Out-of-step ALMOs risk tripping up

And this year there have been a number of cases where councils and their ALMOs have appeared to be treading on each others toes, pushing their relationships to breaking point.

The latest example came two weeks ago when Westminster Council sacked the chair of Citywest Homes, Dr Kevin Bond. His view of the ALMO’s role had become ‘significantly different’ from the council’s, it said in a statement (see opposite). Dr Bond considered that the council was ‘interfering’ in the ALMO’s work.

In June Ealing Council wrested control of its refurbishment programme from its ALMO, citing ‘performance failures’, despite Ealing Homes having previously gained a good rating from the Audit Commission.

And last year Rochdale Boroughwide Housing fell out so badly with its parent council that the recruitment process for a new chief executive was aborted over a confidentiality breach. The ALMO has yet to fill the post on a full-time basis.

So what is causing these problems? It comes down to both sides wanting to be the lead partner.

In March this year the Audit Commission criticised ‘unresolved tensions’ over the level of autonomy the Rochdale ALMO should have.

Roy Irwin, chief inspector of housing at the commission, told Inside Housing this week that councils and ALMOs were discussing ‘something that really matters, and therefore you will have real tensions’.

‘We find it with councils and ALMOs but also in relation to people who use contractors, with housing associations; when you have two people or organisations trying to deliver commonly held services.’

Gwyneth Taylor, policy officer at the National Federation of ALMOs, said each side should make sure they agreed what the roles should be before getting started, but that there were some ground rules to remember.

‘The local authority should be setting the vision and goals. It should not interfere in the operational stuff, but it owns the ALMO and the tenants are its tenants so they have overall responsibility,’ she said.

The row in Rochdale was a classic example of an ALMO-council relationship breakdown. The Audit Commission said there was ‘no genuine cause for significant disagreement’ but there was a perception in the ALMO of ‘losing independence’.

New RBH chair Ian Agnew said the ALMO and council had reached a ‘low point’ earlier this year but things had since seen a spectacular turn-around.

‘We have been quite public about it as we thought the people of Rochdale needed to know we were doing something,’ Mr Agnew said.

He added he had spent four years working as a mediator between bushmen tribes in the African Kalahari desert. The experience had, Mr Agnew said, put into perspective the quarrels of the UK housing trade.

To tackle the rift, RBH and the council commissioned an independent review and in August organised a two-day residential trip to Manchester, where senior ALMO and council managers thrashed out their differences.

They held frank discussions, and with the help of a professional course leader, developed ways to communicate and improve relationships.
‘Things are working very, very well now and we are genuinely seeing a massive improvement,’ Mr Agnew said.

The ALMO has just signed another 10-year contract to manage Rochdale’s housing - a sign of the council’s trust in it.

Rochdale tenant activist Clint Street said tenants had been concerned that the rows could affect services, and praised managers for working out differences.

‘It’s better than slugging it out in the press,’ he added.

Mr Agnew admitted that the ALMO system lent itself to potential conflict, when both councils and ALMOs believe they should be decision-
makers.

‘The councils own the stock and are the biggest shareholder,’ he said. ‘They feel they have a moral right to influence what goes on, they are elected members.’

Alistair McIntosh, chief executive of consultancy Housing Quality Network, said there was nothing wrong with the ALMO model. The current issues were ‘just a bout of growing pains’ as ALMOs searched for a firm identity after achieving the decent homes standard.

‘The best ALMOs have a very productive relationship with councils,’ he said. ‘It is like Strictly Come Dancing - if the two are moving in harmony it is amazing what can be achieved.

‘When they are not moving in step it can be ugly.’

Mr Irwin agreed, and said he believed councils should also give ALMOs room to develop.

‘It is like being a parent. When they grow up and show a bit of personality of their own, it requires both the child and the parent to reassess their relationships,’ he said.

ALMOs have matured rapidly over the last few years. But it remains the case that only by dancing in time with their parent councils can they achieve their full potential.

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