The following projects, documents and policies require an EQIA:
- all strategies implemented since November 2002
- all service plans
- all best value reviews/ re-design processes
- policies and projects that:
- are of relevance to the duty to promote race equality
- and are primary high level functions, rather than support functions or sub-projects
- and are in their initial planning stage or undergoing a revision.
Ideally you should start your impact assessment at the point you are deciding on aims and objectives. This will ensure that you are thinking from the outset about the potential impact on different equality target groups.
Everything proposed should be at least screened for potential relevance to equality. This refers to all the formal and informal decisions about how an organisation carries out its duties and uses its powers.
Given that the principles of relevance and proportionality, the time and resources given to impact assessment and consultation will differ according to the relevance of the function and proposed policy to equality. For example the level of relevance will inform decisions about the extent of data collection and analysis around a proposed policy, and/or how much consultation is undertaken.
All project leaders/ managers are responsible for incorporating equalities into their projects, strategies and services, and for assessing the equalities impacts. This should be a continuous process, starting at the very beginning of the project/ review of service. Any team, partnership or project can use the EQIA to help them assess the potential impact. If there is any doubt as to whether a project, policy, service requires initial screening, contact the Policy Unit