‘Widespread failures’ at housing association

system of control. Widespread failures to comply with policies and procedures, financial regulations and delegated authorities for spending, poor procurement practices, failure to manage conflicts of interest and uphold the standards of conduct expected of registered social landlords were also not complied with by the housing association.

A report compiled by the Scottish Housing Regulator said: “The investigation highlighted a number of areas of serious concern including the inappropriate receipt of payments and benefits and systematic failures of governance amounting to mismanagement.

“The governing body has failed to establish and oversee an effective system of internal controls to allow it to determine whether it was complying with the regulatory standards of governance and financial management.

“This includes widespread failures to comply with Fairfield’s policies, procedures, financial regulations and delegated authorities for spending.

“It also found that there had been poor procurement practices, failures to manage conflicts of interest and to uphold the standards of conduct expected of registered social landlords.

“These governance failures have contributed to the potential inappropriate use of Fairfield’s funds and resources.

“Fairfield is not complying with the regulatory standards.”

The new manager, along with seven new members of the board of governance, have been appointed for a period of six months.

Ian Brennan, director of regulation at the Scottish Housing Regulator, said: “In our judgement Fairfield is not complying with the regulatory standards of governance and financial management.

“We have directed the statutory manager to carry out further inquiries and take action to address any immediate risk to ensure Fairfield meets regulatory standards.”

Connie Hodge, the association’s chairperson, said: “We are cooperating fully with these changes and we will be working positively with the regulator and the new committee members to address the issues identified so we can continue to protect the best interests of our tenants and the long term interests of the cooperative.

“The day-to-day provision of high quality services by the experienced staff team at Fairfield will continue as normal and our focus will continue to be on serving our tenants and the wider community.”