Full Equality Impact Assessment Record
Section 1:
Service:
Title of strategy, policy or service:
Officers involved in the EQIA:
Type of strategy, policy or service (delete below as appropriate):
Existing:
New/proposed:
Changed:
Q1 – What is the aim of your strategy, policy, project or service?
To reduce or withdraw subsidised local bus services with a view to reducing expenditure whilst mitigating as far as possible the impact on passengers.Q2 – Who is it going to benefit and how?
There is no benefit to passengers from this action. However, if adopted, it will support the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan by improving the efficiency of local bus service contracts and reducing the cost to the Council.Q3 – What outcomes do you want to achieve?
To achieve savings of up to £100k whilst reducing the impact on affected passengers.Q4 – Are there barriers to doing this?
All services carry passengers and these people will be impacted by reductions in frequencies or complete withdrawals. Council Members will need to consider the impact on passengers when making their decisions about which services to reduce or withdraw.Q5 – How will you put this into practice?
The Route & Branch Member Working Groupwill consider the results of the consultation and make recommendations to the Council’s Star Chamber. Any service reductions and/or withdrawals will be implemented during 2014/15.Section 2: Information gathering and judging impact
Q6 - What existing information and data do you have?
Additional information regarding equalities issues from the consultation will be presented to Members to inform their decision making. Consultation has also been undertaken with the Poole Getting About Group which includes representatives of older people and people with disabilities.
Q7- What does this tell us about the likely impact on different groups?
This varies between the services in question and is dependent on the journey-purpose of the passenger. Where service frequency is proposed to be reduced it is an inconvenience for most people. However, if the passenger relies on the service to get to work, essential shopping, education or medical appointments then the impact can be considerably greater. Complete service withdrawals would result in passengers having to alter their journeys and/or travel on different days.
Members will be given information available for each proposal regarding the passenger usage of the journey(s) in question. This will include how the proposal will impact on passengers identified as relying on the service.
Age
Poole has high numbers and proportions of older people, higher than the national average. 39,800 older people aged 60 an over live in Poole. They constitute 28% of the overall population, 5% higher than for England and Wales overall.
Poole's population is ageing. Older people will become an even more significant proportion of the population. The number of older people is predicted to increase by more than a third (+13,700 people) by 2030. In 2030, 34% of Poole’s population may be aged 60 and over.
Approximately 1/3 of bus journeys are undertaken by English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) bus pass holders, the majority of whom are older people. Research by Age UK found that older people rely on buses and cuts to services meant they:
•struggled to get to hospital and doctors’ appointments
•stayed in, missing social activities
•found it hard to keep up voluntary and charitable work.
Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General of Age UK said:
'Older people must be able to lead independent and fulfilling lives which means being able to get to their local shops, doctors, hospital appointments and visit friends and family.’
Older people are less likely to hold a driving licence or have had to give up driving for health reasons.
Disability
6.7% of ENCTS bus passes in Poole are held by people with disabilities. This would suggest that over 200,000 bus journeys are undertaken by people with a disability. The local bus fleet in Poole is now entirely low-floor providing access to people with mobility problems including wheelchair users. Many people with disabilities are unable to drive and are reliant on public transport for day to day living.
Gender
Women are more likely to use local buses than men. Nationally, women made on average 83 local bus trips per year compared with 63 among men in 2008 (National Travel Survey).
Race
There is a high use of buses in Poole by people from minority ethnic groups.
Religion or belief
Bus services can support people to attend places of worship. The reduction or removal of Sunday bus services can impact on people’s ability to attend church.
Sexual orientation
No implications.
Socially excluded groups
No implications.
Q8 - Is there any potential for direct or indirect discrimination?
Yes No
If yes, how are you going to change this
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Section 3: Action planning
Intended outcome / SMART action / Performance Target / Lead / Deadline
General equality issues / To provide as much information as possible for Members to be able to make informed decisions about service reductions or withdrawals. / To include as an appendix to the main report, a summary of the consultation findings including how the proposals could adversely impact on passengers from specific groups. / To provide the completed report and appendices to the Route & Branch Member Working Group to support the group in making its recommendations to the Council. / John McVey / Meeting date 17 March 2014
People of different ages
/ As above / As above / As above / As above / As above
Disabled people
/ As above / As above / As above / As above / As above
Men/Women
Trans people
/ As above / As above / As above / As above / As above
Black and minority ethnic people / As above / As above / As above / As above / As above
People of different faiths or beliefs / As above / As above / As above / As above / As above
Gay, lesbian or bisexual people / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
Socially excluded groups / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A / N/A
EQIA approved by: Date: Contact number:
Review date:
Send a copy of your completed screening to your Unit’s Equality Rep and the Corporate Equality Officer
Please add separate rows to the table for new actions and if necessary put in breaks in the table across pages to ensure all text is readable.
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