Some of our most recent clients are:
Reliance Social Housing
Case Studies
St. Paul's Trust
We attended the Trust's Board away day and delivered a training session, which covered a wide range of governance topics, which included trustees' responsibilities and liability, the role of the board, the principles of an effective team, what makes a board effective and ineffective, what good governance looks like and what happens in its presence and in its absence. The trustees took part in several activities and we had some interesting discussions on strategy, risk management and performance monitoring. Here is what our client said about the session.
United Utilities Trust Fund
Completed a governance review of UUTF which was jointly cmmissioned by the Trust and United Utilities Plc. The review covered various aspects of the governance of the Trusts and its effectiveness in delivering its purpose and desired outcomes to customers. The review covered evaluation of the effectiveness of the Trust's Board, review of several sets of board papers, review of the skills assessment of the Trustees, a board meeting observation, assessment of compliance with the Charity Code of Governance, a wide range of interviews of UUTF and UU representatives, evaluation of the Trust's stragtegic decision making and its contribution to improving the debt position of UU's most vulnerable customers.
Leonard Cheshire Disability
• Review of overall governance to identify areas, which need to be addressed and defining an action plan;
• Review of the current governance framework, addressing gaps and turning it into a living, functioning tool for staff and trustees;
• Assessment of the level of compliance against LCD’s chosen Code of Governance and developing a plan to address gaps;
• Review of the current policy framework and leading on a project aimed at its streamlining and improvement to ensure it is fit for purpose on governance and operational levels;
• Review of current governance policies and drafting of new ones as necessary and implementing a cycle of regular reviews;
• Restructuring of the existing committee structure and drafting TORs for the board and new committees and stress testing their fitness for purpose;
• Reviewing composition, frequency, outputs, necessity of all committees for most effective governance and ensuring that forward work plans are developed and implemented;
• Implementing a development plan for the current governance officer and providing them with a range of tools and resources to be better equipped to succeed in his role;
• Completing a board skills assessment in line with the requirements of the corporate plan;
• Managing the induction training of new trustees and implementing a training plan for those remaining in post;
• Working on building effective relationships between the executive team and the new board, based on shared understanding of roles, priorities and accountabilities;
• Ongoing governance support with meeting protocols, preparation of board and committee reports, minutes, action logs, etc.
St Anne's
• Review of existing governance arrangements to identify areas, which needed to be addressed, and producing a defined action plan;
• Working with the client to implement the actions from the governance improvement plan based on compliance analysis against the Charity Code of Governance and best practice;
• Re-structure of the existing committee structure to ensure optimal alignment with the charity’s activities and strategic plans;
• Drafting and implementing new Terms of Reference for the newly created committees;
• Implementing forward agenda planning for the board and committees;
• Improving the flow of information between the board, the committees and the senior management team to support effective decision making;
• Designing and implementing regular board and trustee appraisals.
Green Square Accord
Support with all governance and legal aspects of the merger between GreenSquare Group and Accord Housing Association, which included:
Leading on all governance and internal legal aspects of the transfer of engagements from GreenSquare Group to GreenSquareAccord and from Westlea Housing Association to GreenSquareAccord;
Leading on the transfer of all contracts and legal cases from GreenSquare Group and Westlea Housing Association to GreenSquare Accord;
Complete Governance Framework and Policy Review following the transfer of engagements;
Board and committee appraisal and evaluation;
Simplification and streamlining of governance processes such as signing and sealing, compliance reporting, declarations of interest.
Community Housing
Supporting the day-to-day company secretary function for the group, which included:
Leading on all governance and internal legal processes related to the group consolidation, which included the transfer of engagements of two subsidiaries and the business transfer of another subsidiary into the main organisation. Setting up and completion of all approval processes from the various boards and shareholders, transfer of all contractual arrangements and communication with relevant contractors and stakeholders;
Setting up of the new post-consolidation governance structure, including drafting of all relevant board and committee TORs;
Review of the annual governance assurance process and reporting to board on the company’s compliance with all relevant law and regulation;
Leading on a group wide project for the review of all policies and procedures, including the review of the approval processes and custumer consultation where deemed necessary;
Board and committee succession and recruitment planning;
Assessment of compliance with the NHF Code of Governance 2020, identifying gaps and producing an action plan for achieving full compliance;
Assessment of compliance against the Governance and Financial Viability Standard;
Review of the organisation's governance framework post-consolidation;
Implementation of a contracts register and contract authorisation process.
Reliance Social Housing
Review and draft all corporate governance policies to ensure compliance with the organisation's chosen code of governance.
General suppport to the governance function of the oganisation as and when required.
NHF Policy Project
Collaboration project with Anthony Collins Solicitors, Andrew Foster Consultancy and a number of housing associations from across the country on the development of Policies and Procedures as required by the NHF Code of Governance 2020 and reflecting best governance practice in the social housing sector.
Supporting the governance of the Trust and Auriga
Supporting the governance of the Trust and Auriga (the Trust’s commercial subsidiary), which included:
Improving the structure of board meetings and the quality of reports;
Review and re-drafting of Auriga’s Articles of Association;
Drafting Terms of Reference for the Audit and Assurance Committee and the Remuneration Committee;
Review and advise on the amendment of the Trust’s objects and alignment with registrations in Companies House and the Charity Commission;
Introducing an appointment and induction process for new trustees and provision of relevant documentation;
Improving forward agenda plans, minute taking, matters arising and the use of an action log.