Housing governance and regulatory products

Why

There have been a number of key developments in the social housing sector over the past 12 months. Actual and proposed changes to legislation, in addition to updated regulatory guidance and best practice mean that, in order for registered providers of social housing to remain compliant with the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, proactive steps will need to be taken to implement changes to existing governance arrangements and internal controls assurance frameworks.

Our governance framework assurance toolkit offers a deep dive into key legal, regulatory and best practice provisions which should form part of every provider’s governance framework.

The toolkit considers not only core governance documentation, including constitutions and policies and procedures, but also wider supporting governance documentation including terms of reference, schemes of delegation, intra-group agreements and more.

The toolkit details which legal and/or regulatory documents require your organisation to have documentation/policies in place (if relevant) and best practice when it comes to implementing appropriate and robust governance framework documentation.

Its user-friendly format also clearly sets out who should be approving documentation (the board, a committee etc) and how regularly each document should be reviewed.

The toolkit builds in the requirements of the NHF Code of Governance 2020 as well as flagging wider considerations associated with anticipated upcoming legal and regulatory changes.

What the toolkit includes

The toolkit provides a key assurance tool in assessing your organisation’s governance and control framework and identifying areas of weakness or risk.

It provides detail on the requirements of governance documentation, from the constitution right through to board member job descriptions. As well as detailing the main provisions that would be expected within each document, the toolkit considers the legal and regulatory requirement to have a document/policy, best practice comments and appropriate review/approval procedures.

Alongside the toolkit, ‘bolt-on’ options are also available, including:

• fixed price current policy and procedure reviews; and
• fixed price template policies and procedures documents.

What

Penningtons Manches Cooper and the Housing Diversity Network, a sector specialist consultancy and social enterprise advising organisations on improving equality, diversity and inclusion, have partnered to co-author a template equality, diversity and inclusion policy for the social housing sector.

The template policy will act as an aid for organisations in preparing their equality, diversity and inclusion strategies and will assist in demonstrating compliance with the new requirements of the National Housing Federation Code of Governance 2020 (the NHF Code).

This template policy is designed to be compliant with and/or reflective of:

• legal requirements relating to equality, diversity and inclusion, including those set out in the Equality Act 2010;
• governance requirements regarding equality, diversity and inclusion arising from the NHF Code;
• regulatory requirements; and
• sector best practice and learning.

Why

Equality, diversity and inclusion needs are unique to each organisation. Housing providers must decide how to meet the requirements of the NHF Code and what an appropriate and effective strategy looks like.

The template policy has been drafted to allow for bespoke solutions with guidance and useful tips throughout to help providers adopt and adapt the policy to fit with their needs. Each section of the policy contains introductory explanatory wording to inform users while the policy also highlights which sections must not be amended in order to meet legal requirements.

The template will particularly help organisations to demonstrate compliance with the NHF Code requirements in the following ways:

• having policies and statements that show a meaningful commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion;
• enabling the board to take a clear and active lead in the commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion;
• setting equality, diversity and inclusion priorities and objectives; and
• meeting the requirement to publish information annually about the equality, diversity and inclusion work being undertaken to deliver an organisation’s objectives.

Additional services

We are also able to provide additional services to support you in adopting the template policy including:

• a preliminary meeting to discuss the template policy;
• a subsequent meeting to discuss your proposed draft policy;
• board and executive team training on how to implement the policy; and
• advice on the next steps to the policy informing your wider equality, diversity and inclusion strategy.

Why

The housing corporate and governance team at Penningtons Manches Cooper has developed online webinars aimed at registered and exempt charities and registered providers of social housing and their wider group structures. The suite of webinars has been prepared in response to two key issues within the sector:

• the need to evidence that boards and management teams are complying with their legal and regulatory obligations to receive regular training; and
• the increased need for organisations to utilise agile and accessible training practices during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A compliance certificate will be issued on successful completion of each webinar.

Which topics the webinars cover

WHY

Penningtons Manches Cooper’s housing corporate and governance team has developed a collaboration toolkit for use by registered providers of social housing and their wider group structures. It has been prepared in response to the recent regulatory, sector and political drivers towards greater collaboration and partnership working.

The toolkit will enable organisations to demonstrate that they have complied with statutory and regulatory requirements in considering opportunities for collaboration within the sector. It is intended to:

• provide a holistic view of the type of collaboration arrangements and opportunities available and the models operating in practice;
• outline the impetus behind partnership working, including the new requirement under the National Housing Federation Code of Governance 2020 to consider how collaboration and joint working could better enable the delivery of social purpose and strategies, alongside other political, sector and regulatory drivers;
• summarise the key questions, risks, hurdles and issues to consider before taking the next step to collaborate with third parties; and
• clarify the role of the board and the executive team in undertaking a collaboration project.

What the toolkit includes

The toolkit comprises:

• a report on the key drivers behind collaboration and its importance within the sector alongside the main legal and commercial issues, hurdles and risks to consider;
• user-friendly information sheets outlining the most commonly utilised methods of collaboration within the sector to include:
  • an explanation of the type of arrangement;
  • structure diagrams;
  • key players;
  • the advantages and disadvantages of each method; and
  • other significant considerations prior to pursuing collaboration arrangements; and
• a list of key questions and strategic issues to consider prior to third party engagement that is intended to act as a board assurance tool. It can also assist in shaping the initial heads of terms and/or project linked business case.

Why

Penningtons Manches Cooper’s housing corporate and governance team has developed an execution requirements toolkit aimed at registered providers of social housing and their wider group structures. The toolkit has been prepared in response to:

• our experience of advising clients who have not been correctly applying, or delegating, the requirements for the proper execution of legal documentation;
• increased scrutiny of execution arrangements from third parties (particularly funders and the Land Registry) which have highlighted errors;
• the growing need for organisations to adopt agile governance practices triggered by the strict lockdown measures during the current pandemic.

This toolkit will enable organisations to ensure they have complied with statutory and regulatory requirements when executing legal documents including:

• the execution requirements related to the corporate structure of the organisation;
• how to delegate authority to other individuals to execute documents on behalf of the organisation;
• electronic execution of documents; and
• the specific execution requirements that relate to:
  • contracts;
  • deeds;
  • Land Registry requirements; and
  • guarantees.

What the toolkit includes

The toolkit comprises:

• a review of your organisation’s existing governance documentation specifically in relation to execution requirements;
• an advice note on your existing execution options, the relevant legal obligations and recommendations to ensure a more streamlined approach to execution in the future;
• user-friendly execution checklists that can be tailored for each entity in your wider group to ensure group-wide compliance with execution and electronic signature requirements; and
• optional interactive training on execution requirements for added board and executive assurance.