Customer & Equality Impact Assessment 2013/4

Assessment Overview

Name of the service, policy, plan or project ETE Objective 2.2 Identify & secure delivery of the infrastructure that Hampshire needs being impact assessed: Department: Economy, Transport & Environment Name of lead officer: Peter Chadwick EqIA lead – Emily Howbrook Publication date: April 2013 Review date: March 2014

This section maybe partly informed by the equality screening and full equality assessments. Describe the main purpose and aims Who is intended to benefit? of the service, policy, plan or project. The County Planning service is not directly responsible for the delivery of infrastructure but plays a vital role in identifying needs and Include who is intended to benefit and ensuring the right decisions about infrastructure development are made. This helps ensures Hampshire has the right development in how their needs are identified and met. the right place at the right time. Interested parties across both the public and private sectors benefit from the service delivery- notably Refer to any profile of customers, those affected by minerals and waste management development; school development and other Hampshire County Council access channels (and their efficiency / development projects; flood management infrastructure; other infrastructure funded partially or wholly by the developer industry. The effectiveness), satisfaction ratings and service’s key customers are identified as follows (not exhaustive): measures of outcomes (inc for wellbeing of disadvantaged/ o Landowners and the development industry vulnerable). o Waste producers requiring facilities to manage waste sustainably and those in the construction industry requiring minerals o Minerals and waste operators o Communities and businesses potentially affected by future minerals and waste development o Local planning authorities developing plans affecting Hampshire o Families requiring school places in Hampshire o People requiring elderly care in Hampshire o Communities affected by drainage and flooding problems o Decision-makers determining development proposals based on professional advice and recommendations o Organisations concerned with protecting certain parts of Hampshire (such as environmental protection organisations, historical societies etc.).

How needs are identified and met?

The service has four key programmes to ensure the delivery of plans, policies and projects intended to identify and help secure delivery of the infrastructure that Hampshire needs:

o Future development of Hampshire- this involves understanding the planned future development affecting Hampshire and responding appropriately as a key stakeholder representing the interests of Hampshire’s residents and businesses.

o Hampshire’s Minerals and Waste Plan- this provides a framework that will guide future minerals and waste infrastructure and is based on a set of robust and thorough stakeholder engagement processes and evidence gathering over a number of years.

o Development Management- this manages the development proposals to be determined by the County Council and involves decision-making and recommendations based on consultation with interested and affected parties, in addition to statutory consultation with specified organisations and bodies. In liaison with industry and communities, this work also involves actively monitoring permitted sites and managing sites without planning permission to improve outcomes from planning decisions and maintain standards. This work also includes undertaking duties under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to help improve the quality of life of residents and others affected by drainage and associated flooding problems.

o Funding Hampshire’s infrastructure requirements- working with local planning authorities, public sector bodies and other County Council service providers to maximising developer funding towards the delivery of infrastructure and services needed in Hampshire to support economic growth and improve quality of life.

How are outcomes measured (examples)?

o The outcomes of some of the work of the service are monitored on a yearly basis through the Annual Monitoring Report (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/pd-facts-and-figures.htm). o Compliments and complaints are recorded quarterly in Hantsfile record: _VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER- COUNTY PLANNING Q3 log o All consultation responses (to Plan and planning application consultations) are held electronically, analysed and reported as part of Planning Reports, Consultation Summary Reports etc. o For plan preparation, evidence of liaison and cooperation was measured and reported in ‘Assessment of Collaborative Working’ (as required under the Duty to Cooperate Section 110 of the Localism Act). Includes engagement with community groups etc. o Liaison Panels provide face to face interaction with concerned residents/ interested parties to allow officers to gauge level of satisfaction.

o FOIA requests data; Ombudsman complaints and enforcement complaints are recorded. What are the main elements of the How are customers engaged? Examples include: initiative, policy, plan or project? o Future development of Hampshire- regular liaison with other planning authorities; Member engagement; consulting other Include how customers are engaged in County Council services. the service design and review process, to assess and provide for their needs o Hampshire’s Minerals and Waste Plan- Engagement as set out in an adopted Statement of Community Involvement (SCI); formal consultation events, regular liaison with other planning authorities; events for Members; consulting other County Council services; meetings with community groups, industry bodies etc etc; email and letter communications; responding to queries (FAQs); newsletters; press releases; online consultation portal; use of an independent programme officer.

o Development Management- various engagement activities centre around consultations on planning applications; pre- application advice to developers; and ongoing community liaison (as set out in an adopted Statement of Community Involvement (SCI)). Methods used include: press releases; notices in local newspapers (Hampshire Independent); information published on the web (also using Hantsweb Notification as an outreach mechanism); direct email and letter mailings; meetings and / or liaison panels; Member training and events. Engagement on planning applications focuses on contacting relevant organisations (e.g. local councils and various government and non-government organisations), direct neighbours of the affected site and anyone that has had a previous interest in the site. Engagement through the lifetime of a site are focused through liaison panels, as well as direct contacts with the public when they have an issue to raise. Engagement with stakeholders on flooding matters and on the preparation of the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy is still being planned and developed.

o Funding Hampshire’s infrastructure requirements- meetings and email correspondence with public sector bodies (fire, police and PCT) and local planning authorities. Ongoing internal liaison with County Council service providers. Facilitated communication amongst Hampshire planning officers involved in implementing the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Website updates and publication of a Strategic Infrastructure Statement to communicate HCC’s evidence of infrastructure needs and costs etc. In what way will or might the policy, Opportunities for customer improvements (suggestions): plan or project be improved and advance equality or improve access? o Future development of Hampshire- providing access to County Council responses to national / regional consultations online or making available through other channels? Using feedback / intelligence to identify opportunities for customer o Hampshire’s Minerals and Waste Plan- make applicants increasingly aware of new policy (subject to adoption in 2013). improvements, including impacts on Ensure interested parties have access to copies of the adopted Plan. Make plan available in different formats if required? protected characteristics o Development Management- Consider a formal feedback channel for customers charged for pre-app advice (e.g. quality of advice, speed of service, information formats etc). This could help with any future customer improvements. For background see: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste/pre-application-2.htm. Secondly, for reasons of data protection, it has not been appropriate to make all individual responses to planning applications (objections/ consultation comments) available online, due to the potential for personal information to be published. Need to review options for making individuals’ planning application responses accessible to the public, albeit in accordance with data protection requirements.

o Funding Hampshire’s infrastructure requirement- raise awareness of Strategic Infrastructure Statement and better utilise web resources to improve access to information on developer contributions policy. Investigate opportunities to get involved in neighbourhood planning where appropriate (e.g. neighbourhood plans to spend their proportion of developer funding from CIL on infrastructure projects).

o General: Ongoing training for Hantsdirect staff to ensure ‘frontline’ personnel are aware of key issues and projects etc. Keep up to date the corporate stakeholder engagement schedule, which will advertise certain key ongoing and forthcoming projects, initiatives and reviews of services, giving an opportunity for people to respond and contribute to the development of the services and projects and the service planning for this service. For the Minerals & Waste Plan this would include notification of the Inspector’s Report and subsequent adoption process (including reports to Members).

What actions will be taken to address Actions to address any negative impacts on customers/ equalities? any issues identified? As shown below there are no updates to the assessment in terms of the identified protected characteristics of particular concern, in Set out actions to mitigate any negative light of the work planned for County Planning in 2013-14. For instance, the impact of certain ‘underrepresented groups’ (such as impacts youth) is still considered to be low in light of those affected by planning applications and plans (e.g. homeowners/ landowners).

A review of the original Equality Screening Assessment was undertaken in 2013. See Equalities assessment ETE Objective 2 review of future actions Feb 2013 The characteristic ‘race’ was identified several years back after the initial EQIA. The latest assessment of this characteristic is that whilst it was necessary to identify that gypsy and travellers group may be negatively impacted due to the difficulties engaging this group, the issue has been raised corporately and being addressed. Further work may need to be done on identifying different ethnic groups in Hampshire and any spatial patterns which may need to be taken into account when designing community engagement projects (e.g. looking at language barriers). The characteristics of ‘income’ and ‘pregnancy and maternity’ were also singled out and actions identified accordingly. The actions have been addressed but the topics should still be taken forward to ensure the needs of residents in areas of relative deprivation and families are taken into account in the service’s work. Finally, with regards to other forms of disadvantage, it would be prudent to revisit the issue of ‘hard to reach groups’ in the context of the planning service.

See below for updated ‘Summary of future actions to be taken’. Conclusion: Many of the activities related to infrastructure planning and delivery are subject to a number of assessments which include considering What are you intending to do/change? impacts on the environment and communities, which should mitigate impacts on the public in general, as well as any disproportionate Who might be affected by it? Who impacts on certain groups. have you / are you consulting about this service of changes to it? What There is also extensive engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders allowing public participation, which should mitigate the actions are you taking to mitigate possibility of excluding certain groups from being involved and influencing policies and decision making. impact and advance equality? County planning has already ensured that the assessments consider equality and that equality issues are considered in the way it undertakes engagement, and will continue to do so.

Equality Screening Assessment

This assessment looked at the following protected characteristics and other equality topics of concern to HCC,

Characteristic Impact Notes – explain why the impact is assessed as low and any actions being taken. level  Age Low Data from the Equalities Impact Assessment shows that the under 25s seem to be under-represented in consultation exercises, though this is countered when schools get engaged in the planning process and responses are received by school children which are likely to be under 25. This under-representation may be linked to the level of interest in the various age groups in the subject matter of the consultations. This may bear a relationship with property ownership / tenure due particularly to the perceived impact of infrastructure plans and projects on property values and traffic near residences.  Disability Low There may be occasions where recreational access to land is removed due to the needs for infrastructure. This may be particularly relevant to those with disabilities should they have limited options as to the ears they have access to. In the case of minerals this is usually a temporary effect and followed by restoration activities that can, amongst other things, improve recreational access. There may also be occasions where engagement activities aren’t geared towards or ideally suited to people with disabilities. The above impacts are mitigated by including representative groups (local ones such as parish councils and interest based ones such as disability campaign groups) in engagement activities, publishing notices about alternative forms and alternative access toe engagement materials, booking venues with disabled access, as well as through work to minimise the negative impacts of any developments in general.  Faith Low There is a possible impact from workings on or near tumuli, churches, burial grounds and similar structures, some of which may also be locally important to certain faiths. This impact is managed through the consideration and protection of these features due to their archaeological and historical importance.  Gender No impact  Transgender No impact  Race Medium Please see table below.

 Sexual orientation No impact  Marriage / civil partnership No impact  Pregnancy & maternity Low There may be a need to consider pregnancy and maternity when organising events. Some possible impacts on those with childcare responsibilities are already mitigated by organising events that take place both during the day and in the evening. Other forms of disadvantage e.g. low income, Low There may be insufficient use of information on the income profile of Hampshire. geography Full equality assessment on medium / high impacts (One table for each characteristic)

What do you know about the breakdown of In the latest equalities survey regarding the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan, 97% of respondents marked that they were White – people who use your services compared to the British. This is consistent with previous survey results and not entirely dissimilar to the composition of Hampshire where 89% of the community profile: population is estimated to be White – British - ONS Experimental Ethnicity Estimates 2009 - http://www3.hants.gov.uk/planning/factsandfigures/population-statistics/ethnicity.htm

It is also known from use of maps in preparing the Plan that some of the considered and proposed sites are near known gypsy and traveller sites. What negative/disproportionate impacts will this There is also a potential impact if engagement activities are inaccessible to people that speak different languages. This is currently service / proposal have on race? mitigated through the publishing of notices on key documents that they are available in other languages.

There may also be a possibility that the particular needs of the gypsy and traveller community are not fully considered if there are poor levels of engagement from this community, and there is no data to show how involved they are. This impact is currently mitigated by ensuring that not only individual caravan properties, but also the caravan manager and the Gypsy Liaison Officer at Hampshire County Council are contacted during engagement activities. In seeking to advance equality and improve Engagement on the issues that this service deals with may encourage engagement with local government and other similar institutions in access, what positive impacts will this proposal general. have on race? Are there any issues identified: There may be insufficient involvement from people that speak different languages. There may be insufficient involvement from the gypsy and traveller community. There may be insufficient use of information on the racial profile of Hampshire. What action will be taken to address any Continue: identified issues: o the publishing of notices on key documents that they are available in other languages o using GIS and maps to discover where proposed sites may be near gypsy and traveller sites o ensuring that not only individual caravan properties, but also the caravan manager and the Gypsy Liaison Officer at Hampshire County Council are contacted during engagement activities o keeping the consultation list updated with organisations that represent a variety of groups. o reviewing the Statement of Community Involvement to ensure utilised methods are still effective

Investigate:

o the availability of a gypsy and travellers layer of Hampshire to allow for GIS analysis of the chosen sites in terms of their impacts on this group

o the availability of a race profiling layer of Hampshire to allow for GIS analysis of the chosen sites in terms of their impacts on different races

Summary of future actions to be taken (March 2013 update):

Actions: Responsibility: Timescale: Investigate the availability of information on ethnic groups within Hampshire and the County Planning 6 months – 1 year opportunities to reduce barriers to communication with such groups where relevant (e.g via representative interest groups). Investigate the availability of information on groups living in ‘pockets of relative deprivation’ County Planning 6 months – 1 year within Hampshire and the opportunities to reduce barriers to communication with such groups where relevant (e.g via representative interest groups). Potential to use MOSAIC profiling for data. Consider the suitability of venues used for community events in terms of facilities for County Planning When organising public exhibitions and families/ parents (breastfeeding, baby changing, opening times etc) events. Consider engaging young people through liaison with schools were relevant. County Planning 1 – 2 years Continue to keep consultation list updated with organisations that represent a variety of County Planning Review every year and before major groups. Use data on those groups potentially affected to consider tailoring consultation and consultations. engagement methods to ensure they are non discriminatory. Continue monitoring the Statement of Community Involvement to ensure utilised methods are County Planning Review every 5 years and after major still effective- in particular considering latest information on ‘hard to reach groups’ in consultations. Hampshire. Consider suggested opportunities for customer improvements (see page 3 above) County Planning 6 months – 1 year