Thank you for your request dated 11 April 2023, we have treated this as a Freedom of Information request. You have asked for the following information; please see our responses below in blue:
- What are your/BH’s policies + procedures regarding making reasonable adjustments?
We publish this policy on our website: https://barnethomes.org/download/reasonable-adjustments-to-services-policy/
(1.2 NB: Is special consideration given to the Equalities Act ? When were each of your policies or procedures a) first introduced + b) last reviewed?)
Refusal Notice
s12 (cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit)
The data you have requested is substantial as Barnet Homes / The Barnet Group has over 300 policies and procedures. In order to respond to the request, we estimate it would take an average of 5 minutes per document, that would constitute 25 hours of staff time to review and identify the information in your request. It is also likely that we don’t hold all of the information requested regarding when each of the approx. 300 documents were first introduced.
- 300 documents x 5 minutes = 25 hours.
We therefore would reasonably estimate that this exercise would take in excess of 25 hours to complete for one member of staff.
Barnet Homes publishes key customer-facing policies on its website at https://barnethomes.org/about-us/our-policies/ where customers can access them. Policies include a section on equalities including the Equality Act 2010 and may be subject to Equality Impact Assessments. The requestor should note that in some instances, Barnet Homes is delivering the policies of the London Borough of Barnet which is a separate authority under the Freedom of Information Act.
2) What training does BH’s staff have in relation to dealing with people who are on the autistic spectrum?
- a) your (frontline) staff in general
This is mentioned in the Equality and Inclusion training. Within Your Choice Barnet (YCB), all staff have to complete autism awareness via eLearning as a mandatory request.
- b) your staff dealing with vulnerable persons
For frontline housing staff there is mental health awareness in housing, trauma-based training. Housing Options have their own suite of courses around assessment. Regarding YCB depending on the vulnerability determines the training e.g. dementia awareness, living with Parkinson’s, diabetes or autism.
- c) your staff assessing vulnerable persons
Assessments are done locally by staff in each service and they receive the training as mentioned above.
- d) relevant managerial staff
Within YCB all staff including managers are required to do general awareness then if further training is required this is sourced by the service.
3) Do you have any Equality-Impact-Assessments in relation to autistic people + your policies + procedures?
Published EIAs can be found on our website: https://barnethomes.org/about-us/our-policies/. We do not hold specific data regarding Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in relation to our customers, neither does the national Census capture this information, however ASD is considered generally under the impact on those with a disability. Again, in some instances Barnet Homes is delivering services to the policies of the London Borough of Barnet, which is a separate local authority under the Freedom of Information Act.
Your rights
If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request a review by emailing Talk2Us@barnethomes.org and marking it as an appeal for the attention of the Data Controller.
If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF (telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45; website: www.ico.gov.uk).
There is no charge for making an appeal.
Kind regards