Just one executive from the corporation, others from business and charity
TSA team plucked from outside the corporation
The leaders who will take charge of policing social housing and holding providers to account were unveiled this week.
Peter Marsh, chief executive of the Tenant Services Authority, plucked his five executive directors from various backgrounds in housing, regulation, charity, law and finance.
One of the Housing Corporation’s main regulatory players, Clare Miller, currently its director of regulation, has been appointed the TSA’s executive director of governance and viability.
Phil Morgan, current chief executive of the Tenant Participation Advisory Service England, is another familiar name on the team. He will become director of tenant services.
But the senior management team will include players from outside housing. Richard Moriarty, former chief executive of Postcomm, and Amnesty International organisational development director Fiona Fisher, will take charge of market development and organisational development respectively.
Claer Lloyd-Jones, a partner at consultancy Rockpools, will complete the team as executive director of corporate services.
Mr Marsh told Inside Housing it was ‘definitely deliberate’ that the new team came from a wide variety of sectors and included only one corporation director. ‘The first thing I needed everyone to be was passionate about what we are trying to do,’ he said. ‘Secondly we wanted the best brains possible to make the shift in regulation that the TSA needs.’
He said Mr Moriarty had a ‘proven track record’ in economic regulation and Ms Lloyd-Jones brought with her a network of relationships within local government.
Michael Gelling, chair of the Tenants’ and Residents’ Organisations of England, said he was glad the directors were drawn mostly from
outside the corporation. ‘What we haven’t got is a lot of people coming in with a lot of baggage,’ he said.
Housing policy analyst Mark Lupton pointed out the lack of housing management experience on the executive. ‘There is certainly a good set of new brooms there and Clare Miller and Phil Morgan know the sector well,’ he said. ‘The weakness might be that none of them has actually been directly involved in providing and managing services to tenants.’
Peter Marsh will be quizzed alongside Homes and Communities Agency boss Sir Bob Kerslake at Inside Housing’s question time event, which will take place at Tate Britain, London, on 20 November. To book a place call 07771 704 844 or email catherine@moorestyle.co.uk
Team talk
Peter Marsh, chief executive of the Tenant Services Authority
‘This team will make the TSA a force for change as we champion tenant priorities, use choice and incentives to shape the affordable market, challenge housing providers to ensure their continued viability and to raise standards across the board.’
Phil Morgan, new director of tenant services at the TSA
‘[My role] is very much about the tenant focus. I will be working with a lot of the people I have had contact with in the past and engaging with tenants and landlords across the country.’
Michael Gelling, chair of the Tenants’ and Residents’ Organisations of England
‘Peter Marsh has got a team around him who he must feel confident in. The proof of the pudding is going to be in 12 months’ time - will it work, will the team gel and will they deliver?’
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Readers' comments (1)
michael barratt | 07/11/2008 10:51 am
Phil Morgan as seen above has been appointed executive director responsible for tenant services as member of the TSA leadership team, an appointment that greatly concerns me and others for the reasons set out as readers’ comments appended to an article in your Journal “Marsh unveils his Leadership Team” dated 4th November 2008 ( accessed via a link on the top side of this page under Articles).
Mr Morgan claims to be a passionate advocate for tenant engagement and a keen supporter of the shift to a Tenant centred regulatory regime yet readers’ comments paint a very different picture of Mr Morgan.
During Mr Morgan’s watch as Chief Executive Office of TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) the organisation held a roadshow workshop presentations event on 25th November 2003 in Exeter. During the Event a presentation was given by a representative from IPB Communications (The same organisation that has worked with TPAS inrespect to many stock option appraisals including Crawley – see my other examples). I find the published slides shown at the Event relating to the IPB presentation to be collectively abnoxious not least slide 9 which stated “DCH (Defend Council Housing) don’t like any Options - Getting more sophisticated - DON’T GIVE THEM A PLATFORM – Proportionate Responses - Rapid responses – Intelligence.”
I believe that tenants such as myself are entitled to join DCH and have a say in the running and future of our homes. What right do TPAS and their kind have to deny my fellow tenants and I a right to speak? Yet the presentation at the TPAS Event in Exeter proposed just that.
Defend Council Housing was in my opinion characterized at the TPAS Event as lunatic organization and its members not worthy of a say in the future of their homes. In contrast, DCH at the National level has the active support of many Members of Parliament including: Austin Mitchell and former Ministers, Michael Meacher and Frank Dobson. Leading trade unionists such as Jack Dromey (UNITE) and Heather Wakefield (UNISON). At the local level the members are ordinary council tenants across a wide spectrum who are united in their opposition to the transfer of their homes to a housing association, such as those tenants in Crawley whom TPAS and Mr. Morgan refused to help and were subsequently deemed by the Advertising Standards Authority to have been unfairly denigrated.
Within the context of the above and other quoted examples it remains difficult for me to see why tenants should have sufficient trust and confidence in Mr. Morgan as the future TSA Executive Director Tenant Services, especially if and when the Authority has jurisdiction extended to include local authority landlords and council tenants. Personally, I believe it will be difficult for both housing association and council tenants to have faith in a Tenants’ watchdog the Government intends will be funded by landlords – hardly a viable basis for independant adjustications.
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