Section 4: About Your Proposed New Landlord, Tower Hamlets Community Housing

1 Who are Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH)?

• THCH must comply with the Housing Corporation's Regulatory Code and Guidance which sets out the expectations of Registered Social Landlords. These expectations are designed to make sure that the RSL is viable, properly managed and properly governed. The Housing Corporation assesses compliance with the Regulatory Code and Guidance and if compliance is not achieved it has very wide powers to intervene;

• THCH's constitution prohibits payment of anything other than out-of-pocket expenses actually incurred in carrying out THCH's business, to Main Board members and any change would require the Housing Corporation's consent.

2 Who governs Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH)?

THCH is governed by a Board of Management, which sets out its rules and monitors its performance.

The duties of the Main Board are to ensure that the organisation remains viable and well run. It oversees and guides the work of the staff teams and meets regularly with staff to receive and comment on reports and to agree future developments and strategy.

There are 18 places on the Main Board, including 6 for residents (tenants and leaseholders). Mansford Estate residents would be eligible to stand for the resident places on the Board if the transfer goes ahead. Board members are selected on the basis of their expertise, experience and suitability to do the job. The Main Board Members are not paid, but are reimbursed for the expenses of attending meetings, for example travelling or child-minding costs.

2.1 Main Board

The board of THCH has significant resident representation. The board has places for:

• Resident Members (five tenants, one leaseholder)
• Independent Members
• LBTH Council Members

Residents are involved both as full THCH Board members and through involvement in the local Area Resident Boards. THCH sees resident involvement as fundamental to providing quality services to local people that meet their needs and aspirations.

The Independent Members of the Main Board consist of suitably qualified and experienced volunteers. The Independent Members have a range of skills and experience which contribute to the governance of the organisation and which complement the other Main Board Members.

The 6 councillor members are nominated by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

2.1.1 The Residents are:

2.1.2 The Independents are:

2.1.3 The Council Representatives are:

2.2 Resident Members:

2.2.1 Anne Ambrose

2.2.2 Mosabbir Ali

Mosabbir Ali is a resident in the Spitalfields Area and through his interest in helping other residents, he chairs the Spitalfields Area Resident Board. He has been a resident of his current block since 1984 and has been a member of the THCH Main Board since 2002.

2.2.3 Don Beal BSc, MSc, PhD, AFIMA, MBCS, C. Eng

Don Beal is a Research Fellow at Queen Mary & Westfield College and a leaseholder, living on the Dinmont Estate in the Bethnal Green Area. He is an active member of his local residents' association and has been involved in the consultation on the THCH proposal from the beginning. He is pleased to be able to represent leaseholders and to examine how THCH plans to meet its promises and commitments over the next thirty years for the benefit of all residents. He has therefore taken a keen interest in the detail of the THCH business plan.

2.2.4 Alan Stern

2.3 Independent Members:

2.3.1 Ken Beech, ACIB MCT

Ken Beech is a Director of Corporate Banking with Bank of Scotland. He was previously a Senior Account Manager with the Social Housing finance teams of Bank of Scotland and Halifax plc. Ken is professionally qualified in banking and corporate treasury and has a wealth of corporate and structured finance experience. He is the Chair of the Finance Committee for his local parish council and sits on a regional grant committee for the HBOS Foundation, a charitable trust funded by his employer HBOS plc.

2.3.2 John Lau BA, BSc (Econ) MCIH

2.3.3 Jackie Odunoye BSc (Econ), CIPFA

Jackie Odunoye was Chief Executive of the Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust in Bow and previously had seventeen years Local Government experience within Finance, Accountancy and Technical Services. She is also a school governor in Tower Hamlets, a board member at Leaside Regeneration Ltd and Leaside Business Centre, a Trustee of Action for Bow.Jackie is a qualified accountant and has specialised in housing finance and computer development on rent accounting and other financial packages. The particular experience she brings compliments that of other directors on the board and helps to ensure the success of THCH.

2.3.4 Roger Booth MRICS MCIOB MCMI, Independent Director

2.3.5 Claire Fry BA (Hons), Independent Director

Claire Fry is a Housing Manager with Kelsey Housing Association, based in South London, which covers homes all over the South East of England from Southampton in the South to Cambridgeshire in East Anglia. Claire has worked in housing for over 20 years and brings a wealth of associated knowledge to the Board of THCH. Claire is a Practitioner Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

2.4 Councillors:

2.4.1 Cllr Manir Uddin Ahmed

2.4.2 Cllr Richard Brooks

2.4.3 Cllr Sirajul Islam

2.4.4 Cllr Akikur Rahman

Akikur Rahman is a local tenant and is one of the three Councillors representing the Bethnal Green South area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Akikur is currently employed as a Security Supervisor for the Shield Security Services Company Limited. He previously served on the Council as a councillor for the Holy Trinity Ward from 1990-1994.

2.4.5 Cllr James Richard Sanderson

James Sanderson is a local LBTH resident, and one of the three Councillors representing the Bethnal Green North Area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. James is currently working in the Bishopsgate area of Central London as a Chartered Accountant and is also a trustee of Cans Limited which is located in Islington, North London.

3 Who regulates Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH)?

THCH is a not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee that is registered with the Housing Corporation. This is the government agency responsible for supervising and regulating Registered Social Landlords. These include regulations relating to:

• provision of information, consultation, participation, confidentiality of information, complaints and compensation;
• service charges and standards of services;
• leasehold and general housing management policies;
• financial management; and
• the way in which the organisation operates in terms of competence, independence, openness and equality and diversity.

THCH produces an annual report to residents, which includes details of their annual accounts and performance.

In addition, THCH, just like the Council, is subject to regular inspection by the Housing Inspectorate, an arm of the Audit Commission, to assess, amongst other things, the quality and the cost effectiveness of the services provided.

Startement from Anne Ambrose,

Chair of Tower Hamlets Community Housing

THCH was chosen by the Mansford Estate Steering Group in the summer of 2004.

Tower Hamlets Community Housing operates exclusively in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and as at July 2005, THCH owns just over 1,900 homes; these include:

• 1283 tenanted properties
• 569 leasehold properties
• 19 shared ownership units
• 2 commercial properties
• 42 properties managed by Spitalfields H.A.

Anne Ambrose A THCH TENANT IN BETHNAL GREEN AND CHAIR OF THE THCH BOARD '