Equality Scheme
April 2014 to March 2018
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “All Human beings are born equal in dignity and rights”. Article 1,
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Contents
Title
Page Number
Induction
2
Who Are we
3
What is the Equality Scheme?
3
Who is our Equality Scheme for?
3
Our Aim and Objectives for Equality
4
About South Tyneside
5
Our Customers and Communities
6-7
Our Approach to Equality
8
The Legal and Good Practice Frameworks
8-9
Involvement, access and partnership working
10-11
Community Cohesion
11
Discrimination and Harassment
11
Employment and Training
12 – 14
Procurement and contractors
15
Monitoring
16
Equality Analysis
16
Equality Monitoring Framework
17
How to contact us
18
Action Plan
Page 1
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Introduction
We are proud to introduce our second Equality Scheme.
Our vision is “Working together to make South Tyneside the place people are proud to call home”.
To deliver our vision we believe that we need to put our customers at the heart of everything we
do. To do this means we must also put diversity at the heart of our organisation and consider it in
everything we do.
At South Tyneside Homes’ equality and diversity has always been about delivering real outcomes
for people living in our communities and those employed by us.
We want to encourage the best people to come and work for us and nurture and develop the talent
of those people already working for us. We believe that the people who make up our organisation
will help us to ensure we deliver great services to customers. It is they who have to take
responsibility if we are to continue to develop and sustain a culture that recognises and respects
the individuality of each of our customers
We are confident this document will help us to deliver our vision, build on our previous
achievements and demonstrates our commitment to this agenda.
Councillor Ed Malcolm
Chair
South Tyneside Homes
Paul Mains
Managing Director
South Tyneside Homes
Page 2
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities” Stephen Covey
Who are we?
What is our Equality
Scheme?
We were established as an Arms Length
Management Organisation on 1 April 2006
to manage and maintain the South
Tyneside Councils homes and estates. We
are owned by South Tyneside Council and
are a not for profit company.
Our scheme summarises our achievements
and sets out our commitment and approach
to advancing equality and social inclusion.
It helps us to meet our statutory duties and
guides and monitors our strategic approach
to equality and diversity over the next four
years.
We manage 17,755 residential properties
and 723 leasehold properties. We are a
significant local employer and currently
employ 630 people.*
We run the day-to-day housing services
such as repairs, collecting rent, managing
housing offices, looking after tenancy
enforcement issues and organising the
refurbishments of the housing stock.
The scheme is a living document and the
action plan is updated each year to reflect
changes to the internal and external
environment. The document has clear links
to our Corporate Plan and South Tyneside
Council’s vision “South Tyneside will be an
outstanding place to live, invest and bring
up families”.
South Tyneside Council owns the housing
stock. They have strategic responsibility for
all housing services in South Tyneside and
set their strategic priorities for housing in
the borough. South Tyneside Homes and
other organisations work with them to
achieve their aims.
Who is our Equality
Scheme for?
It is for residents, customers, employees
and partners and is available as a public
document.
*Figures correct at 1 April 2014.
Page 3
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks
vision”. Stevie Wonder
Our Aim and Objectives for Equality
Aim
We believe that housing provides the foundation of the neighbourhoods and communities in
South Tyneside.
We aim to give people the opportunity to live in integrated and cohesive communities free from
discrimination, harassment, bullying and prejudice, where people are provided with housing
services and employment opportunities that meet their varied needs.
Objectives
We:
1
Have a corporate commitment to equality
2.
Know who our customers are and provide responsive flexible services
3.
Have effective arrangements in place for involvement and partnership working
4.
Provide excellent levels of customer care and access
5.
Have an effective approach to hate crime, harassment and anti social behaviour
6.
Have a modern and diverse workforce whose recruitment, selection and training
processes are positive about equality
Our aims and objectives support South Tyneside Local Strategic Partnerships approach to
equality and diversity built on the principle of ‘fair for all, personal to each’.
Page 4
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family”
Mohandas K. Gandhi
About South Tyneside
5.5% although a number of initiatives have
been developed to help support long term
unemployed people into work.
South Tyneside is the smallest
metropolitan borough in England, covering
64 square miles and has a population of
148,000 people.
South Tyneside has the second highest
instance of disability or limiting long-term
illness in Tyne and Wear (23.3%), the 3rd
highest in the North East and is 5.7%
higher than the English average.
The proportion of older people is growing.
Currently one in four people are over 60.
This is a 1.5% increase over the last 10
years.
The number of adults with a learning
disability living in the borough is higher
than the national average 5.5% (UK 4.3%).
There are also higher numbers of children
with severe or multiple learning difficulties
and significantly lower number of adults
with learning difficulties in paid
employment.
It is forecast that the number of people over
65 years will rise by 20% (5,000 people)
and over 85 years old will increase by 40%
(1,400) by 2021.
South Tyneside has the lowest level of
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)
population in Tyne and Wear, 4.9%
including White Other/Irish. There are two
long-established communities from Yemeni
and Bangladesh.
The MOSAIC profile highlights the area as
one with considerable deprivation. For
example, 32% of the population is
classified as ‘low income families living in
estate based social housing’ compared to
only 6% of England.
Unemployment in South Tyneside (75)
continues to be higher than the national
average of 3.9% and north East average of
Page 5
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “We may have different religions, different languages,
different coloured skin, but we all belong to one human race." Kofi
Annan
Our Customers and Communities
Age
The 2011 census states 16.2% of South
Tyneside’s population are 0–14 years old,
12.8% 15–24 years old, 46.4% are 25–59
years old 24.6% over 60 years old. Our
tenant data indicates 4.7% are 16 -24
years old , 28.5% are 25 – 44 years old,
25.4% are 45 -59 years old, 23% are 60 to
74 and 18.3% are 75 years old are over.
Religion, Belief and Faith
The 2011 Census states 70.3% of the
borough are Christian, 1.9% Muslim, 0.9%
other faiths including Hindu, Jewish,
Buddhist and Sikh and others. 21.1%
indicated they do not have a faith and 5.8%
did not state a preference
Out tenant data indicates 64.2% consider
themselves Christian, 1% Muslim, 0.2%
Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish or Hindu, 1.5%
other faiths and 33.1% of customers have
informed us they have no faith religion or
belief.
Sexual Orientation
The 2011 Census did not ask a question on
peoples sexual orientation and no other
information in available about South
Tyneside as a borough.
Transgender
There is no publicly available data on the
number of transgender or transsexual
people living in the UK or in South
Tyneside.
We currently have very limited information
on the sexual orientation of our customers.
We have no data to suggest that the profile
of tenants is different to the national
average estimated to be 5% to 7%.
Page 6
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Disability
The 2011 Census states 23.3% of South
Tyneside residents have a limiting longterm illness, higher than national average
of 17.6%
Gender
The 2011 Census states 51.7% of
borough’s population are women. The data
we hold on the gender profile of our
customer indicates that 58.5% are female
and 41.5% are male.
The data we hold on our customers
indicates that 32.4% have a disability. The
most prominent are mobility Issues, other
disabilities, mental health issues,
deaf/hearing impairments, blind/visual
impairments.
Economic Activity
66.7%of people in the borough are
economically active (in work), 14.2% are
Part Time workers, 15.9% are retired and
6.6% are economically inactive because of
a long term illness or disability. All are
higher than the national average.
Race
The 2011 Census states 4%of South
Tyneside are Black Asian and Minority
Ethnic (BAME) and 0.9% are White Other
or Irish. This figure has increased
substantially since the 2001 Census which
stated 97.2% of the population were White
British.
Household Depravation
Out of 348 authorities, South Tyneside
ranks 178th in dimension 1, 31st in
dimension 2, 47th in dimension 3 and 139th
in dimension 4. A ranking of 1 equates to
being the most deprived.
The data we hold on our customers
indicates that 1.7% are of BAME origin.
0.8% White Irish/other and the remainder
97.5% are White British. Our most
prominent non white customers are
Asian/Asian British Bangladeshi,
Black/Black British African and other ethnic
group, Mixed/White African and other
mixed.
Other information
23.4% of people live in council owned
properties, 61% in private and 9% in
private rented and 5.6% in other social
housing.
28% have no qualifications, 9.5% of people
have a degree.
Pregnancy/Maternity
The 2011 census highlights has low birth
rates in the borough compared to regional
and national figures when measuring live
births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years
(General Fertility Rates).
As of January 2014, 38% of our tenants
were in receipt of full housing benefit and
30% were in receipt of part housing benefit
highlighting that over two thirds of our
tenants live in low income households.
We recognise that “one size does not fit all”
and that we need to tailor our services to
meet our customers’ needs and
preferences. This ethos is at the heart of
our approach to equality and diversity.
Marriage/Civil Partnership
The 2011 census indicates 43.8% of
people are married, 34.2% single, 0.1% in
civil partnerships, 13.1% separated or
divorced and 8.7% widowed. The borough
has significantly higher levels of people
who are divorced/separated (11.6%) and
widowed (6.9%) than the national average.
To help us understand the needs of our
customer we use the “Getting to Know
You” information to tailor services and
inform our plans and strategies.
Page 7
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give". Sir
Winston Churchill
Our Approach to Equality
We are committed to advancing equality
and promoting social inclusion and
community unity. We recognise our
responsibility to provide equal
opportunities, stop discrimination and
promote good relations in our activities as
an employer, landlord, and partner as well
as in procurement.
However we seek to take a broader
approach considering how we can best
advance equality and achieve inclusion
outcomes. We consider equality to be part
of the day job and an essential part of
providing excellent services.
The Legal and Good Practice Frameworks
The Equality Act 2010
The Act brought together equality
legislation to make it more accessible,
easier to understand and address
inequalities in legislation for different
groups of people. It refers to nine protected
characteristics (see graphic) for which
discrimination, harassment and
victimisation are banned.
Human rights are based on core principles
of dignity, fairness, equality, respect and
independence. The Act gives people a
number of human rights that are
particularly relevant to housing and
property:
Eliminate discrimination,
harassment and victimisation
•
Advance equality of opportunity
•
Encourage good relations
the right to own and enjoy the
ownership of property
•
the right to respect for private life
•
the right to respect for family life
the right to respect for your home
•
The Public Sector Equality Duty
This requires public sector organisations to:
•
•
We must comply with this duty in the
provision and allocation of social housing.
The Human Rights Act 1998
Human rights are the basic rights and
freedoms that belong to every person in the
world.
Page 8
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
EHRC
Code of
Practice in
Rented
Housing
This is a continuous
improvement tool that
provides guidance on
what we need to do to
improve our approach to
equality.
A government framework mostly relating to
race that we need to comply with. We have
been externally assessed as complying
with this code.
In 2010 we were the first organisation in
the UK to be externally assessed as
attaining the Achieving level of the
framework. We continue to use this
framework to measure our performance
and improve.
This is a nationally recognised framework
that helps organisations to improve their
performance and realise their objectives
through the effective management and
development of their people
This helps employers to measure their
efforts to tackle discrimination and create
inclusive workplaces for lesbian, gay and
bisexual employees. Each year Stonewall
benchmark organisations performance, in
2013 we were 114th out of 376 employers
and 11th out of 35 housing providers. In
2014 we were 72nd and made it into
Stonewall top 100 employers list.
Two Ticks
positive about
disabled
people
The symbol and commitment indicates we
are committed to employing disabled
people and have taken positive action to
encourage disabled people to apply for
positions in the organisation. The Job
Centre assesses our compliance each
year.
Page 9
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his
skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if
they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.....” Nelson Mandela
Involvement, access and partnership working
Involvement
Involvement is extremely important to us. We
recognise that the key to improving services
is by working in partnership with tenants
through our Involvement Framework. This
aims to provide opportunities for customers to
get involved in shaping and scrutinising
services.
Our involvement opportunities range from
attending an informal event or walkabout to
becoming a Tenant Inspector, member of our
Tenant Scrutiny Panel or taking up one of our
tenant Board member positions. These
opportunities allow people to get involved at
a level that they feel happy and comfortable
with and help us to meet our current legal
obligations to involve people as outlined in
the Equality Act 2010 and Regulatory
Framework for Social Housing 2012.
Community organisations, forums and other
groups are also consulted with to ensure
everyone in South Tyneside is able to
participate and have their say. Feedback from
various groups has contributed to the
development of this Equality Scheme
Our Involvement Team is proactive in
promoting involvement opportunities and
strives to ensure feedback is representative
of the wider communities we serve.
Access
We believe everyone has a right to access
the information and services we provide. We
aim to deliver accessible services and
information and offer a range of support
mechanisms to ensure equality of access for
people with specific needs, including:
 Help with filling in forms
 British Sign Language Interpreting
 Same sex interview and appointments
(where possible)
 Hearing induction loop systems
 Language interpreting (telephone and
face-to face)
 East to Read Tenants handbook
 An interpreter to explain our written
information
 Home visits are available to
customers who are unable to access
our offices
Page 10
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “For to be free is not to merely to cast off one chains, but to live in a what that
respects and enhances the freedom of others” Nelson Mandela
Partnership Working
Housing is only one part of life and to achieve
a truly equal community we need to work with
others.
The Partnership allows us to get involved not
only in the delivery of housing services, but
also in shaping a vision for and tackling
inequality in the borough.
We will work as part of the South Tyneside’s
Local Strategic Partnership and alongside a
range of other agencies from the public,
private and voluntary and community sector
to achieve our aims and objectives.
Community Cohesion
The term community cohesion is often used
to describe a state of harmony or tolerance
between people from different backgrounds
living within a community.
We are committed to the ARCH Hate incident
reporting framework. We have trained all
frontline staff to deal with incidents and our
offices are reporting centres
Good community relations cannot be taken
for granted. They must be worked at and
actively encouraged. A lack of understanding
and integration between communities can
lead to community tensions and ultimately to
communities breaking down.
Actions to meet the local priorities will be
delivered jointly by the Council, South Tyneside
Homes and other Local Strategic Partnership
members. In addition we organise and
contribute to a number of local events, forums,
groups and partnerships that support good
relations and community cohesion.
Discrimination and Harassment
Discrimination can occur when an individual
is treated less favourably than another.
Harassment is any form of unwanted or
unwelcome behaviour which creates an
intimidating, degrading or offensive
environment and/or violates a person’s
dignity.
We ensure customers and employees do not
experience discrimination or harassment by
undertaking equality impact assessments,
ensuring our policies, procedures and training
are clear about our approach to tackling
these issues.
Page 11
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “The culture of any organisation starts with its people, they are its
greatest resource....” Author Unknown
Employment and Training
make sure that all decisions about
recruitment, job appointments, promotion,
and training and development are made
fairly.
We expect all employees to respect customer
and employee differences and will not
tolerate any form of discrimination, unfair
treatment, or harassment of any, or by any, of
our employees. We want all our services to
have a sense of fairness and equality.
We do this by providing a programme of
training and accreditation that gives
managers the skills needed to make fair
recruitment decisions.
We think our workforce should represent the
community we serve. This means we need to
Black
Asian &
Minority
Ethnic
Non
Christian
Faith
No Faith
Disabled
Lesbian,
Gay or
Bisexual
24 years
old and
under
Women
Men
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
All employees
2.9
2.7
28.9
5.4
0.8
10.5
30.6
69.4
Band 6 and below
3.9
2.2
30
6.8
1.2
12.6
37
63
Middle earners
(Band 7 to 11)
1
2.6
26.7
2.6
0
5.8
17.8
82.2
Top earners Band
12 and above)
0
0
26.9
3.8
0
0
23.1
76.9
Grade of
Employees
Page 12
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Profile of our workforce
Sexual orientation
0.8% of the employees indicated that they
are gay, lesbian or bisexual. There has
been a slight decrease (0.5%) since four
years ago. However, not all employees
have responded to this question. This
information is monitored alongside other
diversity employment data at all stages of
the employment life cycle.
Disability
5.4%% of our employees have declared
themselves as being disabled. The
proportion is larger on lower bands than
higher bands. It is 0.8% higher than four
years ago.
We make every reasonable effort to meet
the needs of disabled employees. This
includes providing adaptations, making
physical adjustments to premises where
possible, and looking at job roles,
responsibilities and working arrangements.
Data on the number of applications
received shows a steady increase from
lesbian, gay and bisexual people applying
for jobs.
We have developed a work placement
scheme with a local special school to
provide young people with disabilities work
experience opportunities.
Ethnicity/Race
2.9% of our employees are from an ethnic
minority background which has increased
by 1.7% over the last four years. The ethnic
minority representation of our workforce is
lower than that of the community we serve.
There are currently no people from an
ethnic minority origin employed at the most
senior levels of the organisation.
Data on the number of applications
submitted by ethnicity highlights that the
work we are undertaking to promote the
organisation as an employer to people from
under represented ethnic groups is
successful as application received is high.
Gender
We currently employ more men (69.4%)
than women (30.6%). There has been an
increase in overall female employees over
the last four years but a significant
decrease in the number of women holding
middle and senior management positions.
Quote: “Everyone is kneaded out of the
same dough but not baked in the same
oven.” Yiddish Proverb
We have undertaken job evaluation to
ensure that women and men in the same
job are treated equally in pay, terms and
conditions of employment.
Page 13
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Age
10.5% of our employees are under 25
years of age and 35.4% over 50 years of
age, nearly the same as four years ago.
Employee training
Employees undertake a number of training
and awareness raising courses covering
diversity, safeguarding, and inclusion
issues to prepare employees for their role.
We have procedures in place to prevent
any form of age discrimination and ensure
that appointments are made on the basis of
relevant skills, qualifications and
experience. We have taken action to
address any areas where age inequality
could be an issue and ensure people of all
ages have similar opportunities.
Equality and Diversity awareness is a
major part of every employees’ induction.
Training on how to use the various support
services we offer to customers is provided
and a more comprehensive Diversity
Matters training session is provided in
through a one day course.
A diversity resource has been developed
for employees and provides guidelines on
what people should consider when working
with people with varied needs.
Work-life balance
We have a range of flexible working and
work-life balance policies that help promote
us as an employer of choice. These go
beyond minimum legislative requirements
and offer, as far as possible, flexible
working to all employees.
Advertising vacancies
We follow Investors in People guidance
when advertising vacancies. We have a
modern recruitment process that reaches
as wide a range of the community as
possible.
Faith, religion and belief
2.7% of employees told us they consider
themselves as belonging to a non Christian
faith and 28.9% have no faith.
Equal Pay
We are committed to ensuring that we
operate a pay and reward scheme that is
competitive, transparent and fair. We aim
to ensure we eliminate discrimination and
reward the skills, experience and potential
of all our employees. We have undertaken
Job Evaluation within the organisation
Positive employment practices
We will continue with a number of positive
action initiatives to try and encourage
under-represented groups to work for the
organisation.
Page 14
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and
perhaps the most dangerous thing for society to live without”. William
Sloane Coffin Jr
Procurement and contractors
When procuring goods, works and
services we consider a range of factors
in relation to equality. We are
committed to achieving positive
outcomes for all sections of the
community.
We work with North East Procurement
(NEP) to procure goods and services. In
addition to Equality and Diversity being
an essential element of NEP as an
organisation, they require a full
statement of E&D activity (Policy &
Practice) and query monitoring practices
of all bidders as part of the framework
tender process.
In addition they annually review and
monitor all recruitment relevant to NEP
contracts. The NEP has various social
clauses aimed at improving
employment, developing a social fund
for project work and getting extra value
from contractors.
All organisations which provide services
on our behalf are required to comply
with relevant equality legislation,
promote equality and prevent
discrimination. Their workforce should
also be trained and understand what is
expected of them in relation to providing
fair and accessible services and be
capable of meeting the varied needs of
our customers and/or employees.
We work with our major contractors to
collect information about their
organisations’ approach to equality and
diversity. We also check their training
for quality and ask them to complete
annual monitoring exercises about
workforce and satisfaction data, In
addition we ask our contractors to
support us on initiatives such as
Concern Matters – our approach to
safeguarding children and adults.
Page 15
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “A lot of different flowers make a bouquet.” Muslim Proverb
Monitoring
We have a legislative requirement to
monitor our progress and to demonstrate
our compliance with the various equality
duties. We meet this requirement by
publishing an annual equality report, which
provides information on the progress we
have made so far, the challenges for the
future and our equality performance
framework (see page 17).
Progress on equality, this scheme and the
action plan will be monitored regularly by
our Delivery Committee and scrutinised by
the Equality Senior Management Group
and our Corporate Equality Group.
Equality Analysis
Public organisations have a legal
responsibility to carry out analysis on the
impact of their policies and decisions on
different groups. They are also
responsible for taking action to address
their findings.
Equality analysis makes sure we think
carefully about the likely impact of
policies, strategies, services and major
decisions on the people that access them.
We have now completed equality analysis
for a range of policies and services and
will review these periodically or when
significant changes are proposed.
We have a responsibility to ensure that
decisions that impact tenants reflect the
views of people from a wide range of South
Tyneside’s communities.
We will continue to promote vacancies to
under-represented groups and work
towards making our Board and Committee
members representative of the community.
We also ensure members receive suitable
training to help them consider a wide range
of issues when making decisions about the
organisation and services
Page 16
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Quote: “Our true nationality is mankind". H.G. Wells
Equality Monitoring Framework
Employment Indicators
All South Tyneside Homes employees
% of top 5% of earners (Band 12 +)
% of top 10% of earners (Band 10 +)
% of new employees
% of employees ending their employment
% of employees subjected to formal disciplinary action
% of employees involved in formal grievances
% of employees involved in formal harassment and bullying
% of external applications received
% Success rates of job applicants
% Applicants for flexible working
% Flexible Working request approvals
% Return to work rates after maternity leave
% of employees who have received diversity matters refresher training
Service Delivery indicators
% of tenancies
% of people registered with Homefinder
% of bidders for properties (Homefinder)
% of offers (Homefinder)
% of lettings (Homefinder)
% of people with rent arrears
% of housing plus tenants
% of all complaints
Overall satisfaction with the services we offer
Number of face to face other language interpreters provided
Number of Language Line calls made
Number of British Sign Language interpreters used
Number of hate incidents reported by tenants
Indicators will be monitored by age, gender, faith, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation (where we have
customer/employee information).
Page 17
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Partners
Throughout the development of this scheme we have worked with a range of partners to identify
what people’s views are and what works well, not so well and what needs to be improved.
Some of the key partners we have worked with include:
Organisation
Contact Details
BLISS=Ability
0191 4271666, [email protected]
South Tyneside Regional Equality Forum
[email protected]
Sight Service
0191 456 0546
Your Voice Counts
0191 427 4583
Northern Pride
[email protected]
NE LGBT Federation
[email protected]
Apna Ghar
0191 4564147, [email protected]
Keelman’s Way School
01914897480
New Vision
0191 490 9380
ARCH – South Tyneside
0800 0323288
South Tyneside Deaf Club
[email protected]
STH Involved Tenants
0300 123 6633
STH Older Persons Group
0300 123 6633
Page 18
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
How to contact us
If you have any queries about this scheme, its
action plan or would like to know more about
South Tyneside Homes’ approach to equality
and diversity, please contact Mark Johns,
Diversity and Engagement Advisor, on:
Tel: 0300 123 6633
Email: [email protected]
Text: 07786 200802
Fax: 0191 426 8432
Web: www.southtynesidehomes.org.uk
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Action Plan (2014 – 2018)
Objective 1: Have a corporate commitment to equality
Ref.
Actions
Milestones
Review current EIA’s for all service areas and
policies assessed as high risk
• Review and update toolkit
• Provide training and support to employees
• Develop a schedule to update service and policy EIA’s
Review the Equality Scheme
•
•
•
•
Undertake consultation with customers, leaseholders and employees
Develop a draft scheme
Consult on draft scheme
Launch the Equality Scheme
Collect and collate evidence that demonstrates the
organisations compliance with the Social Housing
Equality Framework and undertake an external
assessment
• Work with service areas to identify and supply evidence documents for
SHEF
• Complete a self assessment and evidence log for the Achieving level
• Undertake external assessment of compliance to achieving level of SHEF
• Report on the outcome of the assessment and develop an action plan
Submit the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index
Assessment, develop an action plan following
feedback from Stonewall and report findings to the
Committee
• Complete Stonewall WEI assessment
Submit evidence to the DWP on our Positive about
Disability annual accreditation
• Submit evidence to the DWP on our Positive about Disability annual
accreditation
Ensure Board and Committee are up to date with
Equality and Diversity
• Provide updated training to Board and Committee members on
unconscious bias
Improve integration of Equality Impact Assessments
into the governance arrangements
• Make recommendations to Governance SMT to amend governance
administration arrangements to include completion of an EIA prior to
new/revised policies, strategies and major service reviews are passed to the
Board for consideration
Develop a range of methods to promote Board
membership to under-represented groups
• Develop a marketing campaign to under-represented groups
• Develop an action plan to improve our response to LGBT equality following
the Stonewall feedback meeting
• Report on the outcome of the assessment to the Committee
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign and make recommendations for
future campaigns
Lead Officer
Date
Mark Johns / All
Managers
Dec 2014
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
Mark Johns
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
June 2014
Jun 2015
Mark Johns / All
Managers
Aug 2015
Oct 2015
Dec 2015
Mark Johns
Aug 2014/
15/16/17
Feb 2014/
15/16/17
Mar 2014/
15/16/17
Paul Brennan
Oct 2014/
15/16/ 17
Joanne Robason
Jun 2016
Apr 2015
Joanne Robason
Joanne Robason
Mar 2015
/16/17/18
Sep 2015
/16/17/18
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Ensure STH Housing Ventures Trust complies with
legal and regulatory duties in relation to equality
• Explore legal requirements and develop an action plan
• Explore regulatory requirements and develop an action plan
Refresh Diversity Matters Training for staff and roll
out to new employees and those that have not
previously attended
•
•
•
Joanne Robason
Update the content of current course
Identify which employees have not attended the course
Target updated training new and tenants and those that have not previously
attended the session
Mark Johns
/Anthony O’Hara
Sep 2015
Sep 2015
Oct 2014
Oct 2014
Nov 2014
Objective 2: Knows who our customers are and provides responsive flexible services
Ref.
Actions
Milestones
Improve the collection of customer profile and
vulnerability data through Tenant Support Visits
• Update documents for staff to record information
• Develop systems and processes
• Undertake Tenancy Support Visits to every tenant on a 4 year cycle
Review all outgoing communications to identify how
communications preferences could be met more
consistently
• Map all outgoing communications
• Review how we can use existing systems on Capita Open Housing to better
meet peoples communication preferences
• Develop new systems to ensure mass communications consider peoples
communications preferences
• Implement and train employees on new systems
• Evaluate new communications arrangements
Provide housing managers with information on the
profile and needs of customers in each
neighbourhood
• Develop a template to provide managers with customer profile
information/vulnerability data about the people living in their neighbourhoods
• Identify population ‘hot spots’ and opportunities to tailor services in areas of
high concentration
Contractors Approach to Safeguarding
• Check contractors training on safeguarding to ensure it reflects ours
• Ensure contactors train sub contractors on our safeguarding arrangements
• Monitor contractor referrals
Improve access to literature and communications for
people who are visually impaired
Improve facilities in Housing Plus Accommodation for
people with dementia and mobility difficulties
• Liaise with South Tyneside Sight Service about the prospect of providing
visually impaired customers with sheet magnifiers
• Subject to the outcome of the consultation provide magnifiers to people on
Open Housing who have informed us they are visually impaired or require
information in a larger font
• Develop a scheme of works to include painting, sensory rooms,
conservatories, lighting and communal facilities and scooter storage
facilities in schemes where this is viable
Lead Officer
Julie Molyneaux
Date
Jan 2015
Mar 2015
Mar 2018
Mar 2016
Jun 2016
Mark Johns
Jun 2016
Oct 2016
Apr2017
Sep 2014
Mark Johns
Mark Johns
Sep 2014
Apr 2014
Jun 2014
Apr 2015
July 2014
Mark Johns
Sept 2014
Apr 2014
Simon Mercer
Apr 2014
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
• Identify suitable contractors
• Deliver scheme of works
Aug 2014
Introduce the Safe places scheme in partnership with
Your Voice Counts to provide help for vulnerable
people who are lost, disorientated or concerned
•
•
•
•
Upload resources for staff to the intranet
Deliver training to staff
Raise awareness with staff
Monitor scheme and report to Corporate Equality Group
Mark Johns
May 2014
May 2014
Jun 2014
Jun 2015
Explore community use of multi sensory rooms in
Housing Plus accommodation and implement a
project to maximise their use by local
groups/organisations
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify organisations and groups that may be interested in using the rooms
Work with local groups to develop an offer to maximise the rooms use
Explore intergenerational links
Offer the use of the rooms to appropriate groups and organisations
Evaluate the effectiveness of the project
Identify reasons for positive and negative trends relating to Homefinder by
undertaking consultation with peolpe on the housing register
Explore solutions to overcome any issues that arise from the consultation
Report the outcome of the consultation to SMT and make recommendations
Develop a toolbox talk for staff in property services and arrange for it to be
rolled out to fstaff that visit properties that are tenanted
Liaise with Decent Homes contractors to ensure they have arrangements in
place for their staff and sub contractors
Develop a programe of awareness raising sessions to all services that visit
peope at home
Issues all service areas with a supply of shoe covers and put procedures in
place to order further supplies
Jane Brough /
Kate Curry
Aug 2014
Oct 2014
Oct 2014
Nov 2014
May 2015
Explore trends arising from the Equality and Diversity
Annual Performance Framework 2013 and 2014
Improve employees use of foot covers in tenants
homes to consider cultural and faith needs
•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop a Financial Inclusion Strategy
Ensure vulnerable customers are prepared and
supported through the transition to Universal Credit
(UC)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Scope the remit of the strategy with STC and partners
Undertake consultation with tenants and stakeholders
Develop a draft strategy
Consult on the draft Strategy
Present to the delivery committee for approval
Launch the strategy and promote to staff and customers
•
•
Liaise with the DWP about requirements
Develop internal processes and procedures to ensure customers receive
appropriate support
Train staff on internal processes and procedures
Implement processes and procedures to coincide with launch of UC
Evaluate effectiveness of arrangements and report to project group
•
•
•
Aug 2014
Julie Crammon
Oct 2014
Dec 2014
Feb 2015
Feb 2015
Mark Johns
Mar 2015
Mar 2015
Hannah
Shepherd
Aug 2014
Sep 2014
Nov 2014
Jan 2015
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
Mar 2015
Sep 2015
Hannah
Shepherd
Dec 2015
Jan 2016
July 2016
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Objective 3: Have effective arrangements in place for involvement and partnership working
Ref.
Issue
Possible Actions
Improve the organisations approach to collecting
satisfaction data
• Review Survey requirements and frequency
• Develop a list of reports required on a regular basis
• Develop reports for different service areas breaking down results into
customer profile types
• Improve sampling and target surveys to under-represented groups
• Develop a template to simplify the data for managers
• Ensue survey results are easily accessed by employees
• Explore online completion of surveys and make recommendations to SMT
Work with Gentoo to improve the organisations
approach to LGBT equality
• Invite Gentoo to the Rainbow Forum to share best practive/experience
• Identify areas of good practice that could be transferred to ST Homes
• Work with Gentoo to share experiences on completing the self assessment
and identify areas where we could improve
Continue to identify opportunities to work with and
engage with the LGBT Community
• Ensure STH are represented at Newcastle and Sunderland Pride
• Work with LGBT North East to measure progress and engage with the
community
• Work with the LGBT Federation and other housing providers to assess
progress since reports in 2010 and 2013.
Develop a Mystery Shopping plan and schedule with
under-represented groups
Improve the representation of people involved in the
involvement framework
• Identify the groups of tenants that are under represented
• Identify community groups or partner agencies to identify possible mystery
shopping activities
• Develop a plan of mystery shopping
• Undertake mystery shopping
• Report the outcome of the exercises to the scrutiny group
• Analyse the profile of people involved
• Target promotion and communications about opportunities to underrepresented groups, organisations that support them and specific tenants
via information on Capita Open Housing
• Brief employees to assist with identifying and promoting involvement
activities to people they meet
• Review the effectiveness of promotions and develop further actions
Lead Officer
Date
Jun 2014
Jun 2014
Jun 2014
Graham Priestly
Jul 2014
Oct 2014
Dec 2014
Aug 2015
Mark Johns
Mark Johns
Apr 2014
May 2014
Jul 2014
Sep 2014/
15/16/17
Mar 2016
Jan 2017
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
Nichola
Stephenson
Apr 2015
Jul 2015
Apr 2016
Sep 2014
Apr 2015
Nicola
Stephenson
Apr 2015
Apr 2016
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Objective 4: Provides excellent levels of customer care and access
Ref.
Issue
Possible Actions
Improve the availability and reliability of text SMS as
a contact option for all services
• Identify provider for new telephony system which includes texting as an
option
• Set up text prefix for all service areas or develop a central text facility
• Identify mailboxes where service texts will be sent to
• Develop procedures for responding to texts across the organisation
• Ensure permissions are in place with tenants/ leaseholders that allow us to
send texts to them
• Launch text service
Develop a DVD for people with learning disabilities
on accessing the Home Finder Service
Improve accessibility of Information on fuel poverty
and energy efficiency
•
•
•
•
•
Liaise with a local partner
Develop a script and content
Film DVD and include subtitles
Distribute to Learning Disability organisations
Make available on our website
• Explore more accessible communications options for information, e.g.
different formats, audio, DVD, etc
• Improve information on the website
Lead Officer
Date
Jul 2014
Larry Mulligan /
Elaine Wallace
Dec 2014
Dec 2014
Jan 2015
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
Mark Johns
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
Jun 2014
Sep 2014
Sep 2014
Dec 2014
Nick Huston
Dec 2014
•
•
•
•
•
Secure Funding from the HCA
Develop a comprehensive plan of works to the schemes eligible for funding
Undertake works to the schemes
Provide dementia training to Housing Plus Officers
Work with Sunderland University to assess the impact of the initiative
•
•
•
•
Develop course content
Pilot course with young people
Review and update course content based on feedback
Identify the most appropriate way of enabling young people to access
course and promote an annual programme to tenants
Mark Johns
Supply mini customer care packs to staff that
undertake mobile working in tenants homes
• Update the customer care packs to include colour overlay cards
• Supply staff that are undertaking mobile working with mini customer care
packs
Mark Johns
Aug 2014
Aug 2015
Improve access to written communication for those
tenants that are visually impaired and require
information in large print
• Identify the number of tenants that require large and extra large print
• Source appropriate sheet magnifiers and send to tenants identified as
having a large print communication need
Mark Johns
Sept 2014
Nov 2015
Undertake capital works to housing plus schemes to
improve access for people with dementia
Develop a training course for young people to help
them to sustain their first tenancy
Simon Mercer
Apr 2014
April 2014
July 2014
Sept 2014
Apr 2015
Jun 2014
Jul 2014
Aug 2014
Sep 2014
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Improve access to interpreting services for speakers
of other languages
• Work with community groups to raise awareness of interpreting provision
• Improve visibility of availability in customer access points
• Update training to front line staff on using interpreting facilities
Improve OT’s, Home Finder and CLO knowledge of
Blind/Visually Impaired people to consider in their
roles
•
•
•
•
Develop and deliver customer service training to all
staff
Review process for raising repairs through BT and
STH call centre operatives to ensure specific
requirements/needs are forwarded to planners in
advance of the job
Review our website to improve accessibility
Improve direct debit arrangements to make it easier
and more flexible for tenants to pay their rent
Develop scope of the training
Identify partner to deliver training
Deliver training to OT’s
Review effectiveness of the training
Provide a report to SMT providing a training outline
Identify and approach suitable training providers
Agree preferred training provider
Develop course content
Deliver training to all staff
Evaluate and monitor the training
• Review processes and systems for raising repairs with BTST and our Call
Centre
• Review repairs planners processes to ensure they can respond to the needs
of particular tenants
• Train repair operatives on the use of support services such as loop systems,
language line, BSL interpreters, etc
Mark Johns
Jan 2015
Jan 2015
Mar 2015
Margaret Hore /
Mark Johns
Sep 2014
Oct 2014
Jan 2015
Jun 2015
Elaine Wallace
May 2014
July 2014
July 2014
Aug 2015
Mar 2015
Sep 2015
Sep 2014
Dave Melia
Nov 2014
Feb 2015
• Review Access arrangements and functionality and make recommendations
for improvement
• Implement new access features to the website
• Amend the webs pages to improve accessibility for mobile devices
Larry Mulligan
• Implement new direct debit software
• Train staff on the use of the software
• Go live with paperless direct debit
Larry Mulligan
Mar 2015
Jun 2015
Jun 2015
Jun 2014
July 2014
Aug 2014
Objective 5: Have an effective approach to hate crime, harassment and anti social behaviour
Ref.
Issue
Possible Actions
Improve data collection on Anti Social Behaviour
incidents from South Tyneside Council
• Update ASB data collection processes to include tenants personal details
• Develop quarterly reporting on profile of victim and perpetrators and send to
Corporate equality group
Raise awareness Hate Incident reporting procedures
• Annually report hate incidents figures to the Corporate Equality Group
Lead Officer
Date
Liz McKivitt
April 2014
July 2014
Graeme Littlewood
April 2015/
16/17
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Work with South Tyneside Council to identify how
STH’s ongoing work can contribute to our
Community Cohesion activities
• Report on the promotion that has taken place with LGBT, Transgender,
Disabled, Faith and Ethnic community groups and individuals
• Explore if there are under reporting issues
• Promote positive outcomes from reporting incidents
• Identify activities that are taking place across STC
• Ensure STH contributes to wider activities in the borough
Review warning markers held on IBS and improve
consistency of use
• Review current system for recording risk of harm markers
• Update procedure/ guidance for employees on risk of harm markers
• Implement revised system for risk of harm markers
Develop intergenerational initiatives and activities
• Develop initiatives with young and old people to improve cohesion and
improve older people’s confidence in young people, help alleviate fear of
crime, etc.
• Identify opportunities to partner with South Tyneside Council and other
partners
June 2015
Mark Johns
Liz McKivitt
June 2015
June 2015
Feb 2015
Mar 2015
Aug 2015
Oct 2015
Nov 2015
Sep 2015
Jane Brough/Kate
Curry
Sep 2015
Develop an allotment project to improve cohesion
between older people, disabled people and younger
people
• Identify partners
• Work with the Green Spaces Officer to identify a site
• Work with all parties to develop the scheme and activities to improve
understanding and foster good relations
Develop a promotional campaign in Housing Plus
Schemes that positively raises awareness of same
sex older couples and the company’s position on
unacceptable language/treatment
• Develop a poster campaign
• Train Housing Plus staff on lesbian, gay and bisexual awareness and
potential issues older people face
• Raise awareness with Older Persons service user group
• Implement poster one
• Implement poster two
• Implement poster three
• Evaluate the effectiveness and report to the corporate equality group
Jane Brough/
Kate Curry/ Mark
Johns
Map intergenerational activities taking place between
Primary and Secondary School and identify areas
where new activities could be developed
• Map activities already being undertaken
• Identify gaps
• Work with Housing Plus schemes that do not have activities to develop long
term relationships with local schools
Jane Brough/
Kate Curry/ Mark
Johns
Nick Huston
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
May 2014
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
Objective 6: Has a modern and diverse workforce and whose recruitment, selection and training
processes are positive about equality
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
July 2014
Jan 2015
Aug 2015
Aug 2014
Oct 2014
Mar 2015
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Ref.
Issue
Actions
Undertake re-assessment against IIP
• Undertake a mini analysis with IIP
• Identify areas for improvement and develop an action plan to improve
under-performing areas
• Undertake an onsite assessment of our status
Autism Training for front line staff
Develop a programme of training for managers and
staff on managing stress and mental health first aid
Review Pregnancy/Maternity Policy
Build on the learning disability work placement
scheme
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Review flexible working and non-standard contracts
for property service operatives to improve flexibility
for property services staff
Develop and deliver a programme of health MOTs to
all staff
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify providers
Identify staff to target for training
Design course content with staff
Deliver training
Evaluate training
Identify a training provider
Deliver stress in the workplace training
Deliver building staff resilience to stress training
Deliver Managers managing stress training
Identify Mental Health First Aiders
Deliver Mental Health First Aid training
Develop a corporate approach to Stress Risk Assessment
Implement the HSE Management Competency Toolkit for Mental Health
Evaluate the effectiveness of the training
Update the advice on sickness absence
Explore the possibility of introducing paid breaks for breastfeeding
Provide more information in the policy about the support that is available
Develop work experience opportunities for young people undertaking level
one qualifications
Identify opportunities to extend work placements to internships and
apprenticeships and report to the Corporate Equality Group/SMT
Amend flexi-time policy
Analyse peak working time in each service area
Identify staff for pilot of flexible working and seasonally adjusted working
hours
Identify ways of recording working time
Rollout flexitime and seasonal working trials
Rollout flexi-time system and new contracts in Property Services
Identify requirements of health MOTs
Purchase equipment
Lead Officer
Anthony O’Hara
Date
Mar 2015
Apr 2015
Jun 2015
Anthony O’Hara
July 2014
July 2014
Sep 2014
Apr 2015
Jun 2015
Anthony O’Hara /
Deb Kelly
Sep 2014
Sep 2014
Sep 2015
Sep 2015
Sep 2015
Nov 2015
May 2016
May 2016
Sep 2016
Paul Brennan
Mar 2017
Mar 2017
Mar 2017
Mark Johns
Sep 2015
Apr 2016
Paul Brennan
Apr 2015
Jul 2015
Apr 2016
Aug 2016
Dec 2016
Mar 2017
Deb Kelly
Apr 2016
May 2016
Equality Scheme 2014 - 2018
Review the health care provision for staff
Achieve mindful employer status
Abbreviation Key
BSL – British Sign Language
CLO – Customer Liaison Officer
DWP – Department for Work and Pensions
EIA – Equality Impact Assessments
HCA – Homes and Communities Agency
LGBT – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
OT – Occupational Therapist
SHEF – Social Housing Equality Framework
STC – South Tyneside Council
STH – South Tyneside Homes
SMT – Senior Management Team
WEI – Workplace Equality Index
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Set up a screening programme
Promote health MOTs to staff
Evaluate effectiveness and report to Health and Wellbeing Group
Identify new suppliers and send a tender document out
Assess suppliers tenders and identify preferred supplier
Liaise with preferred supplier about implementation
Launch scheme with staff
Evaluate Scheme and report to Health and Wellbeing Group
Undertake a gap analysis against the requirements of the framework
Develop an action plan
Organise and undertake and external assessment
Communicate the outcome to staff
Jul 2016
Sep 2016
Nov 2017
Deb Kelly
Apr 2014
Apr 2014
May 2014
June 2014
Aug 2015
Deb Kelly
Jun 2016
Jul 2016
Nov 2016
Dec 2016