Tower Hamlets Homes Diversity Peer Challenge Alima Qureshi Cllr Tony Newman Stuart Long 10 June

The Challenge Designed to assess Tower Hamlets Homes’ own self assessment Not an inspection but an external assessment by critical friends

The challenge The equality framework for accreditation as an achieving ALMO focuses on 5 themes: knowing your communities and equality mapping place shaping, leadership, partnership and organisational commitment community engagement and satisfaction responsive services and customer care modern and diverse workforce

Quotes of the week I am allowed to make decisions and take risks We have got more to give. I have been here 20 years. The difference in the last two years is immeasurable Nice working environment, friendly, helpful colleagues, valued for my contribution to the team They don’t love us but they recognise that things are getting better In general young people’s views are being heard

Quotes of the week They need to practice what they preach in terms of equalities statement We need to embed more some of the new ideas and initiatives Bengali community is under represented in the working groups. THH needs to be more proactive to seek their views THH needs to stand still long enough to listen

The detail……………………

Leadership, partnership and organisational commitment strengths: Open door leadership approach – valued by staff and residents Clear commitment from the Board to maintain the momentum A commitment to partnership working Taken lead on ASB across the partnership (Housing Forum) THH journey – zero to two stars Clearly articulated equalities objectives which cascade through the architecture of strategies and business plans Clear performance management at Board and service levels Equalities objectives clearly communicated to staff Innovation Forum – but... EqIAs have a good standard....

Leadership, partnership and organisational commitment areas for consideration: … but EqIAs need to be consistent in quality across all services (devolve responsibility) Lack of tenant scrutiny – this will take time to develop Empowering tenants to ensure greater representation on the Board How can you escalate your key equalities priorities (eg overcrowding) onto a ‘place based’ level, enlisting commitment from all partners (eg LBTH, RSLs, Developers, Health)

knowing your customers and equality mapping strengths: Range of techniques to collect data involving partners (eg Look Ahead) ‘Getting to know you’; and ‘know before you go’ Succinct and comparative information about neighbourhoods (neighbourhood at a glance) Robust analysis of equalities data (rent arrears, improved access, women leavers)

knowing your communities and equality mapping areas for consideration: Gaps in the equalities profiling (eg sexual orientation, religion and belief data, and category ‘other’) Incomplete equalities data (leaseholders) – but high awareness and business critical indicator More consistent use of the equalities data to inform residents (eg website)

customer engagement and satisfaction strengths: Range of means for residents to get involved in the business, eg Service Improvement Groups Diversity Working Group has been a driver for change Accessible customer services centre; designed in consultation with residents Good membership of the ‘Get Involved’ register Funding external organisations to support and engage with residents (eg Account 3, Oscar, Limehouse Project) Twinning staff with neighbourhoods

customer engagement and satisfaction areas for consideration: Maximise all opportunities to engage with communities Residents don’t feel involved at more strategic levels (eg service planning, neighbourhood management) Repeat of ‘the usual suspects’ on several panels – increase numbers What are the outcomes of resident involvement activities? Communicate these to create confidence and a reinforcing loop.

responsive services and customer care strengths: Vulnerability Strategy Homophobic stickers - quickly dealt with Use of pictorial cards Decent Homes pilot to plan £130m investment Work with partners to address issues within neighbourhoods (eg Bromley-by-Bow centre) Overcrowding tool kit

responsive services and customer care areas for consideration: Building better relationships with customers (will take time) Consistently apply policy within equalities practice (holistic) Evidence more outcomes (route to excellence)

modern and diverse workforce strengths: Elsie, Meena and the road shows E-learning tailored to suit your own Commitment and specific programmes to make the workforce more reflective of the community, particularly at senior level Flexible working scheme Emerging culture change Monitoring impact of E&D training and using this to develop training programme further

modern and diverse workforce areas for consideration: How can you increase the confidence of staff to report on sexual orientation? Consider the training needed to get you to ‘excellent’ – shift from basics to ‘rich conversations’ Evidence outcomes on recruitment of women and BME staff at senior level, and communicate widely More diverse workforce for particular areas of work (eg Caretakers)

Overall conclusion

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S Tower Hamlets Homes has completed a satisfactory self assessment against the criteria for an achieving ALMO as set out in the Equality Framework for Social Housing