Equality Impact Coach
The Equality Impact Coach helps policy makers and decision makers think through how a decision might affect different people. It gives guidance on proportionality, helps you balance competing needs, and aims to improve the quality of decisions without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
What it helps you do
- Consider proportionality
- Spot gaps in your data and ways to fill them
- Weigh competing needs
- Identify possible impacts, practical questions and relevant evidence
Outcomes our clients see
More information
How to use the Coach
- Set out the context
Describe the proposal briefly, the decision and timeline, and what you want to achieve. Clear context gives relevant answers rather than generic ones.
"We are revising our flexible working policy for a UK workforce of 3,000 people. The main changes are X, Y and Z. I want to identify potential equality impacts."
- Ask focused questions
Ask about one thing at a time: the evidence, the likely impacts, how to reduce them, and who to consult. Then follow up on particular groups or sources. - Treat answers as a starting point
The Coach helps you think; it does not decide. If an answer seems generic or wrong, add more context and ask again. Legal interpretation needs professional review. - Keep a record
Save your prompts and the responses, note how they shaped your decision, and record any further evidence you gathered as a result.
When to use it
- Drafting a new policy, procedure, service or product
- Reviewing an existing practice
- Before formal sign-off, to check for gaps
- Planning a consultation
- Training and early brainstorming with teams
Useful questions to ask
Evidence
"What data would help us understand differences by sex, age or disability?"
Impact
"Which groups might be disproportionately affected by this change, and why?"
Mitigation
"What practical steps could reduce the negative impacts you have identified?"
Consultation
"Who should we talk to, inside and outside the organisation, to fill our evidence gaps?"
Before you use the Coach
The Coach is a GPT, a custom version of ChatGPT built by Leading Kind. It can be wrong, out of date or overconfident.
Quality assure every answer. Check facts, sources and legal points before you rely on them or include them in an assessment. It is not a substitute for legal advice or a formal equality impact assessment.
Do not upload personal or identifiable information. Use anonymised or summary data only, and follow your organisation's data protection and AI policies.
More resources to download
Equality Impact Aide-Mémoire
How Inclusive is your organisation?
High-Performing Leadership Teams
