New rule in the crown

Leadership never stands still. Last month members of the Chartered Institute of Housing voted in favour of the first major changes in 25 years to the way the body is governed.

Now staff at the organisation, which represents 22,000 housing professionals worldwide, are fine-tuning the details of the overhaul which will be discussed again at a special meeting later in the year.

Some of the changes, which include slimming down the governing board and opening it up to non-CIH members if the relevant skills cannot be found in the organisation, are controversial. Jim Strang, chair of the CIH’s Scottish board, tabled a motion ahead of the vote opposing the idea of an elected panel to interview unelected members from outside the organisation for board positions. Though his objection failed, disquiet remains.

Here, new CIH president Paddy Gray fields questions about the changes from concerned members.

Will dividing the roles of president and chair reduce the status of the president? Which is the top post? Lynn McCulloch FCIH, chief executive, Cube Housing Association

‘In our discussions with the membership, a consensus emerged that suggested we needed a chair who would serve a three-year term. Indeed 91 per cent of respondents to our survey expressed this view. They also agreed the chair’s role should focus on driving the strategic direction of the organisation, and ensuring effective governance. 

‘This level of responsibility is a lot for one individual who is undertaking this work alongside his or her professional career. When we added on the equally important “outward-facing” role of president, it became clear that the two roles would be too much for one individual.

‘However, I do accept that we need to do more work to flesh out exactly how these roles will work in practice. ‘

Why might we need non-members to serve as trustees? Surely we have the skills and experience we need within the membership? Lynn McCulloch

‘One of the key findings of our research is that we simply don’t know enough about the skills and experience of our trustees. This is why establishing job descriptions for trustees is a key change. As is introducing more regular appraisals so we can identify where trustees need support.

‘The changes agreed by the membership in June allow for the inclusion of non-members if we find - through appraisal - that we have a skills gap in another area. This doesn’t mean we will automatically go outside of our membership; indeed if we have the skills available among our members then we will most certainly look from within. However, in some instances there may be a requirement to look externally for specific skills and/or experience, but we will require that any non-member who becomes a trustee, must take up membership.’ 

It is disgraceful that those of us who studied hard, passed our [housing] degree/other qualifications and went through the hassle of applying for CIH membership, see not only proposals for scrapping the fellowship grade, but membership being given away to anyone. How can housing be viewed as a profession once these changes are made? Anon

‘Under no circumstances will there be any threat to those who have studied to become corporate members. Indeed, everyone (including employers) will still be able to distinguish academically qualified members of CIH from those members without qualifications. The former will be called ‘chartered members’ - a term more widely understood by employers than our current ‘corporate’ grade - while the latter will be called ‘members’.

‘The proposals also allow existing fellows and those in the process of becoming fellows to retain this grade; but throughout our consultation there was substantial support for moving away from creating new fellows.’

Changes of this type should have been the subject of a referendum. Why did you not hold one? Anon

‘I am pleased to say that this has been the widest consultation process that I have ever been involved in. Every member was given a chance to express their views through surveys, consultation at every regional committee and national business unit and, of course, through council, culminating in the final decisions being taken at the AGM at our Harrogate conference in June.

‘As chair of the governance review advisory group I have every confidence that the widest possible consultation took place over a period of 15 months and that the views of the membership helped shape the position we are now in. The one thing we have learned, above all, is that CIH is successful because it values its membership and by reforming our governance we will continue to be successful.’ 

Is opening up membership for anything more than raising revenue? Anon

‘The reason for opening up membership is to make CIH a more inclusive professional body. A wider membership will make us more representative of the housing sector and if this results in additional revenue that can be reinvested in training and education then it is for the good of everyone in the sector. I want the CIH to be the first port of call for anyone working in housing.’ 

Is the CIH a business or a professional institution? Should it only be the latter? Anon

‘CIH is a charity and a professional body. We reinvest our income to support housing professionals and we do that through our education, training and policy and practice work. Our membership is so vitally important to us and that is why I would like to see it continuing to increase and that the services we provide are adequately funded to improve the sector as a whole.’ 

I am a long-term member of the CIH and attended my first conference and AGM this year. I was disappointed to find I was not entitled to vote on these changes, despite never falling into arrears with my subscription. Frankly I find this discriminatory. Dave Stuttle, MCIH

‘You are not alone in saying that. That is one of the things that came out very strongly from our consultations with members and is one of the reasons why we are bringing in these changes to governance. I am pleased to say that following the changes all members will be entitled to vote, and that we have already taken measures to develop postal voting arrangements

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