Some useful questions and answers for you

As you know, we’re proposing to work together with councils in Canterbury, Dover Shepway and Thanet to set up an arms length management organisation (ALMO) to manage your council housing services.

 

This ALMO will be a not for profit company, so it will not have shareholders or pay dividends and it will be owned and controlled by the four councils.

 

An ALMO Board

The ALMO will be run by a Board, which has 12 members:

The Board will also appoint a Managing Director to run the ALMO on a day to day basis.  Read more about the newly appointed board for East Kent Housing.

 

Area Boards

There will be an Area Board in each district, who will be responsible for monitoring the ALMO’s performance and the quality of the service tenants and leaseholders receive. The Area Boards are another way local tenants can have a say in how the ALMO is doing.

 

The Area Boards will be made up of tenants, a Board representative and a councillor. The Area Board meetings will be open for all tenants and leaseholders in the area to attend.  An Area Board meeting is happening to discuss this - read more in our Dates for your diary section.

 

One of its kind

The ALMO we hope to set up will be the first of its kind as it involves more than one council, but there is still a lot that we can learn from other ALMOs.

 

Some of your tenant representatives have already visited ALMOs in Slough, Lewisham and Eastbourne to find out how the changes have influenced services.

Senior staff from the project team have also visited Eastbourne as well as Welwyn and Hatfield to see how an ALMO could benefit local tenants, their councils and their staff.

 

Other UK ALMOs

There are already many other ALMOs in the country and together they manage over a million homes on behalf of the local councils.  To find out more about ALMO's visit www.almos.org.uk

 

You may also be interested in the questions and answers which came out of the consultation:

 

Questions from Canterbury:

 

Where will the arms length management organisation (ALMO) be based?

This has not been decided yet, but what we can confirm is that most staff and all front line staff, such as housing officers and surveyors, will be based where they are now - in local council offices.

 

How do I make contact with the ALMO?

Exactly the same way as you contact your housing service now, using the same local offices.

 

How will the ALMO be monitored?

The ALMO will be required to meet standards set by the four councils which will be reported on a monthly basis. Tenants on the board and area boards will have a key role in monitoring the standard of service provided by the ALMO.

 

When is the ALMO going to happen?

Subject to the approval of tenants, we hope to have the ALMO in place by spring 2011.

 

Questions from Dover:

 

What happens if the ALMO doesn’t work?

The councils have an option to wind the ALMO up and return to current arrangements.

 

How will it directly affect leaseholders?

Along with other services provided by the ALMO, we would hope to improve the services to leaseholders and to keep service charges to a minimum.

 

How will tenants be involved in the ALMO?

We are working with tenants and leaseholders to develop the ALMOs service standards, so we can make sure it delivers the services that you and the councils want. The ALMO will be run by an independent board which will also include four tenants or leaseholders representatives. Area boards will also include tenants and leaseholders.

 

Questions from Shepway:

 

Will the change in Government affect what’s being proposed?

We don’t think so, because this proposal is in line with what government has said it wants public services to do, which is to work together to share services, become more efficient and involve local people in decision making.

 

Will staff just transfer to the ALMO or will the ALMO have completely new members of staff?

The ALMO will be staffed by people transferring from the four councils.

 

My council is already providing an excellent service, so why is it necessary to have an ALMO?

All four councils are providing a good service to tenants but there is always room for improvement. By working together, all four councils believe they can provide a better and more cost effective service.

 

Questions from Thanet:

 

What’s going to happen to the savings made by the ALMO?

We’ve worked out that the ALMO could save at least £1.5 million in the first few years and greater savings after that. By law, any savings made must be reinvested into improving the housing service you receive. We also want tenants to have a say on how these savings can be spent locally.

 

Why are you asking us again about ALMOs, last time we said we didn’t want one?

It’s been almost eight years since we last consulted about an ALMO and lots of things have changed since then. ALMOs provide the best housing services, give us a way of joining the council’s housing services and allow tenants to have more of a say in the way council housing services are run.

 

How do you know ALMOs are successful?

21 of the 69 ALMOs have been rated by the Audit Commission as top performing, but no council has ever achieved that rating.

 

If the proposal goes ahead, who will be my landlord?

The council is still your landlord and will still own your home. You will still be a council tenant.

 

Will my rights change?

No. You will keep all your rights including:

Can I still pass on my home?

Yes. The same rules will apply if you want to pass your home on to someone else.

 

Will the rent money go from one authority to another authority?

No. Any rent collected from one council will remain with that council. Separate housing budgets (Housing Revenue Accounts) will be held for each of the four councils.

 

Will my rent go up as a result of this proposal?

No, it won’t go up as a result of this proposal. Rents will still be set by each council, as they are now, taking into account government guidance and will be approved by each of the four councils.

 

Can the ALMO change my tenant rights in the future?

No. The council will still be your landlord and your tenancy agreement is still with the council not the ALMO. Your tenant rights are protected by the law and we can only make changes to your tenancy agreement with your involvement.

 

Can I still claim Housing Benefit?

Yes you can, subject to your eligibility. You still apply to your local council and they will make the payments as usual.

 

Will my service continue to be delivered locally – will I have the same Housing Officer?

Yes. The service will continue to be delivered locally, with district based offices. Staff will initially stay the same but may change over time, as they do now.

 

 

Do ALMOs provide a better service?

Yes, there is evidence from the government watchdog, the Audit Commission, that ALMOs provide some of the best council housing services.

 

How will the ALMO be run?

The ALMO will be run by an independent board made up of:

Each group on the board will include a person from the four council areas and no one group will be in the majority.

 

This board will have control of the day-to-day delivery of your council housing services. Although the board members won’t get paid for their time, they can claim reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, such as travel to meetings and childcare.

 

How will the ALMO Board members be selected?

The council nominees will be put forward by your council and the tenant nominees will be put forward by you. The panel of these tenant and councillor members will then work together to choose independent people who can bring different skills to the board, such as management or legal experience.

 

How do you make sure the ALMO is working?

One of the responsibilities of the board will be to make sure the ALMO is doing what it was set up to do. The ALMO will need to publish its annual reports and accounts for all to see, as well as provide regular updates to the board on what it has been doing.

 

The councils will also require regular reports about the ALMO’s performance, including what is working and what needs more work or investment.

 

Who makes sure that the ALMO delivers on what was promised?

Ultimately, it’s our responsibility to make sure that the ALMO delivers good quality services and improvements to you. However, in addition to the councils there is also:

Is this the first step to the councils selling off our homes?

No. The aim of this proposal is to ensure each local authority retains legal ownership of its own housing stock. What will happen if the proposal does not go through? It is very unlikely that the proposed savings and improvements outlined in this booklet  could be achieved by a single council working as it does now.

 

What if one of the councils drops out?

The proposal may still be possible if one of the councils drops out. But more detailed work would be needed to calculate the potential savings, if fewer local councils were involved.

 

What happens if the new organisation doesn’t deliver a good service?

As with any contractor, if the ALMO does not perform to the high standards set, the

councils have the option to terminate the arrangement, and either, take the service

back in-house or find another contractor. Tenants and leaseholders would be fully

consulted before any decision is made.

Need to know more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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