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The Council has a statutory duty to screen. This includes our strategies, plans, policies, legislative developments; and new ways of working such as the introduction, change or end of an existing service, grant funding arrangement or facility. This screening template is designed to help departments consider the likely equality impacts of their proposed decisions on different groups of customers, service users, staff and visitors.
Before carrying out an equality screening exercise it is important that you have received the necessary training first. To find out about the training needed or any other queries on screening, contact the Equality and Diversity Officer Lorraine Dennis on extension 6027 or Lisa McKee on extension 6310 or by email [email protected]
The accompanying Screening Guidance note provides straightforward advice on how to carry out equality screening exercises. Detailed information about the Section 75 equality duties and what they mean in practice is available on the Equality Commission’s website.
The screening template has 4 sections to complete. These are:
Section A - provides details about the policy / decision that is being screened
Section B – gives information on the consultation process, supporting evidence gathered and has 4 key questions outlining the likely impacts on all equality groups.
Section C - has 4 key questions in relation to obligations under the Disability Discrimination Order
Section D - is the formal record of the screening decision.
Section A
Details about the policy / decision to be screened
1. Title of policy / decision to be screened:-
Onboarding of Council Services and return to the office for office-based staff
2. Brief description of policy / decision to be screened:-
(Explain - Is this a new, revised or existing policy? Are there financial / legislative / procurement implications?)
This is the proposed approach to progress service recovery as we emerge from the COVID-19 and return office-based staff who have been working at home to the office.
The Return to the Office Management & Trade Union working group was established in November 2021 to review BCC services to support a return to the office for office-based staff who have been working remotely.
A series of meetings of the Joint Working Group have taken place to review ‘stocktake’ information completed by council departments for all council office-based services. This information has determined the priority order in which services will be ‘onboarded’ and for returning to the workplace, office-based staff, who have been working remotely during the pandemic.
Following completion of this work, a paper was presented and agreed at Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in April 2022.
Communication with line managers and staff on the processes for full-service recovery and for returning staff to the office is underway. Line managers will be provided with supporting documents to brief their staff on returning to normal service. This includes an indicative timeline for onboarding service by service between 30 May and mid-July 2022.
Furthermore, the ‘Office Working COVID-19 risk assessment’ has been reviewed and revised to reflect the changing position and signed off by the BCC trade Union Group.
On 6 June 2022, the Executive Office updated the working from home guidance which was put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The update has been put in place following an assessment by the COVID-19 Taskforce, which balances health, economic and social considerations and takes on board the latest medical and scientific advice. The advice also recognises that, whilst the threat of COVID-19 has certainly not disappeared, it has receded and the guidance ‘work from home where possible’ position is not proportionate at this point. While life continues to get back to normal, we must remain careful. This update reflects the evolution of the government’s response to the pandemic and the vaccination programme. The use of innovative treatments mean that the risk of serious illness has been significantly reduced and by taking sensible precautions in everyday life, the route back to normality can continue.
3. Aims and objectives of the policy / decision to be screened
Emerging from the pandemic society continues to get back to normal with an emphasis on behaviours rather than regulations.
Against a backdrop of returning to some degree of normality, customers also expect our services to be open and operating at pre-COVID capacity. Given this, in March 2022, CMT asked Departments to look at prioritisation of frontline service recovery as many of our services are still operating with COVID models.
In parallel, the Return to the Office Management Trade Union working group has met and reviewed ‘stocktake’ information completed by all council departments. This information has determined the priority order in which services will be ‘onboarded’ and for returning to the workplace, office-based staff, who have been working remotely during the pandemic.
Following this work a paper was presented and agreed at Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in April 2022.
Guidance has been developed to facilitate a return to normal pre-COVID operating levels using:
- A phased approach - focusing on customer facing services in the first instance.
- Demands of the service - to determine how many days staff are to be present in the office - this will vary and will depend on operational need
- Managers to determine working arrangements – for each service and communicate in advance with staff
- All staff to follow behavioural advice – protecting those who are most vulnerable, understanding personal risk, implementing good cleaning, handwashing, ventilation and hygiene procedures.
4. On whom will the policy / decision impact?
Consider the internal and external impacts (both actual or potential) and explain:-
Staff YES
Service users YES
Other public sector organisations YES
Voluntary / community groups / trade unions YES
Others, specify YES
Customers and service users will be able to avail of full-service provision at pre-COVID levels and partners will be able to engage with the Council and progress any projects/initiatives suspended because of the pandemic.
5. Are there linkages to other Agencies/ Departments?
Continuing advice and guidance published by central government has been fully factored into the proposed service onboarding / return to the office approach. While this approach has been developed and is bespoke to BCC, benchmarking with other public sector organisations has taken place.
Section B
Information on the consultation process, supporting evidence gathered and has 4 key questions outlining the likely impacts for equality and good relations
6. Outline consultation process planned or achieved.
In June 2021 a survey was carried out with staff and managers to ascertain opinions on returning to the office and hybrid working as a future working model. A summary of feedback received is provided in the section below.
In March 2022, CMT asked Departments to look at prioritisation of frontline service recovery.
In parallel, the Return to the Office Management Trade Union working group continued to meet to ensure full consultation on the prioritisation of office-based services for recovery and on the process for returning staff.
The Group has reviewed the ‘stocktake’ information completed by all council departments. This information has determined the priority order in which services will be ‘onboarded’ and for returning to the workplace office-based staff, who have been working remotely during the pandemic. The Office Working COVID-19 Risk Assessment for 9 Adelaide, Cecil Ward Building and city Hall has been signed off by the BCC Trade Union Group.
7. Available evidence
What evidence / information (both qualitative and quantitative) have you gathered to inform this policy? Set out all evidence below to help inform your screening assessment.
It is important to record information gathered from a variety of sources such as: monitoring information; complaints; research surveys; consultation exercises from other public authorities.
Staff Survey
In summary, of those who responded, the majority of staff felt:
- that they could be fully productive working at home,
- that if the Council could accommodate working from home going forward, they would prefer to continue doing so (97 per cent).
In answer to the question:
Depending on the requirement of your service / business need, would you prefer to work?
- Full time remotely
- 1 day per week in the office
- 2 days per week in the office
- 3 days per week in the office
- 4 days per week in the office
- 5 days per week in the office
- Flexible, depending on operational requirements
Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of employees [respondents] favoured a flexible office working arrangements.
Over half of all employees favoured a reduced office working arrangement i.e., in work 1 to 3 days.
Approximately 8 out of 10 employees (80 per cent) favoured a reduced or flexible working arrangement.
Just under a fifth (17 per cent) favoured continuing with remote working full time.
Only 10 respondents (1.3 per cent) favoured a full return to the office i.e., 5 days per week.
In addition, when asked to indicate what if any concerns staff had about returning to the office, the issues causing most concern were:
- decrease in flexibility work from home
- getting exposed to COVID-19 while in the office
- getting exposed to COVID-19 while travelling to work.
The survey also asked which of the following measures would make you feel most comfortable in returning to the office. The results were as follows:
|
Issue |
Frequency |
|---|---|
|
Limiting the number of employees in the building |
604 |
|
Nightly deep cleanse / sanitation |
473 |
|
Limiting the number of outside visitors to the office |
401 |
|
Flexibility should individual children / schools / class group return to remote learning at short notice |
334 |
|
Government guidance saying it is ok to return to the workplace |
323 |
|
Staggering start / finish times |
280 |
|
Availability of lateral flow testing |
267 |
|
Installing partitions between desks |
263 |
|
Having secured care / support for children and/or other family members / dependents |
167 |
|
None |
46 |
|
Something else |
94 |
|
Section 75 category |
Details of evidence/information and engagement |
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Religious belief |
In terms of religion or religion brought up in, the 2011 Census indicates that 48.8 per cent of Belfast City residents are from a Catholic community background and 42.3 per cent from a Protestant community background. Christianity remains the main religion, with religious diversity reflected through Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist and Jewish communities. In the context of Northern Ireland there are correlations between political, religious and racial background. In terms of BCC workforce, the religious belief /community background statistics are as follows.
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Political opinion |
The table below shows the number of Councillors per party in Belfast City Council area as at February 2022.
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Racial group |
According to Census 2011, 96.7 per cent of Belfast’s population is white. Just over 3 per cent of the Belfast population are from an ethnic background. As is the case in NI, the largest minority ethnic groups in Belfast are the Chinese (0.7 per cent), Indian (0.7 per cent) and Asian (0.6 per cent) communities. The proportion of ethnic groups from a non-white background has increased in Belfast since the 2001 census (1.4 per cent). While 95 per cent of Belfast’s population (aged 3+years) have English as their main language, recent years have seen an increase in the number of migrants to the region and city, with 1.4 per cent of those aged 3+years stating other as their main language and 1.2 per cent of those aged 3+years having Polish as their main language. In the context of Northern Ireland there are correlations between political, religious and racial background. For example, in relation to national identity many Protestants identify as British and many Catholics identify as Irish. However, this is a complex correlation, as significant research into identity and race such as the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, demonstrates in terms of BCC workforce, where ethnic origin has been declared, the following statistics apply.
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Age |
Belfast has a lower percentage of young people (aged under 16 years) and a lower percentage of older people (aged 60 years and over) than the NI average. In 20116, 19.8 per cent of Belfast residents were under 16 years (compared with 20.9 per cent in NI as a whole) and 19.6 per cent were aged 60 and over (compared with 21.5 per cent in NI as a whole). The Belfast Agenda and Local Development Plan ambitions are putting programmes in place to support the growth of the city’s population, by an extra 66,000 people by 2035. The age of the BCC workforce is broken down as follows:
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Marital status |
In Belfast a relatively high percentage of residents are single at 45 per cent compared with the NI average of 36.1 per cent. There is also a higher percentage of those who are separated and divorced (11.5 per cent), compared with the NI level of 9.4 per cent. Belfast also has a higher proportion of residents who are in a same-sex civil partnership at 0.13 per cent, compared to 0.09 per cent regionally. There are fewer married people at 35.6 per cent compared with the NI average of 47.6 per cent Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been legal since 13 January 2020, following the enactment of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. ‘The duty under Section 75(1) to promote equality of opportunity between persons of different sexual orientation is obviously engaged in these circumstances. It should be noted that so too is the need to promote equality of opportunity between persons of different political opinions. In McKay v Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance [1994] NI 103, a political opinion was defined as “an opinion relating to the policy of government and matters touching the government of the state” (Kelly LJ at p 117). In Lee v Asher’s Baking Company Ltd [2018] UKSC 49, the Supreme Court accepted that support for gay marriage is a political opinion for the purpose of FETO. |
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Sexual orientation |
Information on sexual orientation has not previously been collected in the census in Northern Ireland, however, a question on sexual orientation was included in the 2021 census, results of which are not yet available. Stakeholder engagement demonstrated there is a strong user need for this information to inform policy development on both service planning and provision, and for monitoring purposes. The information gathered would provide a Northern Ireland-wide, definitive, baseline estimate of the population identifying as Straight/Heterosexual, Gay or Lesbian, and Bisexual. Other sources date from 2017/18 include the NI Continuous Household Survey and the NI Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey which estimate 97-98 per cent of the population identify as heterosexual with the remainder responding as gay/lesbian, bi-sexual or don’t know. In its final regulatory impact assessment for the Civil Partnership Act 2004, the Department of Trade and Industry offered an estimate for the LGB population of the UK of between 5 and 7 per cent. The Rainbow Project estimates that, on the basis of national and international research, 1 in 10 people in Northern Ireland would not identify as being heterosexual. According to ONS statistics, 2.0 per cent of the UK population identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) in 2017. ONS report that 1.2 per cent of the NI population identify themselves as LGB. The council currently has no data specific to Belfast or its workforce. |
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Men and women generally |
The most recent population estimate from NINIS the estimated population of Belfast Local Government District at 30 June 2017 was 340,220, of which 165,120 (48.5 per cent) were male and 175,100 (51.5 per cent) were female. The publication of the Trans Data Position Paper (link opens in new window) by the Office of National Statistics in 2009 highlighted that the trans community, trans identities and gender identity matters have become more visible in society. There remains significant gaps in statistical data. Stonewall’s current monitoring guide ‘Do Ask, Do Tell: Capturing data on sexual orientation and gender identity globally’ is aimed at monitoring employees and identifies key challenges on collecting data, including safety and appropriateness. The correlation between gender and sexual orientation is complex with not all stakeholders agreeing on their assimilation under the banner of ‘LGBT’. In terms of BCC workforce, the breakdown is as follows:
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Disability |
The Census 2011 showed that 23.5 per cent of Belfast residents has a long term health problem or disability that limits their daily activities or the work they can do, compared with the NI average of 20.3 per cent. In terms of BCC workforce, in terms of those who have declared a disability: the breakdown is as follows:
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Dependents |
30.4 per cent of households in Belfast include dependent children, compared with the NI average of 36.5 per cent. 12.1 per cent of households in Belfast consist of a lone parent and a dependent child or children, compared with the NI average of 9.1 per cent. At the time of the Census, 12.3 per cent of people stated that they provided unpaid care to family, friends, neighbours or others; this is slightly higher than the NI average of 11.8 per cent. |
8. What is the likely impact (indicate if the policy impact is positive or negative) on equality of opportunity for those affected by this policy, for each of the Section 75 equality categories? What is the level of impact?
|
Section 75 category |
Likely impact? |
Level of impact? Minor/Major/None |
|---|---|---|
|
Religious belief |
The information gathered, both qualitative and quantitative, demonstrates the complexity of some of the issues relating to protected characteristics listed under Section 75. The staff survey responses (see summary above and attached) indicate that working at home has had a positive impact on some employees, in particular those with caring responsibilities and those particularly concerned about getting exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. It should be noted that the timing of the survey was pre vaccination roll out completion and when many government restrictions were still in place. The current proposals to recover all BCC service provision and return to the workplace, office based staff, who have been working remotely during the pandemic, will revert staff to their contracted pre-COVID working patterns / working locations. In addition, recent evidence has identified that younger staff require mentoring and that working on their own can impact on professional development |
Minor negative |
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Political opinion |
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Racial group |
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Age |
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Marital status |
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Sexual orientation |
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Men and women generally |
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Disability |
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Dependants |
9. Are there opportunities to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the Section 75 equalities categories?
|
Section 75 category |
If Yes, provide details |
If No, provide reasons |
|---|---|---|
|
Religious belief |
The proposed approach to return staff to work includes the requirement to carry out individual risk assessments in cases where any employee has a disability or underlying condition to ensure all safety precautions are in place. The proposed approach requires managers to consider and discuss business requirements for the return of staff to the office with their teams and agree in a timely way plans for returning to ensure that their teams have time to reestablish caring arrangements for any dependents.
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Political opinion |
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Racial group |
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Age |
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Marital status |
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Sexual orientation |
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|
Men and women generally |
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Disability |
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|
Dependants |
10. To what extent is the policy likely to impact (positive or negatively) on good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group? What is the level of impact?
|
Good relations category |
Likely impact? |
Level of impact? Minor/Major/None |
|---|---|---|
|
Religious belief |
There is no likely impact on good relations.
|
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|
Political opinion |
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|
Racial group |
11. Are there opportunities to better promote good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group?
|
Good relations category |
If Yes, provide details |
If No, provide reasons |
|---|---|---|
|
Religious belief |
The proposed onboarding of services and return of office-based staff, facilitating full recovery of services will allow the Council to take forward its full programme of work. This will include planned activities and events that can be held “in person “once again, encouraging people to come together, many of which will contribute towards the Council’s aim and statutory duty to promote good relations between people of religious belief, political opinion or racial group. |
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Political opinion |
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Racial group |
Section C
Belfast City Council also has legislative obligations to meet under the Disability Discrimination Order and Questions 12-13 relate to these two areas.
Consideration of Disability Duties
12. Does this proposed policy / decision provide an opportunity for the Council to better promote positive attitudes towards disabled people?
Explain your assessment in full
The proposed approach to return staff to the office / recover services includes the requirement to carry out individual risk assessments in cases where any employee has a disability or underlying condition to ensure all safety precautions are in place and that any reasonable adjustments are made.
13. Does this proposed policy / decision provide an opportunity to actively increase the participation by disabled people in public life?
Explain your assessment in full
The proposed onboarding of services and return of office-based staff, facilitating full recovery of services will allow the Council to take forward its full programme of work. This will include planned activities and events that can be held “in person “once again, encouraging people to come together, many of which will contribute towards the Council’s aim and statutory duty to promote the participation by disabled people in public life.
14. Multiple Identities
Provide details of data on the impact of the policy with multiple identities
The information gathered, both qualitative and quantitative, demonstrates the complexity of some of the issues relating to protected characteristics listed under Section 75.
As with society in general, is recognised that Council employees do not identify with one protected characteristic at the exclusion of another.
The proposed approach enables managers to discuss business requirements and the need for presence in the office with their teams. Managers will discuss individual needs and circumstances with employees to agree how staff needs and business needs can be best accommodated.
Specify relevant Section 75 categories concerned.
15. Monitoring Arrangements
Section 75 places a requirement the Council to have equality monitoring arrangements in place in order to assess the impact of policies and services etc; and to help identify barriers to fair participation and to better promote equality of opportunity.
Outline what data you will collect in the future in order to monitor the impact of this policy / decision on equality, good relations and disability duties.
|
Equality |
Good Relations |
Disability Duties |
|---|---|---|
|
Staff and TU feedback, any comments / complaints. |
Staff and TU feedback, any comments / complaints. |
Staff and TU feedback, any comments / complaints. |
Section D
Formal Record of Screening Decision
Title of Proposed Policy / Decision being screened
Onboarding of services / returning to the workplace, office-based staff, who have been working remotely during the pandemic
I can confirm that the proposed policy / decision has been screened for –
|
x |
equality of opportunity and good relations |
|---|---|
|
x |
disabilities duties |
On the basis of the answers to the screening questions, I recommend that this policy / decision is – (place an X in the appropriate box below)
| *Screened In – Necessary to conduct a full EQIA | |
|
|
*Screened Out – No EQIA necessary (no impacts) Provide a brief note here to explain how this decision was reached: |
| x |
* Screened Out - Mitigating Actions (minor impacts)
The proposed approach will require staff to revert to contracted pre-COVID working arrangements and practices. However, it is recognized that the extended duration of the pandemic and the pandemic itself has had an impact on our staff, on working habits, on health, on family circumstances. The proposal to recover all service and return to the workplace, office-based staff, who have been working remotely during the pandemic, has built into it, as well as the necessary health and safety aspects, processes and procedures to allow consideration and planning for individual staff needs including younger members of staff who require mentoring and development |
Screening assessment completed by (Officer Level) –
Name: Catherine Christy
Date:
Department: HR Manager - Development
Screening decision approved by:
Name: John Walsh
Date:
Department: Legal and Civic Services
Save the final version of the completed screening form and forward to the Equality and Diversity Officer – [email protected]. The screening form will be placed on the BCC website and a link provided to the Council’s Section 75 consultees.
For more information about equality screening contact –
Lorraine Dennis or Lisa McKee
Equality & Diversity Unit
Belfast City Council
City Hall
Belfast
BT1 5GS
Telephone: 028 9027 0511