Equality Impact Needs Assessments

An Equality Impact Needs Assessment (EINA) is a systematic process to help services identify where and how proposed policies or existing services could improve the way they serve all members of the community fairly.

How EINAs are created

The EINA process works as follows:

The topic for the EINA is chosen; normally a service or part of a service.
Research is carried out to assess the current situation and the extent of available information.
Service users and other groups that may have an interest in the service are consulted, to help fill gaps in the information available.
All of the information is then considered as a whole and a judgment is made about what course of action needs to be taken to deliver services as fairly as possible, bearing in mind the specific needs of some groups, and other external factors such financial constraints or changes in local or national policy.

Education and Children's Services – Achieving for Children EINAs