Lutfur Rahman announces the end of Tower Hamlets Homes

Just a quick update, sorry i haven’t been writing recently but just noticed this on the Councils Website;

Revisiting the ALMO

Improving housing in Tower Hamlets is a key priority for Mayor Lutfur Rahman, and the council has submitted a multi-million pound bid to improve the borough’s homes.

The Government has changed the way that funding, to bring social rented homes up to a decent standard, can be accessed. This means that all councils can now apply to the Homes and Communities Agency funding whether or not they have an ALMO.

Along with submitting a funding bid for £163 million, the council is also evaluating the best way to deliver and maintain social housing in the future. The changes to policy mean that it is no longer necessary to have an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO), such as Tower Hamlets Homes, to gain decent homes funding. Therefore the evaluation will look at whether an ALMO is still the best way to deliver housing management for the homes that the Council owns in Tower Hamlets.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said: “We want to make sure that we offer our tenant and leaseholder the best possible service, and that means investigating all of the options.

“The entire landscape for housing policy is changing and I want to be sure that Tower Hamlets is well placed to respond to those changes. I have a duty to tenants and leaseholders to make sure that the current situation is still the best option.

“This in no way reflects on the performance of Tower Hamlets Homes, I have made it known that I am very pleased with the progress that they have made.”

Tower Hamlets Homes was set up in 2008 to enable the council to access some much needed funding to bring its 22,000 homes up to the government’s decent standard – warm and weather-proof with modern kitchens and bathrooms. It is a not-for-profit organisation that manages council homes, along with the council tenancies and leases.

Originally the ALMO had to achieve a two-star or good rating from the Audit Commission to gain extra funding, but this policy has now been scrapped. The ALMO was audited in November 2010 and is awaiting the results.

The Mayor has asked for an options paper to be drawn up for discussion.
28 January 2011

So after the bullying tactics of some consultants that were brought in

read here and the ALMOs recent descision to cut the Housing Surgeries from 2 days a week on each estate to one 2 hour session on each estate, what does the future hold for us as residents?

If you look at the situation dispationatley and listen the views and opinions of the staff, you’ll find that whats happened is a streamlining process of a publicly owned body. Tower Hamlets Council created Tower Hamlets Homes as an Arms-Length body that’s real remit was to cut staff numbers and provide a much reduced service so that this more economically viable package could be sold on or brought back in house with no blame being brought upon Tower Hamlets Council.

Staff have been treated viciously throughout the ALMO, staff with years of service with a wealth of experience are now being told by senior management (usually Interim Managers or New Staff brought in) that experience “no longer matters” that new-blood is whats important.

Barbara Brownlee, Gavin Cansfield & Jamie Carswell all who have links to Hackney & Pinnacle in some way, probably all knew each other and were brought in especially, look set to all get nice pay-offs, bonuses and top-ups to their gilt-edged pension schemes. In private companies these type of scum-bags are called hatchet men, brought in to cut what the company terms “waste” but what equates to a much reduced service, lower wages, reduced staff numbers and newer employees on lesser contracts with less rights and protections from abuse.

What’s in store…

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