Flags for diversity

Published by Judi Samuels for Ascham Homes in Housing

Recently we asked Waltham Forest Council tenants to complete an equality and diversity form that captures information on the six strands of diversity; age, gender, disability, ethnicity, religion / belief and sexuality.

We have developed a ‘flag system’ on our resident database that alerts our staff to residents’ needs. A flag can inform our staff that a tenant may need more time to answer their telephone because of a physical disability; or that a tenant is ‘housebound’ and a home visit is the appropriate venue for an interview.

Vital information recorded from diversity questionnaires has led to over 2,000 flags being created to show specific communication and support needs that help us tailor services to our customer’s individual needs.

We are confident that with this quality of data we can plan ahead to provide even better services in the future.