Equality and housing update
A lot has happened on the housing equality scene recently. Rather than writing on one subject we decided to provide readers with some information on a number of areas of work we have engaged with lately. We like to stay in touch with our partners, so if anyone feels like getting involved in the workstreams below or would simply like to share their views, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Equality and procurement guide
Tai Pawb in partnership with i2i, CIH Cymru and Morgan Cole has just published a short guide to equality in procurement for social housing providers. The guide features information on legal requirements and best practice that can be used to embed equality and deliver social and community benefits through using the procurement process. The guide can be accessed on Tai Pawb website.
Accessible housing
The Housing White Paper made a clear committment to accessible housing registers. The Welsh Government stated that it will encourage their development in each local authority area in Wales, although we are yet to hear the details of how this will be done. We in Tai Pawb support this committment as we are more than well aware of the vast difficulties faced by many disabled people in finding and securing homes appropriate to their needs. There is also a clear business argument to be had here, a good matching service can save time and money by avoiding costly adaptations, mapping need and informing future housing developments.
There are two pieces of work in which we have been involved which can help housing providers develop appropriate accessible housing services:
• Latest research from Welsh Government: Accessible Social Housing – Review of Systems for Assessment, Recording and Matching. Tai Pawb had the pleasure of sitting on the steering group for this report. It is available online.
• Our latest practical equality in housing seminar, Accessible Housing: A Step beyond Matching, featured a range of speakers who either co-ordinate or are otherwise involved in accessible housing registers. If you want practical tips on how to run accessible housing registers, check out presentations from the seminar available on Tai Pawb website (News section). Alternatively you can always phone us for some advice.
Immigration checks
UK Government recently consulted on its proposals related to immigration and private rented sector. Under the proposed policies, every private landlord would have to check eligibility to stay in the UK for each prospective tenant. Housing irregular migrants would lead to fines. Tai Pawb and partner organisations have asked the Welsh Government whether and how these proposals would be introduced in Wales (as immigration is not devolved but housing policy is) and encouraged politicians to do the same. We have also suggested ways in which the Welsh Government could mitigate against possible discriminatory consequences of these proposals. If you want to know more, contact matthew@taipawb.orgor phone Tai Pawb.
Hate crime
Too many people in Wales are still victims of hate crime because of who they are. Recently, it is worrying to have seen numerous reports of Islamophobic attacks on individuals and mosques.
– Welsh Government is currently consulting on the Framework for Action on Hate Crime. We would encourage all social housing providers to respond to the consultation individually or through contributing to our response. We worked with the Welsh Government as part of task and finish group, which worked on the framework.
– You can also find out more on how social housing providers tackle hate crime in Wales and what we could do better by reading a report we worked on, alongside Shelter Cymru. Hate Incidents in Social Rented Housing is on the news section of the Tai Pawb website.
– We have been invited to be part of pilot hate crime MARAC development group
lead by Dyfed Powys Police. The aim of the group is to use multi-agency risk assessment conference model, so far used to tackle serious domestic violence and to adapt it to tackle hate crime. Please contact us to find out more.
Welsh Housing Equality Network
As a result of member feedback and further need to debate and share good practice in equality in housing we are currently working on developing a Welsh Housing Equality Network which Tai Pawb would like to facilitate. We hope that the network will provide our members with an opportunity to exchange knowledge, experiences and good practice on issues related to equality in housing as well as influence the work of Tai Pawb. We will be inviting members to the first meeting soon! To find out more contact matthew@taipawb.org
Toolkits – equal outcomes and equality impact assessments
At the beginning of the year we published evidencing equal outcomes in Social Lettings Toolkit (available on our website – news and members sections). We are currently working on two further equal outcomes toolkits focusing on equality aspects of customer care and repairs and maintenance.
The toolkits can help social landlords mainstream equality considerations as part of their business improvement and self-assessment processes. Our steering group of RSLs helps us develop the toolkits – if you would like to be part of the group, do not hesitate to get in touch!
Creating Homes 2013
Last but not least – we held our first Creating Homes 2013 annual event on the October 16. The event featured lively debate and plenty of practical workshops on current equality in housing issues as well as a case law update on services and employment. It also featured a taster session Equality: What Boards Need to Know which can be a first step in addressing the findings of recent governance review. To find out more, visit our website.
Alicja Zalesinska, Director, Tai Pawb, alicja@taipawb.org
For more information on how Tai Pawb can help your organisation with customer profiling or equality impact assessments, contact us at info@taipawb.orgor 029 2053 7630. Twitter: @TaiPawb