Equality and Diversity Commitments

To ensure we achieve this we will set ourselves challenging tasks every year and report back on how we have done.

How did we do on last year’s commitments?

	We said we would…	We achieved
Communication Aids	Continue to promote the availability of equipment to aid communications e.g. magnifiers, yellow overlays and audio documents etc.	We issued over 400 pieces of assistive equipment to our customers to aid better communications.  We will continue to provide this kit free of charge.
Knowing our customers	Review the profile of residents to ensure accuracy of information, to enable a better, more tailored service.	We continue to work on a Resident Census which is being delayed so it doesn’t clash with the National Census on 21 March 2021.  We plan for the resident census to start in the latter half of 2021.
Listening and learning	Analyse customer feedback by personal characteristics, so we can be sure everyone we serve is treated the same, regardless of their background.	Analysis of resident satisfaction and feedback has been taking place and as a result we have set up resident groups from diverse backgrounds to help us ensure we get equally positive results, regardless of background.
Improving bespoke services	Establish a Resident Disability Group.	We have established a Resident Disability Group and a BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic) Resident Group to help us understand and improve our services to those groups.
Working together	Ensure we promote our job roles to all sections of the communities by working with trusted agencies and networks.	We have established links with local community organisations and JobCentre Plus to promote roles.  We will continue to engage with community groups in the coming years.
Further eduction	We would become a Level 2 Disability Confident employer.	This qualification has been achieved.

This year we aim to do the following:

• Evaluate options for external accreditation for the Group to ensure we are objectively tested as being inclusive.
• Continue to promote our diversity related services e.g. grants, inclusive equipment.
• Recruit diverse tenants onto our Customer Voice Group.
• Recruit and train more diverse future Board members for Together Housing and the wider housing sector.
• Become a Leader in Disability Confident which is an externally accredited assessment on our recruitment, retention and support of disabled staff.