Phil Morgan's Annual Report 2015

Phil Morgan’s Annual Report 2015

As a keen advocate of landlords producing annual reports as part of their accountability to tenants and stakeholders, it’s only right that I do the same. So welcome to my fifth annual report – read and enjoy.

Consultancy

Central & Cecil Housing Trust

C&C has been a consistent client over the past five years. I’ve worked primarily with the trust in supporting its Resident Scrutiny Panel. The panel has worked on service reviews for tackling antisocial behaviour and now resident engagement in care – I believe this is the first review of its type. I support the panel to scope and capture its service reviews, I facilitate the away day and I train panel members in complaints. The complaints panel consists exclusively of residents. I’m pleased to see that the panel has been a fundamental part of a culture change within C&C over those five years. This year I carried out C&C’s second regulatory compliance check. Now a regulatory requirement for social landlords, C&C is well ahead of the game.

Genesis Housing Association

I worked with Genesis over the past year supporting its Customer Scrutiny Panel. I helped recruit, induct and train the panel, supporting its two service reviews into service charges and reporting repairs. I also worked with Genesis managers to ensure that staff buy into the concept of scrutiny and understand how it can help in their roles.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

I continued my mentoring role for Kingston Residents’ Scrutiny Panel (KRISP) – scoping and capturing its service reviews into service charges and complaints. I also mentored the chair and vice-chair. The panel has now completed three robust reports and I am repeating earlier work to ensure new staff have an understanding of the important role of scrutiny.

Waltham Forest Housing Association

I worked on a governance review with Waltham Forest Housing Association. We covered compliance with the 2015 National Housing Federation Code of Governance and Regulatory Framework, board appraisal, appointing tenant board members and established the basis for a new scrutiny panel. This highlighted the importance of compliance as a driver for improvement and the need to regularly review structures and approaches.

Peak Valley Housing Association

I carried out two training sessions for Peak Performance, Peak Valley’s scrutiny panel. We focused on understanding key performance indicators and developing members’ roles as champions in interviewing and reporting.

Rooftop Housing Group

I recently complete a triennial review of Rooftop's approach to resident involvement. I undertook a desktop review, interviewed residents and staff, and identified best practice. The review highlighted the importance of recruiting and involving new residents to relieve the pressure on a small group of (dedicated) residents. We also considered new ways of engaging young people.

Wrekin Housing Trust

I carried out three pieces of work for Wrekin Housing Trust. Firstly I worked with staff and involved residents to look at recruitment to their three tenants’ groups. Next was a co-regulation compliance check – which was very positive – and finally a review of the process of appointing tenant board members. This highlighted the issues of constituency board membership and the increased emphasis on skills.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

I concluded my work with Dudley Council and Dudley Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations in setting up their innovative housing board. The idea of the came from tenants and was supported by the council. It combines scrutiny, monitoring performance, their community safety and environment fund, and offering advice on housing policy. Tenant and political support has been so important in enabling these initiatives to take root and become tenant-led successes. I also helped recruit and train their tenant inspectors.

Shropshire Housing Group

I was pleased to work with Shropshire Housing Group and its innovative community panels. These panels provide bring together the group’s neighbourhood plans and community fund. I helped prepare terms of reference, recruit panel members and facilitate the induction. I believe these approaches are the way forward when bringing together ever-larger group structures. I also carried out a review of the Tenants and Residents’ Improvement Panel, the scrutiny panel I’d helped establish. I am pleased to see the progress it has made.

CBHA

I returned to CBHA to induct new members of its Resident Scrutiny Panel. Again, I was pleased to see the progress made. And the new panel members were the first to successfully complete my Who Wants to be A Millionaire? quiz…

London Borough of Croydon

I have supported London Borough of Croydon’s Housing Scrutiny Panel over the past few years, although it has needed less and less support as time goes on. I was very pleased when it won Most Inspiring Local Authority Scrutiny Panel at this year’s Customer Scrutiny and Inspection Awards. Well deserved!

Medway Council

On behalf of Ark People and Communities I carried out an involvement review for Medway Council. Again this highlighted the importance of these reviews and the challenges in structuring and sustaining involvement.

Wulvern Housing

I continue as vice-chair of Wulvern Housing. This role gives me an invaluable insight into issues impacting on landlords and I’m grateful to the staff, board members and tenants in supporting my role.

Awards

I was pleased to judge the Housing Innovation Awards 2015, and equally pleased to be invited back to judge the 2016 Awards. I also judged the Customer Scrutiny and Inspection Awards again (and, of course, declared an interest when clients or former clients were involved).

Speeches

During 2015 I spoke at these events:

•   1st Touch Annual Conference

•   National Housing Federation Leaseholders Service Charges Conference

•   Chartered Institute of Housing Regulation Conference

•   G320 Governance Tasters Conference

•   London Tenant Scrutiny Network events

•   Capita Compliance seminar

•   Customer Scrutiny and Inspection Conference

•   National Federation of ALMOs Conference

International Union of Tenants

I am pleased to maintain my links with the International Union of Tenants and to spend time with Magnus Hammar and Colm McDaid in speaking at More Of Us Than Ever, a public meeting arranged by the Dublin Tenants Association. We met with members to discuss the next steps in taking forward their very important campaign.

Articles

I also wrote the following articles:

•   Playing Russian roulette with housing tenancies

•   Tenant safety is non-negotiable

•   Voting ‘yes’ on right-to-buy was the easy part of the deal

•   Sleepless nights in social housing after the budget

•   Is there a case for tenant board members?

•   The rise and fall of Grant Shapps

•   Why right-to-buy for housing association tenants is voodoo housing policy

•   No hiding place for service failure

•   Is the coalition planning on outdoing the KLF’s ‘burn a million pounds stunt’?

•   Annual regulation compliance check

•   When the going gets tough, the regulator just got tougher

•   Consumer regulation after Blackpool

•   Time to end the right-to-buy discount

•   Tenants and landlords behaving responsibly

•   Safe as houses?

•   Risk is the new black

•   Learning the lessons from Cosmopolitan

•   Time for the sector to sober up on co-regulation

•   Hubris and the threat to good governance

I reissued my publication Learning from Regulatory Downgrades 2 in light of continually active role of the regulator on housing. I was pleased to see this work being used by a range of organisations.

Housekeeping

I have a list of clients and a hospitality register (with very little on it) available on request. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Acknowledgements

Although it seems like I may have been busy, I am acutely aware that none of this work could be achieved without the support of a lot of people. Some of them are listed below, some may have been missed off the list – apologies for that!

Special thanks to Angela for her support with this year. Also many thanks to Jane for her help and Janet for her perseverance. Thanks to David, Kieran, Sally, Stanley, Kaz, Ann, John, Lord John, Monica, Chris, Lucy, Dami, Caroline, Adrian, Laura, Nazar, Betheline, Colin, Alex, Patrick, Ken, James, Maria, Ben, Lindy, Jade, Laurice, Karl, John, Tanya, Linda, Yusuf, Hayley, Ben, Jackie, Cheryl, Jo, Mairead, Angela, David, Duncan, Emma, Joan, Barry, Gwenda, Leionie, Patrick, Rachel, Sam, Sharon, Andy, Kate, Claire, Juliana, Mike, Nichola, Colin, Vicky, Enid, Sue, Laura, Thelma, Morag, David, Donna, Sam, Wayne, Catherine, Niku, Ann, Alison, Jill, Martin, Kim, Richard, Tim, Nigel, Eileen, Emma, Christine, Angela, Rex, George, Jim, Jen, Nirmal, Sarah, Barry, Annette, Tom, Sarah, Wil, Lyn, Ken, John, Chris, Matthew, Anita, Peter, Farida, Shazia, Maz, Chris, Janet, Amanda, Chris, Steve, Tim, Vanessa, Chris (RIP), Yaw, Guy, Sheryl, Rosie, Juliet, Margaret, Carol, Michael, Katherine, Anna, Linda, Ian, Sue, Sasha, Graham, Diane, Kevin, Nicole, Bob, Amanda, Steve, Gifty, Mark, Laura, Gill, Joanne, Mo, Peter, Sally, Chelsea, Celeste, Linda, Ian, Austin, Roger, Wilco, Aydin, Rachel, Mylo.