The review was carried out to provide assurance that Innisfree's governance policies, practice and procedures remain effective for the leadership and control of the business in a changing regulatory environment.
The last – and now final – assessment published by the Housing Corporation in January 2007 recorded that the association maintained the top rating for governance. The Corporation's assessment is confirmed by this review which finds that Innisfree has a:
- skilled and knowledgeable board which is providing strong leadership and effective control of the association in its work with the Irish community in London;
- strong committee system which in a well managed and organised way is ensuring that all aspects of the association's performance are effectively scrutinised;
- comprehensive and well presented set of governance policies and procedures which comply with the NHF's Code of Governance;
- highly motivated and skilled staff and senior management team providing an excellent service to the board, its committees and the residents of the association.
To ensure Innisfree retains its excellent governance record the following recommendations are made (further recommendations are set out in the body of the report):
- Revisions are made to its governance documents (separately circulated) to reflect recently issued guidance and best practice advice;
- Steps are taken to strengthen the experience of housing development, maintenance and building construction in future board and committee recruitment with priority given to co-opting someone with relevant maintenance expertise to the Housing Services Committee;
- Action is taken to improve attendance levels at committees and to secure new resident representation on the Housing Service Committee;
- A revised appraisal system is introduced for 2008 to ensure both individual and collective performance is reviewed in a manageable way given Innisfree's size and scale of operation;
- Consideration is given to increasing the amount of information disclosed in order to provide continuing assurance to stakeholders about the organisation's effectiveness given its recent inclusion in the RASA regime;
- Monitor and keep under review current developments in strengthening tenant involvement and ideas for the set up of a joint tenant forum/council with members of Solomon and SOLFED to provide an independent and informed voice on service delivery issues.