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Gordon PerryGetting compliance right after Grenfell
Boards need to ensure they are robust enough to tackle future challenges, says Gordon Perry
Gordon PerryIt seems to me that in the light of the Grenfell Tower disaster and the emerging changes in regulatory standards, there are three watchwords for social landlord boards: compliance, compliance, compliance.
There will undoubtedly be a greater focus on consumer standards – not before time, some of us would say. In recent years many housing association boards have been focused on serious detriment, rather than comprehensive compliance with all the consumer standards.
Serious detriment for some has meant gas safety. We all know it is much wider than that and fire safety has just shot up the agenda, as has investment in existing stock.
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While some in the sector call for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to have a greater focus on consumer standard compliance, I say no. As a board member of two housing associations, I believe that compliance with consumer standards should remain the board’s job. We should be accountable to our residents for this, more so than to the regulator.
We shouldn’t be passing this buck to the regulator. It’s quite right that they should remain focused on the governance and viability standards, but I’m sure there will be a greater focus on our asset management strategies, too.
“In recent years many housing association boards have been focused on serious detriment, rather than comprehensive compliance with all the consumer standards.”
Perhaps a number of boards can admit to being more focused on development at the expense of investment in existing stock. However, let’s not do a knee-jerk reaction and invest in everything, let’s only invest in stock that is sustainable. This will question the future of some tower blocks in fragile housing markets and demand some challenging decisions.
We also need to keep a look-out for more comprehensive questions about asset management issues and consumer standard compliance emerging from quarterly return requests from the HCA.
Do you as a board member know what questions are being asked, and if they are being answered in a timely manner and to the quality expected? As a former member of the HCA’s housing association regulatory panel until a few months ago, I know that there was growing frustration about some associations who didn’t give this the prominence it deserves. I suspect the HCA will be less patient in future, and rightly so.
So where should board members go for assurance, other than to your own executives? You could do no better than to look at the HCA’s recently published Sector Risk Profile and recent regulatory judgements for clues. You could also seek assurance from other external organisations.
Governance competence is essential and increased assurance should be sought by boards on any significant decisions, so external assurance and validation helps but doesn’t replace a questioning and constructively challenging board such as I was lucky to have when at Accent Housing. As we return to the board tables after summer, I am sure that ‘compliance’ will be a word often used, so let’s make sure it’s used robustly.
“Where should board members go for assurance, other than to your own executives?”
But do I have any other ‘c’ words to join compliance as other watchword for boards in this changing world? I have two more – consultation and communication.
As we face difficult decisions about the assets we own, we must remember they are our residents’ homes. Effective communication and consultation will be more important than ever, however these are topics for another debate on another day.
Gordon Perry, board member at Chartered Institute of Housing, Ark Consultancy, Trafford Housing Trust and Broadacres Housing Association
