Draft Equalities Guidance opens for consultation
The guidance has been jointly produced by SFHA, GWSF ALACHO and the Scottish Housing Regulator.
Draft guidance on collecting equality information has been released for consultation. The guidance has been jointly produced by SFHA, GWSF, ALACHO and the Scottish Housing Regulator.
The guide was written by a team led by Dr Stewart Montgomery and will be open for consultation up until the new year.
Its aim is twofold: to give housing associations, co-operatives and local authorities the relevant information for them to fulfil their purpose as organisations championing social justice and to aid users in their compliance with regulations on collecting data on protected characteristics.
SFHA Policy Lead Jeremy Hewer said: “The guide aims to give users the necessary information to help them navigate what is a very complex area, straddling equality and social justice issues, housing, human rights and data protection.
"The consultation is currently available just in a conventional print form but, given the subject matter, we will provide it in a variety of formats to ensure accessibility.”
GWSF Director David Bookbinder said: "The guidance aims to cover the practical issues around collecting equalities data but also the more challenging areas around how data can be used to inform policies and services. The legal and regulatory requirements apply, of course, to all sizes of social landlord, but we'll be keen to get feedback on how proportionate the guidance is, especially for smaller associations."
Author of the guidance Dr Stewart Montgomery said: “The guidance demonstrates not only that equality data collection is central to strategic organisational planning but is required to address the needs of individuals.
"The guidance focusses on equality data collection as part of an equality strategy. In so doing, it highlights the rationale for collecting equality data, as well as giving practical examples of how to use equality data in the housing context.
"Although not central to its main themes, the guidance provides insight into issues concerned with data processing that should be part of organisational data processing strategy.”