Equalities Comprehensive Impact Assessment (ECIA)

An ECIA helps us to understand how our policies and decisions impact on our residents and communities.

Equalities Comprehensive Impact Assessments (ECIAs) are a tool that help improve the delivery of services to our communities by:

  • ensuring that our services are free from discrimination
  • ensuring that we identify and address customer needs
  • improving transparency around the decisions we make

The ECIA tool is designed to ensure that our policies do not discriminate against any disadvantaged or vulnerable people and that, as far as possible, any adverse negative consequences are eliminated or mitigated.

ECIAs help us to:

  • achieve better results
  • identify actual and potential inequalities
  • respond appropriately to these inequalities

Undertaking an ECIA is regarded as 'business as usual' and should be a part of the normal decision-making process. This supports the council in ensuring that it pays due regard to equality.

You can find out more about ECIAs on our ECIA data portal. 

Information to support the completion of ECIAs can be found on the following pages of the Essex Open Data website:

The ECIA framework

​​The ECIA framework has been put in place to capture the main impacts relating to the following areas:

  • ​equalities (linked to the nine protected characteristics) 
  • digital accessibility
  • levelling up cohorts and places
  • families
  • health inclusion groups and geographical areas
  • climate

Read our Equalities Comprehensive Impact Assessment (ECIA) Framework guide (PDF, 309KB) to understand:

  • ​when you should undertake an ECIA
  • the benefits of completing an ECIA
  • details of the main impacts to the areas listed above
  • what information you will be asked to include when submitting an ECIA

Submitting an ECIA

When you are ready to submit an ECIA, you will need to complete our online form.  We have a word version of the ECIA form (DOCX, 89KB) so that you can draft the form offline before submitting it. 

Using the EQIA for restructures

If your decision (made by cabinet, CMA or EDD) and accompanying ECIA have been approved and will initiate a reorganisation or restructure of the workforce and staffing structure within the council you will also need to complete the Workforce Equality Impact Assessment form (EQIA) (DOCX, 48KB).

You can find out more about this in our guidance on reorganisation.

If you have any questions please email ECC.Equalities@essex.gov.uk​