Board Minutes
14th January 2010
Board meeting – summary notes
The following is a summary of the key issues from a Board meeting held on 14th January 2010.
Housing Services Performance Tracker Report 2009-2010
The Housing Services Performance Tracker Report 2009-2010, showing the performance up to December 2009 was circulated.
Service Improvement Plans 2009/10 – Updates
A report on the departmental service improvement plans had been circulated. The report provided a summary overview of progress plus more detail by exception where progress against target has slipped.
Development Control
At the last meeting the Board approved a revised bid programme which was submitted to the HCA before Christmas.
In addition, the HCA North West invited submissions to a mini-bid round for schemes comprising of shared ownership units which was also submitted before Christmas. A breakdown of the bids submitted was included in the report.
Chairman’s Action – it was reported that Chairman’s approval was sought for the progression of the proposed scheme in Grantham.
Regional Governance Update
A report providing an update on the progress on the delivery of the new regional governance structure had been circulated.
The key changes in the structure were summarised as:
- Replace the existing purely democratic election process for Resident Board membership with a structured recruitment and selection process prior to the democratic election.
- Replace the three existing Regional Committees and Divisional Committee with two new Regional Resident Forums, one for the North and one for the South.
- Implement a new structure of specific Service Improvement Groups.
- Plans to be drawn up to introduce Resident Led Self Regulation (Scrutiny) into the work of the Association.
There has been prolonged consultation with the current Regional Committee before finalizing the proposal. The Board approved the proposals.
Floating Support Contract
The Board approved a tender submission to Cambridgeshire County Council for floating support services.
Customer Information Profiling
A report on the outcome of the customer profiling exercise was reviewed. The report provides detailed information on the findings and what the Association has done with the information and the improvements which have been made as a result of the exercise.
TSA New Regulatory Framework
On 1 April 2010 the TSA will bring into force its new regulatory framework which will include the following:
- Key standards have been established which establish clear expectations and focus on outcomes rather than processes.
- In addition, RSLs will have their own local standards. Drawing up the local standards will be quite challenging for the Association in view of the geographical spread. Consultation with residents and local authorities is an expectation in preparation of the local standards. The deadline for preparation of the local standards is 1 October 2010.
- Responsibility for meeting the standards lies with the Board and self-assessment that is based on evidence and is subject to resident scrutiny of performance.
- Associations will be required to publish a report for residents after 1 April 2010 setting out how they already meet, or their plans to meet, each to the national standards. An annual report will be published with effect from July 2011 thereafter.
- The TSA stated that they are developing a risk-based approach to regulatory activity and intend to focus on associations most at risk or failing standards. There will be minimal contact when associations have no indications of standards failure.
A consultant will be invited to attend the February Board meeting to talk to the Board and Senior Management Team about the practical implications of the regulatory standards.
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