CRE Code of Practice on Racial Equality in Housing Focus on the private sector

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CRE Code of Practice on Racial Equality in
Housing Focus on the private sector

• Nigel Minto
• Head of Housing Services and Equalities. London
  Councils
• LB Brent
• Private Sector Forum meeting
• December 13th 2006

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Summary of presentation

• Why was a new code developed?
• Legal context and status
• Quick overview of the code
• Private sector issues
• Summary

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Legal context and status Why a new Code?

• New housing and equality laws.
• Changing housing markets.
• Changing government policies.
• Employment code in preparation.
• Continuing but changing patterns of
  discrimination and disadvantage.
• Impact of devolution.
• Implications of no code.

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Legal context and status

• Separate codes for England, Scotland and Wales.
• Codes to cover all tenures.
• To set minimum standards for achieving racial
  equality
• Increase availability of guidance and good
  practice advice.
• To provide practical guidance on avoiding
  discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity
  and good race relations.
• To ensure that potential complainants have good
  information on expectations.

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Key aims of the Code

• Set standards for achieving racial equality
• Provide practical guidance to avoid racial
  discrimination harassment, promote equality for
  all, encourage good race relations.
• Ensure that anyone taking legal action, or with
  concerns about the way decisions are made
  understands their rights what constitutes good
  practice.

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What the code means for the private sector

• All housing organisations should
• Make racial equality a core value
• Review and audit their functions to ensure
  compliance with the Code
• Demonstrate organisational support for the code
  (e.g. from senior managers and board)
• Train staff to provide services of the same
  standard to all customers
• Monitor and evaluate their performance
• Consult on their strategy

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What the code means for the private sector

• All housing organisations should-
• Ensure policies and plans are based on up-to-date
  racial equality legislation
• Make sure info about services reaches people from
  all racial groups
• Monitor progress against other similar
  organisations.

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What the code means for the private sector - Key
potential areas of discrimination disadvantage

• Does the organisation have policies for dealing
  with discrimination?
• Is the organisation aware of clients being
  discriminated against by employees or other
  service users?
• Racial Harassment Does the organisation know
  what the law is, how to report the problem or get
  help to resolve it?

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What the code means for the private sector - Key
potential areas of discrimination disadvantage

• Are all applicants regardless of racial group
  given access to the same info?
• Can speakers of other languages use the services
  at all?
• Have religious/cultural considerations been made
  for the way services are delivered?

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What the code means for the private sector Some
case studies

• Harassment
• defined as unwanted conduct that has the purpose
  or effect of violating a persons dignity or
  creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading,
  humiliating or offensive environment for that
  person.
• Example
• A tenant brings a complaint of racial harassment
  against his landlady, when she persists in making
  racially offensive remarks to him despite his
  attempts to explain his unhappiness.

• Victimisation
• Where a person is treated less favourably for
  having made a complaint of racial discrimination
  or given evidence or info in a race
  discrimination case
• Example
• A landlord dismisses a temporary worker who has
  informed the CRE that a manager instructed staff
  not to let properties to applicants of east
  European origin, because they were all
  time-wasters and would not pay their rent on time

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What the code means for the private sector Some
case studies

• Example
• The CRE issued a non discrimination notice to an
  accommodation bureau when it found that it had
  accepted and acted on discriminatory instructions
  from white landlords to withhold details of their
  properties from black applicants.

• Example
• The court found that an estate agent had
  discriminated on racial grounds by refusing to
  arrange a property viewing. (the applicant was
  suspicious of the reason given and arranged for
  four other minority ethnic applicants to request
  appointments to see the property
• (Yousaf v The Robb Estate Agency and others,
  Paisley Sheriff Court, 1977)

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Benefits of the Code for the Private Sector

• The Code should help private organisations to
• Understand their obligations under the Race
  Relations Act 1976 (RRA)
• Reduce the risk of legal liability and costly
  disputes
• Empower private companies to deliver services
  fairly to all clients
• Avoid unwittingly discriminating against clients
  renting, buying or occupying premises

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Benefits of the Code for the Private Sector

• The Code should help private organisations to
• Identify opportunities to deliver high quality
  services that meet the needs of all racial groups
  in the community
• Build a reputation as an organisation that
  provides fair and useful services
• Develop policies that further enhance their good
  reputation and attract clients from all ethnic
  and racial groups

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Summary

• The Code of practice on Racial Equality in
  Housing is
• A statutory Code, approved by the Secretary of
  State and laid before parliament
• Designed to help the private sector to understand
  its legal obligations under the Race Relations
  Act 1976
• Useful as a handbook to develop sound policies
  and avoid unwitting discrimination
• Intended to help people experiencing
  discrimination to fight for their rights under
  the law

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Summary

• It makes good business sense to promote race
  equality
• Supporting good race relations enhances an
  organisations reputation
• A reputation for good race relations suggests
  good practice overall
• Good race relations attracts good clients

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• Further information
• www. Londoncouncils.gov.uk
• www.cre.gov.uk
• www.brent.gov.uk/comsafe.nss
• cst_at_brent.gov.uk
• Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) hotline for hate
  crime is 020 8451 5050
• BHPs Antisocial Behaviour team can be called on
  020 8937 2952