Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) – Initial Screening
The characteristics protected by the Equality Act are:
Disability
Age
Sex (gender)
Gender reassignment
Marriage/civil partnership
Pregnancy/maternity
Race
Sexual orientation
Religion/belief
By law we must have due regard to the need to:
(a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that
is prohibited by or under the Act
(b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant
protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
(c) foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected
characteristic and persons who do not share it.
In addition to the above protected characteristics you should consider the impact of living
in a rural area as part of this assessment. Where people live is not a characteristic
protected by law: but for an organisation such as Suffolk County Council it is good practice
to consider carefully how location may affect people’s experience of a policy or service.
For the purpose of this document, we are defining rural as a settlement with populations of
under 10,000 are urban, and rural areas can be: town and fringe, village or hamlet and
dispersed.
Details
Policy or function being considered
Is this new or a revision?
Officer responsible for the policy/function
Officers carrying out the screening (at least
Annual Public Health Report 2013
New
Tessa Lindfield, Director of Public Health
Tessa Lindfield
one must have done EIA training)
Wendy Marsh
Is this the first time this policy or function Yes
has been screened? (If not, indicate which
iteration this is – 2, 3, etc.)
Date of screening
31st July 2013
Description
What exactly is proposed?
Why?
How would it be implemented?
The report examines the links between
transport and health, encourages active travel
and presents a vision for the future of
transport and travel in the county
There are many opportunities to incorporate
physical activity into our every day travel,
which will benefit the health of individuals and
improve our environment
The report presents a vision for the future and
ideas for making the vision a reality. There
are ideas which could be considered by many
agencies including planners, public transport
operators, schools, employers and individuals
in the county.
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Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) – Initial Screening
Who is expected to benefit?
When is it due to start?
Any other relevant details
The whole population of Suffolk
The report is published in September 2013
The Director of Public Health (DPH) is
required to produce an independent report
each year and the County Council has a duty
to publish it. The DPH annual report is part of
the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and
contributes to improving the health and
wellbeing of the Suffolk population and
reducing inequalities.
Data about the user population
What statistics have you examined about Transport and Suffolk
the population, or sections of the
 Population data – Office of National
population, likely to be affected by this
Statistics
policy?
 National Travel Survey 2011 – average
number of trips by mode of transport
Transport and climate change
 UK Climate projections
Types of transport
 Estimated numbers of cases of
dementia in Suffolk, projections until
2021from Dementia UK estimates
 Proportion of people with depression in
Suffolk from Quality and Outcomes
Framework data
 World Health Organisation HEAT model
for health benefits of walking and
cycling
 Sport England Active People Survey
2012 - % of people in Suffolk who walk
for at least 30 minutes
 Census 2001 and 2011 - % of people in
Suffolk who regularly walk to work
 Nomis 2011 census data tables - % of
people who walk to work on a regular
basis in Districts and Boroughs in
Suffolk
 Department of Transport 2012 – Activity
report survey - of people in Suffolk who
cycle for at least 30 minutes
 Census 2001 and 2011 - % of people in
Suffolk who regularly cycle to work
 Nomis 2011 census data tables - % of
people who cycle to work on a regular
basis in Districts and Boroughs in
Suffolk
 Sport England Active Travel Survey
2012 – proportion of adults who cycle at
least once per week in Suffolk
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Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) – Initial Screening

Suffolk road casualty annual reports –
road traffic incidents, road injuries and
deaths in Suffolk, incidents by vehicle
type, trends of injuries by type of
vehicle in Suffolk
 Road Safety Analysis 2013 – road
traffic incidents involving young people
in Suffolk
Public Transport
 Census 2001 and 2011 – the use of
public transport for travel to work in
Suffolk
Transport for all ages
 School census data 2009-10 – how
children travel to school in Suffolk
 Kesgrave High School mode of travel to
school 2001-2011
Public Health Outcomes Framework
indicators for Suffolk considered as part of
the report and refreshed quarterly by
Public Health England
 Killed or seriously injured casualties on
England’s roads
 % of the population affected by noise
 Social connectedness
 Proportion of physically active and
inactive adults
 Self-reported wellbeing
 Excess weight in adults
 Excess weight in 4-5 and 10-11 year
olds
 Air pollution
 Public sector organisations with boardapproved sustainable development
management plan
What other relevant data or evidence Transport in Suffolk
have you considered? (This could include
 Suffolk’s Local Transport Plan
results of customer satisfaction surveys, Transport and climate change
consultations, complaints/praise, or evidence from
 UK climate change risk assessment
other authorities)
2012 – Defra
 Suffolk’s Local Transport Plan
 Creating the Greenest County feature
Types of Transport
 Suffolk Most Active County feature
 TravelSmart Ipswich and Lowestoft
results case study
 British Social Attitudes Survey 2009
 Suffolk Walking Festival case study
 Stepping out in Suffolk case study
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
Woodbridge Family Cycling Festival
case study
 Bikeability case study
 Junior Road Safety Officer scheme
case study
 Suffolk Air Quality Management action
plans
 Suffolk noise “hotspots”
Public Transport
 Suffolk rail prospectus 2012
 Demand responsive transport scheme
in Suffolk – case study
Transport for all ages
 Edgar Sewter Primary School – travel
plan case study
 Kesgrave High School travel surveys –
case study
 Transport challenges for older people –
case study on travel to hospital
Direct Discrimination: when someone is treated less favourably than another person
because of a protected characteristic they have or are thought to have; or because they
associate with someone who has a protected characteristic.
Indirect Discrimination: when an organisation has a condition, rule, policy or practice that
applies to everyone but particularly disadvantages people who share a protected
characteristic.
Implications for community and workforce
Disability
Would the change have a positive or Positive
negative impact on people with a
disability
(including
children
with
additional needs)?
How?
Improving the environment and travel options
to ease some of the difficulties in moving
around the county
What evidence do you have?
The report features a case study of good
practice on “easy going trails” across the
Suffolk countryside, including routes suitable
for wheelchairs, walking sticks, and those with
visual and hearing impairments. Following on
from this our vision for Suffolk includes
accessibility where disabled people have the
same choice and freedom of travel as nondisabled people; where there is easy access
on and off of trains and buses and pathways
throughout the county have dropped curbs to
enable those with less mobility to cross easily.
Could the impact on some people amount No
to direct or indirect discrimination?
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What could be done to mitigate adverse Ensure the needs of disabled people are
impact?
considered when looking at any public
transport option or planning any new
developments, roads, footpaths/public rights of
way etc
Age
Would the change affect people Changes should all be positive, regardless of
differently according to their age?
age, however different age groups may have
different travel requirements. However
evidence shows increasing physical activity by
even a small amount at any age can be
beneficial for health and the ideas in the report
to encourage active travel should contribute to
this.
If so, how?
For children – promoting active travel to
school, for working age adults – promoting
public transport/active travel to work, for older
adults – promoting public transport links to
help them maintain activity and access local
services and community groups
What evidence do you have?
Children – evidence shows that academic
achievement of children can be improved by
increased physical activity. The report
features case studies of good practice on
Bikeabilty, to give children the skills and
confidence to ride their bikes, the Junior Road
Safety Officer scheme to help children raise
awareness with their peers of how to keep
safe on the roads and two schools, Edgar
Sewter in Halesworth and Kesgrave High, that
encourage active travel. The report presents
ideas for the future to help ensure all children
have the opportunity to travel actively and
safely to school, including cycle training in
schools, safe pedestrian and cycle access to
schools, sufficient cycle parking at schools
and school design that discourages car use.
Working age adults – evidence shows that
regular physical activity can reduce the risk of
many chronic conditions including heart
disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes,
obesity. The report presents results of the
Travelsmart projects in Ipswich and Lowestoft,
working with households to reduce car trips
and increase walking and cycling. The report
presents ideas for the future including
ensuring all employees have the opportunity to
travel actively and safely to work including
providing car parking at least a 10-15 minute
walk away from work, pricing for parking that
encourages active travel and personalised
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Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) – Initial Screening
travel planning for employees.
Older adults – life expectancy is increasing,
but keeping physically active can help to
increase healthy life expectancy. For older
people the issues of physical mobility and
transport are closely connected, as well as
linking to social isolation. The report includes
suggestions such as improving the
environment for older people, including street
benches, even pavements, appropriate
parking places and increasing awareness and
availability of public transport options. The
report also provides a case study highlighting
transport challenges for older people in
accessing NHS services in a rural county and
partners should consider how these problems
could be addressed.
Could the impact on some age groups No
amount
to
direct
or
indirect
discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse Ideas in the report are intended to create a
impact?
healthier future for all.
Sex (gender)
Would the change affect people No, the ideas in the report for improving travel,
differently according to their sex?
transport and health, should be equally
beneficial regardless of gender.
If so, how?
What evidence do you have?
Could the impact on one sex amount to No
direct or indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse
impact?
Gender reassignment
Would the change have a positive or Positive
negative impact on people who have
undergone gender reassignment (i.e.
transgender people)?
How?
The ideas in the report for improving travel,
transport and health, should be equally
beneficial to those who have undergone
gender reassignment.
What evidence do you have?
Evidence that shows increased physical
activity can reduce chronic conditions – see
working age adults section
Could the impact amount to direct or No
indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse Ensure that transgender people have the
impact?
confidence to use public transport; staff should
be trained to recognise and deal with hate
crime and transphobic language
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Marriage/civil partnership
Would the change affect people No the ideas in the report for improving travel,
differently according to whether they were transport and health, should be equally
married or in a civil partnership?
beneficial regardless of marital status/civil
partnership
If so, how?
What evidence do you have?
Could the impact on some people amount No
to direct or indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse
impact?
Pregnancy/maternity
Would the change have a positive or Positive
negative impact on pregnant women or
those with a young child?
How?
Encouraging physical activity will help women
stay healthy throughout pregnancy and
improved public transport and footpaths will
enable parents to travel more easily with
pushchairs.
What evidence do you have?
See earlier evidence for children and active
travel to school. The report highlights easy
going trails which includes walking routes that
are suitable for pushchairs and in the vision
suggests that pathways throughout the county
should have dropped curbs to help parents
with prams cross roads easily and safely.
There is also the suggestion for improved
access on trains and buses for those with
mobility problems but this would be equally
applicable for parents with pushchairs.
Suggestions for improving air quality will also
be beneficial to pregnant women and young
children, and using the ideas presented in the
report to keep physically active during
pregnancy will benefit both mother and baby.
Could the impact amount to direct or No
indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse
impact?
Race
Would the change affect people No, the ideas in the report for improving travel,
differently according to their race or transport and health, should be equally
ethnic group?
beneficial regardless of race or ethnic group
If so, how?
What evidence do you have?
Could the impact on some people amount No
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to direct or indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse Ensure that people have the confidence to use
impact?
public transport; staff should be trained to
recognise and deal with hate crime and racist
language
Sexual orientation
Would the change affect people
differently according to their sexual
orientation?
If so, how?
What evidence do you have?
Could the impact on some people amount
to direct or indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse
impact?
No, the ideas in the report for improving travel,
transport and health, should be equally
beneficial regardless of sexual orientation
Ensure that people have the confidence to use
public transport; staff should be trained to
recognise and deal with hate crime and
homophobic language
Religion/belief
Would the change affect people No
differently according to their religion or
belief?
If so, how?
What evidence do you have?
Could the impact on some people amount
to direct or indirect discrimination?
What could be done to mitigate adverse Ensure that people have the confidence to use
impact?
public transport; staff should be trained to
recognise and deal with hate crime and
abusive language directed at those from
another religion or culture
Rurality
Would the change affect people Yes
differently according to whether they live
in an urban or rural environment?
If so, how?
The report acknowledges that as Suffolk is a
rural county some travel options that may work
in a city won’t be possible here. However
some of the ideas from bigger cities can be
adapted and introduced in smaller towns and
villages and the report presents some visions
of future towns and villages taken from the
Department of Transport to illustrate this.
What evidence do you have?
The report considers Suffolk’s current
transport infrastructure and the distribution of
the population between main towns, market
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towns and rural areas. It also highlights the
benefits of the rural nature of the county and
the greenspace, footpaths and public rights of
way available to encourage walking and
cycling. There is likely to be more options to
use public transport in our bigger towns, but
the report also highlights the demand
responsive transport scheme that has been
set up to support those in rural areas. The
effect of road transport on air quality and its
impact on health is also detailed, and this may
adversely impact those in urban areas more,
as well as noise from traffic. The report
highlights the issues that those in rural areas
have in finding work or attending training or
further education because of transport
difficulties and that a lack of good public
transport can reinforce social exclusion.
What could be done to mitigate adverse Air quality action plans have been drawn up
impact?
and are in the process of being implemented.
Noise “hotspots” have been identified and
appropriate measures are being considered.
Demand responsive transport schemes are in
place to help those in more rural areas. The
report presents a vision for the future where
the design of communities will reduce the
reliance on transport by moving homes,
workplaces and services closer together.
Plans underway to rollout high speed
broadband in Suffolk may also reduce the
need for some of the travel.
Recommendation to Policy Clearing House
In your opinion, should a full Equality No
Impact Assessment be carried out for this
policy or function?
Why?
As the screening indicates positive outcomes
and the report presents ideas rather than
recommendations for action
For Policy Clearing House only
Was this screening discussed with a
member of the Equalities & Inclusion
team?
If so, when?
Are any changes recommended to
improve the inclusiveness of the policy?
If so, what?
Date screening considered
27th August 2013
PCH decision
Signed off
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Name and signature
Sue Ling
Deadline for completion of full EIA (if N/A
applicable)
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