IMPACT `S ALLEGED "SECRECY AND NON- ACCOUNTABILITY"

Housing bosses accused in
merger row 

A highly-critical letter this week casts important new light on the decline and fall of the Workington-based Impact Housing Association prior to its merger with the Riverside association a few months ago .

Secrecy, misleading statements and lack of accountability  are alleged by Mr Adrian Waite a former Impact chairman in the letter to  community secretary Sajid Javid`s Social Housing Team. It  was in response to  the recent Social Housing Green Paper.

THE IMPACT BOARD(chairman Mark Costello is front centre)..".not accountable to anyone".

Mr Waite recalls that the social housing regulator downgraded Impact as not fit for purpose because of its failings in governance and viability.

”I was surprised that the regulator made very little information available about its reasons. Impact also chose not to divulge any information” says the letter.

 “This left shareholding members, tenants and other stakeholders ignorant of the reasons for the downgrade. In my view this approach lacks transparency.

The letter goes on: “I do not think it was appropriate for the  board to avoid reporting the regulatory judgement to shareholding members, and to continue in office and to take strategic decisions including making a voluntary undertaking to merge with another organisation.

“After the downgrade, the board of Impact did not appear to be accountable to anyone. In May 2017, the board brought forward the date of the annual meeting to the week before the regulatory judgement was to be announced and provided the meeting with information about the downgrade and about the financial circumstances of the association that I found misleading.

 “Following that there was no further formal engagement with the shareholding members until the annual meeting in June 2018 when they were presented with the merger with Riverside as a fait  accompli.”

The letter says that when Mr Waite (right) was chairman of Impact the board maintained a membership of 60 people to represent the local community but the subsequent board allowed this to  decline to 30.

“Of those, only eleven attended the annual meeting in June 2018. Some board members even failed to attend.

“In my view these arrangements did not provide adequate accountability for the board. It also appears that many other registered social housing providers could be in a similar position.

 “The question: To whom should  housing association boards be accountable? is one that I think needs to be asked and answered.”

 Mr. Waite`s letter also lambasts Impact for failings in the way the  merger with Liverpool-based Riverside was conducted.

 “I was surprised that a board that the regulator had decided was not fit for purpose could enter a voluntary undertaking to merge without seeking the consent of the shareholding members.

“ Board members  sought expressions of interest from a group of registered providers but were not prepared to identify which associations they were or the criteria used to select them”.

Board members were also not prepared to state what the criteria was to select the preferred merger partner. Riverside`s offer  contained  many vague statements but  very few specific commitments.Shareholding members were not shown the business case and other details of the merger says the letter.

“In my view the consultation with tenants was flawed in that it lacked objectivity and balance and contained misleading statements.”

Mr Waite is managing director of AWICS, an Appleby -based management consultancy and training organisation that principally supports housing associations and local authority housing. Previously he held senior positions with several local authorities.
  Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803