first appraisal of how the new regulatory regime promised by the Social Housing White Paper is likely to work, the review has been led by the members of CWAG and the NFA.

Based on a year-long examination of council-ALMO structures and relationships, it echoes the RSH’s urging that landlords should not wait for legislation and should examine their housing management systems, governance and tenant engagement now to make ready for the coming changes. 

Jacqui McKinlay, Chief Executive of the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny and author of the report foreword, says: “This guide could not be timelier, and it rightly maintains all-important focus on excellent outcomes for tenants and services.

“The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny’s wealth of evidence and experience shows the importance of grounding governance culture in clear accountability, transparency and involvement.

“The message from government and the regulators is that the sector should not wait for change to come, and social housing managers need to start proactive reviews of where they are now – and it is obviously also crucial to involve tenants and all their diverse voices and experiences in that process.”

The NFA-CWAG report also includes a governance and assurance toolkit developed during the review. It will help councils track their compliance with the imminent changes to landlord responsibilities and their ALMOs’ operational compliance on the tasks delegated to them. The 34-point toolkit checklist particularly addresses good governance and the new emphasis on tenant engagement and the tenant voice.

“In fact, we believe this will be an indispensable tool for all councils with their own housing, whether they manage their stock through an ALMO or in-house,” said NFA Policy Director and report editor Chloe Fletcher.

“However, the ALMO advantage is the most positive finding from this thorough investigation of council-ALMO relationships.  The most important change the sector now faces is that we must not only do the right thing by tenants, but we must also have the hard evidence to prove that. The ALMO model already has the right mechanisms in place to deliver that evidence.”

ALMOs now sit within the local authority family delivering a range of services, many of which support a very broad spread of their parent councils’ strategic objectives. Some also have regeneration and new-build expertise.

The full report reviews the range of models of management, partnership and assurance that have evolved between arms-length management organisations and their parent councils in the two decades since their inception. It is drawn from the experience of on-the-ground officers working in council-owned social housing management.

“The report’s contributors have focused on context rather than prescription,” said Ceri Davies, Regeneration Team Leader at Nottingham City Council and former CWAG Chair. “This report covers the key elements of best practice so that council and ALMO managers have sound checks and balances in place and can be confident their services are compliant. The findings will be relevant to every level of housing management, from senior officers and politicians as well as other colleagues and residents.”

The open-source checklist covers nine key compliance issues: council/ ALMO relationship; resident voice; complaints; performance; independent assurance; audit; governance; risk; and health & safety/ building safety.

CfGS’s Jacqui McKinlay added: “What really makes a difference in good governance is clarity of purpose, clear roles and responsibilities, respectful and trusted relationships, good communication and an openness to challenge. This does not happen by magic.

“Any organisation or partnership that hopes to develop the ability to respond quickly to challenge and adapt to change needs the sure foundation of a resilient governance framework. This report and its governance toolkit, drawing on a huge amount of input and feedback from organisations and individuals across the sector, shows clearly how this framework can be constructed.”

For further information, contact NFA Press and Comms Officer:
Cheryl Stonehouse
cheryl.stonehouse@almos.org.uk
07901 553525