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Our Values-Based Equality Impact Assessments guidance outlines how to apply our values and behaviours to Equality Impact Assessments. By embedding these values into this process, we ensure that our policies, decisions, and actions not only meet legal requirements but also align with our vision for a better world.

Our Equality Impact Assessments and Freedom of Speech guidance outlines how to use an Equality Impact Assessment as an opportunity to think about how work impacts both inclusion and freedom of speech. By identifying risks in both areas and, if appropriate, weighing them carefully, an Equality Impact Assessment supports balanced, fair, and legally compliant decision-making.

This LGBTQ+ Considerations for Equality Impact Assessments resource from the WIHEA Queering University project offers a set of reflective and practical question prompts to aid you in identifying risks and mitigating any negative impacts of your work on LGBTQ+ people.

Equality Impact Assessments make our work fairer and protect us from legal challenge.

• They are a proactive way to ensure our work is fair and inclusive, helping create a culture that truly thrives on difference.
• They show how we’re meeting our Public Sector Equality Duty to consciously consider eliminating discrimination, creating equality of opportunity, and fostering good relations.

Equality Impact Assessments should be used for new work, or existing work that is being significantly changed

• Start an Equality Impact Assessment early in the creation of the work it’s for, update it as the work is developed, and review after the work is launched/implemented to check for any unforeseen impacts and take action to address or mitigate them.
• Use Equality Impact Assessments for work that impacts people and which is new or significantly changing. A few factors to consider:
  • Novelty - You don’t need an Equality Impact Assessment for everyday activities, it’s for significant things which are new, changing, or ending.
  • Scale - You’re more or less likely to need one depending on how many people are impacted and how much they are impacted.
  • Relevance - You’ll need one if people may be impacted differently or have varied needs and/or there are known inequalities.

A good Equality Impact Assessment is

• Started early and updated throughout, not used to justify a decision after it’s made.​
• Rigorous and open-minded (e.g., using multiple methods vs checking off a list, addressing causes vs responding to symptoms).​
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And its good practice to keep a record (which is why we have a form you can use, see above).

There is more on how to complete an Equality Impact Assessment in the guidance linked above.

The owner of an Equality Impact Assessment (usually the person leading the work being assessed) is asked to keep a copy of the completed form to produce on request. As such, if you would like to see an Equality Impact Assessment for a piece of work, feel free to contact people directly to request it. If the work is presented at a committee meeting, findings from the Equality Impact Assessment should be referred to in the paper.

- but please note this has not been in use since February 2023 so is not an up to date record.

See examples of fictional completed Equality Impact Assessmentss below.