Service area responsible / Quality & Commissioning / Cabinet meeting date / 10/5/16
Name of completing officer / Helen Devine / Date EqIA created / 26/4/16
Approved by Director / Assistant Director / Date of approval / 9/5/16
The Equality Act 2010 places a ‘General Duty’ on all public bodies to have ‘Due regard’ to:
- Eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation
- Advancing equality of opportunity
- Fostering good relations
We do this by undertaking equality impact assessments (EqIAs) to help us understand the implications of policies and decisions on people with protected characteristics – EqIAs are our way of evidencing this.
All assessments must be published on the NCC equalities web pages. All Cabinet papers where an EqIA is relevant MUST include a link to the web page where this assessment will be published. If you require assistance in getting your EqIA published, please contact
PART 1
Description of current provision/policy and main beneficiaries/stakeholdersThe Council have a number of different contracts for carers services, which have been extended several times and had variations added to them; since 2010.
The carer’s services commissioned by the Council
1. The Council has one contract with Northamptonshire Carers (NC) who provides funds for assessments, a young carers service, planned carers breaks (rather than emergency), and an employment service and direct payments.
2. The Council has one contract with the Carers Trust East Midlands Crossroads for emergency breaks for carers
3. The Council has one contract with Nene Valley Community Action for carers training
4. The Council has two contracts with the Alzheimer’s Society Northamptonshire (AS); a contract for peer support for carers, and a contract for dementia care workers to support carers caring for people with dementia
Description of proposal under consideration/development
OUR VISION
Carers will be universally recognised, valued and supported with information, advice and support to enable them to have better health and wellbeing.Support will be tailored to meet individual needs enabling Carers to maintain a balance between caring responsibilities and leading a fulfilling life outside of caring.
Our desired outcomes:-
1) Carers are recognised, and valued
2) Carers can enjoy life outside their caring role
3) Carers have better health and wellbeing and are supported to make this a priority
4) Carers are supported to realise their potential
5) Carers are supported to enable them to maintain and sustain their caring role
How do we plan to achieve this?
The Council plan to re-commission Carers services from July 2016, ready for a 1st April 2017 start. The options for models of delivery together with a cost analysis will be completed to identify the best way to move forward with the re-commissioning services for Carers in Northamptonshire. Ideally these options will consider partnership working where appropriate and feasible. Legislation and national guidance influencing the commissioning of health and social care services for adults and children stipulate that commissioning activity should be completed in partnership wherever possible. There are some potential risks such as a lack of providers submitting a tender or new providers being successful which may have TUPE implications. These risks will be managed by the project board to ensure minimal impact on Customers.
Customer Involvement will be key throughout the commissioning process to ensure the services commissioned meet the needs of Carers and addresses any demand or gaps in provision. Some consultation will be completed by the commissioning managers with groups of carers around the County to gain an understanding from Carers what the current services are like and what services are required moving forward. This information will be used to inform the development of the specification. In addition to this, a carer will also be represented on our commissioning project board.
Data used in this Equality Impact Assessment (general population data where appropriate but each EqIA should contain information on people who use the service under consideration – if this is not applicable to your proposal then you probably do not need to do an EqIA)
Data Source (include link where published) / Please summarise what the data tells us
https://www.northamptonshireanalysis.co.uk/dataviews/view?viewId=199 / Joint Strategic Needs Assessment provide data; Residents Providing Unpaid Care in Northamptonshire
Based on the 2011 Census figures, there are 69,948 carers in Northamptonshire – approximately 10% of the population. 21.5% of the population are providing more than 50 hours of care a week i.e. more than 14000 carers. Carers range form young people to older people and care for relatives and friends with a wide variety of needs.
The Joint Strategic Needs assessment (JSNA) in 2013 predicts a significant increase in older people in the county and a rise in disabling conditions in Northamptonshire’s population. By 2020 Dementia is set to rise by 15%, diabetes by 17% and strokes which are particularly prevalent in some Black Minority Ethnic communities by 16%. Undoubtedly this will cause a related rise in the numbers of unpaid carers within the county.
Cabinet Report on 8th September 2016 – Commissioning for Carers; / This report seeks to inform members of the new duties for Young Carers and to approve the extension of the current contract for Young Carers until 31st March 2017.
The report also includes information around the development of the Adult Carers Strategy, lead commissioning arrangements and consultation with Carers
Increasing demographic changes within the county
are creating additional pressures within carer’s services with an increase of 10,000 in the carer’s population since the last census with a population now estimated at 70,000 leading to a growth in demand for services for carers.
http://cmis.northamptonshire.gov.uk/cmis5live/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=6FPeoSfkIie2gbTZU6u3%2bCTGC25%2fm2ED%2bwTsKSZV2ew8QETLUrj%2byQ%3d%3d&rUzwRPf%2bZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3d%3d=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2fLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3d%3d&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&kCx1AnS9%2fpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2bAJvYtyA%3d%3d=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&FgPlIEJYlotS%2bYGoBi5olA%3d%3d=NHdURQburHA%3d&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3d / Draft Joint Commissioning Strategy 2015-18 (working in progress)
This strategy includes:
Our Vision and desired outcomes
Commissioning intentions
Current Legislation
Data Analysis/Demographics
The current service model and service mapping
Partnership Working
Action Plan
http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Council/consultations/Documents/PDF%20Documents/Carers%20survey_%202014-15%20report.pdf / Key purpose: to provide an overview of the findings, conclusions and recommendations from the biannual statutory Survey of Adult Carers.
Tick the relevant box for each line by using a capital ‘P’ to make a / Based on the above information, what impact will this proposal have on the following groups?
Positive / Negative / Neutral / Unsure
Sex / P
Gender Reassignment / P
Age / P
Disability / P
Race & Ethnicity / P
Sexual Orientation / P
Religion or Belief (or No Belief) / P
Pregnancy & Maternity / P
Human Rights (Please see articles in toolkit) / P
Other Groups (rural isolation, socio-economic exclusion etc) / P
Initial impact
Explain your findings above / Actions identified to mitigate, advance equality or fill gaps in information
Carer Services will be accessible to all customers who meet the eligibility criteria.
The vision outlined above is designed to ensure that all carers are fully supported and able to maintain a balance between caring responsibilities and leading a fulfilling life outside of caring. Delivery of this vision will have a positive impact upon carers regardless of their protected characteristics. / Consultation will take place with Carers groups Countywide during June 2016 to identify; the quality and accuracy of the current services, potential improvements and/or gaps. The consultation will be able to inform the Council if the services support Carers to maintain their caring role; having a positive impact on both the Carers and the cared for person.
This information will enable the commissioner to build in any feedback into the development of the specification and shape the model of delivery ready for the commissioning activity throughout the upcoming months.
Do you need to undertake further work (e.g. consultation, further equality analysis) based on the impact and actions identified above? If yes, set this out below and then carry out the work and complete Part 2
The results of the biannual 2014/15 Statutory Survey, published on Council Consultation Register reported in February 2015 which indicated within Section 4 and 5 where further work is required; The Carers Commissioning lead should set up further investigation at a local level with Northamptonshire Carers and Alzheimer’s to ascertain fuller satisfaction of services, what works well and what doesn’t with our current offer. This survey is due again at the end of this year; however, the latest national results can be relied on and are used to populate Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) indicators. Please see link above.
A series of informal consultation events will take place across the County throughout May and June 2016 with Carers which include carers support groups, carer cafes, Activity groups, Pravassi Mandal Group. In addition to this, Carers will be randomly selected and contact made via telephone to gain feedback around services currently being provided. Although this consultation will be on a smaller scale than the previous consultation on exercise, it will allow us to determine whether the needs, gaps and demand have changed or remained the same. This consultation will assist in the development of the specification for the commissioning process and the Carers Strategy moving forward.
PART 2 – if required
Final impact analysis (taking the findings from Part 2 into account) – including review date if requiredConsultation, follow up data and information gathered from actions identified above
What does this information tell us?