Single Equality Scheme
Progress Housing Group is committed to equality and diversity for all people, and constantly works to ensure that it treats people with respect and delivers services appropriate to individual need. This document will set out our definitions and commitment to delivering fair and equitable treatment to all customers, staff and stakeholders and will inform our policy and operational delivery.
Scope of this scheme
For the purpose of this scheme it will include all the activities of Progress Housing Group (and it subsidiaries) as an employer, a landlord, a supplier of services to third parties and shall encompass those who are contracted to supply or provide services on behalf of the Group.
Progress Housing Group’s vision is ‘to be the housing provider of choice’.
To achieve our vision we have identified the following values, which underpin everything we do:
Respecting and valuing people
Being open, fair, ethical and accountable
Leading by example and inspiring others
Being innovative and inventive
Having passion and commitment in all that we do
Delivering quality and value in our services
Being responsive to customers, neighbourhoods and communities
- Being operationally excellent and continually improving
Group’s aims
- Putting customers are the heart of the business
- Serve local communities
- Provide excellent services
- Continue to grow the organisation to meet housing need
- Build and even stronger organisation
The Group welcomes the introduction of the Equality and Human Rights Act and believes that this will support us in achieving our vision and corporate aims as we seek to deliver our commitment to promoting a fairer and more equitable society as set out in our corporate and social responsibility statement, and links to, and supports the delivery of, the Group’s overarching Equality and Diversity Policy.
Our approach
We will concentrate on achieving the following outcomes:
Making our own services more inclusive
Making housing more accessible
Making sure that we consult on our proposals and that outcomes meet the needs of those we serve
To build the Group’s knowledge and expertise over time and to use this to improve our services
Involvement
We will seek to directly involve service users and staff in development and delivery of this scheme and its associated action plan.
Evidence
Wherever possible (whilst respecting an individual’s right to privacy and data protection legislation) we will gather and use evidence to give us a clear picture of how we are performing in line with the nine equality strands and delivering the outcomes for service users and stakeholders.
We will continue to gather information through surveys and research.We will work with other agencies where we think that joint data collection will help us to get the evidence we need. To inform and monitor outcomes, we will review the information we have gathered on a regular basis and reflect this back through our policy cycle to make sure that the priorities are properly considered.
We will set targets across all service and employment areas and report regularly to Board on our performance towards these targets.
Impact
We will assess the impact of our policies and practices on all groups that have an identified protected characteristic.
We have developed an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) methodology and toolkit to test our major policies and service delivery.This includes an assessment against each of the protected characteristics and will support the Group in developing inclusive services that are accessible to all.As part of this approach we will consult directly with tenants groups to provide feedback on and develop our policies and procedures in a way that supports our aim of putting customers at the heart of the business.
We will work towards a position where we can carry out impact assessments as part of our mainstream policy development and service delivery process.
We will also continue to collect information on the impact of our work on our customers through research and surveys.
Existing initiatives
The Group will amalgamate the information it holds from existing initiatives along with the actions that are currently ongoing into this Single Equality Scheme. This will ensure we build upon the work already undertaken whilst ensuring the continued development of initiatives that will support the equal and fair treatment of all who are in contact with the Group, together with the provision of high quality service that meet their needs.
The key components of our scheme are:
Our vision
This document sets out the overall framework and the Group’s approach to equality and human rights.
Evidence base
The evidence base summarises the range of evidence that we have considered to inform decisions on our strategic priorities and activities outlined in our action plan. Demographic and other data will be used by the Group to set its targets, benchmark its service delivery and support the analysis of our equality impact assessments, so that the Group can ensure that it delivers its services in a fair and equitable way and does not either favour or disadvantage any section of society particularly those who have a protected characteristic.
Action plan
Our action plan provides details of actions the Group will take to turn our aspirations into a reality and achieve our objective in relation to equality and human rights. This will be a living document which will be used to review our achievements and report on our progress.
Monitoring and review
The Group and subsidiary boards will set annual targets for their areas of operation relating to equality and human rights to ensure that the outcomes that this equality scheme seeks to achieve are realised. All board will receive quarterly information on the targets set within their balanced scorecard and these will be published to tenants via regular tenants’ newsletters and via the tenants section of the Group’s website. The Group board will conduct at least an annual review of our progress against the actions identified within the action plan and identify new actions as required.
