The Almshouse Association teamed up with Simon Stone, Associate at Stone King LLP, to present a webinar on ‘Setting aside – an almshouse toolkit’ to 87 member charities on Wednesday 21st April.

Setting aside appointments can be a complex and very sensitive area for almshouses. Trustees have to carefully balance the competing interests of protecting often vulnerable residents with the interests of the charity as a whole. The webinar covered key considerations and practical guidance for setting aside appointments, including:

• Trustees’ duties
• Status of the resident’s occupancy
• Letter of Appointment and Residents’ Handbook
• Obligations and breaches during the period of occupation
• Procedure for setting aside appointments
• Recovering possession

Members also put 17 questions to the presenters. Powerpoint slides and a recording of the webinar are now available to all members by clicking into the links below:

Simon Stone is an Associate Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team at Stone King LLP. Simon joined the firm in 2014 after relocating from Australia and he has a particular specialism in property matters involving charities.

Over the years Simon has acted for numerous Almshouses in respect of setting aside appointments, both advising on the legal process as well as being acutely aware of charities’ obligations and related reputational issues.

Posted 22nd April 21

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The Charity Commission updated its guidance on holding trustee meetings and AGMs during the Covid-19 pandemic on 13 April 2021.

Where it is not possible to hold a socially distanced meeting or if trustees do not feel safe meeting in person, the charity may wish to hold a meeting virtually or by telephone. You should check your governing document to see whether you are allowed to do this. If not, you should take a decision as a trustee body and make a note of this as a matter of good governance.

If it is not possible for you to hold a meeting online or by telephone, you may wish to postpone or cancel the meeting. You should check your governing document to see if there are any rules around postponement or cancellation. If not but you still feel this is the best and safest course of action for your charity, you should record the reasons for this decision to demonstrate good governance of your charity.

If this impacts your ability to submit your annual return on time, please contact the Charity Commission at filingextension@charitycommission.gov.uk to request an extension.

To read the full guidance, please visit:

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-the-charity-sector.

Posted 14 April 21

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In response to the Grenfell Tower disaster and in anticipation of the Social Housing White Paper, the Housing Ombudsman published its new Complaints Handling Code in July 2020. The aim of the Code is to ensure that residents are put at the heart of the complaints process and to ensure that complaints are dealt with in a fair, effective, and timely way.

The new code applies to all Registered Providers of Social Housing (‘Registered Providers’) and those charities that have voluntarily signed up to the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. Landlords are expected to meet the Code but it allows for some discretion as to how this is done. There are, however, two prescriptive elements to the Code, which landlords must implement:

1. A two stage complaints process
2. Timeframes for responses to resident complaints

The Almshouse Association encourages all of its members to adopt a similar approach to complaints handling as a matter of good practice.

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The Code

The Complaint Handling Code is formed of six parts:

PART ONE – Definition of a complaint

The Code defines a complaints as:

“An expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual resident or group of residents.”

It notes that a resident does not have to use the word ‘complaint’ for it to be treated as such and landlords should endeavour to resolve issues at an early stage to avoid a formal complaint being made.

PART TWO – Accessibility and awareness

The Code states that landlords are required to have a clear and accessible complaints policy and process and this should be publicised on the charity’s website (if you have one), in leaflets, in newsletters, and in other correspondence with residents. The Code also requires landlords to make residents aware of the Housing Ombudsman service and provide contact details

PART THREE – Complaint team, procedure, timeliness and responsiveness

The code requires a social landlord to have a nominated person responsible for handling complaints. This could be a member of staff or, in smaller charities, a trustee. It sets out how the complaints procedure should work, the timeframes for dealing with each step of the process, and expectations on how residents are communicated with throughout the process. 

The Code also highlights the landlord’s duty to cooperate with a Housing Ombudsman investigation should this arise

PART FOUR – Fairness in complaint handling

The complaints process should be resident-focused with residents having the opportunity to put their points of view and expectations of an outcome before a decision is reached. The Code gives guidance on how a complaint should be handled fairly and how to deal with a complaint that is escalated

PART FIVE – Putting things right

Landlords should apologise for any failures identified and seek to resolve issues as soon as possible.

The Code notes the different ways in which a complaint can be resolved and the factors to consider when formulating a remedy. It also addresses concerns about legal liability.

PART 6 – Continuous learning and improvement

The Code encourages landlords to look beyond individual complaints and to consider whether any changes in process to deliver better service to residents. Learning and improvement from complaints should be included in the charity’s annual report.

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Compliance

Failures under the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and Complaints Handling Code will result in a complaint handling failure order and the Code sets out the circumstances under which this would happen. The Ombudsman will publish the names of housing providers subject to these orders on a quarterly basis and share this information with the Regulator of Social Housing.

Action to be taken

If your charity has not yet done so and is a Registered Provider of Social Housing (or has been in the past) or has voluntarily signed up to the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, you should complete a self-assessment against the new Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code as soon as possible. The outcomes of the self- assessment should be reported to trustees. A template self-assessment form can be found on the Housing Ombudsman website at:

https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/landlords-info/complaint-handling-code/.

Once your charity has completed its self-assessment, the trustees should implement a new complaints procedure taking into account any deficiencies noted in the self-assessment.

Click here for a Complaints Handling Flowchart

Useful Links

Complaint Handling Code FULL – https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Complaint-Handling-Code.pdf
Housing Ombudsman Scheme – https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Housing-Ombudsman-Scheme-final-version-for-publication-Sep.pdf

Posted April 21

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The Almshouse Association will be hosting a webinar on April 22^nd at 10am, with representatives of the almshouse movement and the Church of England, to explore the recent Coming Home Report from the The Commission of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on Housing, Church and Community.

Speakers include:

• Nick Phillips, CEO of The Almshouse Association
• Bishop Graham Tomlin, Bishop of Kensington
• Michael Siggs, Clerk to the St Mary Magdalen Hospital Charity
• Revd Jeremy Fraser, Mission and Development Advisor to the Bishop of Barking
• Nick Pollock, Archbishops’ Housing Commission – Executive Team Lead

The Report marks the most significant public support for the almshouse model in recent times and gives new impetus to our mission of seeing many more new almshouse dwellings by 2030.

Bringing together these representatives we will have an open discussion on the opportunities and difficulties of realising our ambition. Opening comments from our speakers will be followed by a Q&A session.

If you would like to take part then please register here.

If you have any questions you would like to ask as part of the Q&A, please email Jack Baldan via jackbaldan@almshouses.org.

Posted 8 April 21

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The Government has announced that the final day for applications to the Green Homes Grant will be March 31^st 2021.

Any members who have secured funding through this route will still have their vouchers honoured but no new requests will be accepted after March 31^st.

The Almshouse Association is disappointed by the Government’s decision in this case as the grant represented a great opportunity for our members to do the right thing by becoming more eco-friendly. The sudden removal of the scheme means that a number of members will now struggle to find support for green initiatives which would help their residents. We hope that almshouse charities will be able to access the additional funding designated to Local Authorities.

The Government must produce an effective, long-term fund which can help those both within the almshouse movement and beyond.

Posted 30 Mar 21

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Each month, the Association posts a news summary of the latest Policy and Governance legislation that could impact / requires action from our member charities, with links to further information where applicable. Please find below our Mar/Apr 21 Summary.

Property and Planning

• Improving broadband for Very Hard to Reach premises consultation -DCMS has published a consultation – closing 11 June – on improving broadband for Very Hard to Reach premises in the UK. Through this call for evidence, DCMS wants to hear views and experiences of consumers’ broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas of the UK. Members may wish to consider responding if they have difficulties accessing good quality broadband for work and for residents.

Health and Safety

• Shielding – As of April 1^st, it will no long be necessary for clinically extremely vulnerable people in England to shield.

Taxation and Finance

• Budget 2021 – The Chancellor made a number of announcements as part of this year’s Budget. Most notable for almshouse charities will be the extension of the £20 uplift in Universal Credit payments which will last until September. Eligible Working Tax Credit claimants will also receive a one-off payment of £500.
• National Minimum Wage – The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will increase from April 1^st, with the National Living Wage being extended to 23 and 24 year olds for the first time. The NLW will now be £8.91. 

Coronavirus

You can find all our Coronavirus updates here

Previous Policy and Governance updates:
Policy and Governance update – March 2021 Summary
Policy & Governance update – February 2021 Summary
Policy and Governance update – January 2021 Summary
Policy & Governance update – December 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – October 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – September 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – July/August 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – June 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – May 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – Apr 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – Mar 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance – Feb 2020 Summary
Policy and Governance –Jan 2020 Summary

30 March 21

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90 members logged in for an Almshouse Association webinar on 23rd March 21 with Ros Hammond, Director and Founder of Employment Law in Action employment issues faced by almshouse charities.

The webinar covered:

• considerations for engaging employed vs self-employed individuals
• the challenges in respect of working hours and ‘on call arrangements’
• how to review salaries in accordance with your structure and market value.

If you were not able to attend or would like to recap on all the topics, please click in the buttons below to view a recording and powerpoint slides of the webinar.

Posted 23 March 21

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