Further to WAQ79139, will the Minister provide a summary of the arrangements for appointing housing association boards, including Welsh Ministers' part in the arrangements?
Board members are expected to be appointed via formal, vigorous and transparent procedures. Adoption of, and compliance with, a code of governance addressing these and other matters is required by Performance Standard 1 of the regulatory framework, as set out by the Welsh Ministers.
Such appointments should be made on merit, against objective criteria and with due consideration of the benefits of diversity. The appointment of board members is ordinarily based on the skills required to deliver an organisation’s business plan and vision, and arrangements made by housing associations are taken forward in accordance with those needs.
The Regulation of Registered Social Landlords (Wales) Act 2018 inserts a new Chapter 1A into the Housing Act 1996 limiting local authorities' powers in respect of the membership of the board of an RSL and their voting rights. Amongst other things, these provisions place a restriction on local authority nominees, who cannot comprise more than 24% of any board. These restrictions were introduced by Regulation of Registered Social Landlords (Wales) Act 2018 to ensure local authority representation and voting rights on boards was not an indicator of central or local government control by the Office for National Statistics in their consideration of RSL classification.
However, in the event of exercising regulatory enforcement powers contained in the Housing (Wales) Measure 2011 and the Housing Act 1996 (as amended), there are provisions in certain circumstances for the Welsh Ministers to appoint and remove officers of an RSL. In this context, the term “officers” includes board members.
In normal circumstances the Welsh Ministers would not expect to play a role in the appointment of board members to an RSL.