Transparency data

Equality information report: 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025

Published 30 March 2026

Applies to England

Introduction

The RSH, as a public body to which the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 applies, is required to publish relevant, proportionate equality information to demonstrate compliance with the general duty of the Public Sector Equality Duty (‘General Equality Duty’). We are committed to being transparent about and taking accountability for our equality performance.

The information contained within this report has been compiled to comply with the specific duty to publish and demonstrates due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relationships between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

It covers:

• our staff, including equality and diversity data about our staff
• those affected by our policies and procedures
• the annual review of progress against our equality objectives.

The information within this report covers the year ending 31 March 2025.

While we believe it is important to be as transparent as we can on these matters, as a relatively small organisation, there may be circumstances where we cannot publish all our diversity information to ensure we preserve the anonymity of staff.

Our staff

One of RSH’s core values is that “We embrace diversity and are inclusive and supportive in our interactions”.

In October 2023 we refreshed our Equality Objectives. We are currently updating our Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy and action plan. We have also set out in our new People Plan strategy how that work contributes to delivery of our EDI goals.

Our focus in the coming year is to continue to build on the strong foundations we have laid. We have been clear that one of the main areas we need to address is increased ethnic minority representation at senior levels in the organisation. We will continue to focus on recruitment and development of existing staff to seek to improve ethnic diversity at senior levels.

The delivery of our EDI objectives is fully supported by both the Board and the Executive, who review progress on a regular basis, and who have appointed individuals to provide an equalities challenge function. We also have a Senior Leadership Group EDI steering group which supports the delivery of the action plan.

We have two current staff-led networks – a Women’s Network and a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Network. We also have a staff EDI Sounding Board and an advisory group of staff with disabilities. In 2024/25 we started discussions with interested staff on a Neuro Diversity network.

Diversity profile

Table 1 summarises our workforce diversity profile as at 31 March 2025 with comparative data for the previous two years.

In some cases, staff have either not completed the relevant sections or have declined to provide the data, referenced as ‘Declined to respond/ undeclared’. We take diversity monitoring seriously and continue to encourage staff to update their information to ensure that our analysis remains relevant.

Most of the changes are small and relate to natural variation from staff turnover in a small organisation. One notable trend over the past few years has been the increase in the proportion of the workforce made up by female staff. Whilst this mirrors trends in the wider public sector it is more pronounced at RSH and will form one area of focus for us in our EDI work this coming year. For further analysis of changes see paragraphs 2.9-2.10.

Table 1 – diversity profile of all staff as at 31 March 2025

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Characteristic	Percentage of staff			Change from 2023-2024
	March 2025	March 2024	March 2023
Ethnicity
Ethnic minority	16%	18%	17%	-2%
White	82%	80%	81%	+2%
Declined to respond/ undeclared	2%	2%	2%	-
Gender
Male	34%	37%	38%	-3%
Female	66%	63%	62%	+3%
Sexual orientation
Lesbian/ gay/ bisexual	7%	7%	8%	-
Heterosexual	86%	85%	83%	+1%
Declined to respond/ undeclared	7%	8%	9%	-1%
Working pattern
Full time	93%	93%	94%	-
Part time	7%	7%	6%	-
Age
65+	2%	2%	2%	-
55-64	19%	21%	23%	-2%
45-54	32%	32%	31%	-
35-44	29%	27%	28%	+2%
25-34	17%	16%	16%	+1%
Under 25	2%	2%	0%	-
Disability
Declared disabled	11%	10%	10%	+1%
Declared non-disabled	84%	82%	84%	+2%
Declined to respond/ undeclared	5%	8%	6%	-3%

Table 2 – diversity profile by grade as at 31 March 2025

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Characteristic	Senior Management			All other staff
	March 2025	March 2024	Change	March 2025	March 2024	Change
Ethnicity
Ethnic minority	10%	9%	+1%	20%	22%	-2%
White	87%	89%	-2%	79%	76%	+3%
Declined to respond/ undeclared	3%	2%	+1%	1%	2%	-1%
#Gender
Male	44%	43%	+1%	30%	34%	-4%
Female	56%	57%	-1%	70%	66%	+4%
Sexual orientation
Lesbian/ gay/ bisexual	8%	8%	-	6%	6%	-
Heterosexual	84%	83%	+1%	87%	86%	+1%
Declined to respond/ undeclared	8%	9%	-1%	7%	8%	-1%
Working pattern
Full time	94%	96%	-2%	92%	91%	+1%
Part time	6%	4%	+2%	8%	9%	-1%
#Age
65+	0	1%	-1%	2%	3%	-1%
55-64	22%	21%	+1%	18%	20%	-2%
45-54	46%	42%	+4%	25%	26%	-1%
35-44	27%	29%	-2%	30%	27%	+3%
25-34	6%	7%	-1%	23%	21%	+2%
Under 25	0	0	-	2%	3%	-1%
Disability
Declared disabled	12%	13%	-1%	10%	8%	+2%
Declared non-disabled	85%	82%	+3%	84%	83%	+1%
Declined to respond/ undeclared	4%	5%	-1%	6%	9%	-3%

Table 2 provides a further breakdown for 2025 of these characteristics by staff grade. As shown in the table, there is a lack of ethnic diversity in senior management. There is more even gender representation at senior levels than the rest of the organisation. There is a relatively consistent level of diversity in relation to other characteristics, with greater representation at senior level for sexual orientation and declared disability compared to other staff.

Increasing the ethnic diversity of senior management remains a priority for the organisation. We have been making progress against this with the increase of senior management (G19 and above) from an ethnic minority at 10% as at March 2025 from 3% in March 2023. There is still more to do and this will be one of the focus areas for us in 2025/26.

Recruitment

We encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates and carry out anonymised shortlisting.

Where permissible we take positive action. We keep under review where we advertise vacancies, including use of a number of specialist job sites. We have operated anonymised shortlisting in recruitment for some time but have taken further positive action. We have for some time offered a guaranteed interview for candidates with a disability that meet the benchmark requirements for the role.

Employee engagement

We currently carry out our staff survey every two years with the latest survey having taken place in Summer 2023. Our results were strong with the majority of ratings at or above the relevant public sector and Civil Service benchmarks.

Our next survey is being run in Summer 2025. The results will be reviewed and feed into our EDI strategy and action plan. We will include a summary of relevant outcomes in our next Equality Information Report.

Those affected by our policies and practices

This section details how we meet our duty to those who are affected by our policies and practices, or who engage with us in relation to the exercise of our regulatory function.

The following sections provide a narrative summary of our approach to ensuring we have due regard to the aims of the duty in decision-making with regard to registration decisions; equality impact assessments on statutory consultations; and decisions made by the Regulation Executive Team and Board.

Registration decisions

There are two stages to RSH’s application process for registering an organisation as a registered provider; during the second (detailed) application stage, applicants are asked to provide assurance on their compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

In particular, we ask whether applicants have any, or intend to have any, restrictions of services in place regarding persons sharing a relevant protected characteristic (e.g. corporate objectives which refer to particular groups of people). If such restrictions are in place, or will be put in place, we ask the applicant for specific assurance on how it has satisfied itself that it is acting lawfully under the current equality legislation.

Consultations

As a public body, we conduct statutory consultations. As part of these consultations, we ensure we consider our duties under the Equality Act 2010.

In 2024/25, we did not carry out any statutory consultations.

Regulatory referrals

RSH has due regard to its equality duties in carrying out its regulation work and will make reasonable adjustments for individuals contacting RSH where appropriate. For example: providing correspondence in large print, taking details of complaints over the telephone (where an individual has difficulty with written forms of communication), and arranging translations of key documents and our correspondence (e.g. into Braille).

Where we receive individual referrals that suggest a registered provider may not have taken tenants’ needs into account (in respect of a protected characteristic), we have due regard to our equality duties through our regulation processes.

Where appropriate, we signpost the individual to services who may be able to assist, including the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and the Housing Ombudsman Service.

Regulation Executive Team and Board decisions

The Executive Team and Board consider operational and strategic matters brought before them through the submission of formal papers. The Executive Team and Board each have members specifically tasked to challenge the equality and diversity organisational decisions.

Both Executive and Board papers include a section on equality and diversity implications, within which the author should demonstrate how RSH has given due regard to the General Equality Duty in the consideration of proposals.

This enables appropriate consideration at the relevant stages of the decision-making process. We have developed guidance and training for staff to help them integrate thinking on equality and diversity into the development of policies and operational delivery.

Annual review of equality objectives

The Equality Act 2010 requires all public bodies to publish equality objectives it thinks it should achieve to meet the General Equality Duty. The General Equality Duty says that public bodies must, in the exercise of their functions, have due regard to the need to:

1. eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
2. advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
3. foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

We published our first set of equality objectives in July 2020. We consulted on revised objectives in Spring 2023. We published updated objectives in October 2023.

Our updated objectives, which build on the work of our first equality objectives, are:

1. We will use our role to help ensure that registered providers better understand the diverse needs of tenants. We will expect registered providers to take action to deliver equitable service outcomes for all
2. We will be respectful and inclusive in our engagement and communication; and
3. We will provide a supportive and inclusive working environment for all.

We have already taken steps to embed good practice in relation to EDI, and the objectives identified are certain priority areas which build upon existing work and enable us to continue to improve.

Table 3 sets out the progress we made against these objectives in 2024/25.

Objective	Delivered by	Update
1. We will use our role to help ensure that registered providers better understand the diverse needs of tenants. We will expect registered providers to take action to deliver equitable service outcomes for all	i. Emphasising the importance of EDI in our engagement with the sector, including at speaking events, in public consultations and sector-facing guidance and publications	In our speaking events and other external engagement during the year we have drawn particular attention to our expectations in relation to identifying and meeting tenants’ diverse needs, which helps further inclusion in social housing.
	ii. Requiring landlords to shape and deliver services that take account of the diverse needs of their tenants in line with the requirements set out in our regulatory standards	We carried out a full consultation including equalities impact assessment on our consumer standards which includes: “In relation to the housing and landlord services they provide, registered providers must take action to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for tenants and, where relevant, prospective tenants.” In our ongoing regulation of landlords, we assess how well landlords are doing this.
	iii. Through our inspection programme seeking assurance from landlords that they meet the requirements set out in our regulatory standards	In our ongoing inspection programme, we seek assurance from landlords that they meet the requirements of our standards. Where we identify that landlords do not meet our requirements, or improvements are needed, that is reflected in our regulatory judgements and we continue to engage with those landlords as they improve their performance.
	iv. Considering the PSED in the formulation of our standards and carrying out inclusive consultation to allow for feedback from a range of stakeholders	This is an ongoing task, we did a thorough consideration for the consumer standards and are currently considering these issues for potential future standard changes. How we have delivered this will be included in Executive and Board papers to clear the consultation material and decision statements.
	v. Carrying out Equalities Impact Assessments on policies and programmes where our PSED applies and it is appropriate to do so.	There were no statutory consultations or other pieces of work started in 2024/25 which required an EQIA.

Objective	Delivered by	Update
2. We will be respectful and inclusive in our engagement and communication	i. Respectful, fair and inclusive communications and engagement that, where practical to do so, meet individuals’ communication needs	This year we have reviewed our communications with those who make a referral to the regulator. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of our approach. We consider the accessibility needs of those who engage with the regulator and continue to follow best practice for the accessibility of our content so that it meets the needs of a broad range of people without requiring adjustments. We also make appropriate reasonable adjustments to meet specific needs.
	ii. Induction and regular refresher training on accessible communication skills for externally facing roles, this will include learning based on feedback received	Customer Support and Mental Health training has been commissioned from MIND and will run in June 2025, aiming mainly at RRE staff.  Any further development work required will be highlighted by the Accessibility Review carried out by the Tenant Engagement team.
	iii. Our regulatory engagement with stakeholders, especially with tenants	We have undertaken a range of external engagements throughout the year. Our staff operate in line with our expectations around inclusive communications.
	iv. Adoption of a Staff Code of Conduct which builds on and reinforces our values and behaviours	This has been completed.
	v. Reviewing, updating and training our staff on our style guide in line with current good practice on inclusive communication to provide consistency in how we communicate.	We have begun updating our style guide in line with good practice in relation to inclusive communication.

Objective	Delivered by	Update
3. We will provide a supportive and inclusive working environment for all	i. developing our approach to EDI in line with current and emerging research and good practice to cultivate a fair and inclusive environment where people feel valued and respected	We participate in several peer group networks and communities of practice to help keep abreast of latest research and good practice. In our action plan for the coming year, we will consider feedback from our staff survey to help us target further work in this area.
	ii. making our recruitment processes fully inclusive to attract and recruit a diverse range of people, focussing particularly on increasing ethnic diversity at senior levels	We have implemented a new recruitment system with more robust anonymous shortlisting practices. We have renewed our advertising subscription with Diversity Jobs board. New recruitment training has been rolled out, that has a focus on diverse hiring.
	iii. developing our training offer to embed a positive working culture and provide everyone with opportunities to learn, develop and play to their strengths wherever possible	RET will be asked to consider and agreed staff development priorities for the RSH, which will inform a development offer aligned to the culture and performance needs of the organisation and our people.
	iv. providing opportunities for all to have their voices heard and to feel part of the regulator to promote individual wellbeing and increase visibility of different experiences.	We have several different mechanisms by which staff can provide feedback and engage with the regulator. These include, but are not limited to, staff led networks, all staff survey, pulse surveys on topics including wellbeing and leadership, blogs, staff suggestion box and team level engagement by our OD team.