Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Urban Environment to inform the Committee of the outcomes of a Grant Thornton review of leaseholder service charges administered on the Council’s behalf by Homes for Haringey.

Phil Harris, Assistant Director of Strategic and Community Housing, introduced the report on leasehold service charges from Grant Thornton, and the Council’s responses. The overall conclusions of the Grant Thornton report were that the home ownership team were efficient in calculating service charges, and the report also set out examples of best practice and specific areas where Haringey could make improvements. It was reported that there were a number of areas where the recommendations of Grant Thornton had not been agreed and reasons had been provided for this, however Grant Thornton had confirmed that none of these areas were of fundamental importance, and would be kept under further review.

David Longbottom, Grant Thornton, reported that the review was of  a high-level, strategic nature rather than a detailed examination. It was reported that a number of examples of good practice had been found, and the overall conclusion was that the home ownership team managed charges in an efficient and effective manner, with statements being provided to leaseholders in a timely and well-managed way and based on good quality information. Mr Longbottom outlined the recommendations that had been made and reported that, where the recommendations had not been agreed by the Council, these were areas of low to medium risk and the responses were adequate for the time being but would require further review.

In response to questions from the Committee, Mr Longbottom confirmed that no leaseholders had been interviewed during the course of the review and that a single sample service charge statement had been reviewed. Mr Longbottom advised that they had requested to interview leaseholders, however this had not proved possible in the timescale available. It was reported that as it was a high level review, the focus was on the way in which systems were used to manage information, and not on the detailed analysis of individual accounts.

Committee Members confirmed that, as ward councillors, they often encountered residents with concerns regarding statements, and expressed concern that the methodology of this review would not be able to provide assurance on whether Homes for Haringey was obtaining the best value for money. Mr Longbottom stated that the review had been a short, high level diagnostic review, the scope of which was to focus on whether the systems were in place to deliver value for money. Based on experience of more extensive leasehold reviews carried out for other authorities, Grant Thornton recognised the issues raised by Members, but emphasised that this review was to look at the systems in place. Paul Dossett, Grant Thornton, reported that a decision had been taken to look at Haringey in respect of the high level controls in place. The findings of the review did not guarantee that every statement produced would be accurate, but gave an indication in respect of the overall systems and controls. The Committee noted that all Members were aware of case-studies where things had gone wrong, and Rowann Limond, Homes for Haringey, asked all Members to notify Homes for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8