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Committee of Management
Minutes of Meeting – 21st May 2025
Present: Colin Fraser (Chair)
Wendy Riordan (Vice Chair)
Jim Hemphill (Vice Chair)
Morag Orr
Stephanie Wilson
Lynn Jameson
George Thomson
Alan Lamont
Elizabeth Stewart
Liz Robertson
Amanda Aitchison
In attendance:
Larke Adger (CEO)
David Mills (COO)
The Minutes of the meetings held on 16th April 2025 were approved by Committee.
Mr. Shem Dabrowski, Item 24
5. GUESTS, VISITORS, OBSERVERS
Mr. Shem Dabrowski as a guest / observer, with a view to joining Committee
Ms. Siobhan Archibald (via MS Teams) to deliver 3 year internal audit plan
Mr. Colin James (via MS Teams) to deliver Quarterly Management Accounts
6. INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN, 2026-2028
18.18hrs: Siobhan Archibald, Wbj, joined the meeting, via MS Teams
Siobhan presented the planned 3 year internal audit plan to Committee.
2026 = Rental Income & Arrears Management, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
2027 = Cyber Security, Voids & Allocations
2028 = Anti-Social Behaviour, ARC Reporting (including Governance)
• Committee noted the report.
• The Chair thanked Siobhan on behalf of the whole Committee
18.27hrs: Siobhan Archibald, Wbj, left the meeting
7. CHANGE OF FORMAT TO COMMITTEE REPORTS
To present to Committee, a formal proposal for their monthly reports to be re-formatted as they had previously requested: "that where practicable, place all Items for Noting at the front of the Report and Items for Approval at the end of the Report”.
• Committee unanimously approved the change.
• SW asked for a page/space to allow Committee members to take notes
8. MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS PRESENTATION
Colin James (Prospect Community Housing) joined via MS Teams, at 18.31hrs
Appendix 1 was presented to Committee by Colin. Q4 cumulative figures were presented
Cumulative income and surplus were discussed and declared
Gross Rent Arrears and Void Loss were discussed and declared
Cash and Deposits were declared along with loan covenants
The statement of comprehensive income was discussed and declared
The statement of financial position was discussed and declared
The statement of cash flow was discussed and declared
• Committee noted the report.
• Colin was thanked for his presentation by the Chair
Colin James left the meeting at 18.37hrs
9. 4th QUARTERLY (CUMULATIVE) PERFORMANCE REPORT
Appendix 2 was presented to Committee by the COO. The COO presented quarterly and cumulative performance information within the report.
The Committee were guided through the 27 sections of both benchmark achievements and statutory / regulatory information giving assurance regarding tenant safety and protection of WGHC assets. The report will be published on the WGHC website.
• Committee noted the report
10. CASH IN BANK, INFLATION & INTEREST RATES
All cash balances across the 5 x WGHC bank accounts were presented by the CEO and a summary total provided, which stood at £789,640. This was an increase of £49k from the figure reported at the April meeting. Inflation was reported at 2.6% (2.8% in the previous month) and interest rates were reported at 4.25% (4.5% in the previous month). As requested by Committee, the CEO presented information on interest paid and balances of the 5 loans WGHC has with the Nationwide Building Society.
11. GOVERNANCE, RISK, COMPLIANCE, HEALTH & SAFETY REPORT
The COO presented the governance, compliance, health and safety report to Committee.
As accepted practice and to give Committee assurance, the COO also reported:
FOISA / EIR Requests since last meeting = NIL
Subject Access Requests since last meeting = NIL
Information Data Breaches since last meeting = NIL
Open Notifiable Events with SHR = One (31183)
The most prevalent and serious risk to WGHC in the current climate is the issue of EWS Cladding (Notifiable Event 31183). The COO was pleased to inform Committee that there had been no health & safety issues to report since the last meeting.
• Committee noted the report
12. MEMBERSHIP & USE OF THE COMPANY SEAL
The COO reported that since the last meeting, there have been:
Three new memberships:
Membership No: 806
Date of Commencement: 24th April 2025
Membership No: 807
Date of Commencement: 12th May 2025
Membership No: 808
Date of Commencement: 12th May 2025
Three cessations of membership:
Membership No: 783
Date of Cessation: 20th April 2025
Membership No: 384
Date of Cessation: 04th May 2025
Membership No: 500
Date of Cessation: 01st May 2025
• Committee noted the report
EOT – Moved Away
EOT – Moved Away
EOT – Moved Away
13. ROLLING ACTIONS ITEM LIST
The Rolling Actions Items were discussed with many having now been completed. Completed items will now be removed.
• Committee noted the report
14. ASSURANCE STATEMENT EVIDENCE REVIEW #2
The CEO and COO reminded the governing body of the SHR requirement to submit an annual assurance statement that the Committee, as governing body, approve prior to publication and submission to the Scottish Housing Regulator. The CEO/COO have an electronic evidence bank, containing macros and evidence links that support the annual assurance statement.
During this meeting, the COO demonstrated the internal file structure and various files of evidence and the way in which these are linked to provide access via one, centralised, document.
• Committee noted the report
15. WGHC 35 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
WGHC celebrates 35 years on 12th June 2025. This was identified as important as it provides a unique opportunity to reinforce the co-operative culture, boost member and stakeholder engagement and strengthen external relationships.
Commemorating the 35th anniversary at the AGM, will allow WGHC to celebrate and strengthen the values as a co-op and also allows us to share with tenant members our recent achievement in being awarded the accolade of being Recognised as an Investor in Excellence (the first organisation in Scotland to achieve this status)
• Committee noted the report
16. JOINT CO-OPS COMMITTEE TRAINING EVENT - FEEDBACK
Committee Members from the 7 remaining Scottish Housing RSL Co-ops, attended a joint Governance Training session at Hawthorn Housing Co-op on 14th May.
The training was a collaborative process where governing body members from the 7 Co-ops came together to learn and also learn from each other and the different perspectives and experiences they bring. The Training was provided by Governance Specialist, Emma Laycock, from Co-ops UK. Committee members who attended informed the remaining members of the experience – indicating they would like to do it more frequently / regularly.
• Committee noted the report
17. SINGLE BUILDING ASSESSMENT UPDATE
The CEO gave an updated report to Committee regarding the potential for External Wall System (EWS) Cladding and progress on the Fire Risk Assessments and a Single Building Assessment being undertaken. The CEO confirmed to Committee that a notifiable event, 31183, had been logged with the Scottish Housing Regulator on this matter. The SBA report is due for publication on/around 27th May 2025.
It was confirmed that the SBA will trigger a further notifiable event with SHR in respect of tenant health and safety. In addition, a separate notifiable event will be required in relation to the financial position of WGHC. These changes will also impact and alter the SHR engagement plan with WGHC.
The SBA will also impact the evacuation strategy in the event of any fire related incident within the 45 flats affected.
This item was discussed for a considerable amount of time prompting frank conversation and questions from LS / AL / JH / WR and CF.
• Committee noted the strategic importance of this report.
18. FINANCIAL MODELLING SCENARIOS (CLADDING REMEDIATION)
7 different scenarios were demonstrated, at length to Committee, to show what impact paying for (assumed) £3m of works, using different loan amounts, in different years. Models demonstrated showed fully self- funded scenarios and those with assistance from Scottish Government, including with various external loan funding situations.
The purpose of the report was for Committee to understand the 7 different scenarios and the implications of each for the Co-op. Thereafter, Committee were asked to consider the 3rd Scenario for approval; upon which our Revised Budget would be based - presented to Committee in Item 19 of the Reports
This item was discussed at length with Committee asking many questions and generating robust conversation around the various financial modelling scenarios. Questions were asked by AL / SW / JH / WR and CF.
• Committee noted the strategic importance of this report.
• Committee unanimously approved model scenario No. 3 (of the 7 demonstrated) to be taken forward to inform budgets and five year financial projections / 30 year projections
19. REVISED BUDGET PACK FOR 2025-2026
The CEO presented a lengthy and comprehensive indication of the revised budget pack for 2025-2026 and indicative 30 year plan based upon the Financial Modelling Scenario No. 3 previously presented to Committee in item No. 18 of the reports. Given the permutations and unknowns regarding funding for cladding remediation works, this scenario has been identified as the ‘best case scenario for WGHC’ given the assumptions used.
• Committee noted the strategic importance of this report.
• Committee unanimously approved the annual budget for 2025-26 as presented and updated
• Committee unanimously approved the 30 year cash flow projections based upon the presentation
20. ARC APPROVAL FOR SHR SUBMISSION
Appendix 3 was presented by the CEO, demonstrating to Committee members the format and information required for submission in support of the Annual Return on the Charter for the Scottish Housing Regulator.
A sample of questions and supporting evidence was provided to Committee following assurance from both the CEO and COO of validation of planned data submission. In addition, prior to submission to Committee, the ARC return was reviewed and validated by Scotland’s Housing Network as an independent body.
• Committee reviewed and unanimously approved WGHC’s Annual Return on the Charter submission to SHR for 2024-2025
21. DRAFT LONE WORKER POLICY
Appendix 4 was presented to Committee by the COO. The COO informed Committee of the changes to the draft Lone Worker Policy. These were minor, but the policy was reviewed as part of the ongoing 3 year policy review cycle.
• Committee unanimously approved the draft Lone Worker Policy
22. DRAFT STAFF POLICY
Appendix 5 was presented to Committee by the COO. The COO informed Committee of the changes to the draft Staff Policy. There were some significant changes identified following the policy review. These were highlighted within section: 8.2.2. on pages 15 and 16 of the provided policy.
• Committee unanimously approved the draft Staff Policy
23. COMMITTEE APPRAISAL TRAINING AND MEETINGS 2025
By undertaking their annual appraisals, WGHC’s Committee of Management is actively reinforcing its commitment to governance excellence and improvement. One of the agreed actions from the 2024 Appraisals, is that Committee would like the benefit of a brief training session to learn more about Annual Appraisals.
Training at 17.45hrs on Wednesday 28th May 2025 for appraisal training was agreed.
The CEO was asked to send out a doodle poll to Committee members to agree dates for planned annual appraisals.
• Committee agreed / approved the appraisal training date
• Committee asked the CEO to send a doodle poll re: appraisal dates
24. ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS
Mr. Shem Dabrowski temporarily left the meeting whilst Committee discussed his application for the position on the Committee as a Casual Vacancy
Mr. Shem Dabrowski’s application was unanimously approved by Committee
Mr. Shem Dabrowski was re-admitted to the meeting.
Committee were advised that Cameron Durance had resigned with immediate effect from the Committee for personal reasons.
Committee were shocked and the Chair thanked Cameron for his time on the Committee and all he had contributed.
The COO confirmed that the SHR portal had duly been updated.
23. DATE OF NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING
It was proposed the next meeting be held on Wednesday 28th May 2025 at 6.45pm.
This meeting will follow the Committee Appraisal Training commencing at 17.45hrs that same evening.
• Committee approved the next Committee Meeting to be held on Wednesday 28th May 2025 @ 6.45pm
Signed REDACTED INFORMATION
Chairperson Date: 21st May 2025
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