Message from the Chair
Thank you very much for your interest in a Board position at Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA).
The Association currently has 14 Board of Management members. We have a vacancy for a new member to join our Board of Management to complement our existing skills set to ensure a well-rounded Board.
The CHA Board of Management meets every 7 weeks, with meetings starting at 2.15 pm. These meetings are held in our head office in Ardrossan or via MS Teams. In addition to these standard meetings, on occasion the Association convenes ad-hoc board meetings for specific items requiring discussion.
For all of these meetings there are reports which are issued electronically to Board members a week in advance. All Board members are required to read these papers before attending the meetings and come ready with any questions or comments for discussion. CHA provide mobile devices to access the reports and full training is provided for all Board members.
Board members are also required to sit on two of our sub committees which meet quarterly.
No Board Member may take office until they have agreed to and signed the Association’s code of conduct for Board Members and completed the Association’s induction process for new Board Members.
If you are interested in joining we would love to hear from you!
How To Apply
You should complete the Board Application Form as fully as you can. The form should simply tell us why you would like to join the Board. If you want assistance, please contact Jacqueline Cameron, Group CEO and she will be happy to help explain what is required.
You can fill in the form and send them to us at Cunninghame Housing Association Ltd, Quayside Offices, Marina Quay, Dock Road, Ardrossan, KA22 8DA or scan and attach to an e-mail and send them to: enquiries@chaltd.org.
Once we receive the forms, we will review and be in touch to organise a meeting with the CEO and Office Bearers. This meeting will allow you to meet the Office Bearers and to chat about your reasons for wanting to join the Board of Management to find out what is involved.
Company Information
Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA) was founded in 1984 and manages 3,587 properties throughout North and East Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, with the majority of our stock located in Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Kilmarnock.
CHA is run by a 15 member voluntary Board, employs 154 staff and has a £21m turnover. CHA’s Mission is to be “More Than Just a Landlord: Making Our Communities Better Places”; and administers a “Making Our Communities Better Places” fund which has provided over £200,000 to date to local charities, groups, and individuals where our housing stock is located. The Association also operates an in-house fuel poverty advisory service (Lemon Aid Fuel Poverty Advisory Service), and has diversified into community regeneration; operating three enterprise centres within North Ayrshire and two subsidiary social enterprises
Cunninghame Furniture Recycling Company
Citrus Energy
Our Vision, Mission and Values
Our vision is:
“To be one of the leading Housing Associations and Social Enterprises offering more choice and opportunities for our tenants and customers to meet their aspirations of living in quality homes in stronger communities”.
Reflecting that vision, we aim to pursue a strategy of being:
“More than just a Landlord” by “Making our communities better places”.
These values define how we operate, engage with stakeholders and plan the delivery of our strategic objectives. They drive our business development, ensuring value for money in our work delivering the highest quality outcomes for our customers.
Current Board of Management Members
The CHA Board of Management comprises 15 members. The office bearers are elected annually by the Board of Management. Our Board members comprise of individuals with differing skillsets and experience, and they have a strong and shared commitment to delivering the Association’s strategic objectives and to ‘making our communities better places’. We implement each year a robust appraisal process, both collective and individual, for all Board members. This helps to establish that they have the appropriate support, skills and knowledge required.
Executive Management Team
Our Executive Team comprises of Group CEO and three Executive Directors. The Board delegates responsibility for the day to day running of the organisation to the Group CEO, supported by the Executive Directors.
Role Description & Eligibility
(1) INTRODUCTION
| Standard 1 | “The governing body leads and directs the RSL to achieve good outcomes for its tenants and other service users.” |
1.1 This role description has been prepared to set out the responsibilities that are associated with being a Board of Management (BOM) of Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA). It should be read in conjunction with the accompanying person specification and CHA’s Rules and Standing Orders.
1.2 CHA is a Registered Social Landlord, Scottish Charity and is a Registered Society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. The role description reflects the principles of good governance and takes account of (and is compliant with) the expectations of the Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management for Scottish RSLs and relevant guidance produced by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
1.3 CHA encourages people who are interested in the Association’s work to consider seeking election as a Board of Management member and is committed to ensuring broad representation from the communities that it serves. Board of Management members do not require ‘qualifications’ but, from time to time, we will seek to recruit people with specific skills and experience to add to or expand the existing range of skills and experience available to ensure that the Board of Management is able to fulfil its purpose. We have developed a profile for the Board of Management which describes the skills, qualities and experience that we consider we need to lead and direct Cunninghame Housing Association and carry out an annual review of the skills that we have and those that we need to inform our recruitment activities.
1.4 This role description applies to all members of the Board of Management, whether elected or co-opted or appointed, new or experienced. It is subject to periodic review.
(2) PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
2.1 As a Board of Management Member your primary responsibilities are, with the other members of the Board of Management, to
- Lead and direct CHA’s work
- Promote and uphold CHA’s values
- Set and monitor standards for service delivery and performance
- Control CHA’s affairs and ensure compliance
- Uphold CHA’s Code of Conduct and promote good governance
2.2 Responsibility for the operational implementation of CHA’s strategies and policies is delegated to the Chief Executive (CEO).
(3) KEY EXPECTATIONS
3.1 CHA has adopted a Code of Conduct for Board of Management Members which every member is required to sign on an annual basis and uphold their membership of the governing governing body.
3.2 Each Board of Management member must accept and share collective responsibility for the decisions properly taken by the Board of Management. Each Board of Management member is expected to contribute actively and constructively to the work of CHA. All members are equally responsible in law for the decisions made.
3.3 Each member must always act only in the best interests of CHA and its customers, and not on behalf of any interest group, constituency or other organisation. Board of Management members cannot act in a personal capacity to benefit themselves or someone they know.
3.4 Our rules contain specific requirements that all board of management members should be aware of, including:
- The board of management must have at least seven members
- The quorum for a meeting of the board of management is four members, who must be elected or have filled a casual vacancy
- The quorum for a sub-committee meeting is three members, who must be elected or have filled a casual vacancy
- Co-opted members cannot make up more than one third of the board of management; they do not contribute to a quorum being achieved and cannot be elected to an office bearers role
- The secretary must present a report to the last board of management meeting before the AGM confirming that all the requirements of Rules 62-67 have been met
- An experienced board of management member (who has nine or more years’ experience with the RSL) must have the agreement of the board of management if they intend to seek re-election for a further term: the board of management’s agreement should be recorded in the relevant minute
- A board of management member ceases to be a member of the board if they miss four consecutive meetings without, first, having been granted leave of absence
- A board of management member who has declared an interest in a matter to be discussed at a meeting must leave the meeting, before the matter is discussed, and cannot vote on the issue.
(4) MAIN TASKS
- To contribute to formulating and regularly reviewing CHA’s values, strategic aims, business objectives and performance standards.
- To monitor CHA’s performance.
- To be informed about and ensure CHA’s plans take account of the views of tenants and other customers.
- To ensure that CHA operates in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
- To be assured that CHA is compliant with relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
- To ensure that risks are realistically assessed and appropriately monitored and managed.
- To ensure that CHA is adequately resourced to achieve its objectives and meet its obligations.
- To oversee and ensure CHA’s financial viability and business sustainability whilst maintaining rents at levels that are affordable to tenants.
- To act, along with the other members of the Board of Management, as the employer of CHA’s staff.
- To ensure that CHA is open and accountable to tenants, regulators, funders and partners.
(5) DUTIES
- Act at all times in the best interests of CHA.
- Accept collective responsibility for decisions, policies and strategies.
- Attend and be well prepared for meetings of the governing body and sub committee.
- Contribute effectively to discussions and decision making.
- Exercise objectivity, care and attention in fulfilling your role.
- Take part in ongoing training and other learning opportunities.
- Take part in an annual review of the effectiveness of CHA’s governance and of your individual contribution to CHA’s governance.
- Maintain and develop your personal knowledge of relevant issues and the wider housing sector.
- Represent CHA positively and effectively at all times, including in local communities and when attending meetings and other events.
- Respect and maintain confidentiality of information.
- Treat colleagues with respect and foster effective working relationships within the governing body and between the governing body and staff.
- Be aware of and comply with our policy on the restrictions on payments and benefits.
- Register any relevant interests as soon as they arise and comply with CHA’s policy on managing conflicts of interest.
(6) COMMITMENT
6.1 An estimate of the annual time commitment that is expected from board of management members is:
| Activity | Time |
|---|---|
| Attendance at up to 8 regular meetings of the governing body | 16 hrs |
| Reading and preparation for meetings of the governing body | 16 hrs |
| Membership of a minimum of 2 sub-committees | 20 hrs |
| Reading and preparation for sub-committee meetings | 20 hrs |
| Attendance at annual planning and review events (including individual review meeting) | 3 days |
| Attendance at events such as estate tours, tenant / customer conferences, openings and site visits | When required |
| Attendance at internal briefing and training events | When required |
| External Training and conference attendance (may include overnight stay or weekend) | When required |
(7) WHAT CHA OFFERS BOARD OF MANAGEMENT MEMBERS
7.1 All Board of Management members are volunteers and receive no payment for their contribution.
All Board of Management members are volunteers and receive no payment for their contribution. CHA has adopted an Entitlements, Payments and Benefits Policy which prevents you or someone close to you from inappropriately benefiting personally from your involvement with CHA. This and related policies also seek to ensure that you are not unfairly disadvantaged by your involvement with CHA. All out of pocket expenses associated with your role as a Board of Management Member will be fully met and promptly reimbursed.
7.2 In return for your commitment, CHA offers:
- A welcome and introduction when you first join the Board of Management;
- Formal induction training to assist settling in
- A mentor from the governing body and a named staff contact for the first six months, with ongoing support
- Clear guidance, information and advice on your responsibilities and on CHA’s strategic direction and corporate plan
- Board papers which are clearly written and presented, and circulated in advance of meetings
- The opportunity to put your experience, skills and knowledge to constructive use
- The opportunity to develop your own knowledge, experience and personal skills
- The chance to network with others with shared commitment and ideals
8.0 Review:
This role description was approved by the Board of Management on 3rd October 2024. It will form the basis of the annual review of the effectiveness of your contribution to our governance. It will be reviewed by the governing body not later than three years from adoption.
Person Specification
| Commitment to: |
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| Desirable knowledge or experience in any of the undernoted fields (however, this is not essential as training will be provided) |
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| Skills |
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| Other Attributes |
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Eligibility for the Board
Extract from Cunninghame Housing Association Rulebook
A person will not be eligible to be a Board Member and cannot be appointed or elected as such if:-
43.1.1 he/she is an undischarged bankrupt, has granted a trust deed which has not been discharged or is in a current Debt Payment Plan under the Debt Arrangement Scheme; or
43.1.2 he/she has been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty which is not spent by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 or an offence under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005; or
43.1.3 he/she is a party to any legal proceedings in any Court of Law by or against the Association; or
43.1.4 he/she is or will be unable to attend the Board Meetings for a period of 12 months; or
43.1.5 he/she has been removed from the Board of another registered social landlord within the previous five years; or
43.1.6 he/she has resigned from the Board in the previous five years in circumstances where the resignation was submitted after the date of his/her receipt of notice of a special Board meeting convened to consider a resolution for his/her removal from the Board in terms of Rule 44.5; or
43.1.7 he/she has been removed from the Board in terms of Rules 44.4 or 44.5 within the previous five years; or
43.1.8 he/she has been removed, disqualified or suspended from a position of management or control of a charity under the provisions of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 or the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005; or
43.1.9 he/she has been removed from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by an order made by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales or by Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice in England on the grounds of any misconduct in the administration of the charity for which he/she were responsible or to which he/she were privy, or which his/her conduct contributed to or facilitated; or
43.1.10 a disqualification order or disqualification undertaking has been made against that person under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 or the Company Directors Disqualification (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (which relate to the power of a Court to prevent someone from being a director, liquidator or administrator of a company or a receiver or manager of company property or being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company); or
43.1.11 his/her nomination for election to the Board has been rejected in accordance with Rule 40.3 during the period between the return of the completed nomination form and the commencement of the relevant Annual General Meeting.
43.1.12 he/she is the spouse, partner, child (including adopted child or step child), parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of a Board Member or of a governing body member of any other organisation in the Group.
43.2 A person cannot be re-elected as a Board Member if the Board is not satisfied under Rule 37.6 of the individual’s continued effectiveness as a Board Member. In these circumstances the Board must not allow the individual to stand for re-election.
Privacy Notice
Shareholding Members and Board Members
Introduction
Cunninghame Housing Association Limited will be a “controller” of the personal information that you provide to us when you apply for and/or become a member or board member of Cunninghame, unless otherwise stated in this privacy notice. In this notice, any reference to “Cunninghame” includes Cunninghame Housing Association Limited and our subsidiary company, Cunninghame Furniture Recycling Company.
If any changes are made to this notice in the future, we will notify you.
Data Controller
Cunninghame Housing Association Limited
Quayside Offices, Marina Quay
Dock Road, Ardrossan
KA22 8DA
Both Cunninghame Housing Association Limited and Cunninghame Furniture Recycling Company are registered as data controllers with the Information Commissioner and are Scottish charities.
Data Protection Officers
Joanna Thomson / Hazel Clark
Telephone: 01294 606040 / 01294 607585
Email: DP@chaltd.org
What information do we collect?
When you apply to and become a member or board member of Cunninghame, we collect and process the following information:
- Your name, address, email address, date of birth, next of kin details, signature and telephone number(s);
- Equality information relating to your gender, age, ethnicity and health information;
- Your occupation, employment history, qualifications, skills and training undertaken;
- Your connection to Cunninghame and eligibility to become a member or board member;
- Information relating to your attendance and participation in meetings;
- Information relating to any declaration of your interests, such as connected persons, entitlements, payments and benefits;
- Bank account details in relation to payments for expenses;
- In some circumstances, we will ask for your photograph.
How we get the personal information and why we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you.
We may receive information about you from third parties where complaints are made or when membership fees are paid.
The information is used:
- to comply with the rules which form our constitution, particularly in relation to processing your application for membership;
- to maintain a register of members and board members;
- to hold meetings, including issuing notices and arranging votes;
- to makes reasonable adjustments in terms of the Equality Act 2010 where that is necessary;
- to meet our regulatory requirements;
- to produce anonymised statistical reports on the makeup of Cunninghame’s membership and to monitor membership representatives;
- to enable us to respond to your requests and complaints; and
- to contact you in relation to your role; and
- to promote the activities or and services provided by Cunninghame by using your photograph on our website and in other promotional materials
Information sharing
We may need to share your personal information with statutory or regulatory authorities and organisations such as the Scottish Housing Regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator for the purposes of complying with statutory reporting requirements and evidencing the composition of our membership and board. These organisations will become controllers of your personal information upon receipt in most cases and you should refer to their privacy notices / policies for further details on how they will use your personal information.
We may also need to share information with the Information Commissioner, the Scottish Information Commissioner or the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman if a case you are involved in is referred to them.
We may share personal information with our professional and legal advisors for the purposes of taking advice, as well as our auditors where required. In the event that we do share personal information with external third parties, we will only share such personal information as is strictly required for the specific purposes and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that recipients only process the disclosed personal information for those purposes.
Under data protection legislation, the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
We have a contractual obligation
When you become a member or board member of Cunninghame we may need to process your personal information in order to comply with our rules (which form our constitution). Such processing includes, for example, payment of expenses to board members and processing membership applications.
Legal obligations
We are under a legal obligation to process certain personal information relating to our members and board members for the purposes of complying with our obligations under:
- the Co-Operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 to maintain a register of our members and board members, which includes our members’ and board members’ name, address, the date they were admitted to membership and the date on which they ceased to be our member or board member, and to hold general meetings, including issuing notices and voting arrangements;
- the Equality Act 2010, which requires us to process personal information to make reasonable adjustments where necessary; and
- the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010, which requires us to report certain statistical data on our board members to the Scottish Housing Regulator.
Legitimate interests
We also process your personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interests to:
- issue communications to keep you informed about Cunninghame;
- produce anonymised statistical reports on the makeup of Cunninghame’s membership and to monitor membership representatives;
- calculate meeting attendance, record training and events attendance, record the minutes of meetings;
- improve our services and monitor the performance of our customer service team, by recording our incoming and outgoing telephone calls; and
- promote the activities or and services provided by Cunninghame by using your photograph on our website and in other promotional materials.
Where we process your personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interests, you have the right to object to us using your personal information for the above purposes. If you wish to object to any of the above processing, please contact us using the details set out above.
How we store your personal information
Your information is securely stored in an electronic filing system and also in secure locked cabinets and will not be transferred out of the UK.
How long we keep your information
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collected it, including to satisfy any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. We will keep your information in line with our Retention policy and schedule, which can be found online using the links below, and will destroy or anonymise it when it is no longer required for the reasons it was obtained.
CEO041-Record-Retention-Schedule-HM-Revised-13.04.2022-004.xlsx (live.com)
CEO041-Data-Retention-Policy-4.docx (live.com)
Your Rights
As a data subject, you have a number of rights, as follows:
- Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
- Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
- Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not usually required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly manifestly unfounded or manifestly excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
If you would like to exercise any of the above rights, please contact our Data Protection Officers are detailed above.
If you believe that we have not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to us or to the Information Commissioner.
The Information Commissioner’s Office – Scotland
Queen Elizabeth House, Sibbald Walk, Edinburgh, EH8 8FT
Telephone: 0303 123 1115, Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk