessibility.
As already mentioned above Leicestershire County Council Adults & Communities Department
is an active participator in the JSNA process.
Furthermore the Management Teams and LD partnership groups in Leicestershire will continue
to monitor and evaluate progress and the impact of the redesigned service. Any identified
unintended or adverse impacts will be highlighted and actions put in place to address them.
12
How will the recommendations of this assessment be built into wider planning and
review processes?
e.g. policy reviews, annual plans and use of performance management systems.
The information gathered through the monitoring of the service provision and measured
outcomes and the JSNA process sets out the emerging key priorities and cross cutting themes
that are essential for health and social care partners to address through their strategic plans.
The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) is a key process for understanding and agreeing
the needs of the Leicestershire population across the partnership. It underpins the Health and
Wellbeing Strategy and is the basis for determining priorities for action.
The JSNA must consider the current and future health and social care needs of the population
in relation to the responsible authority. The identified needs must be addressed by the local
authority, clinical commissioning group and NHS Commissioning Board functions.
The JSNA provides a shared narrative of the over arching health and well-being needs of the
population. It provides commissioners with a framework for undertaking needs assessments and
integrating the recommendations from the needs assessments through the health and wellbeing strategy into commissioning plans.
JSNA’s will sit at the heart of local commissioning decisions, underpinning improved health,
social care and public health outcomes for the whole community. As such, they are a key to the
success of health and wellbeing boards and individual commissioner’s in the future local health
and care system.
13
Equality Improvement Plan
Please list all the equality objectives, actions and targets that result from the Equality Impact Assessment (continue on separate sheets as necessary).
These now need to be included in the relevant service plan for mainstreaming and performance management purposes.
Equality Objective
The proposed service meet the
specific needs of people in
Leicestershire with learning
difficulties and their carers,
enabling choice and control to
meet personal outcomes
Action
Target
Officer
responsible
By when
Data capture will be reviewed to Review data to ensure
identify under-representation of consistency of service provision
any hard-to-reach groups.
and accessibility.
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
June 2011 to April
2013
The specific support service
requirements for Black and
Minority Ethnic Groups will be
determined
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
June 2011 to April
2013
Review data. Follow up with
specific feedback from locality
groups and LD Partnership
Board.
Use of Information/Data
gathered in the JSNA to ensure
the service targets identified
gaps through both the strategic
commissioning and locally
through raising of awareness of
the specific issues with the
operational staff.
14
Equality Objective
Action
Determine requirements for
specific services to meet the
needs of people with Learning
Disabilities including Autism
Target
Review data. Follow up with
specific feedback from locality
groups and Partnership Board.
Use of Information/Data
gathered in the JSNA to focus
on the key areas identified in
relation to both Learning
Disabilities and Autism. E.G.
The current JSNA highlights the
strategy for improving the lives
of adults with Autism which
focuses on the following key
outcomes:

Increasing awareness and
understanding of autism
amongst frontline
professionals;

Developing a clear,
consistent pathway for
diagnosis in every area,
which is followed by the
offer of a personalised
needs assessment;

Improving access to the
services and support which
adults with autism need to
live independently within the
community;
15
Officer
responsible
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
By when
June 2012 to
ongoing
Equality Objective
Action
Target

Helping adults with autism
into work;

Enabling local partners to
plan and develop
appropriate services for
people with autism to meet
identified needs and
priorities.
Determine requirements for
gender-specific services.
Review data. Follow up with
specific feedback from locality
groups and Partnership Board.
Use of Information/Data
gathered in the JSNA
LD awareness training for all
external service providers
including housing and
accommodation providers.
Develop training by working
closely with Corporate Learning
& Development
16
Officer
responsible
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
By when
June 2012 to
ongoing
June 2012 to April
2013
Equality Objective
The transitional service
provision is monitored in
relation to equalities issues
Action
Target
By when
Person Centred Planning and
Outcomes training for support
services providers
Determine requirements.
Training available ongoing.
Develop further training by
working closely with Corporate
Learning & Development
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers and
Corporate L&D
Team
June 2012 to April
2013
Continue to monitor take up of
service.
Improved take up of service.
Feedback from LD Partnership
Board and other stakeholders.
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
June 2012 to April
2013
Team Senior
(Valuing People
Co-ordinator)
(Personal Care &
Support) working
with Locality
Managers under
the guidance of
Assistant Director
(Personal Care &
Support)
Strategic
June 2012 to April
2013
Establish views of users, carers
and other organisations
regarding effectiveness of
service provision/development.
All activities currently
undertaken by both teams in
relation to ensuring operational
staff have a good working
knowledge and understanding
of issues faced by people with
learning disabilities and their
carers/families. e.g. awareness
of Autism and Carers issues
continues to be available to
front line workers.
Officer
responsible
Liaison and communication with 
all operational teams within
LCC and partner organisations
to identify any gaps in working

knowledge and learning
disability awareness. To work
closely with Corporate Learning
Development Team to design
and deliver specific training to
meet the knowledge/awareness
gaps.
Formal training and
awareness raising of all
operational staff.
Provide Support to the LD
Partnership Board as a
forum to receive regular
feedback from the
experience of service users
and/or carers on any
identified issues/gaps in
knowledge of operational
staff.
17
Equality Objective
Action
Target

To work closely with
Corporate Learning and
Development to design and
deliver the required training.
Locally we are putting extra
resources into training,
developing wellbeing
services for carers and
developing a champion’s
network for autism.

The local carer’s strategy is
currently being consulted on
and is due to be launched in
June 2012. The strategy
acts as the delivery
mechanism for
recommendations
highlighted in the draft
Carers JSNA report. The
strategy has six priorities
including identification and
recognition for carers,
addressing needs of
marginalised groups and
improving the wellbeing of
carers.

The local Aspergers
Strategy is aligned to the
National Autism strategy
and priorities include
increasing awareness of
autism, identifying a lead
18
Officer
responsible
Planning and
Commissioning
Manager
By when
Equality Objective
Action
Target
Officer
responsible
By when
commissioner, improving
access to services and
reviewing autism pathways
from children’s to adults.
Locally we are putting extra
resources into training,
developing autism services
and developing a
champion’s network for
autism, addressing many of
the issues highlighted in the
draft JSNA.
1st Authorised Signature (EIA Lead): …Sayeed Patel (Project Manager) Date: 14/02/2012
2nd Authorised Signature (Member of DMT):
Date 20/02/2012
Once completed, please send a copy of this form to the Departmental Equalities Group for quality assurance. Once authorised,
this Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) Report will need to be published on our website.
19
20
Current Valuing People
Team Structure
Appendix A
Valuing People Co-ordinator
Grade 14
Carers Community Development
Officer
Grade 11
Community Development
Worker
(Melton Mowbray and
Market Harborough)
Grade 10
Community
Development Worker
(Charnwood and North
West Leicestershire)
Grade 10
Person Centred Planning Coordinator
Grade 11
Community
Development Worker
(Part Time 21 hrs)
(Hinckley & Bosworth)
Grade 10
Community Development
Worker
(Part time 16 hrs)
(Oadby,Wigston & Blaby
Grade 10
21
Person Centred Facilitator
Grade 08
Person Centred Planning
Assistant
Grade 09
Appendix B
Current Brokerage
Service Structure
Locality Manager
Team Senior
Grade 12
Charnwood
North west
Leicestershire
Hinckley
Blaby
Melton
1x FTE
Community Support
Grade 9
1x FTE
Community Support
Grade 9
1x FTE
Community Support
Grade 9
1x FTE
Community Support
Grade 9
1x FTE
Community Support
Grade 9
In Scope
Out of Scope
22
Harborough
1x FTE
Community Support
Grade 9
Proposed Structure (Draft)
Appendix C
Head of Service
Locality Manager
Transition Role (Temp to March
2013)
Grade 12
Team Senior
Grade 12
Charnwood
North west
Leicestershire
Hinckley
Blaby
2x FTE
Community Support
Workers
Grade 09
2x FTE
Community Support
Workers
Grade 09
2x FTE
Community Support
Workers
Grade 09
2x FTE
Community Support
Workers
Grade 09
In Scope
Out of Scope
1x FTE
Community Support
Workers
(Transitions/Specialist Role )
Grade 09
23
Melton
1x FTE
Community Support
Workers
Grade 09
Harborough
1x FTE
Community Support
Workers
Grade 09
24