equality impact assessments: measuring impact and driving change lucy ambrozejczyk service...
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Equality Impact Assessments:Measuring Impact and Driving Change
Lucy AmbrozejczykService Improvement OfficerHafod Housing Association
Hafod’s Approach to Equality Monitoring
• Tenant Profiling• Equality Strategy• Impact Assessments• STAR Survey work with PC Groups• Regulatory requirements• Equality Monitoring of Service Areas• Tailored Services• Warning Codes
Hafod’s Approach to Equality Monitoring
• Who do we report these findings to?– Board– Finance and
Performance Committee– Staff– Tenants
• We conduct these reports and exercises either quarterly, 6 monthly or annually
Why Equality Impact Assessments?
• 2010 Equality Act – we wanted to change• New legislation coming into effect• Evaluation of Internal Service Reviews• We wanted to make our services more
inclusive and accessible to tenants• Area of improvement brought up in HARA Self
Assessment feedback
Why Equality Impact Assessments?
• We needed a process that would give tenants and staff an opportunity to shape the policies
• Identify any adverse impacts of services on protected groups
• Create policies and services that advance equal opportunities for our tenants
Why Equality Impact Assessments?
• We worked closely with Tai Pawb to develop specific templates to gather information to help identify outcomes we wanted to achieve
• The assessment is split into 3 more manageable stages
How did we do it?
Don’t get scared by the amount of work – its worth it in the end!
Where are we now?
• We have completed the assessment for our ASB Service
• We are currently scheduling full assessments for the following areas; o Income o Maintenance o Housing Management o Community Investment o General Policies
What did we find?
• The process “lifted the lid” on how our service impacts our tenants
• We have had to re-write policies to fit new legislation
• Procedures changed to make our service more accessible to protected groups
What have we achieved?• Improved policies• Staff awareness
improved• More collaborative
approach• Better feedback from
tenants of protected groups
Outcomes achieved for customers
We place the people who want to use our services at the heart of our work – putting the citizen first
• We know our current and potential service users and tailor our services and activities accordingly.
• We encourage and support early tenant and service user involvement in shaping our services, reviewing our performance and developing our plans for the future.
• We make it easy for people to understand what to expect from our services and how to access them.
• We communicate information and advice in an appropriate, timely, effective manner, readily understood by the communities we serve
How does this fit with other Equality and Diversity Work?
• Breaking down responses from each performance survey by protected group to see if there are any trends
• Following up with dissatisfied customers to see if there is any discriminatory treatment (direct or indirect)
• Identify any training needs required for staff to provide inclusive services
How does this fit with other Equality and Diversity Work?
• Senior Management Team and Managing Director buy in to the process; provides accountability for implementing agreed actions
• Provide a template to review any new service or policy before it is implemented
• Opens up the opportunity for services users of any background to have a voice
ANY QUESTIONS??
