Equality Impact Assessment Form

Part 1: Initial Screening

1. Persons responsible for this assessment:

Name: Kevin Salter / Telephone: 5290
Service: Putting People First Programme / email:
Directorate: CACD / Date of Assessment: 14 December 2009
Revised: 18 February 2010

2. Name of the policy, service, strategy, procedure or function:

Self-directed Support Operational Policy
Is this new or an existing one? New

3. Briefly describe its aims and objectives

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to transforming the way that social care is provided in the county. The transformation of social care is designed to promote the independence, well-being and choice of those who have eligible social care needs and for whom we have a responsibility to provide social care and support. The introduction of self-directed support, part of the Putting People First initiative will change how support is provided to those who need long term interventions to address their social care needs.
All those who have eligible social care needs will be allocated a personal budget, which combined with a person centred support plan, based upon agreed outcomes will provided the mechanism for the delivery of care and support. People who are assessed as having eligible needs will be able to choose how their care and support is delivered, and from whom. The assessment will allocate points against areas of need and also, for carers, against the impact that their caring role has on them. A Resource Allocation System (RAS) will then convert points to a financial sum which will be presented as an Indicative Budget.
A person-centred Support Plan will identify how an individual’s needs are to be met as well as outcomes that will enable them to live as fulfilling a life as possible. Once agreed this will generate the actual Personal Budget. Assessment and support planning offers more opportunities for carers involvement than conventional social care practice.

4. Who is intended to benefit from it and in what way?

All adults in receipt of adult care support will be affected. . The new policy will support Personal Budgets as they are introduced across the county and will offer people, who are eligible for support, more choice an control in the way that their needs are met. This will offer more opportunities for people in hard to reach groups to identify solutions appropriate to their situation.
  1. What outcomes are expected?

All new service users, and existing service users at the time of their review, will be offered Personal Budgets. The introduction of Personal Budgets will increase choice and control by enabling the individual to design their support in a way that suits them best. The policy will support this process.

6. Have you consulted on this policy, service, strategy, procedure or function?

Yes
Details of consultation
A range ofstakeholder groups (including those representing service users and/or carers) have attended presentations explaining what changes are being made and how they will be affected. Some of these stakeholders have also been involved in developing the policy by means of inclusion in the SDS Policy Review Group. Representatives from Guidepost, RADAR, Gloucestershire Deaf Association, Gloucestershire Blind Association, Gloucestershire Service User Forum, Carers Gloucestershire, and Gloucestershire Older Persons’ Assembly(representing BME groups via their committee members) have attended a consultation workshop at Shire Hall during January 2010.
GCC CACD Operations and Development Managers have been briefed on the changes and this information has been cascaded to the teams. Champions have been appointed to assist with spreading news and debate regarding the changes and how it will affect operations. All operational staff will receive formal training between February and September 2010.
The new SDS Operational Policy will be reviewed during September 2010 in the light of operational experience and feedback from stakeholders.

7. What evidence has been used for this assessment?

The PPF Events Co-ordinator is maintaining a record of the groups who have been involved in the consultation. This record includes the learning from the events. The policy has been reviewed and developed as a result of feedback from each session. This feedback is recorded separately in notes from each meeting/workshop. Attached to this assessment are:
  • Copy of the PPF Involvement Record Form
  • Copy of the SDS Operational Policy Attendee List
  • Copy of the SDS Operational Policy Invitee List
As the SDS process is person-centred it will ensure that individuals are not adversely affected. The role of the advocate is promoted within the policy.

8. Could a particular group be affected differently in either a negative or positive way? No

The way in which people currently access the services will not change. The changes will be in the way the user is assessed and, assuming there is an identified need, the user will be offered a Personal Budget to pay for the service(s) they require and may choose to spend their money in the same or different ways to meet their agreed outcomes. Support will continue to be offered for people who need help in making decisions.The Self-directed Support Policy includes details of the common Resource Allocation System (RAS) which applies the principles of co-production, equitability, transparency, sustainability and the use of appropriate language. The aim of a RAS linked to the allocation of Personal Budgets is to provide a clear and rational way to calculate how much money a person is likely to need to arrange support. By operating a single RAS which is focussed on outcomes for all user groups the council will ensure the needs of everyone are identified in the same way. The SDS process will be subject to rigorous standards and will be part of the performance management structure. Outcomes will be monitored and audited.

There is evidence that, where the common RAS is already in use, it is highlighting distortions in spending patterns and evidence of inequalities in the way adult social care is currently operating. The RAS therefore has the potential to reduce inequalities because it provides a clear and transparent basis for making decisions about social care money. (ADASS: Common Resource Allocation Framework, October 2009).

Please evidence that you have used the Consultation toolkit and planning template

Negative / Positive / Neutral / Evidence
Age /  / Increased choice and control over how social care is delivered through holding a Personal Budget and through the adoption of person-centred approaches. The SDS process will be subject to rigorous standards and will be part of the performance management structure. Outcomes will be monitored and audited.
Disability / 
Gender including Transgender / 
Race including Gypsy and Traveller / 
Religion or Belief
/ 
Sexual orientation / 
Other groups
Community cohesion
/ Describe how the proposed activity, policy, strategy, service, procedure or functions will contribute to Community Cohesion.
You will need to consider;
  • is there equality between those who will and won’t benefit from the proposal
  • are there strong relationships between groups and communities in the area affected and will the proposed action promote positive relationships
  • does the proposal bring groups/ communities into increased contact with each other
/ *see below

* The policy applies to all eligible service users and/or carers. Consultation has been widespread and includes such groups as Glos Carers and GOPA. GOPA’s committee has representatives from numerous BME groups. The policy is part of the wider Putting People First objective to ensure older people and people with disabilities can be socially included and participate in their communities through accessing universal services with a view to bringing communities closer together.

One of the principles of PPF is that those who require adult social care support do so on the basis of person-centred approached that seek to utilise the individual’s social networks and circles of support. Individuals will have increased choice and control through holding a Personal budget through which they can determine how their social care needs are met in a way that is most effective for them.

Personalisation looks to develop support for the individual through their social circle which includes relatives, friends and those within their neighbourhood support. However, strategic commissioning will still be needed to ensure that the needs of hard to reach groups are addressed.
9. If you have identified a negative impact in Question 8 complete this section

Are there any other policies, services, strategies, procedures or functions that need to be assessed alongside this screening?
If Yes, please identify which groups are affected
Should the policy, service, strategy, procedure or function proceed to a full Equality Impact Assessment?
Yes/No (please delete as appropriate)
If the answer is no please give reasons for this decision
Date by which full Equality Impact Assessment is to be completed

Declaration

We are satisfied that an initial screening has been carried out on this policy, service, strategy, procedure or function * (delete those which do not apply) and a full Equality Impact Assessment is not required.

We understand that the Equality Impact Assessment is required by the County Council and that we take responsibility for the completion and quality of this assessment

Completed by: Kevin Salter / Date: 14 December 2009

Role:

Countersigned by Head of ServiceDate:

Date for Review:

Please forward an electronic copy to the Equalities Team by emailing

The original signed hard copy and electronic copy should be kept with your team for audit purposes.

S:\PuttingPeopleFirst\Programme\Workstreams\Self directed Support & Customer Journey\Equality Impact Assessment Form.doc Author: Pfirth

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