Inspection – what the board must watch out for
‘You must undertake a governance review through independent people and we’re putting appointees on the board.’
Housing Corporation Lead Regulator
‘But you said our board was strong in your last assessment!’
Housing association chief executive
‘The fact that the board did not know they would get zero stars means they did not know what was going on.’
Housing Corporation lead regulator
Disappointing inspection scores from the Audit Commission condemn associations with a full suite of green lights to supervision and deprive ALMOs of funding. Doing well really matters. HQN analysis of recent inspection scores found that results were deteriorating.
Inspectors mark an organisation against criteria set out in KLOEs (key lines of enquiry) and award star ratings for service quality alongside judgement about prospects for improvement. Board members must be briefed on how the organisation would score against each of the KLOEs by senior staff – long before any inspection.
Short notice inspections have been piloted with housing associations and these will be rolled out more widely. Local authority pilots start soon. HQN guidance on preparing for SNI is available: http://www.hqnetwork.co.uk/briefings Some housing association boards have been caught cold by these inspections – don’t let it happen to you.
Poor housing management and maintenance PIs trigger inspections – so pay close attention to these. Our experience is that large developing associations can take their eye off the ball on PIs. Remember, if an association fails an inspection it stops being a developer.
Direct contact between inspectors and boards is limited. They might observe a board meeting and hold interviews or focus groups with key board members. But the inspection star rating for service quality does reflect how well the board has steered the organisation. Board members will be keenly interested in the inspector’s judgement on prospects for improvement. That test scrutinises the work of the board itself most closely.
