Equality Impact Assessment

I'm based in Scotland so I call them Equality Impact Assessments. If you're in England or Wales, you probably call them Equality Analyses. Regardless of where you live, you may prefer to call them something completely different but a little bit rude. 

Very few people "like" doing equality impact assessments. They can find them arduous, overly technical and time intensive. It doesn't have to be like that. Always go back to basics - what are you trying to achieve with equality impact assessments? You want to know if what you are doing is unfair to some groups of people. If this is so, what can you do about it? If you can't change things, can you at least try to improve the situation?

You also want to think of ways that you can "advance equality". Can you think of things that you can do that might change things in the future? Even little things will count if everyone does them together. 

There is no statutory format that you need to follow, and no toolkit that you need to buy. All you need to do is show that you are aware of how your actions affect people who share protected characteristics, and that you are trying to deal with any negative impact. 

So first of all relax. Fretting about your hundreds of policys and practices won't help. Decide on a process, build it into your decision making, and make sure everyone knows that it has to be done. Start with the big important stuff, and work through the rest. I am available to hold your hand throughout this process and tell you what to do.