Evaluating Equality Impact Assessments

11/10
5 May 2010
MPA briefing paper 11/2010

Author: Shirani Gunawardena (Policy Development Officer), Michael Wadham (Policy Development Officer) and Richard Hodge (Olympics Oversight Officer), MPA

This briefing paper has been prepared to inform members and staff. It is not a committee report and no decisions are required.

Background information

Members of the Olympics Sub-committee recently met with MPS officers to agree expectations when evaluating equality impact assessments (EIAs) on MPS Olympics Business Cases. MPA officers prepared a briefing prior to this meeting and the Olympics Sub-committee members have suggested that this information be shared with all MPA members as a reminder and follow up to the EIA briefing session with IODA which took place in January 2010.

Evaluating EIAs

The purpose of carrying out an EIA is to identify if a given policy/initiative will have an adverse impact on any particular group and if so what can be done to mitigate or justify this impact. A critical element being to show that the issue was at least considered even if it is eventually decided that no additional action is necessary.

It may be helpful for members to consider the following questions in evaluating the extent to which equality and diversity implications have been adequately addressed (evidenced by the MPS through an EIA attached to reports coming through to MPA committees or by completion of the ‘equality and diversity implications’ section within the report itself)

• The aim and outcome of the business case / plan / strategy
• Whether those outcomes would be different for different groups of people (i.e. based on gender, disability, race, age sexual orientation and religion/belief)
• If any of those different outcomes would be adverse
• What could be done to mitigate the adverse outcome?
• What could be done to justify the adverse outcome and what evidence is there to support the decisions made?

EIAs should be started at the very beginning of a process and not at the end. EIAs are never effectively 'finished' so long as the policy they refer to is still being used. Should the policy / initiative be subject to significant change it is important to ensure the EIA is revisited.

Members may wish to seek assurances that EIAs are undertaken at the start of the process and will be referred back to and updated as required. Depending on the impact of a particular policy / initiative on particular groups it may be helpful to request that an updated EIA is formally reported back to the MPA at a later date.

Completion of the ‘Equality and Diversity Implications’ (formally the Race and Diversity Implications’ section of the report)

This section does not have to be the full EIA (which can be attached if completed) but can be a summary of what equality and diversity implications, if any, the EIA has identified. If a full EIA has been completed then a summary of the key findings and outcomes (i.e. how the policy / initiative has been amended as a result of the EIA process) would be helpful.

If an EIA is still at an early stage members may wish to request a time table of when the MPS intend to undertake this work and therefore determine when it could be reported back to the MPA.

EIAs should address MPS service delivery as well as employment issues

There is a tendency for EIAs to focus solely on the recruitment of personnel and the equal opportunity elements of fair and appropriate selection processes. While this is an important aspect, the equality implications of a given policy or initiative may be far wider reaching especially in terms of service delivery and the scope of the EIA should take this into account.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback