Transparency data

RSH Board minutes - 27 April 2021 (accessible version)

Updated 1 February 2022

Applies to England

PUBLIC MINUTES of the RSH Board meeting

on Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 9.30am

Microsoft Teams Meeting (no members were together, and the meeting was deemed to have been held in London, the location of the Chair).

6 - Remote and virtual participation

6.1 Any member may validly participate in a meeting virtually through the medium of conference telephone, video conferencing or similar form of communication equipment, provided that all persons participating in the meeting are able to hear and speak to each other throughout such meeting, or relevant part thereof. A member so participating shall be deemed to be present in person at the meeting and shall accordingly be counted in a quorum and entitled to vote.

6.2 A meeting shall be deemed to take place where the largest group of those members participating is assembled or, if there is no group which is larger than any other group, where the chair of the meeting is.

Present

• Simon Dow - Interim Chair
• Paul Smee
• Liz Butler
• Richard Hughes
• Ceri Richards
• Jo Boaden - Attended for items 1-10
• Deborah Gregory
• Fiona MacGregor - Chief Executive

In attendance

• Jonathan Walters - Deputy Chief Executive
• Maxine Loftus – Director, Regulatory Operations
• Richard Peden - Director, Finance and Corporate Services
• Will Perry - Director, Strategy
• Harold Brown - Senior Assistant Director, Investigation and Enforcement
• Emma Tarran - Senior Assistant Director, Head of Legal Services and Company Secretary
• Jim Bennett - Assistant Director, Policy and Communications – for items 6, 7 and 8
• Althea Houghton - Assistant Director, Registrations and New Entrants - for item 10
• Robert Dryburgh - Assistant Director, Business Intelligence – TSM workshop

Observing

• Paul Scott - Head of Internal Audit, Homes England (from item 1 to part way through item 10 only)
• Chris Kitchen – Board Secretary, Minutes

1. Welcome and apologies

01/04/21 There were no apologies. The Chair welcomed PSc who was observing the Board in his capacity as Head of Internal Audit.

2. Declarations of Interest

02/04/21 There was one new declaration of interest from DG that was NOTED and her records have since been updated. Members NOTED the declaration of interest on record from CR in respect of her NED role with BeFirst (Barking & Dagenham).

3. Minutes of last meetings – 23 March 2021

03/04/21 The confidential and public minutes from the meeting on 23 March 2021 were considered and subject to minor typographical amendments, both sets of minutes were APPROVED.

4. Matters Arising

04/04/21 Members NOTED the actions.

5. Forward Planner

05/04/21 Members NOTED the forward planner.

6. Chief Executive update

General updates

06/04/21 Members were given the following updates:

07/04/21 Meeting with Eddie Hughes MP: on 14 April the CEO and DCEO had met with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing). The discussion was wide ranging, and the Minister took a particular interest in current casework and the causes of issues being faced

Grenfell Public Inquiry

08/04/21 JB joined the discussion. JB provided an update on the latest position with the inquiry at which Grenfell Tower residents had given evidence. The next stage of the inquiry will hear evidence from TMO staff.

Government announcements relating to Covid-19:

09/04/21 Members NOTED the updates provided including the Government’s consultation on making vaccination a condition of employment for care workers in older adult care homes (homes with anyone aged 65+). The consultation closes on 21 May 2021.

Policy Updates

10/04/21 New Shared Ownership Model: Sector feedback to the consultation outcomes has included general welcoming of the capping of landlord costs, although there is some continued caution about ensuring the initial 10% minimum purchase and staircasing in 1% tranches is understood by purchasers. Sector feedback also includes that clarity is being sought about the move to requirements for a longer (990 year) lease term (compared with the current 99 years) across all SO including the new model. A new template lease will be published in May 2021.

11/04/21 The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator: Sector preparation for moving towards net zero carbon has been a topic of conversation at recent roundtables. We have been giving a consistent message to RPs to be clear on their baseline stock position to inform their options and future plans. It was noted that there are some areas of energy efficiency fabric works such as insulation, and solar power can bring reasonable gains as a first step before having to consider boiler replacement options.

12/04/21 Operational Update: members NOTED this information.

13/04/21 Publications: Members NOTED the publications which are all available via the Gov.uk website. The Global Accounts 2020 had been very well received by the sector.

14/04/21 Media coverage: of the ITV News coverage of the damp issues in Croydon Council flats was noted. The IDA Survey and Ethnicity Pay Gap report had also received media coverage.

15/04/21 Stakeholder Backward look: members were given an update on the meeting the CEO had with the Building Safety Regulator.

7. Feedback from the Audit and Risk Assurance meeting

17/04/21 LB gave members an overview of the ARAC meeting which had taken place the previous day. Key highlights from the meeting were:

• Review of the Strategic Risk Register which had been presented in its new condensed format as requested.
• In-depth assurance review of the Programme and Project Management in RSH had provided assurance of the methodology used.
• Internal audit report: a standard update report and the final audit report on Business planning had been reviewed. The audit report confirmed a substantial rating and had one low priority recommendation which management were addressing.
• NAO interim report: the audit findings covering the previous 11 months to February 2020 was presented to ARAC.

18/04/21 The Chair thanked LB and extended thanks to the Director of Finance and Corporate Services and the team.

8. Finance and Corporate Services update

19/04/21 RBP presented the management accounts and general F&CS updates.

20/04/21 Management Accounts: February revenue spend was ahead of Q3 forecast due to timing of payments but will revert back to forecast by year-end.

21/04/21 Covid-19: no updated announcements from Government, so staff are still being asked to work from home until further notice. We launched a further survey on staff wellbeing and continue to offer a range of different support mechanisms for staff and flexibility for individuals as needed. We will follow Government guidance. JOM has been in discussions with the Unions in relation to risk assessments for each of our offices. Members will be kept updated as matters progress.

9. Operational update

22/04/21 ML presented the paper and members NOTED that 46 RJs in total had been published between January and March; nine from IDAs, five from reactive work and 32 from stability checks. IDA delivery is back up to previous volumes with 23 IDAs in progress. Our programming remains risk-based and we have the resources to undertake IDAs where we feel this is the right regulatory action.

23/04/21 Biennial Engagement Meetings are continuing and the main theme from these meetings remains building safety and energy efficiency requirements and the impact that the associated costs may have on other strategic priorities, such as development growth. ML invited members to give her feedback on whether the information provided in the Reg Ops update generally covers the information they need. ML

24/04/21 Members NOTED the four mergers as at the end of April and were advised that interim grades for these were due for publication shortly. The Chair reiterated to members to feedback to ML any other areas they were interested in receiving more information.

10. Registrations Update – Decisions of the ADRNE

25/04/21 AH joined the meeting and presented the paper which set out the summary of recent decisions which saw seven new entrants being registered, three for profit and four not for profit organisations.

26/04/21 The non-profit bodies included two charities (George Green’s Almshouses and Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association) which are in effect the incorporated versions of charities which are already registered with us. The remaining two non-profit organisations, a small charity (The Mills Charity) and Torbay Council’s subsidiary company (Torvista Homes Limited) were both seeking registration to access grant funding. The for-profit companies include a subsidiary of McCarthy and Stone (Shared Ownership) Limited and two companies (MP Living Limited and Habitare Homes Limited) registered to hold the social housing in which funds will invest. One applicant for registration was refused during the period at the preliminary stage of its application as a result of it being unable to demonstrate that the housing it would provide would be made available for rent at below market levels.

27/04/21 Attention was drawn to the compulsory de-registration decisions for Green Park Property Management who had taken the decision to exit from the sector. The decision to compulsorily de-register Green Park was taken with their agreement. Members NOTED the circumstances for this decision.

PSc left the meeting at this point.

28/04/21 The other de-registration decision was in respect of Dawson Housing Limited.

11. Investigation and Enforcement update

30/04/21 HB introduced the I&E report which gave members background information to current cases.

31/04/21 Brent Community Housing (Brent):

32/04/21 Members will be kept informed of progress with this case.

33/04/21 Prospect Housing Limited (Prospect): HB gave members an update.

Grading Under Review

35/04/21 There are currently six providers on the Grading Under Review list including Brent Community Housing referred to above. The others are:

36/04/21 Auckland Home Solutions C.I.C

37/04/21 3CHA Limited, Ash-Shahada Housing Association Limited and Concept Housing Association CIC

38/04/21 Salvation Army Housing Association

39/04/21 Members NOTED the update in respect of the non-compliant cases and the updates on consumer regulation casework.

12. Any Other Business

40/04/21 There were no other matters of business. The Chair thanked members for their contributions to the meeting.

Date of next meeting: 25 May 2021 – 9.30am