Landlords have a range of statutory obligations in relation to tenant and resident safety, including around gas safety, electrical safety, asbestos management and fire safety – add to that additional scrutiny and focus on damp and mould and RAAC and there remains a key list of risks for organisations. The Housing Regulators, wherever in the UK that you may be based, remain vigilant and are paying particular attention to compliance with the regulatory requirements of all areas of tenant safety.
We know that a key requirement for boards and management committees is to be ‘assured’ of compliance.
Our ‘triangulated’ assurance in-depth reviews/audits
Internal control, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance – the likelihood of achievement is affected by limitations inherent in all internal control systems, including the possibility of poor judgement in decision making, human error and occurrence of unforeseeable events.
Our in-depth reviews and audits are designed to support internal controls and provide an independent, professional assessment of the extent to which an organisation can demonstrate that their current management and monitoring arrangements (whichever subject that is) are fit for purpose, comply with current legislative requirements and housing best practice and maintain the safety of customers and colleagues.
In addition, we assess whether delivery of servicing / maintenance programmes is in accordance with the written policies and procedures in place within the organisation.
Our assurance reviews are ‘triangulated’, which means that we:
- Review documentation and information in place – policies, procedures, assessments etc.
- Check and cross-reference data; have all properties been correctly identified (Data Integrity)?
- Sample test and analyse records (manual and electronic)
- Test the effectiveness of controls through discussion with those responsible for operating them (interviews) – do those individuals know what the policy or procedures state should happen?
- Carry out validation visits (observation) - visits to site, to review any documentation maintained on-site and to determine whether any recommended actions have been completed (e.g. fire risk assessment actions)
Assurance from an independent specialist, such as Housing H&S Compliance UK Ltd, can provide insight, confidence and encouragement for continuous improvement by remaining impartial, independent and objective about the adequacy and effectiveness of governance and risk management. We play an important role in supporting organisations due to our specialist knowledge and experience of the application of legislative and regulatory requirements in the social housing sector in safety-related subject areas.
We believe that specialist in-depth reviews and audits should provide an independent assessment of the facts… identifying ‘positives’ as well as ‘gaps’ and areas for improvement; they should enable the organisation to build on its strengths and focus on addressing the identified gaps and areas for improvement through implementation of recommendations, thereby improving the management of key risks.
They should not simply be a ‘tick box’ exercise that doesn’t look below the surface!
