NM/csmi Mr D Lynch47 Forest RoadEdmontonLondonN9 8RU 16th May 2007 Dear Mr Lynch Race Equality Scheme e-mail received by MHP 24 April 2007 Thank you for your e-mail contact regarding Metropolitan Housing Partnership’s approach to race equality. In answer to the five questions you are seeking information for regarding our approach to embedding race equality: Firstly, we would affirm in the strongest terms that MHP is definitely not institutionally racist or white supremacist and that we have every faith in the senior member of staff who you spoke to briefly in the lift at Edmonton. We take steps to ensure that our staff are made aware of their individual responsibilities arising from our Equalities and Diversity Strategy, policy and our Fair Treatment Statement. These key documents clearly set out our vision and our core organisational values for equalities and diversity across the partnership. In addition they stress the highest importance placed on everyone delivering discriminatory free, diversity-aware services in all our varied settings. Our staff have access to high quality training on exceeding our responsibilities under legislation and regulation, including delivering equalities and diversity aware services encompassing age, gender, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion or belief. We are working hard to make a real difference for our customers across these six key strands of diversity, including race equality. In answer to your second and fifth point: We complete an annual review of staff ethnicity across the partnership, which includes all seven of our business units and all their service settings eg schemes, offices etc. Robust scrutiny of this data is key to identifying any under-represented or marginalised groups within our workforce and at all seniority levels across the business. This work is currently underway for April 2006 * 07. This targeted work also forms an important part of our MHP wide Equalities and Diversity Action Plan. Our most senior MHP Board for example is representative of the BME communities we serve and our levels of BME staff across the business exceed that of the communities we serve.
> Your third point: Organisational policies and procedures are in place to take the strongest response to any discriminatory practice. We clearly have an obligation to ensure that all our employees act appropriately within the workplace and all of our policies reflect this. We expect staff to promote discriminatory free services which are inclusive and equitable in approach across all our dealings. Your fourth point: Housing Associations are not currently required to produce Race Equality Schemes and this responsibility is deferred to the Housing Corporation which is our regulatory and quasi-public body based in London. The Housing Corporation website has details of their Race Equality Scheme for the housing sector. Statutory or public authorities such as local councils and health authorities do have a responsibility however, to produce and publish a race equality scheme with performance results on their website. I hope this answers your concerns regarding the seriousness with which the partnership aims to recognise and respond to our race equality responsibilities. Yours sincerely, Neil MawsonRegional DirectorNorth Thames
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> Race Equality Secret Service
> From: "Anna Creer" <Anna.Creer@mht.co.uk>
> To: "Derrick Lynch" <raceequalitysecretservice@hotmail.co.uk>
> Subject: Re: Metropolitan Housing Trust - Race Equality Scheme -Resend!
> Date: Tue, 15 May 2007 09:56:55 +0100
> >Thanks for your email - I will take your points up with Julia Allen and Neil Mawson and get back to you as soon as possible.
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> >Anna Creer
> >PA to Neil Mawson
> >Regional Director North Thames
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> >Phone: 020-8976-1042
> >Fax: 020-8979-1199
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> > >>> "Derrick Lynch" <raceequalitysecretservice@hotmail.co.uk> 05/14/07 3:30 pm >>>
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> >Dear Neil Mawson Regional Director North Thames,
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> >Thank you for your reply.
> >Unfortunately you have failed to answer all of the questions except one and you have neglected to provide details and statistics about the performance of the MHT Race Equality / Diversity Scheme.
> >This could be the result of incompetence in the MHT adminstration not providing you with the full list of questions therefore I have copied all the questions below for you convenience.
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> >I look forward to your reply as I cannot complete my report to the community network with the information provided so far.
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> >Kind regards
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> >Derrick Lynch
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> >Race Equality Secret Service
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