The Scottish Housing Regulator expects all Registered Social Landlords (like Bridgewater Housing Association) to involve tenants when reporting on our performance.
It is all about the Scottish Social Housing Charter.
The Charter sets out what tenants should expect from their landlord. These include matters such as providing good quality homes, timely repairs, how quicky we relet our properties and how satisfied you, our customers, are with our service.
Each year, we submit our performance results to the Scottish Housing Regulator and create an annual report for you to inform you of how we have delivered on the requirements set out in the Charter.
But here is the key part:
The Charter clearly explains that landlords are required to involve our tenants and customers in the preparation and scrutiny of our performance information. So, it is not just about ticking boxes. It is about giving you a chance to voice your feedback on our performance but also to shape how you wish to receive and access this information.
We will therefore be providing you with a number of opportunities to provide your thoughts. Look out for:
- Consultation pop up stands at our community events.
- Online consultation which will be available on our website.
- Join our Service Improvement Group – contact our office on 0141 812 2237 or admin@bridgewaterha.org.uk for more information.
Annual Assurance Statement Consultation
Every year, all Registered Social Landlords in Scotland must submit an Annual Assurance Statement to the Scottish Housing Regulator.
This statement is a formal declaration from our Governing Board to say whether:
- We are meeting all the regulatory requirements set out by the Regulator.
- We are complying with the law (like health and safety, tenant engagement, financial management).
- We have the right systems in place to govern our organisation and deliver good services.
The Scottish Housing Regulator uses this statement to make sure landlords are well-run and are providing safe, high-quality services.
Although there is no legal requirement for us to carry out a consultation on the content of our statement, we think it is good practice to do so, and we want your thoughts. Below is a section of our draft Annual Assurance Statement.
Bridgewater Housing Association confirms that it is compliant with the following:
- the Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management.
- the relevant standards and outcomes of the Scottish Social Housing Charter.
- the regulatory requirements set out in Chapter Three of the Regulatory Framework.
- relevant legislative duties.
- duties in relation to tenant and resident safety, housing, equalities and human rights.
This is based on robust, timely, and regular reporting, ongoing oversight, review of standards by a working group of senior staff and board members, internal audit, and thorough scrutiny using reliable information and risk assessment. There are no areas of material or significant non-compliance that require to be disclosed in this statement.
In reviewing compliance, we have adopted an improvement focus and have also identified several improvement actions which we will progress during the year. To support effective implementation, these actions form an Improvement Action Plan which will be monitored by the Board at agreed intervals to ensure successful achievement.
We are satisfied that we meet all our duties in relation to tenant and resident safety. We have gained the necessary evidence-based assurance of our compliance in respect of duties relating to gas, electrical, fire, water and lift safety and our obligations relating to asbestos, damp and mould. We have robust internal policies and procedures in place which are regularly reviewed to provide assurance on our compliance, and we have previously sought specialist advice to monitor our compliance in these areas and to support our assurance.
We have assessed our stock for the presence of RAAC and have identified that 81 Properties (39 owned by BHA & 42 owner occupied) properties require further investigation and may be affected. We have obtained specialist advice to confirm the presence of RAAC, and we are in the process of developing a risk management and mitigation plan for works required to our stock and communal areas.
In reviewing our compliance with the Regulatory Framework, we are assured that we have established appropriate systems for the collection of equalities data. We are assured that we are working towards using this data to take account of equality and human rights issues in our decisions, policy-making and day-to-day service delivery.
We would like to get your feedback. You can follow the link to complete these questions online. If you do not have internet access and you would like to give your views, you can call our Customer Service Team on 0141 812 2237 who will record your response.
