Assessing Community Impact
Whenever we are developing or considering making a change to policies, practices or services in the Borough which may impact on certain sectors of our communities, we need to demonstrate 'due regard' for equality and diversity.
We use equality information and the evidence from our consultations and engagement to identify the likely or actual effects on individuals, groups and communities in respect of the different parts of the community. This includes thinking about the nine protected characteristics identified in the 2010 Equality Act:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
We also consider the likely or actual effects on:
- ex-service personnel
We look for opportunities to promote equality, as well as identifying any actual or potential adverse impact so that, where possible, it can be removed or mitigated.
We will ensure that in developing all new policy, strategy and key changes to service delivery:
- we have taken account of likely impact on affected communities and groups through looking at available information, data and intelligence
- we are informed by appropriate consultation with relevant groups likely to be affected
- we consider how the changes will impact on our work to support community cohesion
- we can demonstrate that the appropriate level of information has been made available to decision makers
We do this through making a community impact assessment an integral part of our Cabinet reports and decision records so our decision makers can make informed choices about our services.
Share this page
