Want to find out what you’re doing well and where you’re going wrong in handling racial harassment? Then give the self-assessment Excellence Framework a go

Last month, Race Action Net’s website published ratings of how different police services perform in tackling hate crime. So how would social landlords dealing with racial harassment in the home and neighbourhood compare?

Race Action Net’s Excellence Framework is based on the Excellence Model developed by business management improvement network the European Foundation of Quality Management. It can be used by landlords to self-assess how well they handle cases of racial harassment. The framework shares the approach adopted by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in using baseline assessment, improvement action plans and ratings from “poor” to “excellent”.

To better reflect the changing environment in which organisations operate today, modern assessment methodologies tend to rely on frameworks, core questions, the views of other regulators and self-appraisal.

By answering a series of questions that the Excellence Framework sets out, social landlords can assess their performance themselves for five key areas: policy and strategy; partnerships and resources; leadership; people and processes. They can also analyse results in terms of staff, customers and society at large.

Each area is graded “good”, “adequate” or “needs improving”, and those that need improving are used to formulate an action plan.

Here are some questions for your organisation taken from the Excellence Framework and examples of what members have done.

Leadership

How do leaders in your organisation receive systematic and regular feedback from service users about your effectiveness in tackling racial harassment? Ealing Family Housing Association surveyed victims to get their views. A focus group meeting with tenants who had been victims of racial harassment was held. The group was asked: “As transfers to alternative properties is an extremely limited option, how should Ealing Family address cases of racial harassment more effectively?”

People

Do you have sufficient, well-trained general and specialist staff with experience in dealing with racial harassment and attacks? How are needs assessed and resources allocated? The Metropolitan Police Authority, which underwent a best-value review of staff training, produced a report setting out its improvement plan. The paper outlines the financial implications of, and required key actions for, implementing better training.

Cadwyn Housing increased BME tenant participation and started up ‘chips-n-chat’ sessions

Policy and strategy

How has your policy on racial harassment been promoted and communicated to partners, staff and service users? In Fife, the black and minority-ethnic Community Safety Partnership ran a publicity campaign to raise awareness about the extent and effects of racism in the area.

This raised the profile of race issues and complemented its work in setting up joint monitoring of racist incidents and increasing the reporting rate.

Partnership and resources

Does your organisation work with tenants’ and residents’ associations to raise their awareness of the problems of racial harassment and racist attacks, and how local community members can contribute to addressing the problem? Cardiff’s Cadwyn Housing Association ran a scheme called Tenants and Cadwyn Together, which restructured the tenants’ and residents’ association to increase participation generally, including among black and minority-ethnic tenants. The association meets five or six times a year, and all tenants are invited to attend. There is a formal part, when the meeting is given reports from the tenants’ panel, and a “chips-n-chat” sessions for the under-35s.

Processes

Are there procedures for working with and sharing information with other agencies working locally to combat racial harassment and racist attacks? Ealing Family Housing Association and Owen White Solicitors exchange good practice about housing law and its impact on policy and practice and build up a knowledge base to undertake joint training for officers.

Race Action Net is looking to consult with social landlords and other organisations from its membership this autumn to further develop the Excellence Framework, so that

it will cover more areas including how to recruit and select staff with competencies for dealing with racial harassment, how to manage performance in tackling racial harassment and how to train staff to interview perpetrators and victims of racial harassment and to take effective action.