Anti-Racist Action Plan

As a provider of homes and services in diverse communities across South Wales, United Welsh has an important role to play in creating an anti-racist Wales.

We provide over 6,800 homes, and our services support thousands of people to live happily and independently.

We recently updated our Anti-Racist Action Plan for 2026:

• Here is the 12-month Anti-Racist Action Plan, where you will find progress on our actions and our commitments for 2026
• Here is the 2026 Actions Summary
• Here is the Anti-Racist Action Plan summary.

The plan currently focuses on three areas:

1. Representation: We will work to continuously maintain and improve the ethnic diversity of the United Welsh Board and staff at all levels.
2. Service provision: We will make changes to embed anti-racism and race equality throughout our service design and delivery.
3. Communication and engagement: We will show our support for racial equality, challenge misinformation and provide platforms for people from ethnic minority backgrounds to shape, influence and change the services we deliver.

Group Chief Executive Richard Mann said:

“This is the fifth year that we are publishing our actions and progress for tackling racism, with the long-term vision of becoming an anti-racist organisation.

“Inclusion is a guiding principle for United Welsh and remains central to our culture. We hope the reported progress and actions outlined in this year’s plan, across our three focus areas of representation, service delivery and communication and engagement, demonstrates to our customers and communities that we are determined to learn and adapt.

“We know that progress takes time and singular actions won’t lead to long-term change, but we remain positive about the journey we are on. In September 2025, we signed the Tai Pawb Deeds Not Words 2.0 pledge to reinforce our commitment to end racial inequality in housing.

“We want United Welsh homes, communities and workspaces to be places where all customers and staff feel heard and feel they belong. That continues to be our goal and we are determined to keep on driving change.”

Overview of 2025

• 17% of United Welsh Board members identify as minority ethnic and 7.5% of the United Welsh workforce identifies as minority ethnic.
• A Board member who joined through the Pathway to Board project, which supports ethnically diverse people into Board member roles, became the Board Diversity Champion.
• Our Senior Leadership Team (14 staff consisting of Group CEO, Executive Directors, Directors and Heads of Service) has no representation from people of Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic origin. In 2025 there was only one vacancy and appointment at senior level (Director). As there is a proven diversity gap within this staff group, we will consider positive action when recruiting for any vacancies that may arise.
• 96% of employed staff have completed Equality, Diversity and Unconscious Bias training. In 2025, 40 people completed an online Introduction to Equality Action module and 36 people attended Equality and Diversity and Unconscious Bias training.
• We calculated and published the ethnic minority pay gap for staff in our annual report. For the United Welsh Group (United Welsh, Celtic Horizons and Celtic Offsite), the minority ethnic pay gap based on median hourly pay is 14% (2024: 7%).
• We continued to support the Get Into Housing project led by CCHA to work with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people who want to start a career in housing or gain work experience. Three people joined us for work placements in 2025; one of whom is still employed in our staff relief pool. One person who joined through the programme in 2022 remains working with us.
• We signed up to the Tai Pawb Deeds Not Words 2.0 pledge to reinforce our commitment to ending racial inequality in housing.
• Ethnicity data is monitored for recruitment and retention. To improve our data governance, insights and usage overall, we recognised that additional resource was required. A new Data Quality Analyst joined us in February, and the creation of a new Data team was approved in the autumn. A Data and Insights Manager has also been appointed and following more recruitment, the new team will improve how we consistently collect, maintain and use data to evolve our services.
• A new Hate Crime Policy and Procedure was approved by the Executive Team
• We reviewed and updated our Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) process to improve consistency in the organisation.
• We have continued to publicise our support for minority ethnic colleagues and communities. Examples include a blog for Black History Month to celebrate Welsh Black people who have positively shaped history, a video with United Welsh staff member Hassan about observing Ramadan, and promotional support for the Pathway to Board project.
• We launched Polly, a new anonymous monthly staff survey tool. Polly is anonymous so staff have an alternative way to share their thoughts about working for United Welsh, and it will be used to gain staff insights about belonging at work and EDI focus areas.
• Progress with our Anti-Racist Action Plan was discussed by the Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team as dedicated agenda items to monitor progress with our anti-racism work.

 Our Strategy 2023-27

Our Strategy 2023/27 states our dedication to equality, diversity and inclusion.

In 2025, we will embark on the third year of United Welsh’s five-year business strategy. Advancing racial equity remains a priority for us, and we look forward to continuing our work with customers and partner organisations such as Tai Pawb, other community landlords, local authorities and Welsh Government, to take positive action and deliver change.