Agenda item

RESOLVED:  That the detail of the points raised in the Audit of the Governance issues and progress made on the governance arrangements for the West Norfolk Housing, and West Norfolk Property Companies be noted.

Reason for Decision

To provide assurance to the Shareholder Committee that all recommendations made in the Position Statements are actioned and that the governance framework of the housing companies is robust and up to date.

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The Committee considered a report which explained that following work carried out by the council’s Audit Department, Position Statements for both of the council’s Housing Companies, West Norfolk Housing (WNHC) and West Norfolk Property (WNPL), were issued detailing recommendations to improve the governance framework of both companies. Work had been ongoing to finalise the governance arrangements of both companies to ensure all documentation was updated, signed, and placed on a rolling schedule of reviews.

The internal audit of WNPL in February 2024 made the following recommendations:

·     All governance and other documentation for WNPL required to meet the requirements of the Local Partnerships Local Authority Company Review Guidance 2023 edition documentation, to be completed and presented for sign off through the designated approval process, to include:

o      Service Level Agreement

o      Scheme of Delegation

·     That all governance documents were centrally stored and subject to version control

·     That the company websites were updated with the minutes, agendas, AGM details and Directors details.

·     Service Level Agreements were signed, and costs finalised

·     Business Plan be finalised to reflect the financing arrangements

·     Risk Register to be updated.     

Similarly, for West Norfolk Housing, the following recommendations were made:

·     Service Level Agreement (SLA) to be finalised and signed

·     Shareholder Agreement to be signed

·     Agree Key Performance Indicators as part of the SLA

The report noted that in August 2024, West Norfolk Housing received a notification from the Housing Ombudsman Service that the company had failed to meet the annual submission deadline for performance against the Complaint Handling Code. An extension was granted by the Ombudsman to 19 September to comply with the requirement.

It was reported that WNHC did not have a complaints policy in place, but Broadland Housing Association did have a policy, although it was last updated in 2022. Work was now progressing on putting the code into place. The performance results against the code were required to be published on the WNHC website.

The following was now being put into place:

The draft SLA for WNPL was due to go to the 17 September WNPL board meeting. KPI’s still needed to be agreed and fixed cost recharges (subject to indexation and council cost of living increases).

The Scheme of Delegation for WNPL would be presented to the board on 17 September.

The WNHC Shareholder Agreement was approved at a board meeting in October 2017 but not signed.

A Probity Policy was currently in draft format for WNHC. This would go to a later board meeting.

As part of the Code of Governance 2020, WNHC were required to create an Audit and Risk Committee. This was also on the board agenda for 17 September.

The Loan Agreement was being worked on by Anthony Collins so should be able to move forward shortly.

Under standing order 34, Councillor Ware drew attention to the need for the documents to the Board meetings to be sent out in good time to allow them to be thoroughly read and drew attention to the fact that the Companies would need to take their own legal advice so would need time to get the advice in place. 

The Chair asked if there was sufficient resource to finalise the documents in the absence of the Governance Officer, to which the Governance Manager confirmed she would be able to finalise the work.  The Chair also expressed the hope to get the loan agreement in place, subject to the Director’s view, to use when required.

Councillor Morley drew attention to the need for the Council to have information arrangements and SLAs in place to ensure the Council know what processes would affect people in residence, using the example of mould in properties.  D Hall agreed it was an important element.

RESOLVED:  That the detail of the points raised in the Audit of the Governance issues and progress made on the governance arrangements for the West Norfolk Housing, and West Norfolk Property Companies be noted.

Reason for Decision

To provide assurance to the Shareholder Committee that all recommendations made in the Position Statements are actioned and that the governance framework of the housing companies is robust and up to date.