Equality Objectives

2012-2015

One of our core values is to ensure we respect our customers and one another in terms of respecting the dignity of individuals, communities and partners we work with.

In partnership with our customers, we have developed our objectives around the priorities of the Medway area.

The development of these objectives took place in early 2012 and included consultation with customers, stakeholders and the mhs management group.

Below we have listed our objectives in bold alongside some of the ways in which we have been working towards achieving them.

SHEF (Social Housing Equality Framework)

• Achieve equality excellence through successful implementation of the Social Housing Equality Framework

The Equality Framework is a tool used by the Local Government Association to ensure social housing providers consider equality and diversity in all aspects of their work. The Framework has 3 levels, Developing, Achieving and Excellence. As part of our journey towards excellence, we have asked to be assessed against the Achieving level in March 2013.

Promote

• Promote diversity across the mhs group workforce, governance and engagement structures so that it is reflective of communities in the Medway area

We have looked at the details of who our involved customers are and understand that we have an under representation in younger customers. We are now taking a number of steps to ensure that we capture the views on how we deliver our services to younger people. We are also summarising the details all our customers to ensure we treat them equally according to their needs and are able to access our services as easily as possible.

We have profiled our staff and compared this against the profile of wider Medway. Whilst our workforce is largely reflective of the community we serve, this means we can target our Apprentice Work Scheme in any areas where gaps have been identified.

Access

• Promote access and provide responsive housing services that meet individual needs

We continue to collect profiling information on all our customers’ individual needs. This information is used to shape our services. An example of how this works is being able to inform our repairs operatives that a person with a mobility disability may take longer to answer the door.

Estate profiles of our areas have been produced to breakdown information for neighbourhood areas. This means we are able to target our work in areas of most need. An example of this is being able to provide residents with initiatives on how to get back into work and information on Welfare Reform in areas where there is higher unemployment.

Communicate

• Strengthen communication with our customers and staff in order to promote understanding on issues of diversity, improve service outcomes and address disadvantage among and between different communities

Our communications, such as mhs news, promotes equality and diversity on a regular basis and highlights regional and national issues that our customers are facing.

We raise awareness of national celebrations such as Black History Month, LGBT History Month and International Disability Day to our staff and customers to help promote understanding and respect to all members of our society.

Educate

• Identify and address the learning and development needs of our engaged customers and staff in order to understand to build capacity and improve service performance

In order for our staff and involved customers to be able to carry out their duties in an effective way, it is important they are able to understand the communities and issues customers face to provide accessible services.

All our staff receive training on equality and diversity and customer care. Our involved customers such as our Customer Scrutiny Panel have been trained to ensure they give consideration to equality issues when they undertake a service review.