What does equality and diversity mean in practice?
For Tor Homes, it could mean ensuring access to offices and buildings for disabled people, or helping with transport to meetings from remote areas. It could mean providing leaflets in a range of languages or in audio versions or trying to make sure minority groups are represented on our tenants’ panels. The customer profile The government recognises that having information about the people in our properties is vital if we are to make sure that our services are effective. It expects housing associations to know the ethnicity, age, gender, employment status, language requirements, religion or belief and sexual orientation of residents. We can then use this information to help adapt our services to meet the needs of our residents and to try to make sure that no group is excluded. The first customer profile survey was distributed to Tor Homes’ properties in November 2006. The information obtained from the survey included: • number of occupants • economic status • gender • age • ethnicity •
