Rule Changes 2023

RBH is currently rated G3 for governance by its Regulator, the Regulator of Social Housing. A G3 rating is non-compliant. The Regulator requires RBH to be compliant with its governance requirements and the changes we are proposing will help RBH demonstrate to the Regulator that it does so.          

As part of our recovery plan following our regulatory downgrade to a non-compliant G3, we promised to carry out an in-depth review of what went wrong and why in relation to the tragic death of Awaab Ishak.

This was to make sure that the circumstances that led to Awaab’s death can never been repeated, and that RBH is in the best position to provide the homes and services that our tenants deserve and expect.

One of the things that we found as part of our “lessons learnt” review was that our governance framework was too complicated. As a result, we want to make some changes to make sure that RBH is able to deliver great homes and great services in the future. These changes will make RBH a stronger organisation and will ensure that our tenants and employees remain at the heart of our mutual society.

The Representative Body will have an additional function which is ‘to ensure the work of the Society is focused on the needs of Tenants’. Given RBH’s mutual status, it is proposed that both tenant and employee Members of the Representative Body are involved in undertaking scrutiny reviews of RBH’s services – 3 reviews each year. The outcome of those reviews will be reported to the Board and to the newly formed Tenant Services Committee. Representative Body will be able to monitor whether changes have been implemented to improve services to tenants.

Some functions of the Representative Body will transfer to the Board. They include approval of the corporate strategy and actively monitoring performance to the corporate strategy, appointing Board Members and approving remuneration of the Board and Executive team. Our Representative Body will still play a critical role in helping develop corporate strategy, as well as RBH’s vision and its values. The Representative Body will also still have a role at the interview table for new Board members and the Chair of the Board. Remuneration of Board and Executive members is always set out in the financial statements which are published on RBH’s website, so that information will always be available to all tenants and employees.

Update (9th October)

In addition, we are now proposing one further change - that we should not exclude tenants from being members of the Society where their homes may in future be owned by another landlord but managed by RBH.

This change will ensure that tenants in College Bank are able to remain members of RBH if the proposal to transfer ownership of the blocks to L&G Affordable Homes is delivered.

• Through delivery of our recovery plan, the proposed changes will be a big step in helping us meet the expectations of our Regulator in relation to our governance and provide assurance to our Regulator that we are fit to move from a non-compliant governance rating (G3) to a compliant grading.
• Having robust governance in place benefits all of our tenants and employees and ensures RBH has a secure future.
• A return to a compliant grading will positively impact RBH’s ability to raise funding at favourable rates and deliver on our commitments to tenants. Being non-compliant for governance means we are seen as higher risk to potential lenders and so it costs RBH more to borrow if we are non-compliant.
• A return to a compliant grading will allow RBH to access government funds to develop new homes, which it cannot do now because of its non-compliant governance grading.
• The proposed Rule changes will see the Representative Body retain significant responsibilities, such as being key to developing the corporate strategy and being at the interview table for Board member and Chair appointments.
• Through the scrutiny role we are proposing, the Representative Body (of tenants and employees) and Members will be holding the Board and the Executive to account for the delivery of great service to tenants.
• As part of the scrutiny role of Representative Body, employee Members will be able to influence changes to working practices to ensure they are effective, efficient and focussed on improving service delivery outcomes.
• The changes we are proposing will help to strengthen and enhance the tenant voice working alongside the Tenant Voice forums we have recently set up, our Customer Complaints Panel and the new Tenant Services Committee.
• Members will be involved in areas that matter most to tenants and employees.
• These changes, combined with all of the other work we are doing to make sure the tenant voice is heard, will stand RBH in good stead for compliance with the Regulator’s new consumer regulation regime which comes into force in April 2024.
• The Board will be solely responsible the governance of RBH. The Board is held accountable to the Regulator for this, but currently it does not hold all the responsibility.
• The Board will be able to ensure it has the right skills round the table to focus on serving all RBH tenants and employees.

Our mutual status – tenants and employees working together for the benefit of all - is very important to us. The changes we are proposing strengthen our model and make it more in line with others where the key business of the organisation is directed by the Board but there is significant empowerment of all those the organisation serves. RBH will have a very strong and visible commitment to listening and working with all our tenants and employees.

Our proposals will help us bring mutuality to life through a primary focus on listening to and working with our tenants and employees to provide high-quality service delivery. They help us embrace our mutuality, whilst moving away from an over-engineered and complex governance model that inhibits our ability to deliver an efficient and effective service.