BRUTAL TRUTH OF AN EVER-SO-COSY MERGER

Guilty
secret            of two big
housing providers

All very mysterious…The newspaper headline says simply:”Homes Providers Plan Merger Deal.” Turn to a magazine and there is a  completely different headline on the same story.That headline reads:”Non-compliant Impact Selects Riverside as Partner.”

Newspaper or  magazine?…you take your choice.But why the completely different headlines over the same story?.

If you read the story under the headline in the newspaper- the Carlisle daily publication News and Star- you will read of an ever-so-cosy get-together of two Cumbria housing associations, the Liverpool-based Riverside and the Workington-based Impact.

“Impact Housing` Delighted` Over Talks With Riverside Housing” says another headline over the story.

The cosy theme continues as  the story tells of the merger of two  associations as “improving long-term prospects for their homes,tenants and staff”.

But if you read the magazine-  the weekly national publication Inside Housing - you will read something that is far from cosy.

It is  a brutal story and is harshly critical of Impact which it says “was downgraded to non-compliant by the social housing regulator in May last year for both its governance and its financial viability.”

Impact governing board.Mark Costello is centre front

Remarkably, there is no mention of this downgrading in the cosy News and Star report. Instead the report quotes Mark Costello, Impact`s chairman who speaks of “challenges that have led to us seeking a partner.”

And what were those `challenges`? Mark Costello does not give details.But the brutal Inside Housing report has no problem in spelling them out.

That report says that the social housing regulator`s  judgement was issued following an in-depth assessment of Impact. This said there was not sufficient `headroom` in Impact`s business plan should things go wrong. The regulator had lacked assurances that the board of Impact was managing its affairs with “an appropriate degree of skill, diligence, effectiveness, prudence and foresight”.

So much for Mark Costello`s “challenges? What else does Impact have to say?

A spokesman praised Riverside saying “it has a sound framework for listening and delivering services locally.”

What about Riverside? What does it have to say in the cosy News and Star  report?

Max Steinberg..."excited"

Max Steinberg , the chairman says he is “very excited” at the prospect of working with Impact. He went on:”We believe our bid set out a very realistic and deliverable set of plans”.

Mr Steinberg may be excited but his 50, 000 tenants and leaseholders are not likely to share his joy. Nor will   Impact`s 2,700 tenants and leaseholders because it appears that none of these people are being consulted on the merger.

The general public in the Carlisle and Allerdale areas of Cumbria are not likely to be excited either.  More likely they are likely to be mystified about why there should be two published versions of the merger.

Campaigners against Riverside are far from excited. The leading campaigner, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which publishes this blog says   that Impact`s 2,700 tenants and leaseholders now have to face up to a miserable future dictated by Riverside bossiness and gross inefficiency.

A Federation spokesman said:"Impact tenants and leaseholders are being misled into thinking things will be better with Riverside.Our experience tells us that they will not be better.

"As far as the guilty secret beween Impact and Riverside is concerned, the public is entitled to learn  from the News and Star why it published cosiness instead of the brutal truth.

"For the moment we can only guess the reason"

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803