Equalities Impact Assessment Summaries 2009 - 2010

Lewisham is a diverse community made up of many different groups and individuals. We value diversity and believe it essential to try to understand the different contributions, perspectives and experience that people in our community have.

We also recognise that there are many forms of discrimination affecting peoples lives. We know that some groups of people generally experience more discrimination than others.

To ensure that our services do not discriminate against or adversely affect any equality group differently, we undertake Equalities Impact Assessments (EIAs).

An EIA is the process of systematically analysing a proposed or existing policy or strategy. This analysis should identify what effect, or likely effect, will follow from the implementation of the policy, for different groups in the community. Similarly, it can be the process for analysing the impact of delivering a service or function on different groups in the community.

EIAs should be used, as far as possible, to ensure any negative consequences for a particular group or sector of the community can be eliminated, minimised or mitigated by other measures.

Below are the EIA summaries for all EIAs undertaken between 2008 -2009. For further information on any of the reviews please contact the named officer at the end of the summary sheets.

Contents Page

EIA / Pg No.
14-19 Strategic Plan 2009 - 2013 / 3
CouncilTax / 5
CYP Inclusion Service / 7
Housing Benefit / 10
Lewisham's Drug & Alcohol Team / 13
Proposal to create anallage Academy in Downham / 16
Registrations -Births, Deaths & Marriages / 18
Regulatory Services / 20
Services provided for vulnerable pupils through the Special Educational Needs and Education Access Unit / 23
Supporting People / 25
Youth Offending Service / 29
Name of Review: / Lewisham Children & Young People’s
14-19 Strategic Plan 2009 - 2013
Period of Review: / May 2010
Date review signed off by DMT: / October 2010
Scope of the review:
There is a statutory duty on Local Authorities to ensure that an effective 14-19 partnership in each authority is the key vehicle through which reform of the curriculum and targets for improvement in achievement and retention in education are delivered. In Lewisham the 14-19 Strategic Forum comprises the local authority, providers of services for 14-19 year olds, and other key stakeholders.
The Lewisham 14-19 Strategic Plan 2009 – 2013 is a strategic document which gives the 14-19 Partnership an overarching framework and timescale for the development of provision; it provides a coherent framework for the development of 14-19 education and training in Lewisham. It is intended to complement partner organisations’ existing plans.
The vision and strategic aims of the partnership are that:
-All 14-19 year olds in Lewisham will have access to a broad, rigorous and appropriate curriculum regardless of where they are learning. Through outstanding partnership we will ensure that young people study the right curriculum to meet their identified needs, at the right pace and place.
We aim to create for all young people a coherent, integrated entitlement of the highest standard that will:
-help them to realise their potential and achieve their aspirations
-assist them on the path of lifelong learning which includes further and higher education
-enable them to take an active and successful role in their local communities and
in local and wider labour markets.
This assessment has considered the contents and proposals of the 14-19 Strategy and analyses whether these are likely to have a positive or negative impact on different groups within our diverse community.
Review team:
The EIA was conducted by Cliff Garland, Interim 14-19 Strategic Lead for Lewisham
Relevant data and research:
The EIA is informed by a range of demographic data; it also includes achievement and attainment data which has been supplied by the Lewisham CYP Performance Team. The data analyses the separate education achievement of boys and of girls, and attainment of different racial groups including Black Caribbean children, other black groups, and white groups.
Consultation:
The 14-19 Strategy has been influenced by national proposals for 14-19 education and training as well as local and regional strategies and policies. It is an overarching document that brings together the borough’s 14-19 commitments as detailed in existing plans and strategies. As a consequence it relies on the consultation undertaken for these various plans and strategies for its source information. However, over 200 individuals and organisations were consulted on the composite strategy between November 2009 and February 2010.
Assessment of impact, outcomes and key follow up actions:
The 14-19 Strategy is intrinsically an equalities strategy due to its focus on the Government’s 14-19 reform programme that aims to transform opportunities and services available to young people by revising and streamlining qualifications, broadening the curriculum offer and ensuring that the right support is in place for those who need it. The Strategy addresses a number of issues relating to the equalities themes and these are detailed as part of the scoping exercise.
The EIA includes an Action Plan and actions within this include:
-Closing the attainment gap between underachieving groups and their peers,
including a focus on key groups e.g. black pupils, white boys, and pupils for
whom English is an additional language
-Provision of transition support programmes for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities
-Focus the reduction of the number of young people who are NEET (not in education, employment or training) on the more vulnerable groups of young people, including those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities
-Ensure support is provided from Connexions for all young people who have a statement of special educational need
Name and contact details of lead officer responsible for follow up action:
Cliff Garland, School Improvement Team, CYP Directorate, 3rd Floor Laurence House, Catford Road, London, SE6 Tel: 020 8314 3804
For full report contact:
Strategy & Policy Team, CYP Directorate, 3rd Floor Laurence House, Catford Road, London, SE6 Tel: 020 8314 8286
Name of Review: /

Customer Services Transformation Programme:

Back To Front (B2F) Project for Council Tax

Period of Review: / January 2010 – June 2010
Date review signed off by DMT: / October 2010
Scope of the review:
As part of the Customer Services Transformation Programme a review was undertaken within the Council Tax service. There were several key findings within the review in terms of our current approach and opportunities for improvement. As a result of these findings, the review recommended a remodelling of the service based on the following principles:
  • Integrate the ‘back’ and ‘front’ office to provide a more holistic case management process
  • Reorganise the existing structure to provide defined roles and responsibilities for staff and management and improve control over workflow
  • Streamline accounts processes to enable capacity to be freed up for collection work
  • Improve linkages between the council tax and benefits service
In early 2010, an implementation project was initiated to look at how these principles for change could be turned into a practical service re-design and understand the potential impact of these recommendations on service delivery.
Review team:
Enforcement Team Leader: Terry Abdullah, Service Transformation Officer: Justine Roberts (Project Manager for the review and implementation)
Relevant data and research:
  • Customer volumes and demand patterns (including access channels)
  • Performance data
  • Payment methods and Income (including by location)

Consultation:
A wide range of consultation was undertaken with customers, staff and stakeholders. The primary method of engagement was undertaken using customer journey mapping to track and describe the experiences of accessing the service and the CLG redress toolkit which asks focused questions to track the level of customer service and remedy systems used within a service. To provide the opportunity for widespread participation with our customers, consultation was carried out by front line council tax staff supported by the Strategy and Performance team, over three days in the Cashiers Service and AccessPoint. In total almost 100 customers shared their views with us. In addition, a stakeholder steering group was set up consisting of local voluntary and community sector organizations to capture the perspectives of some of our more vulnerable residents (i.e. CAB, multilingual advice society, Carers Lewisham, LDC). A similar approach to the customer engagement, complemented by detailed discussion, was undertaken. Staff workshops and interactive feedback boards were used in the breakout areas to test ideas and gain feedback. Analysis and compilation of these results were completed and circulated to participants.
Assessment of impact, outcomes and key follow up actions:
The Equality Impact Assessment shows the changes to the Council Tax service is not likely to result in an adverse impact for any group and does promote equal opportunities. Overall, there was support from staff, stakeholders and customers for the proposed changes to the council tax service. This information was used to shape the implementation process, with many changes increasing access, improving the quality of service, promoting equality of opportunity for service users and mitigating aspects of services delivery that have been historically problematic for some customer groups, for example: placing specialist knowledge on the frontline and resolving customer enquiries at first contact .
However, the consultation and analysis did highlight some areas where further work could improve the experience of equalities groups. A summary of the actions include:
  • Analyse equalities data for customers contacting Council Tax and for customer satisfaction data and review this information to identify service trends and integrate arising actions into service plans
  • Introduce a translation statement with council tax bills and correspondence items, for customers whose first language is not English
  • Conduct a review of correspondence items, involving staff and stakeholders, to ensure correspondence which is sent to customers is clear, jargon free and takes into account the needs of customers with visual impairment or learning difficulties
  • Continue to offer an evening service but utilize telephony changes to enable evening service calls to be taken by home-workers
  • Identify alternative rota patterns for staff if desks cannot be adjusted on the front-line
  • Liaise with social services before proceeding with hard end enforcement action
  • Include consultation with the VCS steering group as part of the 3 and 6 month post project review cycle

Name and contact details of lead officer responsible for follow up action:
Terry Abdullah – x46030 ()
For full report contact:
Justine Roberts – x47051 ()
Name of Review: / Children and Young People’s Inclusion Service
Period of Review: / August – October 2010
Date review signed off by DMT: / November 2010
Scope of the review:

The Inclusion Service (IS) issituated in the Kaleidoscope Centre for Children and Young People in Rushey Green, Catford, SE6. It is a new multi-agency service comprising of a number of professional teams:

Educational Psychology

Sensory Specialist Teachers

Communication & Interaction (ASD),

Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

Early Years Early Intervention

Behaviour Education Support

Mental Health Practitioners

The Inclusion Servicedelivers a targeted service to children, young people (0 to 19 years) and families in all educational settings and those not in any provision. The overriding aim of the IS is to maximise learning opportunities and minimise barriers. In 2009 the IS set out to develop a more holistic and integrated approach to service delivery. The service is delivered through four multidisciplinary locality teams, offering multidisciplinary consultation with the possibility of joint interventions. Each Children’s Centre Area has an established multi-agency team of workers who can draw on a wide range of professional skills and knowledge to meet needs locally. A CAF (Common Assessment Framework) is the usual referral route into the service.
The main aim of this EIA is to determine the answer to the following two questions:
  • Does the service, or the way it is delivered, affect some equality categories disproportionately and if so, can this be justified?
  • Is the service delivered in a way that further promotes equal opportunities?

Review team:
Mary Cava, Head of Inclusion Service (Joint Lead Officer)
Louise Comely, Senior Educational Psychologist (Joint Lead Officer)
Rose Dowd – Acting Senior EP
Clare Gurbutt, Senior Social Worker and Acting Head of the Behaviour and Educational Support Team (BEST),
Jessica Birnie, Lead Specialist Teacher for Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD),
Denise Gallagher, Lead Specialist Teacher for Communication and Interaction (CIT)
Christine Kiely, Early Intervention Team Manager (EIT)
Roisin Bennett, Lead Specialist Sensory Teacher
Nancy Secchi, Team Manager / Child Mental Health Specialist.
Robert Hodges, Policy Officer
Relevant data and research:
The EIA looked at a range of demographic data including statistics regarding the educational attainment of different groups of Lewisham pupils e.g. in relation to Gender, Race and Disability.
It was noted that Autistic Spectrum Disorder impacts more upon boys than upon girls and this is reflected locally in the higher number of referrals from schools that relate to boys.
Consultation:
The aim of the of the Inclusion Service in its first year has been to embed multiagency working. Ongoing update and review of the working model has been undertaken throughout this initial phase, including an evaluation questionnaire sent to all members of the Inclusion Service, which focussed on the understanding and perceived effectiveness of procedures within the service.
The Inclusion Service now plans to consult with users to inform the ongoing development of service delivery, as well as to inform this current Equalities Impact Assessment. This academic year (2010/11) the Tribal database system will be installed, which will provide the Inclusion Service with one database as opposed to the current situation where each individual professional team has a separate database. Tribal will enable interrogation of relevant data to the EIA for the whole of the Inclusion Service.
The service also plans to undertake further consultation with a focus on Early Bird workshops, schools and settings, and private, voluntary and independent sector organisations.
Assessment of impact, outcomes and key follow up actions:
This Equalities Impact Assessment indicates that the Inclusion Service is intrinsically a service that promotes equality within the education system due to its focus on Special Educational Needs and Disability. It is not likely to result in any adverse impact for any equalities group.
However, there are a number of areas in which the service could aim to improve with regard to key equality issues which have been identified; these are detailed below within the Action Plan:
  • Ensure all Inclusion staff receive updated diversity training and monitor uptake.
  • Monitor referrals re gender. Discuss findings with schools and settings and explore causes of apparent over-representation of male referrals and how to change
  • Monitor and raise with schools the gender inbalance in order o address this inbalance if appropriate
  • Sample a specific Children’s Centre area for involvement of fathers in referral / intervention
  • Monitor ethnicity of children referred to the Inclusion Service and create a profile of referral rates by ethnicity. Address the findings with schools and settings as appropriate.
  • Monitor parental engagement in parent workshops with regard to ethnicity, and develop ways to improve representation of certain under-represented groups
  • Offer ongoing training to schools and settings re. a range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
  • Gather data on exclusions relating to SEN/ Disability where possible
  • Raise awareness of Inclusion Service staff so as to promote policy and practice to ensure that there is equality of access to services for LGBT young people and parents
  • Develop an Inclusion Service Induction pack for new staff joining the service that refers to issues in working with families of various religions and beliefs.

Name and contact details of lead officer responsible for follow up action:
Louise Comely – Acting Head of Inclusion Service, Kaleidoscope Centre for Children & Young People, 32 Rushey Green, Catford,SE6 4JF Tel: 020 7138 1432
For full report contact:
CYP Strategy and Policy Team, 3rd Floor Laurence House – Tel: 020 8314 8286
Name of Review: /

Customer Services Transformation Programme: Back To Front (B2F) Project For Housing Benefit

Period of Review: / October – February 2010
Date review signed off by DMT: / October 2010
Scope of the review:
As part of the Customer Services Transformation Programme a review was undertaken within the Housing Benefit service. There were several key findings within the review in terms of our current approach and opportunities for improvement. As a result of these findings, the review recommended a remodelling of the service based on the following principles:
  • Rotate staff between the front and back offices, thus ensuring that experienced and knowledgeable staff are always available on the frontline
  • Remove the paper claim forms and replace them with an assisted claim system which will ensure that customers who may previously have had problems completing application forms, for example low literacy levels, vulnerable or where English is not their first language, will be supported throughout the process.
  • Appoint Benefits Support Officers (recruited from existing ServicePoint staff) to be the initial contact for all telephone claimants and responsible for resolving the majority of telephone enquiries
  • All new claims or change of circumstances to be processed by an Assessment Officer who will endeavour to complete the claim at the first point of contact. Customers will now be able to expect quick, accurate and clear decision making
  • Officers to explain to claimants (either F2F or via the telephone) how their benefit amount was calculated so that the claimant has an opportunity to ask questions. Instead of a lengthy entitlement letter, a short disclaimer will then be issued containing only the most relevant information
  • Allow customers to make appointments with an Assessment Officer rather than wait in AccessPoint
  • Minimise the evidence needed to complete the claim process, with the culture of the service being refocused around paying not preventing claims
  • Improve the self-serve facility to reduce the number of contacts
  • Implement a new process for scanning and indexing evidence so that customer contacts and information can be added to the processing system immediately
In early 2010, an implementation project was initiated to look at how these principles for change could be turned into a practical service re-design and understand the potential impact of these recommendations on service delivery