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Chief executive reveals ‘frustration’ with complicated group structure
A chief executive has urged housing associations to adopt simple structures, saying a complicated group structure she inherited had frustrated staff and contributed to a regulatory downgrade.
Bronwen Rapley, chief executive of Onward Homes (formerly Symphony), hit out at the federated structure that was in place when she took over at the Merseyside organisation in January last year.
Ms Rapley, speaking at Housing 2017 in Manchester yesterday, said: “When I joined the organisation I think I can say I was met by a wave of frustration about how difficult it was to get anything done, how difficult it was to get decisions made. The reason it was challenging to operate in was because it separated control and accountability and it was a very complex structure.”
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Under Symphony’s structure, six subsidiaries had their own boards and a high degree of autonomy in what is known as a federated or ‘washing-line structure’.
Ms Rapley said it became apparent five weeks into the job that the problems caused by the structure “had serious consequences” when she realised the group could not reassure the regulator the group was compliant with health and safety legislation.
Symphony subsequently had its governance rating downgraded by the Homes and Communities Agency, although it had not actually breached health and safety rules.
Ms Rapley also shed some light on the decision of 6,000-home Cobalt Housing to de-merge from Symphony.
She said the board of Cobalt had wanted the benefits from assets to remain in the local community, rather than go into the group as a whole.
In May, the structure of the 41,000-home group was simplified, bringing management under one common board. The group’s name has changed to Onward Homes.
Ms Rapley said associations looking at merging or changing structure should keep their structures simple.
She said: “Whatever you are thinking of… having a straightforward, navigable structure in order to make decisions is very important.”
