Equality analysis assessments

As a public organisation, the Council has a legal duty, under the Equality Act 2010, to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The following groups are protected from unlawful discrimination in service provision under the Equality Act:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity
• marriage and civil partnership
• race
• religion and belief
• sex
• sexual orientation.

When making significant changes to the way in which a service is being provided, the Council undertakes what is known as an Equality Analysis Assessment (EAA). The purpose of this is to identify how or whether any changes being considered will impact one or more protected group.

The assessment also helps the Council to better understand whether, the impact of a change being considered, could be harmful and if so, how the potential harm could be minimised or removed before any decision is made.

The EAA process in Lewisham also gives consideration to other factors if they are relevant such as income, employment, health and care needs. Undertaking these assessments helps the Council to assure residents and service users that decisions are being taken fairly.

A selection of recent EAAs can be found below.

Equality Analysis Assessments