COVID-19 has widened the disability pay gap  This week started with some good news on vaccines as the government announced that the four most vulnerable groups had been offered a jab, and over 90 per cent of those invited had taken up the offer. With over 15 million UK citizens now vaccinated for the first time, it appears that the light at the end of the tunnel may be shining a little brighter. But not for everyone. The pandemic has never actually been a leveller. Women have been at a higher risk of furlough or job loss, BAME people have [...]

February is LGBT History Month We’re in the midst of LGBT History Month, the annual celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, which is in its 17th year. It’s a chance to refocus, raise awareness and encourage further education in LGBT issues and its history. This year the theme is ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ for this month. Society has become a safer and more inclusive place since 2005 for LGBT people, but there is still a long way to go. Almost 52 years have passed since the Stonewall Riots happened in New York. Gay rights activists and police engaged [...]

Race Equality Week 1st to 7th February We’ll never have another year like 2020, or so we keep telling ourselves. A global pandemic swept through every continent of the world, reaping destruction and sadness in its wake. The most controversial President in the history of the United States was shown the door of the White House, but not before some of his more rabid supporters stormed the US Capitol to send a shock wave through western democracy. And in the middle of the year, the unlawful killing of George Floyd by a US police officer caused a seismic shift in [...]

Ethnicity Pay Gap… still a long way to go Last year the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a report which said that the ethnicity pay gap between White and ethnic minority employees had narrowed to its smallest level since 2021, which is all well and good. But in the UK, over the past couple of years, that gap has hovered around an eye-watering £3bn so there is a long way to go. And while some minorities faired better than others, the ONS reported the gap was larger for men than women, larger for those aged over 30 and is [...]

Welcome on board to Pritti and Mike HDN is delighted to announce the appointment of two new board members, following the arrival of Pritti Allen and Mike Gaskell. Our newest members bring a wealth of experience and adaptable skills which are sure to help us meet our growth objectives as we move into 2021. Pritti, a communications specialist and Mike, a legal professional, are already on board and ready to give their all as we continue to fight for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity throughout the housing sector and beyond. Mike was a practicing solicitor for 39 years before retiring in [...]

Race equality in 2021; a New Year Resolution It’s around this time of year, or last week for the well organised among us, that we take stock of our lives, resolve to do better and set ourselves a challenge. The practice of making a resolution at the start of the year dates back to the Romans, who made a promise to the god Janus. Nowadays we resolve to do something new or something better, to enhance our lives or the lives of others (as we all know the whole point of a diet or fitness resolution is to see how [...]

Inequality is seriously bad for the economy’s health In a recent webinar on the Ethnicity Pay Gap, hosted by the Housing Diversity Network, research from the ONS suggested that black employees under the age of 30 suffered significantly less inequality than those over 30. So the logical conclusion is that too few black employees are progressing to senior positions, in both the public and private sectors. But other than the obvious point of fairness, why else is this inequality such a problem? Well, studies on both sides of the Atlantic claim it has cost the economies in the US and [...]

Coming out of COVID: Women’s job prospects under threat It may seem too early to be talking of a future beyond COVID-19, but vaccine news over the past couple of weeks and the arrival of the first consignment from Pfizer Biontech in the UK is cause for real optimism.  And the big day arrived yesterday with the first vaccinations in the UK, 90 year-old Margaret Keenan receiving the first historic jab closely followed by… William Shakespeare! Well with that good news, 2021 is almost upon us and, as we wave a cheery farewell to the year of the pandemic, it’s [...]

HDN links up with Liverpool CRCA The Housing Diversity Network (HDN) is delighted to announce a new collaboration with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. HDN has been commissioned by the Combined Authority to conduct an equality impact assessment of its current policies in relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This will enable the two like-minded organisations to produce a comprehensive equality scheme which in turn will inform a proactive and good practice led equality action plan for the Combined Authority. Following a competitive tender, work starts immediately for HDN, with the Network’s Associate Consultants Yvonne Davies and Sarah Simcoe, [...]

HDN confirms Mushtaq Khan as Chief Executive The Housing Diversity Network has announced the permanent appointment of Mushtaq Khan as CEO. The move cements Mushtaq’s position at the helm of the network after his six month period as interim CEO has seen great strides in the organisation’s growth and emergence as a leading thinker in the drive to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) in the housing sector and beyond. Having worked for a number of housing and regeneration organisations, as well as large metropolitan councils including Oldham and Lambeth, Mushtaq is ideally placed to help organisations to develop inclusive [...]