Derbyshire County Council Equality Impact Assessment Record Form 2010 Department CAYA Service Area Responsible Resources Chair of Assessment Group Ian Thomas Title of Policy/ Service/ Function Development of Integrated Locality Services (live Document v2.0) 1 Prioritising what to impact assess -1- 1.1 Why has this policy, service or function been chosen? 1.1.1 Currently, children’s services across the Children’s Trust Partnership in Derbyshire are on a journey towards greater integration. The formation of the Children’s Trust created integrated governance. Development of a joint Children and Young Peoples Plan established integrated planning arrangements. Many integrated working practice, such as use of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and multiagency meetings are common practice. The next stage on the journey to greater integration is integration of the front-line workforce. 1.1.2 Since the formation of the Children’s Trust arrangements in 2007, services with a preventative, targeted and early intervention remit are managed in separate departments, across the component agencies. This structure was complemented by a new District Management Structure, with 21 new posts established: 7 0-11 District Managers, 7 11-19 District Managers and 7 Safeguarding District Managers. 1.1.3 The current structure of management and of delivery of preventative and early intervention services is complex and management heavy. There is also a strong drive to improve outcomes, as in recent years there have been unprecedented increases in: children in need, initial contacts, referrals into social care, numbers of children on the child protection register and numbers of children admitted into the care system. Other statistics relating to young people not in education employment or training and the qualification of young people aged 19 require prioritisation for improvement. 1.1.4 The structure is also expensive and requires review in the light of the existing and future economic challenges. Learning from Serious Case Reviews and national guidance encourages Local Authorities to integrate better to enable more effective early intervention1 and take services closer to the communities served- Derbyshire is later than many other Authorities in taking such an approach. Learning from other areas of the country which have preceded Derbyshire in such an approach has been utilised in planning the proposed model for Derbyshire. 1.1.5 In response to these drivers CAYA and its partners are undertaking a re-structure of its service provision to create new, community-facing multi-agency teams and a newly formed management structure (Integrated Locality Services) for preventative and targeted services for children, young people 1 See http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/safeguardingandsocialworkreform/a006 4974/working-together-to-safeguard-children-change-to-statutory-guidance -2- and families. The new teams and structures should be in place in April 2011 and the approach is endorsed by the Derbyshire Children’s Trust. This represents a significant change to the way that services are delivered, and has an impact on staff, and as such an EIA is required. 1.2 Why does the policy, service or function exist/ what is its purpose? Who should benefit? 1.2.1 Preventative and Early Intervention Services exist to improve outcomes for Children, Young People and Families. The new structures will support better integration of services for children, young people and families by providing co-located workspaces for multi-agency teams reporting to a single manager. This is based on evidence obtained from investigations into learning from integration of children’s services in many areas of the country. More integrated working will enable improved working practice, better outcomes, service redesign and enhanced experience of services for service users who will receive a more timely, co-ordinated and efficient service. 2 Pulling an assessment team together Name Ian Thomas Nicole Chavaudra Beverley Smith Mandy Stafford-Wood Karen Gurney Shelley Kerslake Area of expertise/ role Chair Children’s Transformation Programme Head of HR, CAYA Head of Information CAYA Finance CAYA Finance 3 Scoping of the assessment / identifying likely issues As part of early consultation, a series of events were held involving hundreds of multi-agency staff and community group representatives from across the County to identify concerns and opportunities regarding a re-shaping of services. It was anticipated that the formation of new structures and services may raise the following issues from an equalities perspective: -3- 3.1.1 Accessibility 3.1.1.1 The original proposal, which was widely consulted on, identified that new teams would be co-located on secondary school sites, providing easy access to a large proportion of the target population. Consultation indicated that many target groups would be disadvantaged by this, due to not being located on site, the site being relatively inaccessible or disinclination to use the facilities due to having a negative experience of school themselves. 3.1.1.2 There was also a risk that people living in rural areas may struggle to access services located a significant distance from their homes. 3.1.1.3 Due to the size and diversity of the County, there are many population groups which may find services more difficult to access due to barriers such as culture, and fear of services based on previous experiences. 3.1.1.4 There was a concern raised that the services may be more targeted towards secondary school children, rather than younger or older children and young people. 3.1.1.5 There were no other anticipated issues regarding disadvantage to any other groups on the basis of gender, race, age or other potential discriminating factors by the initial consultation. 3.1.2 Targeting Service provision 3.1.2.1 There could be the potential for services to be accessed more frequently by those members of the community with less need, who traditionally are more likely to request and become involved in services. This could exacerbate inequalities, and perpetuate any existing disharmony in local communities regarding perceived unfairness. 3.1.2.2 Due to the diverse nature of the responsibilities of the new teams, varying from low level preventative work to complex case management of families in need, there is a risk that team activity may be focused further towards one end of the spectrum to the disadvantage of the other groups. -4- 3.1.3 Customer Service and Responsiveness to Local Need 3.1.3.1 Due to the size and diversity of Derbyshire as a County it is possible that there may be differentiated practice and customer service approaches in different areas, leading to some service users facing disadvantage regarding the quality of the services available. Also, different communities have different needs and a single model or approach across the County would be inappropriate and not fairly meet the requirements of diverse neighbourhoods. 3.1.4 Staff 3.1.4.1 The following issues relating to staff which may have an equalities perspective were anticipated: Dual management arrangements Clarity about the roles of staff in the new teams Training and support Clarity about working practice Clarity about membership of the team Differing terms and conditions for different members of the team Issues for staff working across several sites No potential issues were raised by staff with regard to risks on the basis of gender, age, race, sexual orientation or other potential discriminating factor at this stage. 4 Pulling together all the information Name of source Management Information relating to performance against key indicators Population and deprivation data (in particular FSM and indices of Multiple Deprivation) Human Resources information regarding staff demographics for the group whose posts are to be disestablished (Summarised and Reason for using to enable the differentiated needs in different areas to be identified to enable a clear understanding of need across the county To create a profile of staff affected by disestablishment of posts -5- anonymised in Appendix A) Human Resources information regarding staff demographics for the groups of staff which may form the Multi-Agency Teams (summarised and anonymised Appendix B) Qualitative data from customer feedback, and consultation with staff and partners from across the County (see Appendix C): To create a profile of staff affected by new structures To ensure services are customer focused and planned according to local knowledge from practitioners Consultation with staff and partners preCabinet paper Citizens Panel Survey Community Forums School council meeting Consultation with staff, partners and trade unions during formal consultation period post Cabinet 5 Assessing the impact or effects 5.1 What does customer feedback, complaints, and discussions with stakeholder groups tell you about your service, policy and function, including which aspects are seen as negative, inaccessible, unhelpful, difficult to use etc? 5.1.1 Staff felt that the following aspects of services could be improved by proposed changes: New teams will offer a better response to families and service users, with more timely actions and proactive services Easier communication between staff will be enabled Integrated practice such as CAF and Lead professional can be more embedded into services Provision of a ‘one stop shop’ for families, with easier and more simple routes through services Better understanding of different professionals roles and -6- thresholds for specialist services Reduced duplication and bureaucracy The opportunity to take a whole family approach to services, with services accessible for all family members not just children and young people Sharing of resources and equipment Better co-ordination and planning Build on learning from existing local examples of effective multiagency working Provision of a better service to the wider community Enhanced relationship with schools More early intervention- a more proactive service Better safeguarding, by preventing people from slipping through the net Improved partnership working, especially with the voluntary sector Removal of professional barriers through new job roles Richer mix of skills and experience in teams Fewer unnecessary referrals Cost savings Improved motivation for staff Better perceptions of the school in communities Better management, through dual accountability 5.1.2 Members of the community raised the following issues: Raising concerns about children to services- knowing where to go Ensuring that younger children are also targeted by services, not just secondary schools Services should be consistent across the county Better access to services such as police, benefits advice, health and activities for children and young people Lack of availability of mental health provision for children and young people, youth services, parenting support and information about childcare Speed of response, reducing the number of people to deal with, knowing where to go Young people raised the following priorities for services: Staff shouldn’t be nosy or put people under pressure Services should be easy to get to Staff should make people feel welcome Staff should treat the grounds with respect Staff shouldn’t stereotype and should treat young people like ‘normal’ people -7- Staff should be Confidential Young people should be able to complete a questionnaire or text about their experience of using a service Young people should be involved in designing a logo Services should have the same name throughout so that when you go to different areas you know it’s the same thing 5.2 What does your information tell you about the effects of the policy, service or function on the lives of different groups or communities? Is any of this negative or unwanted? Groups Disadvantaged communities People with a negative experience of services Rural communities Young people Younger children All communities Some professional groups Staff changing base Staff in linked services Effects identified from data/ information Priorities are different across different areas of the County. Without appropriate adaptability of planning for performance management and planning, inequalities may be created. For example, come areas of the county have a greater of the population that is deprived. Levels of need, deprivation and population vary substantially across the County, and services need to be planned appropriately according to needs as well as population Some groups are unlikely to access services without particular targeting. Areas of rurality experience particular challenge in accessing services and could lead to exclusion of some key communities and individuals Services need to be accessible and friendly to prevent young people feeling excluded Basing staff on secondary schools may present a perception of bias towards older children Service differ from one area to another- there should be greater consistency Some professional groups may be more disadvantaged in terms of professional supervision and support Some staff may have to travel further to work as a result of the change of work base There is some perception that staff from linked services such as health and voluntary sector -8- may not be adequately represented Staff in There is some concern that staff in disestablished roles disestablished posts may not have been had their roles selected for disestablishment as a result of a fair process of review Lower graded staff in Staff included in a ring fence with higher graded disestablished posts staff competing for the same posts may feel disadvantaged Men in posts A higher proportion of men as percentage of the intended to be total DCC Workforce are in posts planned to be disestablished disestablished (30%) than are represented in the DCC workforce in total (21.5%). This is explained as a higher proportion of men are in higher graded roles which make up most of the roles to be disestablished. Older people in posts A higher proportion of people aged 50 and over intended to be are in posts planned to be disestablished (61%) disestablished than in the DCC workforce as a whole (37%). This explained as a higher proportion of older people are in the more senior roles included in the posts to be disestablished. People aged under A higher proportion of people aged under 30 30 who may become make up the staff pool that may become part of part of the new multi- the MATs (22%) than in the workforce as a agency teams whole (12%). A contributory factor to this is the large number of childcare workers and youth workers included in the pool which are roles that attract younger workers. Women who are in A higher proportion of women make up the staff the staff pool that pool that may become part of the MATs (82.7%) may become part of than in the workforce as a whole (78.5%). A the multi-agency contributory factor to this is the large number of teams caring professions included in the pool which frequently attract more women. No further potential effects were identified from the information with regard to any of the protected characteristics of pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation, sex, religion of belief, race, gender re-assignment, disability or age. 6 Ways of reducing or removing unwanted effects 6.1 What small steps could be taken to achieve improvements? Please outline the main things that need -9- to be altered to reduce any illegal, negative and unwanted impact. - 10 - 6.1.1 A performance management framework will be developed to include performance indicators which are universally applied to all teams across the County, however the framework will also include locally developed indicators and measures to ensure local sensitivity and greater equity. This will enable local needs to be identified and planned for, including meeting the needs of communities such as travelling groups, very rural areas or areas where there are larger communities of disadvantaged families 6.1.2 A weighting will applied to population data when planning services for rurality to ensure that rural communities are not unfairly disadvantaged. 6.1.3 Further weightings will be applied to populations with regard to need. An assessment of different potential approaches included use of free school meals entitlement measures, and indices of multiple deprivation measures, both of which resulted in very similar weightings for Derbyshire communities. 6.1.4 A full evaluation of potential premises is being undertaken to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to the location and nature of the venues to be used. Decisions regarding venues will be informed by service user and staff consultation. 6.1.5 Working practice guidance for new teams will be established to ensure consistency of practice across the County. 6.1.6 The locations of the Multi-Agency Teams (MATs) will be planned to ensure that they are accessible, in terms of geography, disability and perception by all sections of the community through buildings and how the services are marketed. 6.1.7 All staff appointed will be evaluated against a consistent person specification for all roles they are in the ring fence for, regardless of current grade. 6.1.8 Any potential bias towards staff on the basis of race, age, gender, sexual orientation or any other discriminating factor will be mitigated by a fair and robust process for recruitment to the new structures. 6.1.9 Staff will be able to make preference regarding role and location and meeting these preferences where possible for all staff who may become part of the teams. Due to the large number of women and younger people within the staff pool who may become part of the teams, we acknowledge caring and parenting responsibilities and will take account of this. We also further acknowledge that these issues are not restricted to women and as such will be equally applied across all affected parties. - 11 - 6.1.10 We will invite equalities officers from the trade unions to observe planning of new team structures. Stage 7. Finding out whether your assessment has identified what people think needs changing. The information identified by early stages of consultation and analysis was used to compile the Cabinet report. Formal consultation following the Cabinet report identified further issues which have been added to version 2 of the EIA document. - 12 - Stages 8 and 9 Action planning, target setting and monitoring TARGETS / SUCCESS CRITERIA RESOURCES PERFORMANCE INDICATORS/ MILESTONES Health, Police, Local partnerships Staff time Complete Feb 11 Co-location design group Not applicable Staff time Complete August 10 Co-location design group/ SMT LEAD PARTNER INPUT Development of performance Management Framework with local priorities and performance measures Mandy Stafford Wood Population data to be modelled with weighting applied for rurality and deprivation Karen Gurney ACTION QUALITY ASSURANCE Evaluation of potential premises undertaken, with options appraisal, and preferences identified Chris Caley Connexions, police, health Staff time, reduced building costs as part of accommodatio n strategy Complete December 2010 Co-location design group/ SMT/ CAYA Accommodation Strategy group Premises options appraisal agreed with service user and staff groups Chris Caley Staff, service users Staff time Complete January 2010 C-location design group Working practice guidance to be developed for staff and managers in new Nicole Chavaudra Staff, health, police, VCI Staff time Complete January 2011 Co-location design group/ SMT - 13 - ACTION LEAD PARTNER INPUT RESOURCES PERFORMANCE INDICATORS/ MILESTONES QUALITY ASSURANCE teams Staff to be consulted regarding preferences for new working bases to reduce additional travel implications and take account of personal circumstances Induction programme for staff and managers developed prior to commencement of new ways of working Recruitment processes for appointment to be developed to ensure appropriate action is taken to prevent any discrimination on the grounds of race, age, gender or any other discriminating factor - 14 - Heads of Service/ HR Les Biggs Beverley Smith Health, Police, VCI Staff time New team plans available February 2011 Co-location design group Staff time Complete February 2011 Workforce Strategy group/ SMT Staff time Complete November 2010 SMT Step 11. Publishing your assessment Please indicate below:Your assessment has been signed off for publishing by Your assessment was published on Medium/ location Date Signed Date Added to DCC website Supporting Documents: Structure charts- existing and future structures Consultation events feedback report Outcomes baseline information Population weightings by need Citizens Panel survey results Community forum minutes School council meeting feedback Responses to cabinet paper consultation Summary of evidence from other areas LARC research on integrated working - 15 - - 16 -