equality and diversity strategy

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Equality and Diversity Strategy and Action Plan June 2015

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1 Foreword from our Chair and Chief Executive At Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) we want to enable positive living for people in our homes and neighbourhoods. This reflects our purpose to improve council homes and the city, helping customers to reach their potential and providing additional support when they need it. This means providing services that are accessible, inclusive and delivered fairly. Put simply, diversity at YHN is not optional; it is part of everything we do. We are proud of our achievements and that these have been recognised. In 2011 we achieved ‘Excellence’ in the Social Housing Equality Framework and we remain in the Top Stonewall Workplace Equality Index. We’re also responding to the equality and diversity needs of our workforce and have established four staff network groups, which are the Multi-Cultural Staff Network Group, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Staff Network Group, the Allies Staff Network Group and the Disabled Staff Network Group. This strategy looks at what we need to do next, setting out our priorities to mainstream equality and diversity within every activity undertaken by individuals and teams within YHN. It will help us meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, which set out our statutory duties and nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, and sexual orientation. It helps us build on our achievements and go beyond legislation and advance equality of opportunity for all. 2. Purpose This strategy and the actions contained within it describe how we will meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010. It is a public declaration of our commitment to encourage, value and manage diversity as an employer and service provider. It sets out our commitment to providing equality for all and sets out how we, at YHN, plan to meet the duties placed on us by equality and diversity legislation and to follow best practice in all that we do: including employing our staff, providing services and being engaged with our local communities here in Newcastle upon Tyne. 3. Local context Our priorities must be informed by an appreciation of the characteristics of both our customer base and the wider demographic context of the city in which we deliver our services. This enables us to compare ourselves against the population of Newcastle upon Tyne. We use census data from 2011 and the Newcastle Future Needs Assessment (NFNA) in order to establish representation against specific demographic criteria to take appropriate action to ensure that we have a representative workforce and customer population, and to more broadly understand the needs of communities within the city. Newcastle upon Tyne is home to approximately 282,500 people and the latest ONS projections suggest the population will grow steadily to around 291,800 by 2016, and to 298,700 by 2030. Analysis of recent census data for the city and the NFNA tells us

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the following areas are most significant in terms of the representativeness of our customer population and our workforce:

Over 80% of people in Newcastle describe themselves as White British. This compares to 79% of tenants living in the homes we manage and 92% in our workforce;

Just over half of Newcastle residents describe themselves as Christian. This compares to 39% of tenants living in the homes we manage and 52% in our workforce;

18.7% of Newcastle residents have a long term health problem or disability This compares to 14% of tenants living in the homes we manage and 6% in our workforce, and

People aged 65 and over account for 14% of the Newcastle population. This compares to 26% of tenants living in the homes we manage.

For some people with a protected characteristic, outlined earlier, there are limitations to the available data. In terms of sexual orientation it is estimated that between 13,500 and 18,900 people in living in Newcastle would feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation as Lesbian, Gay or Bi-sexual. This number is based on government estimates of between 5 and 7 percent of the population, which Stonewall believe is a reasonable estimate. There is no official data available on the number of transgender people living in Newcastle. 4. Commitment to Equality and Diversity We are committed to providing the best possible services and to:

Being inclusive, accessible and fair in the way we design and deliver our services;

Treating everyone with respect at all times;

Creating an environment in which individual differences and the contributions of all our staff are recognised and valued and where no form of intimidation, bullying or harassment will be tolerated;

Eliminating unlawful discrimination;

Advancing equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and those who don’t, and

Fostering good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who don’t.

5. Reason for an Equality and Diversity Strategy We recognise that we operate in an increasingly diverse city and that we need to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively. A new equality and diversity strategy will help to ensure that customers and staff are valued, motivated and treated fairly. We also believe that the implementation of this strategy supports us to make the most of our resources and deliver value for money. We use our equality and diversity cycle which covers the way we deliver services and operate as an employer and we need to ensure that we work within this and avoid discrimination.

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6. Public Sector Duties included in the Equality and Diversity Strategy 6.1 Scope of the Strategy As a public body we are required to meet certain statutory duties as set out in the Equality Act 2010. The purpose of the statutory duty is to assist public bodies to tackle persistent and long standing issues of disadvantage. In line with the Act we are committed to:

Eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;

Advancing equality of opportunity between different groups, and

Fostering good relationships between different groups.

We publish information demonstrating our compliance twice a year and we use the Social Housing Equality Framework as the mechanism for monitoring progress in equality and diversity.

Under the Act we are required to publish equality objectives at least every four years. Our new equality objectives were developed following consultation and were agreed by our Board in November 2014. These are:

1. A modern and diverse workforce and an organisational culture that values and cultivates diversity;

2. Know who our customers are and provide responsive, flexible services 3. Remain in touch with our staff and customers by listening to and learning from

them;

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4. Embed equality and diversity across YHN, promote understanding and the added value this brings to the organisation; and

5. Better use of our influence and profile to make a positive difference.

These objectives will enable us to focus on outcomes, measuring and reporting on the impact of our work.

6.2 Equality Analysis

To demonstrate due regard for equality, we conduct an Equality Analysis on all new and reviewed strategies and policies. This helps us to identify and remove discrimination and to identify ways to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people. Where an Equality Analysis identifies a potential improvement, positive changes will be made. Our policy and guidance on Equality Analysis are published on the Equality and Diversity intranet site.

6.3 Responsibility for the Equality and Diversity Strategy and Action Plan

Our Chief Executive and Chair have ultimate responsibility for the implementation of this strategy and ensuring that the actions set out in this strategy are carried out;

Head of Business Strategy has responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of the action plan;

Heads of Service and all Managers are responsible for ensuring that this strategy is implemented and maintained within their own services and teams, they will be held to account through quarterly Service Health Checks conducted by our Management Team. They will ensure that all staff are fully informed about their responsibilities and receive the right training and support in carrying them out; taking appropriate action where the standards which we have set are not met; and

All staff have a responsibility to ensure that their actions comply with the requirements of this strategy, namely to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations between people of different groups.

6.4 Consultation and Involvement

In developing this strategy we have used:

Tenant feedback from the Survey of Tenants and Residents (STAR);

Current information about staff;

Current information about customers and their take up of our services;

Information from consultation with staff and customers carried out during the last year including with trade unions and Staff Network Groups;

Feedback from Finance and Resources Committee; and

Information from a series of ‘Know your Customers’ impact assessment workshops carried out with all our services.

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7. Monitoring and review This strategy will be reviewed in line with the establishment of the new Management Agreement with Newcastle City Council in 2016. The action plan will be reviewed and updated more frequently to ensure we are on target and that we can respond as new issues arise.

Strategy owner Head of Business Strategy

Strategy approval Approved by Board March 2015

Effective date April 2015

Review date April 2016

8. Equality and Diversity Commitment into Action In addition to the consultation outlined above our action plan has been formed through self-assessment against our internal framework, a series of ‘knowing your customers’ impact assessment workshops and an audit of progress against our current Equality and Diversity Action Plan. This document sets out our key priorities over the term of the Equality and Diversity Strategy focussing on those activities which we believe will make the biggest difference to our customers and our staff. The strategy is underpinned by an operational action plan (attached as Appendix 1) which details the activities, responsibilities and timescales which our staff will deliver against. The action plan has been developed using four foundations. These are:

1. Equality and Diversity framework; 2. Social Housing Equality Framework; 3. Equality Objectives and Outcomes; and 4. Specific actions needed to achieve our desired outcomes.

The action plan comprises a range of different actions. Some of the actions we will undertake on a regular basis in order to embed equality and diversity in everything that that we do. Some actions are new or one off activities; these actions are very specific and seek to address known issues and improve outcomes for the group affected Other actions are included to enable us to better understand issues so we can develop specific actions that will make the most difference. Not all protected characteristics will necessarily have an action related to them and some actions are designed to meet the needs of all of our customers and staff. We will hold managers to account for their operational actions and improve through a

system of quarterly Service Health Checks conducted by our Management Team.

These will ensure that customer profiling information is discussed and associated

actions and outcomes are reviewed with services. The results of these checks will be

reported to Committee and Board.

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Equality Objective 1:

A modern and diverse workforce and an organisational culture that values and

cultivates diversity

We recognise the benefits of a diverse and representative workforce. A workforce that is drawn from different racial, educational and social backgrounds means that we do not all think and behave in the same way. These differences encourage creativity and innovation.

We want to have a workforce that better reflects the diversity of the communities living in Newcastle upon Tyne. Achieving this will support us to meet our goals and to sustain a skilled and committed workforce. We have analysed the demographic characteristics of people applying for jobs YHN; this told us that using online recruitment is more accessible to a wider selection of the population that is actively seeking work. We want to build on this and further embed a culture of inclusiveness. Involving and learning from our people helps everyone at YHN to reach their potential and to be themselves in the workplace; it improves the services we provide and contributes to us delivering on all of our objectives.

How we will achieve this objective:

Delivering appropriate training to colleagues at all levels of the organisation so that everyone is able to understand and respond to differing needs of colleagues and customers and to address known gaps in the skills and knowledge of our staff. We will achieve this through a range of methods including e-learning packages and face-to-face training;

Continuing to support Staff Network Groups and encouraging colleagues to take part in them by recognising individuals commitment in one to ones and appraisals; and

Fostering a culture of inclusion by promoting good practice, setting clear expectations and visibly tackling behaviours that are unacceptable and discriminatory.

We will measure our success by:

1. The makeup of the workforce; 2. Evidence of training outcomes for different groups; 3. Employee relations outcomes for different groups; 4. Internal promotions and make up of staff at different levels of the organisation; 5. Average pay for different groups; 6. Staff engagement for different groups; 7. Staff confidence in reporting bullying and harassment; and 8. Monitoring available workforce data against the protected characteristics for:

a. Promotion b. Unsatisfactory performance / capability c. Discipline and grievances d. Flexible working

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Know who our customers are and provide responsive, flexible services

Whilst we have good quality information on the needs of people living in the homes we manage, we know that there is more that we can do to improve the way that we collect and use it to respond to issues. Delivering this strategy and regularly holding services to account enables us to achieve greater understanding of the similarities and differences of our customers and ensures that we are proactive in flexing our services to respond to need.

We will achieve this objective by:

Increasing customer data in those categories where we hold the least information about our customers;

Refining the data in those categories where we know it will make the most difference to the way that we deliver services;

Increasing the number of customers and staff who feel comfortable telling us about themselves;

Driving consistency in the way that all services utilise customer profiling information to deliver responsive services;

Implementing specific actions to address known inequality of outcomes in the delivery of our services

Using all customer satisfaction data collected to identify and undertake targeted work with underrepresented groups; and

Holding service managers to account for ensuring that actions to address equality issues in their service are implemented.


1. Regularly scrutinising the accuracy of customer profile information held and by individual services (focusing on priority areas);

2. Demonstrable evidence of information being used to tailor service delivery through clear and consistent examples in reports to boards, committees and staff;

3. Analysing customer satisfaction across different groups; and 4. Improving service performance measures these will vary by service and will

be built into Service Plans.

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Remain in touch with our staff and customers by listening to and learning from them

Engaging with our customers is intrinsic to achieving our purpose of enabling positive living for people in our homes and neighbourhoods.

We have a strong track record in involving customers, recognising that they are well connected with their communities and enabling them to influence and scrutinise the decisions that we take. However, we know too that that we have some way to go to engage with those communities who do not yet know about us or consider us as a landlord or employer of choice. Success in this area is dependent on engaging with community groups and leaders and creating more opportunities to open conversations, improve links and build relationships so that we can identify the barriers and solutions to some people accessing our services.

We have established four staff led network groups, which bring together people from across the business. We will build on these, positively responding to requests to set up additional groups which support colleagues to get the maximum benefit from working at YHN. We are keen to learn from where we have not yet got it right. We seek to target our activities, engaging with communities and staff who we know have not yet had the opportunity to access or influence the way that we deliver services.


Undertaking targeted engagement with community groups who can act as a sounding board, critical friend and consultation / promotion mechanisms;

Developing and improving the perception within diverse communities of how accessible YHN services are;

Demonstrating our understanding of the issues raised and undertaking actions to address these (updating our action plan as information is available to us);

Improving our use of the information available to us about staff and customers to improve equality of outcomes in service delivery;

Implementing the use of online surveys with customers using the Tyne and Wear Homes website to capture satisfaction rates and identify any gaps in service provision.


1. Staff engagement and satisfaction across different groups; 2. Inclusive range of involvement opportunities offered to meet diverse needs; 3. Make up of customers that have been involved in influencing our services and

key decisions; 4. Evidence of the impact that customer insight and feedback has had on key

decisions and service delivery; and 5. Satisfaction with engagement opportunities across different groups.

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Equality Objective 4

Embed equality and diversity across YHN, promote understanding and the added value this brings to the organisation

We are committed to improving the homes we manage for the City Council, Leazes Homes and Byker Community Trust and to helping their tenants to reach their potential. To achieve this requires leadership and a commitment to embedding equality and diversity across our business so that we drive the provision of services that are accessible, inclusive and delivered fairly.

To ensure that we achieve our aims it is important that we demonstrate and measure our commitment and the difference that equality and diversity makes to YHN. We use an equality analysis tool to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion issues are considered when drawing up policies or proposals that affect the delivery of our services and in our employment practices. These allow us to check how we are doing and review how our decisions impact on the possible outcomes for different customer and employee groups.


Publishing and promoting a new Equality and Diversity Strategy;

Undertaking and publishing annually Equality Analyses of all strategies, policies and service reviews ensuring that all colleagues follow the guidelines for completion;

Retaining excellence level in SHEF accreditation;

Improving our ranking of 98 in the 2014 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index; and

Taking part in the Housing Diversity Network Mentoring Scheme.


1. Demonstrating the use of equality information in our business planning process and ensuring that resources are effectively targeted;

2. Evidencing that equality impact considerations are part of all key decision making at YHN and undertake an annual audit of equality analysis as part of our strategy and policy planning process; and

3. Improved service performance (measures will vary by services) and are incorporated into Service Plans.

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Equality Objective 5

Better use of our influence and profile to make a positive difference

As an employer and service provider in Newcastle upon Tyne we recognise the positive impact that we can have. We will ensure that advancing equality and diversity is central to how we conduct our business and how others do so that are working on our behalf. Going further, we will use our position and influence to embed the promotion of equality; demonstrating leadership and working in partnership with organisations across the city to improve the quality of life for our customers.

How we will achieve this objective:

Consulting with community groups and other partners on the design, delivery and evaluation of our biennial equality and diversity event. The next event is planned for autumn 2015;

Using this equality and diversity event to build relationships to increase our understanding of the people and neighbourhoods we work with. This will help us to foster good relations and balance diverse and sometimes conflicting interests between communities;

Attending or sponsoring local events e.g. Northern Pride, Newcastle Mela; and

Encouraging diverse communities into employment with an emphasis on construction where we know some communities are significantly underrepresented.

We will measure success by: 1. Diversity in our work with partners and contractors delivering services on our behalf; 2. Satisfaction with neighbourhood across different groups; 3. Sense of belonging to neighbourhood across different groups; and 4. Showing that our contractors and suppliers have met our expectations and are compliant with the Equality Act 2010.

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Appendix 1: Action Plan

Equality Objective 1: A modern and diverse workforce and an organisational culture that values and cultivates diversity

Outcome measurements for this objective are:

1. Make up of the workforce;

2. Evidence of training outcomes for different groups;

3. Employee Relations outcomes for different groups;

4. Internal promotions and make up of staff at different levels of the organisation;

5. Average pay for different groups;

6. Staff engagement across different groups; and

7. Staff confidence in reporting bullying and harassment.

Action Outcome Measure

Service Lead Responsibility

Target Date

Deliver an equality and diversity training and development programme that meet the needs of different levels of staff and with a target of 90% attendance or completion. Our priorities are:

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HR Strategic HR Manager / Head of Strategy

Ongoing

To deliver people management workshops to improve manager confidence and competence in key areas

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager / Head of Strategy / All Heads of Service

By Apr 2015

Train managers to ensure they are provided with the skills to use Manager Self Service (MSS) to better understand their sickness absence data by

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager By Apr 2015

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accessing reports themselves

Deliver Unconscious Bias training to support us to recognise and address hidden preferences

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager / Head of Business Strategy

By Nov 2015

To deliver the Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friend training to enable staff to sensitively support customers with dementia

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager / All Heads of Service

May 2015

To deliver learning and development plans for YHN Board members, to incorporate equality and diversity

2 Governance Company

Secretary / Strategic HR Manager

April 2015

To adapt the dyslexia toolkit, currently used by the Young People’s Service, and roll this out to support apprentices and Your Homes Your Jobs trainees

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager April 2015

To enable managers to use Learning Management System (LMS) (or similar) to identify who within their team has / hasn’t attended training and to monitor renewals and refreshes

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager / All Heads of Service

Ongoing

Undertake refresher training from ARCH to support us to deliver refugee move on services

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager July 2015

Training on the ‘Big Word’ interpreting service to enable staff to improve communication with our customers

2 HR Strategic HR

Manager July 2015

Establish links with Newcastle University ‘Institute for Ageing and Vitality’ to ensure that we can access

2 Corporate / Business

All Heads of Service

June 2015

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information and innovations that support us to deliver age inclusive services

Strategy

Use workforce demographic information to:

Establish the levels of over representation of men in employee relations casework, cross referencing these results with the employee opinion survey and agreeing appropriate actions where identified

Establish if YHN displays workplace gender bias in specific services and identify appropriate actions to address this

Consider the needs and start raising awareness of

multiple identities within the workplace utilising

existing Staff Network Groups to lead on this work

All HR / Business Strategy

Strategic HR Manager / Head of Business Strategy / Staff Network Groups

July 2015 and ongoing

Improve outcomes in recruitment and the development of

disabled, LGBT and BME people including:

Outreach programme at local schools /

colleges recruitment days and with

community organisations to raise awareness

of and promote YHN as an employer of

choice

Delivering a workshop to senior managers to

improve their understanding of the barriers

which BME and LGBT people face in

recruitment, retention and progression at

YHN




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Evaluate the impact which the Straight Allies group has had on improving YHN as a workplace for LGBT people

3 Business Strategy / Straight Allies Group

Head of Business Strategy

October 2015

Continue to support Staff Network Groups (SNG),

developing job descriptions for Chairs and a plan that

supports them to undertake their role and to act as

principal consultation channels for our business

2,3,4 All SNG Chairs / Head of Business Strategy

April 2015 and ongoing

Incorporate recruitment, retention and progression of

people from the protected characteristics into the work

plans for Staff Network Groups, using them as a conduit

for internal progression




Deliver a comprehensive and informative Equality and

Diversity calendar comprising a minimum of twelve events

/ activities per year and including video screenings,

intranet promotion and social media participation relating

to national and international days and events

All Business Strategy / Staff Network Groups

Head of Strategy / Staff Network Group Chairs

April 2015 andongoing

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Equality Objective 2 - Know who our customers are and provide responsive, flexible services

The outcome indicators for this objective are:

1. Increase and maintain accuracy of customer profile information held and by individual services (focusing on priority areas);

2. Demonstrable evidence of information being used to tailor service delivery through clear and consistent examples in reports to Board and Committees;

3. Customer satisfaction across different groups; and

4. Improved service performance, measures will vary by service and are incorporated into Service Plans.

Action

Outcome Measure


Target Date

We will collect an additional 25% information about tenants living in the homes we manage across each of the categories of: disability, religion and belief and sexual orientation

1 Corporate / Business Strategy


Mar 2016

We will collect 10% information about tenants living in the homes we manage for each of the categories of: gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership

1 Corporate / Business Strategy


Mar 2016

We want our customers and staff to feel comfortable telling us about themselves and we will:

Increase the % of staff who have declared their: o Ethnicity to 99% o Sexual orientation to 88% o Religion to 92%

1, 2 Business Strategy / Strategic HR

Head of Business Strategy / Strategic HR Manager

Mar 2016

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Increase the % of tenants who have declared their:

o Ethnicity to 95% o Sexual orientation to 66.25% o Religion to 83.75% o Disability type to 78.75

Utilise all customer satisfaction data collected to identify and undertake targeted work with underrepresented groups

All Corporate/

Business Strategy


Oct 2015

Implement regular Service Health Checks, conducted by our Management Team, to ensure that customer profiling information is discussed and associated actions and outcomes are reviewed with services on a quarterly basis

2,3,4 Corporate / Business Strategy


Established April 2015 and ongoing thereafter

Implement the following actions to address known equality issues in our services:

Black and LGB customers are overrepresented in our arrears process and we will take action to bring this level of overrepresentation back in line with the overall tenant population

Income and Tenancy / Business Strategy Team

Head of Income and Tenancy Management / Head of Business Strategy

Apr 2015 and ongoing thereafter

Undertake additional analysis of customers who have walked away from or ended their tenancy following a notice of seeking possession being issued. We already know that single white men are more likely to fall into this group. Further analysis will identify if any of the protected characteristics are over or underrepresented within this group and if we need to tailor our approach to tackling

2,3,4 Income and Tenancy / Support and Care

Head of Income and Tenancy Management / Head of Support and Care

June 2015

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arrears where any imbalance is found

In response to growing levels of poverty within the city we will undertake analysis of customers to identify tenants who are at increased risk of not sustaining their tenancies because they are also experiencing increasing poverty

2, 3 Support and Care / Business Strategy

Head of Support and Care

Dec 2015

We will develop a database for the Concierge Service to capture customers’ needs and preferences. This will enable us to respond to individuals needs and deliver better block-wide communications

3,4 Support and Care / Business Strategy

Head of Support and Care

Dec 2015

We will increase the number of bids, for sheltered homes, from non-white British applicants from 8.5% to 15%, bringing our tenant population more in line with that of the city. We will talk to non-white British people, individually and through community organisations to understand why they do not currently access our sheltered accommodation

2,3,4 Corporate / Business Strategy

Head of Business Strategy / Head of Support and Care

Mar 2016

We will digitally include customers by:

Providing digital training to 80 customers through the Your Homes Your Jobs programme

Recruiting 20 Champions through a pilot digital inclusion project; their role will include engaging with an additional 100 customers

Providing free Wi-Fi and digital support in the communal areas of sheltered accommodation blocks will enable 350 residents to be digitally included

2,3 Information Technology / Business Strategy

Head of IT / Head of Business Strategy

March 2016

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Delivering an 8 week training course to 10 young people living in Jubilee Court to coincide with the installation of Wi –Fi in this block

Engaging at least 10 tenants from each of the 23 high rise blocks that will have Wi-Fi installed in the communal areas

Consult with customers and community organisations about the digital inclusion needs of customers:

o Connectivity o Skills and confidence o Current usage

This will further inform our implementation plan for our approach to digital inclusion

1,2 Information Technology / Business Strategy Team

Head of IT / Head of Strategy

May 2015

Gain a broader understanding of issues which may lead to older or disabled people not accessing our NFS services by working with the Elders Council and Disability North

2 Income and Tenancy

Head of Business Services

Jul 2015

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Equality Objective 3: Remain in touch with our staff and customers by listening to and learning from them

Outcome measurements for this objective:

1. Staff engagement and percentage of staff that feel they can influence decisions across different groups;

2. Inclusive range of involvement opportunities offered to meet diverse needs;

3. Make up of customers that have been involved in influencing our services and key decisions;

4. Evidence of the impact that customer insight and feedback has had on key decisions and service delivery; and

5. Satisfaction with engagement opportunities across different groups are incorporated into Service Plans.



Target Date

We will undertake targeted engagement with community groups who we can use as a sounding board, critical friend and consultation / promotion mechanisms on issues identified through the regular Service Health Checks

2,3,4,5 Business Strategy


June 2015

Promote our Staff Network Groups by strengthening the information on them available to staff through induction, appraisal and one to one procedures; the intranet and more widely through a range of mechanisms including outside of YHN House

1 Corporate All Heads of Service / Strategic HR Manager / Staff Network Groups

April 2015 onwards

Support Staff Network Groups:

To develop governance frameworks

To set annual work plans

1 Business Strategy / Staff Network Groups

Head of Business Strategy / Chairs of Staff Network Groups

Sept 2015

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To support or deliver 9 events during the year

Develop and improve the perception within diverse communities of how accessible YHN services are by:

Engaging with 12 community groups

Undertaking 5 outreach sessions in schools to improve participation in apprenticeships and to promote YHN as an employer of choice to young people

Attending 10 community events to improve engagement and increase the numbers and diversity of customers accessing YHN services (indicators will vary by individual services and will be incorporated into Service Plans)

Demonstrating understanding of the issues raised and undertake actions to address these (updating this plan as information becomes available to us)



Mar 2016

At the start of every regeneration scheme we will assess the demographic data, internal data, census / population and other information ensuring that that we use this in planning and carrying out works

2,3,4,5 Assets and Regeneration

Head of Assets and Regeneration

April 2015

Implement the use of online surveys with customers using the Tyne and Wear Homes website to capture satisfaction rates and identify any gaps in service provision

2,3,4,5 Housing Options

Head of Housing Options

Sept 2015

We will develop simple guidance on translations and interpreters; this will improve translation services for customers and address the evidence found during the Understanding your Customers workshops that some staff were not equipped to use the current service


Head of Strategy March 2016

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Equality and Diversity Action Plan 2015 - 2016

Equality Objective 4 - Embed equality and diversity across YHN, promote understanding and the added value this brings to the organisation Outcome measurements for this objective are:

1. Equality information used as a mainstream part of business planning to ensure resources are effectively targeted;

2. Equality impact considerations are clearly evidenced as part of all organisational key decisions, and

3. Improved service performance measures will vary by service and are incorporated into Service Plans.



Target Date

Publish and promote a new Equality and Diversity Strategy and Action Plan.

All Business Strategy


Apr 2015

Host a series of events for senior managers. These will include:

Business benefits and organisational strategy on diversity and inclusion;

Challenging discrimination within teams; and

Sensitively handling complaints of homophobic and biphobic bullying and harassment

1,3 HR / Business Strategy

Strategic HR Manager / Head of Strategy

Beginning June 2015

Hold Managers to account through a system of Service Health Checks conducted by our Management Team with the outcomes of these being reported to Committee and Board

All Business Strategy


Quarterly beginning July 2015

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Publish data demonstrating our compliance with our equality objectives twice yearly this exceeds the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty

2 Business Strategy


Apr 2015

November 2015

Undertake and publish annually Equality Analyses of all strategies, policies and service reviews ensuring that all colleagues follow the guidelines for completion

2 Corporate All Heads of

Service Ongoing

Retain excellence level in SHEF accreditation All

Business Strategy


August 2015

Improve our position in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and resubmit for 2015/16

All Business Strategy / LGBT Staff network group

Head of Business Strategy / LGBT SNG

Feb 2015 & Sept 2015

Evaluate the impact of the LGB and BME mentoring scheme and apply learning

3 HR Strategic HR

Manager Sept 2015

Participate in the Housing Diversity Network Mentoring Scheme

1,2 Business Strategy


Oct 2015

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Equality Objective 5 - Better use of our influence and profile to make a positive difference

Outcome measurements for this objective are:

1. Diversity in our work with partners and contractors delivering services on our behalf;

2. Satisfaction with neighbourhood across different groups;

3. Sense of belonging to neighbourhood across different groups; and

4. Showing that our contractors and suppliers have met our expectations and are compliant with the Equality Act 2010.



Target Date

Set up and grow relationships with GPs and other health and social care professionals to promote the preventative services offered by CCAS e.g. epilepsy monitors for young people which we currently only supply to older people

1 CCAS Head of Support and Care

Ongoing

We will consult with community groups and other partners on the design, delivery and evaluation of our biennial equality and diversity event. The next event will take place in autumn 2015



September 2015

We will use the equality and diversity event to build relationships to increase our understanding of the people and neighbourhoods we work with. This will help us to foster good relations and balance diverse and sometimes conflicting interests between communities



May 2015

Undertake joint working between technical services and employability service to understand our role in encouraging more diverse communities into construction

1, 4 Technical Services

Technical Services Manager

Jul 2015

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Ensure that the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with NCC for HR/OD covers reporting on employee relations(discipline/grievance/ capability)

1, 4 HR

Strategic HR Manager

April 2015

Attend or sponsor local events, e.g. Northern Pride, Newcastle Mela

2, 3 Business Strategy


Ongoing during 2015/16

Continue to support positive equality outcomes for all when

procuring goods, works and services and further support our suppliers to improve their equality and diversity by

Offering our equality and diversity training to appropriate suppliers who do not have their own training packages;

Share best practice and policy; and

Improving and updating the information on our website

1,4 Chief Executive

Head of Development and Procurement

Ongoing during 2015/16

equality and diversity strategy

Documents