KENT COUNTY COUNCIL
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Directorate:
Education and Young People’s Services Directorate
Name of policy, procedure, project or service
Proposed addition of a 15 place Specialist Resource Base Provision (SRBP) for
children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at The Canterbury Primary
School.
What is being assessed?
Project
Responsible Owner/ Senior Officer
Marisa White, Area Education Officer – East Kent
Date of Initial Screening
January 2016
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Screening Grid
Characteristic
Provide details:
Assessment
of
a) Is internal action required? If yes
Could this policy, procedure, potential impact
what?
project or service affect this HIGH/MEDIUM
group less favourably than LOW/NONE
b) Is further assessment required? If
others in Kent? YES/NO
UNKNOWN
yes, why?
If yes how?
Positive
Negative
Yes. Positive for the local community and
therefore local children as the proposed
addition of the Specialist Resource Base Unit
will provide specialist Autistic Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) places locally.
Age
No
Disability
Gender
Gender
identity
High
None
No.
The school accommodation is
compliant with the Equality Act
2010
Yes. There will be more places available to
meet the needs of children in the local area with
SEN and/or disability. The SRBP will provide
support and expertise for children with ASD.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
No
High
None
or No.
The school is open to High
children of faith or no faith
None
N/A
Yes. The curriculum covers all religions.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes. Positive for all primary aged children with
SEN and/or disability within the local
community, regardless of ethnicity.
Race
Religion
belief
Could this policy, procedure, project or
service promote equal opportunities for this
group?
YES/NO - Explain how good practice can
promote equal opportunities
Sexual
N/A
orientation
Pregnancy
N/A
and maternity
Marriage and N/A
Civil
Partnerships
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KCC/EqIA2012/
Part 1: INITIAL SCREENING
Context
The Canterbury Primary School is a popular and successful school and the
proposal to add a Specialist Resource Base Provision for up to 15 pupils with
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will be an excellent opportunity for the
school to use their knowledge and expertise to the full by accommodating
local children within a caring, nurturing environment. A small number of
children with Education, Health and Care Plans require higher levels of
support than can be provided in mainstream schools but their needs are not
so complex that special school placements are appropriate. The SRBP will
provide a classroom within the school where the children can receive
individual and small group teaching and help, but there will also be the
opportunity for integration into the mainstream classes during each school day
as appropriate.
Aims and Objectives
 The project is to provide specialist places for children with Autistic
Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Background documents are:
o Kent’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2015-19
o Kent’s strategy for children and young people with special
education needs and disabilities.
o Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes: Kent County
Council’s Strategic Statement (2015-2020).

The project will provide specialist SEN and disabilities places. This will be
achieved through provision of a class base within the school. The project
will provide 15 places in a SRBP for children with Autistic Spectrum
Disorder (ASD).
Beneficiaries
 Local children and their families
 The Local Authority
Consultation and data
The School
 The data used in the project is published data on pupil numbers, school
performance data and characteristics of the local pupil population.
 The Canterbury Primary School is a two form entry Community primary
school and the age range for the school is 4 to 11 years.
 Data used was taken from the Spring Term 2015 schools census.
 29.3% of the children are eligible for free school meals
 12.7% of the children have been assessed as having special educational
needs; of whom 1.9% have an education, health and care plan
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 6.1% of children are learning to speak English as an additional language.
 The school is ranked 81 out of 447 in the Index of Multiple Deprivation
based on pupils’ home postcodes, where a rank of 1 is most deprived.
The Community
The Canterbury Primary School comes within the Westgate Ward in
Canterbury.
For more detail on the community visit –
http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/information-and-data/Research-andfigures-about-Kent/area-profiles
Proposed Consultation
 Local knowledge and discussions with the education community.
 A four week public consultation on the addition of a SRBP will take place
from 11 January to 12 February 2016. If following consultation if the
Governing Body of the school agrees to continue with the proposal, a
business case will be submitted to the Education Funding Agency (EFA)
for approval by the Secretary of State.
Potential Impact
Adverse Impact:
No adverse impacts have been identified at this stage; however the
consultation will enable the Local Authority to test out these assumptions.
Positive Impact:
Some positive impacts identified are:
 An increase in total number of places available to meet the needs of
children with disabilities and/or SEN
 More local families being able to access a place in a specialist provision
within a mainstream school.
 Places available to children with disabilities and/or SEN with and without
faith based backgrounds.
JUDGEMENT
Option 1 – Screening Sufficient
YES/NO
Justification:
Option 2 – Internal Action Required
YES/NO
 Following this initial screening our judgement is that the statutory Public
Consultation that will be undertaken will highlight any unknown issues and
if necessary, will initiate a further EIA
Option 3 – Full Impact Assessment
YES/NO
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Sign Off
I have noted the content of the equality impact assessment and agree the
actions to mitigate the adverse impact(s) that have been identified.
Senior Officer
Signed:
Job Title:
Marisa White
Area Education Officer
Name: Marisa White
Date: 11 January 2016
DMT Member
Signed:
Job Title:
Keith Abbott
Director – Education Planning
and Access
Name: Keith Abbott
Date: 11 January 2016
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Equality Impact Assessment Action Plan
Protected
Issues identified
Characteristic
Action
taken
to
be Expected
outcomes
Owner
Timescale
Cost
implications
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