Did you
• FOI or
• Data protection queiry
or "just"
• complain
Sorry bit long and rambling...
The staff member need training on basic letter writing.
And use short sentences
Think
Who
What
When
How
Why
Plus did I answer what was asked.
Anyway..
Corporate Stage 1 Complaint
Thank you for your recent complaint regarding questions relating to gender as part of our equality monitoring.
Language 🤨
Thank you: nope we received it dated DD/MM/YYYY and have an obligation to reply within X number of daya
Q: was it a complaint?
Do they manage complaints differently to FOI and Data protection queries?
I apologise that you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from the City of Wolverhampton Council.
Language 🤨
apologise : express regret for something that one has done wrong.
I am sorry that on this occasion the service we provided did not meet your expectations; I have investigated what happened and can now reply as follows:
Ok
Fails to ID the occasion/ service/ reason you contacted them so fluffy on what was investigated
On your question about why the Council ask questions about gender identity,
Fails to quote the text of your First(?) question so fails to put a limit in the answer
How did you construct your complaint?
Did you ask about the PC GR and why they are looking at "gender identity"?
and why it is relevant,
Fails to quote the text of your Second(?) question so fails to put a limit in the answer.
Did you use the word "relevant" and use it in the way the LA is using it?
As in an "appropriate metric" to judge compliance with the EA?
as part of the Public Sector Equality Duty,
Fails to realise there are 2 "duties" involved in the survey
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities/public-sector-equality-duty-guidance-for-public-authorities
Overview
The duty is a statutory duty on listed public authorities and other bodies carrying out public functions. It ensures that those organisations consider how their functions will affect people with different protected characteristics. These functions include their policies, programmes, and services. The duty supports good decision-making by helping decision-makers understand how their activities affect different people.
It also requires public bodies to monitor the actual impact of the things they do.
For example, to keep under review how different groups of pupils are performing at school and to identify and take action if some pupils with protected characteristics need more support than others.
The City of Wolverhampton Council has a responsibility to ensure that we
• do not unfairly discriminate in the services we
• currently provide,
or
• plan to provide.
So primary service is housing
"consider how their functions will affect people with different protected characteristics."
So the LA should have already designed a control to check against when writing the draft policy.
The protected characteristics
The following characteristics are protected characteristics—
• age;
• disability;
• gender reassignment;
• marriage and civil partnership;
• pregnancy and maternity;
• race;
• religion or belief;
• sex;
• sexual orientation.
149 Public sector equality duty PC
(7)The relevant protected characteristics are—
- age;
- disability;
- gender reassignment;
- pregnancy and maternity;
- race;
- religion or belief;
- sex;
- sexual orientation
The survey is a control step in the process of creating a final policy
The secondry service is extra function: the survey part of the consultation process
"helping decision-makers understand how their activities affect different people"
Duty 1
Consultation process on housing policy to allow the public give feedback which may help identify weakness in the proposed changes which must meet the housing needs of the population as a whole so using a survey as a quality control (supports good decision-making )
Duty 2
Monitor response of the survey so looking at replys which came in from people about the consultation which may help identify a PC group which is over or under represented and which could skew the adjustment for or against a PC so using the equality monitoring questions as validation of the choice of quality control.
You need to get them to expand on this bit
Therefore,
by asking
equality monitoring questions
as part of our consultations,
we can break down the responses we receive
and
assess whether any
protected characteristics
will be unfairly treated
because of the proposal being consulted on and plan suitable adjustments accordingly.
Nope that is mixing up Duty 1
"consider how their function housing policy will affect people with different protected characteristics."
When I may be female and able bodied but objecting to a policy which prevents males who are disabled (eg in a wheelchair) from being offered housing with ramps which are near public transport before all able bodied people.
The LA do not need equality monitoring questions to sort out replies which show the PC being unfairly treated. Each submission should be judged on its own merrit
So Duty 2 only captures people who engage by giving feedback via the survey who can therefore skew the policy adjustment if the feedback is not representative of the needs of the population as a whole.
And Duty2 is the collection reason:
Why do we want to know these things about you?
It is very important for X Council to collect information about respondents to understand whether the feedback we get from these surveys is representative of our resident population.
The disclosure of this data is treated in the strictest confidence.
Nothing in the surve should be a suprise if the LA has done the initial checks against the PCs
But method of breakdown becomes important here.
The whole process is a use of public funds there is a costbenefit in every step. And LA policy is always to work to the legal minimum with the funds available.
Re data collection and PCs and no public input creating a "black hole"
" It also requires public bodies to monitor the actual impact of the things they do. "
so that they can adjust the function to supply the data
the LA below :our equality monitoring questions are not usually mandatory on Citizen Space, so questions don’t need to be answered where someone feels the question is not relevant to their identity.
That is nice you dont have to supply the specific answer but the LA has a legal duty as part of the Public Sector Equality Duty which creates a new field "NO DATA ENTERED"
13. What is your sex? (a question about gender identity will follow)
Male
Female
Prefer not to say
NO DATA ENTERED
14. Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?
Yes
No
Prefer not to say
NO DATA ENTERED
15. What best describes your gender?
Female
Male
Non-binary
I use another term
Prefer not to say
NO DATA ENTERED
Grid
Male / Yes / Female
Male / Yes / Male
Male / Yes / Non-Binary
Male / Yes / I use another term
Male / Yes / Prefer not to say
Male / No / Female
Male / No / Male
..etc...
Male / Prefer not to say / Female
..etc...
Female / Yes / Female
...etc..
Prefer not to say / Prefer not to say / Prefer not to say
> 3×3×5= 45 sub-group
Add in the null(?) field NO DATA ENTERED
4×4×6 = 92 sub-group
What are the LA doing with-in the provision of housing policy which requires that level of zooming down?
Reworded:
13. What is your sex? (a question about gender reassignment gender identity will follow)
Male
Female
Prefer not to say
NO DATA ENTERED
14. Are you proposing
• to undergo,
• are undergoing
or
Is the gender you identify with the same as
• have undergone
your sex registered at birth
a process of gender reassignment ?
Yes
No
Prefer not to say
NO DATA ENTERED
They have by bad construction of the language in the question missed 2 sub-groups who are proposing to/are.
15. What best describes your gender?
Female
Male
Non-binary
I use another term
Prefer not to say
NO DATA ENTERED
Data breach as
• Non-binary
• I use another term
are not within the GR section of the EA
And the objective it to meet the EA not exceed it.
New Grid
Male / Yes gender reassignment
Male / No gender reassignment
Male / Prefer not to say
Female / Yes gender reassignment
Female / No gender reassignment
Female / Prefer not to say
Prefer not to say / Yes gender reassignment
Prefer not to say / No gender reassignment
Prefer not to say / Prefer not to say
> 3×3 = 9 sub-group
NO DATA ENTERED
> 4x4 = 12 sub-groups
Or flip the PC to focus on GR question and the LA only need to look at the yes replies
New Grid
Yes gender reassignment / Male
Yes gender reassignment / Female
Yes gender reassignment / Prefer no to say
Yes gender reassignment / NO DATA ENTERED
> 2 sub-group
As "Prefer not to say" and "NO DATA ENTERED" Sex submission will be either a both sex (male and female) issue or a "SSS" issue
So better data management for wide scope housing policy.
Eg transgender issues and SSS housing if homeless
The Equality Act 2010 recognises gender reassignment as a protected characteristic which has not changed following the Supreme Court ruling of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.
Ok
We ask questions about gender
The PC is GR not "gender" nor "gender Identity"
We ask questions about gender
so we can identify
responses
from this
equality group
to see if
they
are engaging with our consultations
See the LAs "equality group" expand into multiple (45) sub-groups with no or tiny numbers.
And why has "Prefer not to say / Prefer not to say / Prefer not to say" not engaged and how do the LA help their internal decision-makers understand how their activities affect different this sub-group?
We ask questions about gender
so we can identify responses from this equality group to see if they are engaging with our consultations
and
check if
this protected characteristic
have identified any adverse impact in their response.
This is why asking questions around gender is relevant.
Nope wrong metric.
Gender is not the PC it should be gender reassignment
Again anybody can report an adverse impact and the LA staff would be stupid and unlawfully excluding a valid submission if someone ticks the not in this "equality group" as the data is collected (only) to understand whether the feedback we get from these surveys is representative of our resident population.
Furthermore,
our equality monitoring questions
were developed
to align
with the questions asked as part of the Census 2021,
Why limit the monitoring to the 2021 data?
Its old data are the LA not able to look at their own records too?
Housing is a long term outlook so the change or projected change is a key benchmark
As per other posters there are known issues with the questions and reliance on data with know error is never good policy.
Furthermore, our equality monitoring questions were developed to align with the questions asked as part of the Census 2021,
which enables us
to check if
the responses we receive
are representative
of the diverse makeup of the City of Wolverhampton.
Ok benchmark per the statement at point of collection
but is Q 15 in the Census data or is it looking at the replies to the fill in the box option.
As part of the Census 2021 individual questionnaire,
question 27
was focussed on gender and therefore,
this is another reason we ask a
•》 similar question
as part of our monitoring.
Not a PC not required> excess data collection
On your concern about ensuring accuracy without a
I don’t have a gender identity option,
our equality monitoring questions are not usually mandatory on Citizen Space, so questions don’t need to be answered where someone feels the question is not relevant to their identity.
As above
The duty is on the LA to monitor the PC GR
And this is creating a data field.
Additionally, each will have a prefer not to say option to allow people to opt out of questions they don’t feel comfortable answering.
Ok that is a data record too.
And gender is not the Pc
Therefore, we do not uphold the element of your complaint that we are
• discriminating against you or
• not processing your data correctly
by including questions on gender in our consultations as there are opportunities to abstain from questions you do not want to answer.
Fail they did not collect the data on PC GR
They will have a field No Data Entered under what they think is GR but is actually your non-reply to the gender question.
You need to ask how the data is stored (data set)
On your question on why the Council does not ask questions about pregnancy or maternity,
the council aligns our equality monitoring questions with the Census 2021,
Fail what basis is used to justify the use of the Census process when the EA provides a list
Why is that PC not relevant to housing policy?
where the only question relating to maternity was an employment-based question which wouldn’t be relevant for the Council to ask as we do not gather data on employment as part of our equality monitoring questions on consultations.
Why its a PC?
And babies link directly into housing policy
Why is the Council saying it needs a benchmark?
The obligation is assess under the EA PCs
Which other ones were not included?
This shows a serious weakness in the LAs understanding of their Duties under the EA
If you are dissatisfied with this response and would like to request a further investigation, please contact the Customer Liaison Team in writing within 20 working days from the date of this letter as follows: