LOCAL HOUSING STRATEGIES - MAINSTREAMING EQUALITY
As part of the development process for the production of a local housing strategy or the updating of current documentation we expect to see equality issues embedded throughout the document. To help staff who are responsible for the production of local housing strategies the following guidance has been prepared. It includes:
Introduction to Equalities
When we talk about equality groups we generally mean young and older people; women, men; black and minority ethnic people (including refugees, migrant workers and Gypsies/Travellers); people of different faiths and beliefs; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; and disabled people (including those with mental health issues and learning disabilities). For the Scottish Government this falls into six headings, Age, Disability, Gender, Race, Religion and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) ,
Different authorities will have different community profiles and some groups may be more prevalent in some areas more than others. For example Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have more people from Minority Ethnic communities than the rest of Scotland. Similarly some groups are more visible than others. For example actual numbers of LGBT people are not known, but it is safe to assume they will be some presence across all areas in Scotland. While again these numbers may be more concentrated in cities we shouldn't assume this group won't be represented in rural areas.
Organisations are expected to mainstream the culture of equality in all aspects of their service delivery and planning. This includes housing advice, homelessness, procurement, new build and refurbishment, specialist housing services, housing management services, allocations and private sector housing.
Mainstreaming is about systematically considering equality and diversity at all stages, and in all aspects of the organisation's activities. This means everyone in the organisation is responsible for incorporating equality principals in their day to day activities. Ultimately mainstreaming equalities is about building in, rather than bolting on at the end.
Back to top
Steps to integrate/incorporate equalities
In order to know what actions may be required Local Authorities should, for all equality strands:
- assess local needs through research and evaluation;
- consult with relevant groups and organisations on the findings and potential actions;
- plan actions and allocate resources;
- monitor and evaluate outcomes to assist with future planning and evidence gathering; and
- have carried out Equality Impact Assessments for all relevant policies and strategies and should demonstrate in the local housing strategy where this has happened and what actions have flowed through.
In bringing together the document as a whole, the local authority should put in place meaningful partnerships with organisations and groups so that consultation is effective and relevant. There are a number of guidance links on community engagement in the useful links section.
In preparing updates it is important to note where a positive impact against the six strands has been made. Monitoring and evaluation is an important tool in measuring the effectiveness of actions and planning future actions.
There is a legislative requirement on all public authorities to carry out Equality Impact Assessments (EQIA) on all policies and function (including strategies) which are highly relevant to the legal equality duties. The test questions for whether a function is highly relevant are "does the policy affect people?" and if so "does it have the potential to impact on different people in different ways?" At the moment the legal requirements are to complete Race, Gender and Disability Impact Assessments. However, in the interests of efficiency and fairness, many organisations are completing Equality Impact Assessments across all six strands as one exercise.
The results of any EQIAs you have undertaken will help channel actions from other areas and documents into the local housing strategy. The EQIA focuses on assessing and recording the likely equalities impact of any policy or function by assessing the potential impact on different groups of people. Impact Assessment Toolkits are available and involve anticipating the consequences of policies or functions on relevant groups and making sure that, as far as possible, any negative consequences are eliminated or minimised and opportunities for promoting equality are maximised, by:
- taking account of the needs, circumstances and experiences of those who are affected;
- identifying actual and potential inequalities in outcomes;
- considering other ways of achieving the aims of your policy in order to minimise or remove any possible adverse impact.
Points to consider:
- mainstream equalities issues throughout the document;
- demonstrate effective and meaningful engagement with equalities groups / consultative bodies;
- invest in making sustainable links with those groups who are under represented in the community;
- show evidence of partnering with equalities groups, including the delivery of outcomes;
- promote positive attitudes through your actions. Actions speak louder than words;
- provide good quality information on needs at equality strand level. Or include actions to gather this information;
- include the development of robust monitoring and review systems on equality related actions - it is likely you will have more information for some groups than others;
- integrate EQIA action points from associated strategies and plans, e.g. homeless strategy, community plan, allocations policy etc;
- action plan at strand level and include resources and staffing requirements;
- ensure that staff are trained in equal opportunities; and
- produce the local housing strategy in accessible formats including, the offer to translate into different languages, larger text sizes, audio and Braille versions.
Back to top
Details of the Legislation
Code of Practice on Racial Equality in Housing 2006
While there have been improvements for some ethnic minority groups significant differences still persist overall in the type and quality of housing available to people from ethnic minorities. Statistically across Britain this group are more likely to live in inferior housing, be more dissatisfied with their homes, be more anxious to move and have fewer opportunities to do so, than people from other groups.
The aims of the new Housing Code of Practice are to:
- set standards for achieving racial equality;
- provide practical guidance that will help organisations and individuals involved in all areas of housing to avoid unlawful racial discrimination and harassment, promote equal opportunities for all and encourage good race relations; and
- make sure that anyone who is considering taking a legal case, or who has concerns about the way decisions on housing matters have been made, understands the legislation, their rights, and what constitutes good practice in the field of housing.
Under The Housing Code of Practice, Local Authorities in preparing Local Housing Strategies are asked to consider:
- Has the organisation carried out an assessment of housing need and demand? Does the organisation's assessment of housing need and demand reflect the differing needs of all racial groups, including recent arrivals, in the area? Are these reflected in its strategic plans? Failure to do this could amount to indirect discrimination.
- Does the organisation have procedures for considering people's preferences for certain areas, and the implications of particular religious or cultural practices for design, when developing house building programmes?
- Is the housing organisation able to meet diverse needs? For example, does its housing stock include properties with four or more bedrooms that would be suitable for larger families, a frequent requirement of some particular ethnic groups? Have any design modifications needed in order to meet religious or cultural requirements been made?
- Housing organisations should conduct satisfaction surveys, among other methods to gather qualitative evidence. From these they will learn what residents, tenants, applicants for housing and related services, and others in the community, think of their policies and services. They can then use the responses to evaluate their strategy for promoting racial equality. If the results show that people from particular racial groups are less satisfied with their services, the organisation should explore the reasons and take appropriate action.
- Housing organisations (especially those providing social housing) should make sure all their information and communication systems - telephone, written, Web based or face-to-face - are accessible to people from the different racial groups who live in the communities they serve.
- Housing organisations should make arrangements for consulting people from different racial groups in the area they serve. They should also make sure there is some representation from these groups included in steering groups or partnerships.
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 2005
Local Authorities need to take into account the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005. In April 2005 a new Disability Discrimination Act was passed by Parliament, which amends or extends existing provisions in the DDA 1995.
This includes introducing a set of positive general duties which require public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. The general duty for disability states that public authorities must have due regard, when carrying out their functions, to the need to
a) eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Act;
b) eliminate harassment of disabled persons that is related to their disability;
c) promote equality of opportunity between disabled persons and other persons;
d) take steps to take account of disabled persons' disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled people more favourably than other persons;
e) promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons; and
f) encourage participation by disabled persons in public life.
This requires public bodies to tackle disability discrimination by including equality for disabled people within the culture of public authorities in practical and demonstrable ways. It also includes the need to promote positive attitudes and to ensure the involvement of disabled people, which goes further than simple consultation.
In drawing up the local housing strategy, local authorities should demonstrate that needs have been researched, supportive and meaningful involvement has occurred and actions have been identified. The local housing strategy should also include measures to be undertaken to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these actions for disabled people.
EQUALITY ACT 2006
The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and introduced the Gender Equality Duty. The general duty for gender states that public authorities must have due regard, when carrying out their functions, to the need to:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment; and
- promote equality of opportunity between women and men.
The duty places the legal responsibility on public authorities to positively demonstrate that they treat men and women fairly.
Back to top
USEFUL LINKS
Mainstreaming Equalities
Scottish Government - Equalities
Scottish Government - Mainstreaming Equalities Web Site (MEWS)
Scottish Government - Mainstreaming Equalities Toolkit
Scottish Government - Information and introduction to mainstreaming equalities into research and policy on housing and regeneration
Equality and Human Rights Commission web site
Scottish Civic Forum - Mainstreaming Equalities
Improvement and Development Agency Equality and Diversity section
Community Engagement
The Scottish Centre for Regeneration's 'How to' Guide for Community Engagement contains useful material including toolkits, research and guidance on how to effectively engage communities. In particular it has information and help on how to engage equalities groups and is updated regularly with new material. There is also a secondary piece of guidance in the how to guide, on how to engage with minority ethnic communities
Community Engagement and Assessing Minority Ethnic Housing Needs Report by ODS
The Scottish Government has produced guidance on community learning and development, called Working and Learning Together to Build Stronger Communities.
Learning Connection's Same Difference resource, is an online guide for people working in community learning and development. It offers guidance and support to help you work effectively and confidently with equalities groups -
Evidence
Scottish Government - Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland Survey
Back to top
Examples of Good Practice
Young People
The Renfrewshire local housing strategy has a commitment to work with the Youth Housing Forum in order to develop a strategy to provide enhanced accommodation for young people. A dedicated Youth Development Co-ordinator has been recruited to work with young homeless people, providing support and housing advice. Similar commitments have been made in East Lothian which will engage with the youth forum and youth parliament to ensure that the views of young people are reflected in the local housing strategy. In Angus personal housing plans are being developed to ensure that young homeless people have access to appropriate housing support services in order to maintain their tenancy.
Older people
Angus and Dumfries and Galloway produced their local housing strategy in partnership with older people. Both local housing strategies demonstrated a commitment to engaging older people by consulting with representative organisations and an elderly forum.
Disabled people
A consultation event was held with the Disability network in Dundee and physically disabled people were consulted on the development of a Community Care Housing Strategy in Aberdeen. Renfrewshire and Dundee produced their local housing strategies in partnership with a representative learning disability body. The Renfrew Association for Mental Health was engaged in the development of the local housing strategy throughout the process as were the Tayside Association for the Deaf.
Women
East Renfrewshire and Dundee developed their local housing strategies in partnership with the local Women's Aid.
Gypsies / Travellers
The Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross local housing strategies carried out substantial research by conducting a Gypsies/Travellers Housing Needs Assessment, carried out as part of the local housing strategy development process. In addition to this, the Perth and Kinross LHS has developed an action plan to respond to the issues highlighted by the 2002 Communities Scotland Thematic Study of Services for Gypsies/Travelling People.
The Stirling local housing strategy highlights a multidisciplinary liaison group that works closely with Gypsies/Travellers to discuss issues important to site residents, as well as the needs of those Gypsies/Travellers who have chosen to settle permanently in social rented accommodation.
The Midlothian Gypsies/Traveller Forum is comprised of representatives from the Council's Housing department, Health Service, Police, Education, the site manager and Save the Children. The Forum was highlighted as a good example of joint working by the Scottish Executive in the April 2005 Scotland's Health on the Web (SHOW) newsletter. The Forum has offered training and awareness sessions for staff in local organisations in order to enable them gain a better understanding of the issues and to meet the needs of Gypsies/Travellers. The Forum provides information to Gypsies/Travellers on how they can access local services.
Ethnic Minorities
Two interesting approaches have been developed in relation to addressing the housing needs of ethnic minority communities. The Angus local housing strategy has established a BME Housing Need Action Initiative, which is a joint initiative between Angus Council and Dundee City Council to share experience and good practice. Whilst the East Renfrewshire local housing strategy reports on an ethnic minority housing outreach project which employs an outreach worker to build links with minority ethnic communities, deliver housing advice to communities and assist people in finding solutions to their housing problems. The project was recently highlighted as good practice in the Council's Housing Service Inspection by Communities Scotland.
Asylum Seekers
The Glasgow local housing strategy provides basic information on the number of flats available for asylum seekers and contains an action to adopt a multi agency approach to meeting the needs of asylum seekers. The 2005 update offers more detailed information on where asylum seekers are housed in the city.
Faith
East Renfrewshire's local housing strategy provides basic information relating to the number of people living in the authority that are from a Jewish background. In addition the LHS was developed in partnerships with Glasgow Jewish Housing Association and Jewish Care.
Back to top