Into Practice: Improving services for people who live in council homes.
Wednesday 14 May 2025
Programme:
09.15
Registration, refreshments and networking
09.50
Conference Chair’s welcome
Eamon McGoldrick, NFA Managing Director
10.00
Opening remarks from the NFA Board Chair
Paul Stephenson, NFA Board Chair
10.05
Opening keynote address – Taking stock
Scanning the horizon: where have we come from, where are we going, and what do we need to do to keep improving services for tenants?
Chair: Paul Stephenson, NFA Board Chair
Speaker: Chloe Fletcher, Director HQN
A much-needed policy shift followed the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017, refocusing central government and the whole sector on the need to improve housing quality and services for people living in social homes. While not all the pieces of the policy landscape jigsaw are in place, much of the regulatory framework has now taken shape.
This session will review the journey of the last eight years and consider how members can continue to challenge themselves to do better for tenants, drawing on learning from across the wider social housing sector.
10.25
Assuring councils with ALMOs
What do councils with ALMOs need from their ALMO boards and executives to gain assurance in the new regulatory regime?
Chair: Eamon McGoldrick, NFA Managing Director
Panellists: Angela Holden, Regulator of Social Housing
Louise Wood, Service Director Planning & Housing at Cornwall Council
Marcus Evans, Senior Consultant at DTP
Exploring the role that ALMO boards can play in making sure parent councils gain the assurance they need to both demonstrate and evidence compliance in the new regulatory regime.
11.00
Refreshments and networking
11.35
The resident voice – Learning from Phoenix
How does Phoenix Community Housing use the voice of residents to shape culture and drive service improvement?
Chair: Eamon McGoldrick, NFA Managing Director
Speakers: Rebecca Clarke, Board lead for Complaints and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Phoenix Community Housing Association
Phoenix Community Housing Association is a C1 rated resident-led housing association in South London. With insights from Phoenix board member Rebecca Clarke, the session will explore how resident insight can be used to shape services and what role a board can play in the process of making sure tenant views are heard and acted on. Rebecca will also explain how Phoenix has demonstrated this assurance to its board, residents and the Regulator of Social Housing.
12.00
Breakout session 1
Asset Management roundtable: How do we meet the current and future needs of tenants in this challenging and ever-changing environment?
Chair: Shaun Aldis, Chief Executive Wolverhampton Homes
Contributors: Laura Johnson, Interim Group Director – Development and Property at Barnet Homes
John Barnes, Director, Housing and Healthcare at Savills
Breakout session 2
Housing Management roundtable- How do we combine the basics of housing management with innovation for the future?
Chair: Sarah Lander, South Essex Homes.
Contributors: Carl Tring-Willis, Derby Homes
Anna O’Halloran, O’Halloran Consultants Ltd
Breakout session 3
ALMO Board Chairs only networking session – with Eamon McGoldrick
and Paul Stephenson
13.00
Lunch, socialising and networking
13.45
The WOW Factor: How to create raving fans
In the complex world of housing services, how do we build a team willing to go the extra mile and exceed customer expectations every time?
Facilitator: Darrell Woodman, The Art of Brilliance
Team-building, workplace change and motivation specialists Art of Brilliance will deliver an interactive, thought-provoking and entertaining workshop in this post-lunch session.
‘The Art of Being Brilliant – the Wow Factor’ argues that positive, fulfilled staff are the first essential step towards satisfied customers. In the complicated context that housing professionals work in, with ever increasing pressures and requirements, how do we build a team willing to go the extra mile and exceed customer expectations every time?
14.45
What is the data telling us and how do we use it?
Who is behind the front door/ How are we using the data to deliver better, safer services?
Chair: Lisa Birchall, NFA Head of Policy
Speakers: Alison Leach, Strategic Lead IT Services at Stockport Homes
Jonathan Cox, Chief Data Officer at Housemark
15.25
Refreshments and networking
15.40
Closing keynote session – Hamed Amiri
Chair: Eamon McGoldrick, NFA Managing Director
Speaker: Hamed Amiri
Hamed Amiri is a respected Wales-based senior leader in the tech sector. He arrived in the UK as a 10-year-old refugee from Afghanistan after a harrowing 18–month journey described in his best-selling book The Boy with Two Hearts, now adapted into a successful West End play. Hamed and his family sought refuge in the UK after his mother was targeted by the Taliban for supporting women’s rights. This experience, and the NHS treatment his late brother Hussein was given when the family reached the UK, have inspired him to invest much of his spare time in developing more positive perceptions of refugees and diversity to inform public debate.
16.25
NFA Chair’s highlights of the day and concluding remarks
Paul Stephenson, NFA Board Chair
16.30
Conference close
*Programme subject to change.
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