Organisations such as ours have both a service-led and a moral obligation to respond to the wide social diversity in contemporary society and to reflect this in our own organisational culture. We must ensure that our policies and practice achieve this.

The Housing Corporation leads a sector which provides services to the most disadvantaged sections of the community. Housing Association households contain higher than average proportions of people who experience discrimination and other social disadvantage. In fact, direct or indirect discrimination in the housing or job market may be one of the reasons why they required the assistance of Housing Associations in the first place. The main groups include: people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities; lesbians, gay men, bi-sexual people and people who identify as trans-gender; households headed by women (especially lone parents); people with disabilities; older people; people with HIV/AIDS; people with learning difficulties; people with mental health issues; people suffering from alcohol or substance abuse; ex-offenders; people in contact with the criminal justice services; those experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse.

In addition to fulfilling our statutory responsibility to promote equality of opportunity in all our activities, the Housing Corporation is committed to developing an organisational culture which values people from all sections of the community and the contribution each individual can make to our work.

The aim of this policy is to support these commitments by providing a framework for continuous improvement. It covers the procedures and systems established to measure and monitor our performance, both in eliminating discrimination and in implementing good practice. Its objective is to ensure that all staff are able to participate fully and contribute their best to the work of the Corporation and no one feels excluded from being able to do so.

We continue to develop initiatives and raise the profile of equality and diversity across the organisation. This progress includes a package of policies and guidance to address specific needs.

Timothy Jackson, Policy Advisor

David Carrigan, Policy Manager