Statement of Service
Equality Standard : Case Studies
Cestria Community Housing Association Ltd (Cestria Community Housing)
Cestria is a not-for-profit independent Registered Social Landlord which Chester-le-Street District Council helped to set up.
Their vision is, “to be an excellent landlord by being a first rate provider of affordable housing and housing services for the community of Chester-le-Street with tenants at the heart of what the Association does. We will work with communities and partners in order to achieve our mutual objectives”.
Cestria was interested in completing the standard in order to assess the E&D practices across the organisation with the aim of tackling and addressing any issues or gaps identified by the self assessment.
Over the last two years Cestria has worked hard in order to implement and mainstream equality into the organisation. The standard provided reassurance and an opportunity to celebrate the good work that has already been completed. It also helped to ensure they are in the right direction to continue the work they are doing and expand on that already done.
Working towards the Standard was a very comfortable and useful experience. All staff involved felt they were able to provide an honest opinion.
They worked with their Equality Advisor on the Self Assessment which was very reassuring and did not highlight any major issues but instead the ‘quick wins’. This was useful in ensuring the E&D resources and focus was placed according to priority. They already had a very comprehensive Single Equality Scheme Action Plan, a live action plan, updated as and when actions arise. The actions from the standard were incorporated into this action plan which ensured a fully inclusive and workable tool.
The main challenges were pay and remuneration as this was an ongoing project at the time of the assessment and not all final evidence was available for the assessment. However, as the standard is about the progressive approach this was not an issue as such as Cestria is on target with the project.
Cestria have found many benefits for achieving the Standard.
As a business it provides an external assurance on not only meeting the E&D legislative framework but going that extra mile to ensure that Cestria is an equal employer, partner and service provider.
The ‘Monitoring’ element of the standard ensures that the customers are the main focus of the organisation when delivering services. Completing the standard ensured that the needs of these customer were and continues to be met wherever possible. Also, the information that the association collates in relation to monitoring data is wisely applied to any decisions made and the way in which the service is delivered.
Achieving The standard has benefits for both potential applicants as well as existing employees. It puts a positive message across that within the organisation E&D is taken seriously and that there are mechanisms in place to deal with any issue that may raise. It also supports staff retention.
The standard means that the staff and partners of Cestria are well aware of their E&D principles and commitments. Cestria has number of communal rooms that are used by wider community and having a positive attitude towards diversity ensures that this is the message across the community too. Therefore, Cestria’s influence in the community can result in a much inclusive and cohesive communities. Cestria work with other partners locally and regionally this also provides Cestria an opportunity to influence other community related projects to be E&D considerate.
Cestria said, “The standard is extremely simple and easy to apply to any size organisation. The fact that you don’t have to have everything in place to achieve the standard is very motivating. Also with not being too public sector influenced the standard provides and would attract the private sector ensuring that the equality is mainstreamed through whole business networks.”
LR said, “Cestria really appreciates the standard, it reassures the association that they are on right track and provides motivation for them to continue to do so.”
Related Links
Cestria Community Housing Association Ltd
www.cestria.org
July 28, 2011
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