Our chosen code of governance is the National Housing Federation Code of Governance.
Introduction
As a Registered Housing Provider, our primary Regulator is the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
The RSH has set out its expectations of all Registered Housing Providers in a Regulatory Framework comprising the following Standards, a series of codes of practice and financial and non-financial reporting requirements. The Standards are detailed below and are the guiding principles for development of our policies, strategies and decision making.
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The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) maintains an assessment of compliance with the economic standards for all private registered providers with more than 1,000 homes.
They prepare regulatory judgements against the standards and issue ratings on a scale of 1 - 4 with 4 being non-compliance and cause for possible regulatory intervention or enforcement action. We have received a rating of G1 for Governance which is defined as "meeting the governance requirements" and V2 for Viability which confirms that we are compliant with viability requirements. It also means that we have the financial capacity to deal with a reasonable range of adverse scenarios but we need to manage material risks to ensure continued compliance.
The regulator was however assured that we have "an adequately funded business plan, sufficient security and is forecast to continue to meet financial covenants" and that we comply "with the financial viability elements of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard and that financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy".
Care Quality Commission – Because the Company delivers registered care services, we are subject to regulation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). CQC is the independent regulator of Health and Social Care Services in England. It monitors, inspects and regulates care services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and require all providers to have effective governance in place to check the quality and safety of care.
The Financial Conduct Authority – The Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies within the Company are required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This process includes demonstrating that they exist for the benefit of the community.
Charity Law – All Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies within the Company are exempt charities (have charitable aims but are not registered charities). As such they are not governed by Charity Law but are expected to comply with its spirit and principles.
Companies Act 2006 – The Commercial organisation within the Company (Wyre Forest Land Co) is a company limited by shares with all the shares being owned by The Community Housing Group Ltd. The Companies Act 2006 sets out the legal limits within which this company can do business.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - We will operate within the requirements of the HSE and fire service to safeguard employees and stakeholders.
Information Commissioners Office (ICO) - We will implement measures that cover the security of your systems and facilities; incident handling; business continuity management; monitoring, auditing and testing; and compliance with international standards.
Modern Slavery Act 2015 - We are absolutely committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in all our corporate activities, and to ensuring that our partners and supply chains are also free from slavery and human trafficking.
The Tenant Voice provides a link between the governing body and customers. Their role is to scrutinise customer services and ensure that customers are involved in strategic decision making and are able to influence service design and delivery.