Equality Impact Assessments: Measuring Impact and Driving Change Lucy Ambrozejczyk Service Improvement Officer Hafod 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? Create Assessment Team; Staff and Tenants Identify aims and activities to be assessed Identify the impact of your decision on the people who use your service Initial Screeening Gather related Internal Performance Data (stats from surveys, complaints, consultation feedback etc.) Gather external data, good practice, case studies etc. to see what is happening around you Assessing Impact Assessment discuss the data document and its impact Identify what improvements need to be made Construct an action plan timetable to complete actions Publish results and feedback Outcomes, Action Plan, Reporting

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

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