Paper 2

Evidence paper to the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee by the Minister for Finance and Leader of the House

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Introduction

1.         The Programme for Government provides the commitment of this Government to focus on its people and a strong commitment to develop a fairer society in which every person is able to make the most of their abilities and contribute to the community in which they live. The Welsh Government actively works to incorporate equality of opportunity and good relations into its spending plans and budget processes through conducting an Equality Impact Assessment of its budget.

2.         In the last two Equality Impact Assessments on our budget, we undertook a lot of work to assess the equality impact of our plans. 2011-12 was the first time we undertook such an exercise and a lot of effort was put in understanding the evidence. We focused on explaining decisions made following any changes after the impact assessment was undertaken.

The Budget 2013-14: Equality Impact Assessment

3.         This will be the Welsh Government’s third Equality Impact Assessment of its budget. The Equality Impact Assessment of the budget for 2013-14 will be published as a separate document on Monday 8 October. It will articulate where a budgetary decision has been made following the completion of an Assessment and the differences that decision has made for the people of Wales.

4.         This year the focus of the Equality Impact Assessment of the Budget is four fold:

§ Reporting on the equality impact around the “Five for a Fairer for a Future” commitments;

§ Equality Impact Assessment on spending plans within Departments;

§ An assessment of the equality and socio-economic considerations reflecting previous budget decisions; and

§ Capital Investment.

5.         Where the likely impact was potentially significant, a full equality impact assessment has been carried out in relation to the proposed change to the budget to better understand what the impact will be on people with a protected characteristic. 

4. When published, it will demonstrate that we have paid ‘due regard’ to the impact on people with protected characteristics before reaching decisions in order to meet our legal duties.

Revised Equality Duties and Toolkit

7.         The Welsh Ministers have used their power under the Equality Act 2010 to impose specific equality duties on certain Welsh authorities, including the Welsh Government itself. The specific duties are designed to help authorities comply with the general equality duty, and are set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011.

8.         Our Equality Impact Assessment process has been revised in accordance with these specific duties to ensure that all new policies, and existing policies that are revised and reviewed, consider the impact on all of the people with protected characteristics.

Jane Hutt AM

Minister for Finance and Leader of the House