After 25 years of WHQ and 10 years of Tai Pawb, where are we on race equality? asks Alicja Zalesinska
‘Welsh housing providers are under pressure to turn race equality pledges into action.’ Ten years ago that headline announced the arrival of a new and first of its kind BME housing organisation on the Welsh housing scene.
The organisation was homeless (based in Taff Housing), had no name and was still deciding upon a clear remit but despite its modest beginnings it was definitely ambitious and aware of the significance of its role, which was strengthened by a strong commitment and support from the then Welsh Assembly Government.
The initial remit was race equality, and although since 2010 we have expanded our remit to all equality strands and our work in all areas is extremely important, I thought it would be useful to give some consideration to race issues in this article.
At the point of being set up Tai Pawb was responding to a variety of race equality issues, but ten years on, are we still dealing with the same challenges?
PROMOTING RACE EQUALITY
One of the problems ten years ago was a reluctance from non-urban areas with low ethnic diversity to acknowledge the need to promote race equality. This is partly still a challenge now. As housing organisations are becoming more responsive to the power of statistics, it is sometimes hard to convince them that equitable access to housing and related services is often more difficult in low diversity areas, due to isolation, lack of support structures, staff awareness and ready made solutions. On the other hand, Tai Pawb’s focus on this issue has proven important, at least in those non-diverse areas that have seen a big surge in migration and BME population since 2005. We have also seen good practice in areas without any significant increase in population that can be attributed to equality in housing becoming a more natural part of the role.
CULTURALLY SENSITIVE
One of the questions posed to Tai Pawb ten years ago was whether housing services would become more culturally sensitive or there would be a need for a BME housing association in Wales to cater for this group. Ten years on we know that many organisations and their staff have become much more aware of BME issues, but it is still difficult to evidence what effect this has had on the experiences of BME people. We are hoping that this evidence gap will be addressed as our members are focusing on investigating and addressing the equality impact and outcomes of their activities for diverse groups. Over the years and more recently, the regulator has played a
key role in driving this agenda forward and as much as this has brought uncomfortable news for some of our members, we have seen renewed focus and effort to challenge and address inequalities in housing.
As to the question of more culturally sensitive services or separate services, we have definitely seen a drive towards mainstreaming and integration rather than separate BME housing provision, although in some cases separate provision was developed for specific groups and has been successful due to the complexity of their needs (for example BAWSO refuges or a few BME older people’s schemes). In general, mainstreaming has become the accepted norm and this has also been reflected in the drive away from a national BME strategy and action plan in the Welsh Government in favour of including this and other equality issues in the general national strategy. As much as there have been real advantages to this approach, we would still like to see more focus and attention given to all equality issues as part of the national housing strategy, legislation and action plans.
Ten years ago, inequitable access to housing and related services, poorer housing conditions and prejudice experienced by BME people were seen to be inextricably linked with poverty, disadvantage and harassment. Now we know that they are not only linked but that any of these issues can cause another. Relative poverty and isolation of some BME groups can lead to poorer housing conditions, but on the other hand, poorer housing conditions definitely increase the chances of living in poverty.
COMPLEX SOLUTIONS
We now understand more that complex issues require complex solutions and many issues are still there. We have, for example, seen an increase in BME homelessness and a resurgence of anti- immigration and islamophobic views. BME people (and other groups) are still underrepresented in governance and leadership positions and there is a real threat that access to housing and housing conditions in the future will not be perceived as part of basic human rights, as the proposals for scrapping Human Rights Act are underway.
As our membership has grown over the years from zero to over 80 members, so has our awareness of the above issues and our ability to assist housing organisations in unpicking and addressing such complex matters. What is certain is that we need to address all of these issues and work with other sectors.
But as our understanding increases, we need to be careful not to focus entirely on ‘bureaucratic’ and legally driven approaches to promoting equality. Tai Pawb and our members need to put as much effort into changing and challenging attitudes, behaviours, hearts and minds. This dual role is a big part of Tai Pawb today,
Alicja Zalesinska is director of Tai Pawb. For more information contact info@ taipawb.org or 02920 2053 7630