Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
“We all have a personal responsibility to ensure we challenge discrimination and promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
At Progress we are determined to ensure people are treated fairly and respected as fellow human beings. Many things are wrong in our society, but we are committed to ensuring we contribute to making it a fairer place for all. Our employment offer is an important part of that commitment and we are working hard to be better at creating opportunities for all.
Our role as a social housing provider champions the right for everyone to have a decent home and to be supported so every individual can reach their potential. These principles are demonstrated in our values and in the way we work with customer and colleagues every single day.
Our offer is a genuine one, we truly want to improve the lives of our customers and create new opportunities for all. This is delivered through our committed and talented workforce which we would love to welcome you into.
Be part of our campaign to create a fairer society and opportunities for all.“
Jacqui De-Rose, Chief Executive
Our equality diversity and inclusion statement
A fairer future for all
The Group is committed to promoting equality and diversity and a culture that actively values difference and recognises that people from diverse backgrounds and experiences can bring valuable insights to the Group and enhance the way we work. We believe we have a role to play in tackling inequality, which tends to impact disproportionately on people in our society.
Our core purpose is that of a social housing provider and our main client group is more disadvantaged than many.
Our responsibility
Progress Housing Group complies with the Equality Act 2010 (the “Act”) and we understand our duties under it. As an organisation we would treat any reports of discrimination seriously. We would ensure that any reported incidents were investigated thoroughly, with appropriate action being taken in line with our internal policies and procedures.
Our principles
The Group aims to be an inclusive organisation, where diversity is valued, respected and built upon, with an ability to recruit and retain a diverse workforce and board of management that reflects the communities we serve. Within this framework the Group specifically refers to measures it has in place to provide equality of opportunity and the facilities that it can provide to its diverse workforce, tenant and customer base. Our Equality Diversity Inclusion Strategy sets out our EDI objectives.
Our Community
Customer Voice – Working with our tenants and communities on community led projects and also leads on forum groups and scrutiny activity to provide feedback on how services provided can be improved. For 2022/23 we held 293 events with 2,437 attendees and 557 individuals recorded on client events.
Progress Futures – Working with our tenants and families to enhance opportunities, build capacity, and provide access to resources and support for those people who are particularly disadvantaged or vulnerable. For 2022/23, we supported 341 customers, and 298 secured a job, began a training or education course, and supported more than 1400 people through community-based job clubs.
We have also partnered with DFN Project SEARCH, Runshaw College, Lancashire County Council, Hft, South Ribble Borough Council and the Department for Work and Pensions to provide valuable internship experience for people with a learning disability or autism. In 2022/23 8 interns graduated, 2 have secured roles within the Group, 3 with SRBC and 1 has an apprenticeship with the BBC.
Our Behaviours
We are committed to enabling a sense of belonging to ensure our working environment reflects our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion objectives. Our values and culture are key to supporting this. We have created a dedicated leadership programme with over 70 of our senior leaders and managers participating and held values led sessions rolled out across the whole organisation welcoming many colleagues. We have developed with the board and colleagues our culture narrative and report via a dedicated workshop with more planned for 2024.
Our Progress
Community Investment – We are committed to supporting and enhancing the communities we serve by supporting local charities and voluntary and community groups. During 2022/23, we supported community groups and projects by investing over £197,000 from 46 applications.
Improve services – Our aim has been to tailor customer access communications to meet specific needs of, physically, learning and sensory disabled residents using Large Print, Plain English, easy read/pictorial. All communications we produce are available in large print and plain English. Colleagues have undertaken easy read training. Easy Read formatted communication provides accessibility to over 5,000 tenants.
Support colleagues – We have around 20 Wellbeing Champions who, in our workplace are a point of contact for a colleague who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. We have 4 colleague network groups who meet regularly to offer support and guidance to each other. These include Pride in Progress, Roots, Carers and Menopause Movers and around 30 colleagues engage with one or more of these.
Gender Pay Gap – We have also published our 2022 Gender Pay Gap Report which shows a mean pay gap of 6.9% (down from 7.5% in 2021) and a median pay gap of 10.8% (down from 13.5% in 2021). The Ethnicity Pay Gap reporting is being developed and for 2022 we can report a mean pay gap of 6.5% and median pay gap of 3.4%.