Accord Equality & Fairness Annual Report 2018
• To evidence positive
change the project used
Work Star, a recognised
change measurement tool
by Triangle Consulting.
• Positive change relates
to those participants who
have received two or more
star assessments.
• The project initially used
paper based, moving to
the electronic version in
the last 18 months.
• Feedback was mixed with
some finding it a useful
tool for establishing a
baseline position and the
visual progress aspect
helpful to participants.
• The delivery partners
found the system
cumbersome and did not
use the management tools
to their full effect. • Other staff felt there were
other alternative distance
travelled tools which
better demonstrated steps.
• There was variation on
overall positive changes
across the delivery areas
from 47% in Darlaston
South to 68% in Bilston
East; often linked to
closeness to the labour
market.
Customer Support Fund
• 26 participants received funding of which 58%moved
into employment.
• Some partners felt that the fund was too 'job
specific' and customers needed support with more
'welfare' related issues e.g. food vouchers, paying
utility bills.
• Darlaston South did not access the customer support
fund at all, partly due to underspend in their project
budget.
• Mainly used for employment items e.g. DBS, interview
clothing, copies of ID, PPE, additional travel to work
costs, specific licences.
We also have a Board member Champion in relation to Modern Slavery and
update our Modern Slavery Statement anually.
Social Value Policy
Our Social Value Policy was launched in 2016. This policy explains
what social value means to Accord and summarises our approach to
understanding, measuring and communicating the difference we make. We
commit to delivering social value through all of our services and supporting
our customers across four key domains:
•
•
•
•
digital inclusion
financial inclusion
jobs, skills and enterprise
health and wellbeing
In creating as much social value as possible, we will:
• embed social value in our procurement activities
• support local economies in the areas where we operate
• involve our customers to find out what they think and what matters to
them
• commit to protecting our local environment
• measure the impact of our activities so we understand how much social
value we are creating.
Accord uses, amongst other tools, the HACT Wellbeing Valuation model,
Outcomes Stars and the SROI (Social Return on Investment) framework to
internally measure and analyse social value created across community
investment, housing and Care & Support services.
This approach will help us take informed decisions to make even more of a
difference.
14
15
• Flexible pot of discretionary funding to support
additional needs.
To support this, we have a policy on Modern Slavery and complete risk
assessments based on spend analysis with our main suppliers, provide
training and raise awareness amongst suppliers and colleagues who manage
the contracts to ensure we help eradicate potential slavery from our supply
chains. The aim of this is to signpost them to information about Modern
Slavery, and to ask them to either submit their Modern Slavery policy or,
for organisations with a turnover of less than £36million, or who don’t have
their own policy, to sign up to ours. Our policy was renewed in 2017 and will
be renewed in 2020.
• Front line staff received
training in the use of the
assessments tools.
• The benchmark data
available through the tool
indicated change was
comparable with similar
programmes using the
tool.
Measuring Positive Change
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 consolidates previous offences relating to
trafficking and slavery and from October 2015, the Transparency in Supply
Chains Provisions required businesses with a turnover above £36 million to
publish an annual statement. Accord’s statement was first published on 31st
March 2016 on our website and has been updated annually.
Modern Slavery Policy