The Equality and Human Rights Commission is Great Britain’s national equality body with the aim to make 'Britain fairer' by safeguarding and enforcing the laws that protect people’s rights to fairness, dignity and respect. It is a statutory non-departmental public body established by the Equality Act 2006.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diversity-and-inclusion-strategy-2018-to-2025

The Human Rights Act 1998 sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to. It incorporates the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic British law. The Human Rights Act came into force in the UK in October 2000.

The Act sets out your human rights in a series of ‘Articles’. Each Article deals with a different right. These are all taken from the ECHR and are commonly known as ‘the Convention Rights’:

• Article 2: Right to life
• Article 3: Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
• Article 4: Freedom from slavery and forced labour
• Article 5: Right to liberty and security
• Article 6: Right to a fair trial
• Article 7: No punishment without law
• Article 8: Respect for your private and family life, home and correspondence
• Article 9: Freedom of thought, belief and religion
• Article 10: Freedom of expression
• Article 11: Freedom of assembly and association
• Article 12: Right to marry and start a family
• Article 14: Protection from discrimination in respect of these rights and freedoms
• Protocol 1, Article 1: Right to peaceful enjoyment of your property
• Protocol 1, Article 2: Right to education
• Protocol 1, Article 3: Right to participate in free elections
• Protocol 13, Article 1: Abolition of the death penalty.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents 

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights/human-rights-act 

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.

It outlines nine protected characteristics that people can be discriminated against for and the following ways you could be discriminated against:

• Direct discrimination - treating someone with a protected characteristic less favourably than others
• Indirect discrimination - putting rules or arrangements in place that apply to everyone, but that put someone with a protected characteristic at an unfair disadvantage
• Harassment - unwanted behaviour linked to a protected characteristic that violates someone’s dignity or creates an offensive environment for them
• Victimisation - treating someone unfairly because they’ve complained about discrimination or harassment.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance 

The Equality Act protects people against discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics, of which there are nine:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

The equality areas addressed in Great Britain and Northern Ireland share broad similarities, but Northern Ireland's laws on equality and anti-discrimination are not consolidated within a single act.

The areas covered by equality law are listed below, and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) lists the links to the current legislation for each:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Race
• Religious belief and political opinion
• Sexual orientation.

The above areas are underscored by Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This section mandates that public bodies (including registered housing associations) prioritise 'equality of opportunity and good relations' in both policymaking and service delivery. It further emphasises the need to promote equality of opportunity between:

• Persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation
• Men and women generally
• Persons with a disability and persons without
• Persons with dependants and persons without.

The ECNI reports that in some areas, people in Northern Ireland now have less protection than individuals in other parts of the UK.

In Ireland the Acts prohibit discrimination in the provision of goods and services, accommodation and education.They cover the nine grounds of:

• Gender
• Marital status
• Family status
• Age
• Disability
• Sexual orientation
• Race,
• Religion
• Membership of the Traveller community.

In addition, the Acts prohibit discrimination in the provision of housing against people who are in receipt of rent supplement, housing assistance, or social welfare payments.

https://www.ihrec.ie/guides-and-tools/human-rights-and-equality-in-the-provision-of-good-and-services/what-does-the-law-say/equal-status-acts/

This Act implemented the body known as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commision (or Coimisiún na hÉireann um Chearta an Duine agus Comhionannas in Irish). This body took over the functions of the disolved Human Rights Commission and Equality Authority.

https://www.ihrec.ie/about/ihrec-act-2014/

https://www.ihrec.ie/

ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) explanation of unconscious bias:

How a person thinks can depend on their life experiences and sometimes they have beliefs and views about other people that might not be right or reasonable.

This is known as 'unconscious bias' and includes when a person thinks:

• Better of someone because they believe they're alike
• Less of someone because that person is different to them, for example, they might be of a different race, religion or age.

This means they could make a decision influenced by false beliefs or assumptions. Sometimes it's also called 'stereotyping'.

In Great Britain, housing associations are not 'listed authorities' in terms of Schedule 19 of the Equality Act 2010, and are not obliged to produce Equality Impact Assessments. Conversely, in Northern Ireland, where housing associations are bound by Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to prioritise 'equality of opportunity and good relations' in both policymaking and service delivery, they are required to adhere to specific procedures.

An Equality Impact Assessment is a tool that helps include equality, diversity, cohesion and integration on the agenda when setting new policies and introducing new projects and services.

Carrying out an assessment involves assessing the likely effects of policies on people in respect of the protected characteristics including age, disability, race and sexual orientation. The process should be used to look for opportunities to promote equality and to remove any negative impacts where possible.

The absence of a statutory obligation for Equality Impact Assessments in Great Britain (EIAs) allows housing associations to exercise discretion in adopting such assessments as a means of best practice.

In contrast, to fulfill their Section 75 duties housing associations in Northern Ireland must first submit an equality scheme to the Equality Commission. This scheme serves as a formal commitment statement outlining how they intend to ensure that equality and good relations are integrated into all aspects of their operations. Additionally, they must consider screening before and during the decision-making process for any policy. This proactive screening identifies policies likely to impact equality of opportunity and integrates considerations of equality into the policy-making process. If a policy is identified as having significant equality issues, it must undergo a full Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA).

• Stigma in Social Housing in England (Research Report) - Amanze Ejiogu and Mercy Denedo, University of Leicester research report in to stigma in social housing in England
• National Housing Federation - diversity in housing association workforce in England research
• National Housing Federation EDI data - regional breakdown of the EDI data gathered through research by the National Housing Federation
• Housing Diversity Network - A social enterprise that aims to inspire and empower people, promoting equality, diversity and opportunity for all. Working across the housing sector providing guidance and information
• Why recruitment tools alone won't fix hiring bias - blog exploring why next-generation recruitment tools alone won’t fix hiring bias by Uk Innovation agency Nesta
• Diversity and Inclusion Leaders - online community for organisations looking to improve their Diversity and Inclusion strategies and approaches
• Project Implicit aims to educate about bias, you can take a variety of tests to highlight some of your biases
• Anti-racist Wales action plan an action plan for race equality, following calls by the Wales Race Forum, and other grassroots organisations.