Just had a call from them. The lady on the phone said shed like to ask me some questions they are askin all thier tennants.
Question 1 Do i need special print letter sending me?
Question 2 Am i dissabled?
Question 3 Do i have a religon?
Question 4 Whats my sexuality?

Anyone know why im being asked this and what the hell gives them the right to think they can ring me at home and can ask my sexuality or religion???

You don't have to answer - hope you didn't.

However for the record I am a black, disabled, lesbian, blind person. Got me that job interview though didn't it :hihi:

Maybe they're just updating personal info. Just think how many tenants may be disabled but have never informed them, they could be missing out on certain services like large print letters and help with other things.

I agree the sexuality thing is abit much but many people may benefit from SH having the right information about them.

simler things on job application forms. never understood the point

You don't have to answer - hope you didn't.

However for the record I am a black, disabled, lesbian, blind person. Got me that job interview though didn't it :hihi:

Not even remotely amusing I'm afraid.

Just had a call from them. The lady on the phone said shed like to ask me some questions they are askin all thier tennants.
Question 1 Do i need special print letter sending me?
Question 2 Am i dissabled?
Question 3 Do i have a religon?
Question 4 Whats my sexuality?

Anyone know why im being asked this and what the hell gives them the right to think they can ring me at home and can ask my sexuality or religion???

Sorry to everyone who understands why service providers (like social landlords) ask questions of their customers/tenants, but I'll explain for those who don't know why.


1. If you were partially sighted - don't you think it would be good to get printed leaflets that you could actually read?
2. If you had a disability that meant you needed specialist help or support, don't you think it might help if your landlord knows about it?
3. If you are a practising Christian, would you like your boiler serviced on Christmas day? Probably not, so it helps to know if someone is religious so appointments aren't made on their equivalent of Christmas or Easter.
4. And lastly, if your sexual orientation isn't heterosexual/straight, you might just be a target for homophobes or other narrow minded people.

I don't understand why anyone would get so angry, there is no obligation to answer any of those questions. There is however, an obligation on local authorities on to ask them - to ensure everyone gets equality of service. To get the money for the decent homes improvements, Sheffield Homes has to show that it has up to date information about its tenants. Hence the questions.

**Freaklikeme said it all in so many fewer words!

3. If you are a practising Christian, would you like your boiler serviced on Christmas day? Probably not, so it helps to know if someone is religious so appointments aren't made on their equivalent of Christmas or Easter.
4. And lastly, if your sexual orientation isn't heterosexual/straight, you might just be a target for homophobes or other narrow minded people. [/LIST]



3, The council dont service boilers on Christmas day so thats just silly.
4, So they want to protect gays do they? Rubbish, theres no reason at all for them to ask this. The answers i give could be missused by the person ( a potential homophobe) ringing me up or anyone else with access to their computer. The council are just being big brother and im sick of all these invasions of mine and everyone esles privacy. Its not needed and tis not right.

I don't understand why anyone would get so angry, there is no obligation to answer any of those questions. There is however, an obligation on local authorities on to ask them - to ensure everyone gets equality of service. To get the money for the decent homes improvements, Sheffield Homes has to show that it has up to date information about its tenants. Hence the questions.

**Freaklikeme said it all in so many fewer words!

More rubbish!
So why not just dont ask these question and treat everyone the same?
Simple.

3, The council dont service boilers on Christmas day so thats just silly.
4, So they want to protect gays do they? Rubbish, theres no reason at all for them to ask this. The answers i give could be missused by the person ( a potential homophobe) ringing me up or anyone else with access to their computer. The council are just being big brother and im sick of all these invasions of mine and everyone esles privacy. Its not needed and tis not right.

You appear not to have understood either freaklikeme's or my answers. For clarity: You don't have answer any of the personal questions - but they have to ask. If you don't like the rules the government set, tell your MP.

More rubbish!
So why not just dont ask these question and treat everyone the same?
Simple.

I've already explained, if you treat everyone the same you'll disadvantage some people. For example: the blind, the deaf, the physically disabled, those with learning difficulties and those whose religious holidays aren't Christmas & Easter. Equality is about giving everyone the same level of service, to suit their needs. Not about treating everyone the same. Now there's a concept. ;)

Ms Macbeth - you don't justify the sexuality question though, which in this case seems completely irrelevant.

I've already explained, if you treat everyone the same you'll disadvantage some people. For example: the blind, the deaf, the physically disabled, those with learning difficulties and those whose religious holidays aren't Christmas & Easter. Equality is about giving everyone the same level of service, to suit their needs. Not about treating everyone the same. Now there's a concept. ;)

Your argument hold less water than a seive.

I never answer stuff like that ,and I hope I never will.

If you are a practising Christian, would you like your boiler serviced on Christmas day?

I know a few practicing Christians and their answer would definitely be YES! Actually, their answer would be "Yes, of course! Are you insane?"

There may be a religion that advocates freezing rather than phoning for an energancy call-out, but I can't think of one off hand.

Oi who said I was trying to be funny?!?! I actually am.

Ms Macbeth - you don't justify the sexuality question though, which in this case seems completely irrelevant.

This is from SCC website re equality and diversity specifically linking to sexual orientation. Explained so much better than I could. 'Often, sexual identity may not be felt to be relevant to the use of a particular Council service. However, many Council services are very important to LGBT people as a community of interest. How these services are provided and how sensitive they are to their needs can have a huge bearing on the quality of life to many LGBT people.' So, if people want to tell the council about their sexual orientation, they now have the chance. Again I'll repeat, its not mandatory to answer any of the questions. But the council, and Sheffield Homes have to ask them to be able to prove to the government that they know the make up of the community they serve.

Source: http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/policy--performance/equality-and-diversity/sexual-orientation-trans-issues

I never answer stuff like that ,and I hope I never will.
That is your absolute right and no-one would argue with it.

I wouldnt answer ANY of the questions, either one of them may be dangerous
especially in the hands of local authorities. I will prove this is the national newspapers.

I know a few practicing Christians and their answer would definitely be YES! Actually, their answer would be "Yes, of course! Are you insane?"

There may be a religion that advocates freezing rather than phoning for an energancy call-out, but I can't think of one off hand.

The question refers to servicing, not to emergency repairs.

And, of course, the Council does not work on Christmas Day; but if you are a follower of Shintoism, I for one wouldn't have a clue which are Shinto holy days and I suspect the Council wouldn't either, so they would need to check with you on which days you prefer not to be contacted.

More rubbish!
So why not just dont ask these question and treat everyone the same?
Simple.

If you don't ask them, you can't treat everybody the same; you can't, for instance, avoid everybody's sacred days, because you don't know what their sacred days are because you didn't ask. Some religions might have Tuesday as a day of rest; others celebrate Christmas in early January, and so on.

The reason that effective monitoring is useful is to show up statistical trends in the service that Sheffield Homes provides. Often this can't be detected at the individual level because there's no conscious discrimination, but a large number of statistics can indicate hidden problems. For instance, the council is required to report on tenant satisfaction surveys each year. they are also required to compare the levels of satisfaction amongst BME tenants. Where there is a significant difference in satisfaction rates, it indicates that there is an underlying problem of BME people getting a different level of service, overall, compared with white tenants. This can then be addressed.

Just one example. But it shows the relevance of collecting reliable statistics about sexual orientation too.

If you don't ask them, you can't treat everybody the same; you can't, for instance, avoid everybody's sacred days, because you don't know what their sacred days are because you didn't ask. Some religions might have Tuesday as a day of rest; others celebrate Christmas in early January, and so on.

Exactly my point - but so much clearer!

The reason that effective monitoring is useful is to show up statistical trends in the service that Sheffield Homes provides. Often this can't be detected at the individual level because there's no conscious discrimination, but a large number of statistics can indicate hidden problems. For instance, the council is required to report on tenant satisfaction surveys each year. they are also required to compare the levels of satisfaction amongst BME tenants. Where there is a significant difference in satisfaction rates, it indicates that there is an underlying problem of BME people getting a different level of service, overall, compared with white tenants. This can then be addressed.

Just one example. But it shows the relevance of collecting reliable statistics about sexual orientation too.

Thank you for your very clear explanation - its important that people understand that there are valid reasons for these questionnaires.

If you don't ask them, you can't treat everybody the same; you can't, for instance, avoid everybody's sacred days, because you don't know what their sacred days are because you didn't ask. Some religions might have Tuesday as a day of rest; others celebrate Christmas in early January, and so on.

Ill give you the religion one.
So explain why they need to know if im gay or straight.
There is NO reason on earth they would need to know this.

After reading through as to "why" we should have these surveys, I think it comes down to one thing - a*r*s*e covering. It is a tool to defend the actions of *whoever does the surveys* so they can't be sued. If there was no benfit to a*r*s*e covering it wouldn't be done. At some point someone must have been sued, ergo, money. (is what I think it comes down to)

It's a governmental rule - so don't hate Sheffield Homes or it's staff because of it.

If they don't collect this information then they won't stand a chance of 3 stars. If they don't get 3 stars then they won't be given the full allocation of money available. If they aren't given the full money then they can't continue the level of investment in things like Decent Homes.

They are basically contestants on a gameshow. I know people who work for them and, believe me, the staff don't want to ask these questions as much as you don't want to answer them - but as with any employee, they have to do as they are told by their superiors.

These questions are an annoyance and are misused. In short they allow a two tier service.

Are you a minority?

Yes - they'll do their hardest to keep you sweet
No - sod ya, bottom of list

These questions are an annoyance and are misused. In short they allow a two tier service.

Are you a minority?

Yes - they'll do their hardest to keep you sweet
No - sod ya, bottom of list

Yeah yeah - poor little me... blah blah blah.