Equality and diversity

Our Commitment to Diversity

We are committed to and strive for equality of opportunity for all our staff and tenants (existing and future) and will recognise and celebrate their diversity. This commitment is reflected as one of our key Business Objectives in our Corporate Plan.pdf

For this policy statement and our corresponding Single Equality Scheme to be made a reality, effective leadership and management will be provided and a commitment sought from every member of staff, outside contractors and the board. In practice this means that we: 

• are committed to providing an environment where all people are respected and treated fairly regardless of characteristics or distinctions such as; gender, race, age, disability, gender identity, religion or belief, and sexual orientation
• will develop a culture in which diversity is celebrated
• will develop a culture sensitive to and be aware of the key dates and events important to people from diverse backgrounds
• will not unlawfully discriminate against anyone and will take positive action to promote equality and diversity
• embed equality and diversity at the heart of our mission and values, including action against individuals who behave in a discriminatory manner
• will challenge ourselves as an employer and service provider to reach out and seek to consult and involve people from all backgrounds in our communities

How we will achieve and monitor our policy is set out in full in our Single Equality Scheme  ‘Embracing difference and creating opportunities for all’.

The Scheme sets out the way in which we will make sure that we comply with the law, regulation and good practice across the seven strands of diversity in line with that of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Scheme also highlights how we will apply our commitment to equality and diversity across the following areas of our work:

• Achieving board membership that reflects the profile of the local community
• Being a fair employer
• Providing first class services to all
• Meeting housing needs
• Making sure lettings arrangements work fairly
• Repairing and improving homes
• Ensuring our homes meet the needs of disabled people
• Building cohesive communities and tackling hate incidents
• Involving residents and the broader community
• Communicating with our customers
• Improving our equality and diversity performance

Equality Impact Assessments

Whenever we are undertaking a review of a service or a policy we will undertake an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA).

An EIA is a thorough analysis of a proposed or existing policy, procedure or function in order to determine what effects or likely effects it will have on different groups in the community.   EIAs help to anticipate and identify the consequences of policies and practices on target groups making sure that, as far as possible, any negative consequences are eliminated or minimised and opportunities for promoting equality and diversity are maximised.

Equality & Diversity in Practice

Our commitment to equality and diversity can be seen in many different ways. Examples include:

• Interpretation, translation and signing
• Browsealoud- to help people with visual impairments access our website.  This software is free and can be installed on your computer. Visit the Browsealoud website (www.browsealoud.com) ) for more information.      
•  Information in braille, large print or audio available on request
• Our aids and adaptations service (add link to aids and adaptations page
• Our response service for tenants suffering from domestic violence, racial harrassment or hate crimes
• The layout and design of our Customer Service Centre
• An equality checklist to ensure we use suitable venues for tenant meetings

Getting to know you

It is important that we understand the communities we support. By obtaining more information about you it will help us gain a better understanding of who you are and enable us to plan and improve our services to you.

To help us to improve our knowledge you may be asked to participate in surveys from time to time and to provide us with information about yourself and those living with you.  We are aware that you may have some questions about these surveys therefore we have prepared the following frequently asked questions section below.

Q. Why are we collecting information from our customers?

A. We recognise that different customers have different needs. We want to meet those needs, but we can only do that if we know what they are. For example, some customers might have difficulty understanding the letters we send them. You may have a visual impairment, or English might not be your first language or it might take you longer to answer the door because of a disability. If we know this information in advance we can better plan our services around your needs.

Q. Why do we need to know your ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation?

A. We want to make sure we and our contractors are treating all our customers fairly and equally. To do this we need to know who are customers are so that we can compare the services different types of people use and what they think of them. We need to ensure that people are able to access the services they need regardless of their gender, race, age, disability, gender identity, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.

Q. How are we going to use this information?

A. We will be looking at how different groups of people use our services and how happy they are with them. For example, when we do satisfaction surveys we will compare satisfaction among different groups to make sure everyone is equally happy with our services and that regardless of your personal characteristics, you are able to access the services you need and for which you are eligible. Where they are not we will look to find out why and if necessary make changes to the way we provide those services.

Useful Links

www.northamptonshire@victimsupport.org.uk (Support for victims of Hate Crime)

www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople (Government Information Service)

www.equalityhumanrights.com (Equality and Human Rights Commission)

www.wellingboroughrec.org.uk (Northamptonshire Race Equality Council)

www.rnib.org.uk (Charity for blind or partially sighted people)

www.rnid.org.uk (Charity for deaf and hard of hearing people)

www.transgenderzone.com (Transgender advice and support)

www.stonewall.org.uk (Lesbian, gay and bisexual charity)

www.ageuk.org (Age UK is the agency combining Age Concern England and

Help the Aged in England)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion (The home of religion on the BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tools/calendar (Cultural events calendar)

www.browsealoud.com (For people who find it difficult to read on line)