Equality Impact Assessment
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
CHILDREN’S SERVICES
Name of the policy or function being assessed: External Funding
Directorate Children's Services
Date Impact Assessment completed 5 March 2009
Is this a policy or function? Policy o x Function ob
Is this a new or existing policy or function? New o x Existing ob
Names and roles of the people carrying out the Impact Assessment:(Explain why the members of the impact assessment team were selected i.e. the knowledge and experience they bring to the process).
1. Joanna Hannan - Senior External Funding Officer, lead officer with responsibility for this area of work
2. Hania Franek – Interim Manager, External Funding & Commissioning Team, line managing this work
3.
4.
5.
Service Head / Anthony Walters, Service Head, (Strategy, Partnership & Performance)
Signature
Date
SECTION 1
AIMS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY
Identifying the aims of the policy[1]
What is the policy?What is the aim, objective, or purpose of the policy?
The service objective is to maximize the use of external funding opportunities to support the delivery of Children's Services, ensuring the development of effective exit strategies for specific grants and mainstream successful activities within core budgets.
The team is responsible for identifying external funding opportunities, co-ordinating and project managing externally funded initiatives and liaising with all relevant partners. This involves
§ Co-ordinating information
§ Preparing bids for funding
§ Monitoring and evaluation of programmes
§ Providing advice on current funding streams and new bidding opportunities
§ Providing advice, assistance and administrative support to providers
§ Providing capacity building support to providers
§ Quality assurance monitoring of certain funded organisations
§ Administering payments to providers.
The decisions on which organisations receive funds are either made in partnership with services or determined by others and are based on Children’s Service priorities and specific funding criteria. The External Funding Team in the main are not responsible for delivering services to the community and would not be responsible for equalities outcomes in this report, however, if we are responsible for an externally funded programme it would be the responsibility of the team.
Rationale behind the policy and its delivery
(Please state the underlying policy objectives which underpin this service and what they are trying to achieve).Are there associated objectives of the policy? If so, what are they?
What outcomes do we want to achieve from this policy?
What factors could contribute/detract from the outcomes?
Our key objective is to support the delivery of the Children and Young People’s Plan priorities. The service also supports the delivery of the Council's Third Sector Strategy and other key council strategies.
Our service objectives are:
· Maximizing external funding opportunities for all partners
· Building the capacity of the third sector
· Ensuring grant conditions are met and payment made in a timely manner
· Ensuring that all funding supports our strategic objectives
Our service outcomes are:
· All relevant external funding has been publicized to service managers and bids written when appropriate.
· Increasing the number of third sector providers delivering services in line with the third sector strategy.
· Ensuring all programmes achieve full spend and meet all outcomes
· In partnership with stakeholders ensuring that projects deliver improved outcomes for children, young people and families
Factors that could detract from our set outcomes would be the non-delivery of the programmes we monitor, be it through lack of funding, the inability to appoint staff to deliver the programmes or providers being unsuccessful in attracting vulnerable target groups.
The service currently supports a range of externally funded programmes which are listed below. There are a number of projects within each of the funding streams each of which have particular objectives that are either set externally through central government or internally by the Council and its partners.
· 22 Standard Funds from the Department for Children, Schools and Families [DCSF]
· 7 Working Neighborhood Fund [WNF] grants
· 2 Big Lottery Funding [BLF] grants
· 26 Area Based Grants [ABG] (previously Children’s Fund). Some of these projects are in the 7th year of funding and others are in the process of being commissioned.
Who is affected by the policy? Who is intended to benefit from it and how?
Who are the main stakeholders in relation to this policy?
What outcomes would other stakeholders want from this policy?
Are there any groups, which might be expected to benefit from the intended outcomes but which do not
The main stakeholders of the service include service managers and service heads within the council, schools, third sector organizations and service users.
Service managers as the main stakeholder have the opportunity to use this service for advice and guidance regarding grants and external funding opportunities, and for a number of projects, service managers use our expertise to manage and oversee individual projects.
The team notifies and passport out the schools’ Standards Fund allocations. The team does not make any decisions on how these funds are allocated; they are directed by the DCSF.
All stakeholders would want to see improved outcomes for children, young people and families and specific outcomes for particular target groups should funding be directed at achieving these.
Stakeholders would also want the service to ensure that they receive maximum benefit from externally funded programmes and see that these are managed effectively.
Generally externally funded programmes will benefit specific target groups. For example, current programmes include the following target groups:
§ Vulnerable young people
§ Working age people on out-of-work benefits
§ 16 – 18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET)
§ Young people at risk of worklessness.
Every effort is made to ensure that all target groups benefit from externally funded programmes however for a number of reasons it is possible that not all those expected to benefit would do so. This might include non-engagement in programmes and services.
Promotion of good relations between different communities
(How does the policy or function contribute to better Community Cohesion?)How do you promote good relations between different communities you serve based on mutual understanding and respect?
What opportunities are there for positive cross cultural contact between these communities to take place e.g. between younger and older people, or between people of different religious faiths?
Community cohesion is a consideration in all of the key strategies the service supports and in the development of externally funded programmes where appropriate. Generally, however, the funding streams the team currently manage are for very diverse purposes. There are no grants at present that are specifically designed to promote community cohesion. However, many of the activities funded are within schools and other settings where there are many opportunities for young people and families to experience cross-cultural contact. Children from different faith groups are found in many community schools. Many faith schools (Cof E and RC) are less diverse with respect to religious background yet are more ethnically diverse than some community schools.
These projects chiefly support children and young people of compulsory school age (up to the age of 16) and smaller groups up to the age of 19 and their families. The Standards Fund collaborative grant encourages schools to work with other schools within the local area and across school phases.
(Specifically identify the relevance of the aims of the policy to the equality target groups and the Council’s duty to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial groups).
We are responsible for ensuring funding is linked to the Council’s key policy objectives and at a strategic level would advise service heads and managers. We also prioritise areas for spend based on our own knowledge of the service and again this would include consideration of equalities amongst other things. As the team does not deal with applications (where these are required), it is not party to this information, which would be held by service managers. All organisations that receive funding are required to demonstrate that they have policies that comply with the Council's equalities duties. The External Funding Team would encourage other services to ensure that they monitor equalities as part of their service monitoring. Contracts held with our Commissioning Team include equalities monitoring and ask that all providers hold Equal Opportunity Polices and act on these.
The function does, however, support the Tower Hamlets Partnership Third Sector Strategy. This involves promoting equity, equality, diversity and fair access for Black and Minority Ethnic organisations, those representing disabled people, women and other socially excluded groups; and for the people they represent.
Policy Priorities:
(How does the policy fit in with the council’s wider aims? Include Corporate and Local Strategic Partnership Priorities)
How does the policy relate to other policies and practices within the Council?
What factors/forces could contribute/detract from the outcomes?
How do these outcomes meet or hinder other policies, values or objectives of the council?
· The function supports the priorities within the Children & Young People's Plan (CYPP) and relates to the Enjoy & Achieve, Achieve Economic Wellbeing and Be Healthy theme groups that report the Children & Young People's Strategic Planning Group (CYPSPG).
· The outcomes might not be achieved if funds are not used for the designated purposes, e.g. where there is discretion on deployment or where the types of users accessing the service are not the target groups. Outcomes also may not be achieved if we were unable to secure sufficient funding or if providers are unable to recruit to posts within projects.
· The outcomes are all related to the Community Plan and CYPP priorities and will support the Council to achieve its aims. Service Heads and managers monitor and report back to DMT on individual projects and programmes.
· The function also supports the Council's Third Sector Strategy.
How the policy is implemented
(How is, or will, the policy be put into practice and who is, or will be, responsible for it?)Who defines or defined the policy?
Who implements the policy?
How does the council interface with other bodies in relation to the implementation of this policy?
Is the service provided solely by the Department or in conjunction with another department, agency or contractor?
If external parties are involved then what are the measures in place to ensure that they comply with the Council’s Equal Opportunities policy?
· The External Funding and Commissioning Team is responsible for ensuring that external funding is directed towards the delivery of our strategic objectives and provides an advisory role for the service and assists with prioritizing funding for specific funding streams.
· The decisions on which organisations receive funds are either made in partnership with services or determined by others and are based on Children’s Service priorities and specific funding criteria. Standards Fund is directed by the DCFS.
· Although decisions are made elsewhere within the council all providers must fulfil the relevant grant criteria and decisions are agreed by a grant board.
· The Senior External Funding Officer puts the policy into practice and is responsible for distributing the funds and ensuring recipients are aware of their purpose.
· Funds are distributed electronically to schools and third sector organisations.
· Financial support is also available to some internal services within the Council to deliver services.
· The EFC team deals chiefly with these funds; some are distributed to other teams that have responsibility for deciding on spend.
· All schools have statutory duties to have equalities policies and they comply with the Council’s policy. They are checked for quality and compliance before receiving funds.
SECTION 2
CONSIDERATION OF DATA AND RESEARCH
List all examples of quantitative and qualitative data available that will enable the impact assessment to be undertaken (include information where appropriate from other directorates, Census 2001 etc.)The External Funding team is not responsible for delivering a service to specific groups but rather supporting the identification of priorities and ensuring that they link to our strategic objectives so that those most in need benefit from externally funded opportunities. Our strategic objectives are set out in the CYPP which is informed by a detailed analysis of need. Individual externally funded programmes and services are linked to the delivery of the CYPP and are ‘owned’ by individual service areas unless we manage a programme directly. All data pertaining to existing externally funded programmes is held by services but will include monitoring equalities monitoring.
Target groups that benefit from funding:
§ Standards Funds – all pupils. The purpose is to raise standards and attainment across all schools in Tower Hamlets.
§ Working Neighbourhood Fund – all unemployed peoples or those at risk of being NEET. The purpose is to tackle worklessness and low levels of skills and enterprise. To help people into sustainable employment and accelerate improvement in educational attainment.
§ Big Lottery Funding – Successful bids to build an Urban Adventure Base Unit within Mile End Park for 13-19 year olds, and a beginner’s room at the Mile End Climbing wall based within Mile End Park.
§ Area Based Grants – vulnerable children. The purpose is to support vulnerable children through funding projects that will contribute to the Every Child Matters agenda.
The actual levels of funding managed by the team are as follows:
· 22 Standard Funds - £46,384,283
· 7 Working Neighborhood Fund grants - £1,673,000
· 2 Big Lottery Funding grants - £439,350
· 26 Area Based Grants - £2,006,283
Equalities profile of users or beneficiaries
(Use the Council’s approved diversity monitoring categories and provide data by target group of users or beneficiaries to determine whether the service user profile reflects the local population or relevant target group or if there is over or under representation of these groups)
The funding is for very diverse purposes and is used to deliver universal, targeted and specialist services which will generally support all sections of the community. The majority of the funding is from Standards Funds (£46m) which is passed on to schools and benefits all pupils. As explained previously the allocations are directed by the DCSF. The pupil figures below are approximate, based on pupil census data.