Minister urges councils to heed advice that EIAs are not a legal requirement

Junior minister Brandon Lewis has written to all leaders and chief executives of local authorities on the back of the Prime Minister’s speech to the CBI in November 2012 where he said the Government was “calling time” on equality impact assessments.

Lewis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, highlighted guidance produced by the Government Equalities Office for Whitehall departments that “equality impact assessments are not and never have been a legal requirement”.

He said: “Indeed, they can be resource intensive and take staff away from planning and delivering important public services.”

In the letter, sent on 21 December, the minister pointed out that this advice applied to other parts of the public sector.

“Local councils should be able to use their judgment to pay due regard to equality without resorting to time consuming, bureaucratic, tick-box exercises at the end of the decision-making process,” Lewis said.

“The key is to take a proportionate, timely approach to assessing equality and that this is properly considered from the outset with a simple audit trail.”

The minister added that this approach built on the Government’s Best Value guidance released in September 2011, “in which councils are asked to ensure that their policies and services are efficient, effective, appropriate and accessible to all – without resorting to unnecessary lifestyle or ‘diversity’ questionnaires of their local residents and suppliers”.

Lewis concluded: “Every bit of the public sector is seeking to reduce administrative costs; I hope this light-touch guidance will [be] helpful in reducing statutory burdens on local government.”

Philip Hoult