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Equality & Diversity

NIFHA’s main role is to promote our member housing associations and to provide representation and support for those members in the work that they do.  For this reason, the Federation has been assisting its members in the implementation of Section 75 by co-ordinating the joint exercise on Equality.  Since April 2004 NIFHA has collaborated with the membership on this process. 

Throughout the implementation of the equality process the Federation and its members have taken the view that by working jointly we can maximise our resources – in terms of time, knowledge, expertise, staffing or finances – and at the same time minimise the administrative impact on consultee and/or stakeholder organisations. This belief has also underpinned our response to the policy screening process which took place from Spring to Autumn of 2005 and shaped our plans for and actions in relation to conducting Equality Impact Assessments (EQIA). 

For the associations the principle underpinning this whole process has been one of:

“joint effort, individual responsibility”.

On behalf of our members, NIFHA welcomes feedback on equality issues generally and more specifically during public consultation exercises. Please let us know if you would like to be added to our consultee list by email or tel 028 9023 0446.

EQIA Process

The EQIA Co-ordination Group is a representative body which was set up to co-ordinate the joint aspects of Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) process.   

The role and remit of the EQIA Co-ordination Group is outlined below:

1. Develop the process for undertaking EQIAs;
2. Establish the yearly timetable for undertaking EQIAs;
3. Co-ordinate the joint work across the housing association movement;
4. Take responsibility for the following aspects of the joint EQIA process:
   • Design;
   • Delivery; and
   • Quality Assurance;
5. Monitor Progress against EQIA timetable.

EQIA Timetable

EQIAs are an integral part of the Statutory Duties.  The designated housing associations collaborated during policy screening, the public consultation process and the formulation of the EQIA timetable shown below. 

All equality impact assessments carried out will be conducted in accordance with all the procedures outlined in Annex 1 of the Equality Commission’s ‘Guide to the Statutory Duties’.