Our Background

As a charitable Registered Social Landlord (Charity Registration SC034228), we were established in 1987 by a voluntary committee of local people concerned about the poor condition of houses in some of the remote villages of Clydesdale and about the shortage of rented housing in the area. The committee also wished to halt the economic decline in the remoter areas and to help make them viable communities again.

Following initial improvements to housing in three villages, we commenced a new-build development program and to date have completed 27 projects in 16 towns and villages throughout rural South Lanarkshire. Since 1987 over £30m of housing investment has been channeled through the Association – we have built over six hundred houses.

Over 150 former Scottish Homes tenants in Lanark, Rigside, Kirkmuirhill and Carluke transferred their tenancies to the Association in 2002 and 2003.

We have over 120 shareholder members and we own and manage over 740 properties throughout the Clydesdale area of rural South Lanarkshire. We employ eighteen staff.

Vision & Values

Our Vision, which reflects our service user priorities, is to provide:

Quality homes and excellent services for all – today and in the future

We seek to deliver this through these Common Values that have been jointly developed by our Management Committee and staff:

  • we listen, learn and work with customers, stakeholders, and partners to improve how we work in the pursuit of excellence
  • we encourage leadership and teamwork to identify and share progressive ideas
  • we value our people’s commitment and support their enthusiasm in achieving success
  • we invest in the wellbeing of our customers and our people

A summary of our Business Plan for 2022-2025 provides more details of our future plans. Strategic Objectives

The Management Committee

We are managed by a voluntary Management Committee that is elected by shareholding members. A copy of our Rules are available on here The primary responsibilities of the Management Committee are to:

  • Lead and direct our work.
  • Promote and uphold our values.
  • Set and monitor standards for service delivery and performance.
  • Control our affairs and ensure compliance with the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.

The Management Committee appoint professional housing staff to deliver services and report on performance. The Management Committee also appoint internal and external auditors to provide independent assurance on the performance, practices, and financial health of the organisation.

With up to a maximum of 15 members permitted, our committee is made up of local people, including tenants, who live in the Clydesdale area. The Management Committee reserves a place for a representative of South Lanarkshire Council. Our current Committee Members are:

  • Maggie Botham, Chair – elected 2018, Chair since 2021, Audit & Risk and Staffing Sub-Committee Member
  • Hazel Galbraith, Vice-Chair – elected 2019, Vice-Chair since 2021, Staffing Sub-Committee Member
  • John Lockhart – elected 2023, Treasurer since 2023, Chair of Audit & Risk Sub-Committee
  • Agne Zasinaite, Secretary -elected 2021, Secretary since 2022, Staffing Sub-Committee Member
  • Gillian Anderson – elected 2021, Audit & Risk and Staffing Sub-Committee Member
  • Kenneth Greenshields – elected 2020
  • Jacqueline McCutcheon, Chair of Staffing Sub-Committee – elected 2020
  • Lesley-Ann McDonald – elected 2022, Audit & Risk Sub-Committee Member
  • Ruth McElhinney – elected 2019, Staffing Sub-Committee Member
  • Brian McInally – elected 2019, Audit & Risk Sub-Committee Member
  • Ross Gowland – elected 2022
  • Deborah Hay – elected 2024
  • Jonathan Main – elected 2024
  • Gabrielle McElhinney – elected 2024

Management Committee members annually renew their acceptance to our Code of Conduct for Governing Body Members – this Code is an important part of our governance arrangements, and it sets out the requirements and expectations which are attached to Management Committee members. A copy is available here.

In addition to the Code of Conduct we attach the highest ethical standards to our Management Committee and our staff – the Entitlements, Payments and Benefit Policy on the left provides a valuable insight into these standards.

We annually identify recruitment priorities to help us strengthen the skills of the Management Committee when vacancies occur. New Management Committee members are provided with an induction that includes support. Management Committee members are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of their work with us such as travelling costs, childcare or care services.

A Committee Member Role Description, details of our governance structure and the remits of the Management Committee and our Sub-Committees are included in our Standing Orders which are available here

Please contact us if you have an interest in finding out more about joining our Management Committee.

Senior Staff Team

Joe Gorman, Chief Executive

Vicky Rogers, Deputy Chief Executive

Eileen Wilson, Finance Manager

Lisa Simpson, Housing Manager

Our Structure

We currently employ eighteen staff members. The link below displays our current staff structure: staff structure

Clydesdale Housing Association is a full member of Employers in Voluntary Housing (EVH) – a support organisation to the governing bodies of not for profit and voluntary organisations relating to their employer role.  EVH conducts collective negotiations with UNITE the Union on Terms and Conditions of Employment including staff wage reviews.

UNITE Trade Union – Tel: 0141 404 5424 – www.unitetheunion.org/

Equal Opportunities

Clydesdale Housing Association will provide equality of opportunity and fair treatment for all. This includes everyone who:

  • Uses, or wishes to use, our services
  • Wishes to be involved in our governance and overall management
  • Works for us, or who applies to work for us

We have a track record of responding to the diversity within our community and have established the following objectives relating to our equality and diversity work:

  •  We will adopt policies, procedures and working practices which are responsive to the needs of our clients and staff.
  • We will seek to ensure effective leadership and direction which translates our equalities objectives into effective action.
  •  We will make equal opportunities a mainstream part of our work as an employer and service provider.
  • We will meet our legal obligations and will go beyond these to achieve good practice in equalities issues.
  • We will listen to the views and needs of our tenants, Management Committee members and staff when reviewing our policies, plans and service standards.
  • We will monitor our performance closely to ensure that all groups have equal access and experience fair outcomes.
  • We will be open and realistic in identifying where we can make improvements.

A copy of our Equal Opportunities policy is available HERE

Performance

We are committed to continuous improvement.

We use feedback from customers and an analysis of our own performance to set targets that seek to improve our services. We have established a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) against which we routinely monitor our performance – these KPI results help us to determine the success of Clydesdale.

Our KPIs are reported to our Management Committee monthly and included in our quarterly tenant newsletters. KPIs for 2023/24 are displayed below:

Operational KPI Performance 2023/24 Average for all Scottish RSLs in 2022/23 CHA 2023/24 Result CHA 2022/23 Result
Average non-emergency repair completion time (working days) 8.22 4.67 3.97
Average emergency repair completion time (hours) 3.12 2.59 2.51
Percentage of gas safety checks completed on time n/a 100% 100%
Average time taken to re-let empty properties (calendar days) 42.6 13.1 18.3
Percentage of rent lost through properties being empty 1.29% 0.2% 0.47%
Percentage of repairs completed Right First Time 85% 91% 94%
Percentage of anti-social behaviour cases reported that were resolved 96.2% 93% 97%

 

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for performance information you think would be useful for customers to obtain.

Opening Hours

Our Offices are open as follows:

Monday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Tuesday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Wednesday 10.00am to 5.00pm
Thursday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm
Saturday Closed
Sunday Closed

Customer Satisfaction

We have a Customer Focus Charter that concentrates on:

  • Quality -We will deliver high quality services making the best use of our resources.
  • Commitment – We will treat you fairly and with respect.  We will deliver our promises to you, on time. 
  • Responsive – We will be responsive to your enquiries and complaints.   We will keep you advised on our activities and consult with you when major changes to services are planned.   We will use your views to improve the quality of our services.  The Complaints Handling Procedure is readily available to tenants and customers.
  • Approachable – We will always be approachable and professional. 

The 2022 customer satisfaction outcome results are incredibly positive, particularly considering the current cost of living crisis and the effects of lockdown. The table below gives details of how we are performing:

Clydesdale Housing Association: Satisfaction Results
2019 2022
Satisfied with the overall service provided 94% 93%
Satisfied with participation opportunities 99% 98%
Satisfied with CHA’s contribution to the management of their neighborhood 97% 91%
Said their rent was good value for money 91% 87%
Satisfied with the quality of their home 88% 94%
Satisfied with being kept informed 99% 98%

 

Satisfaction with repairs:

The helpfulness of the Association staff involved 100%
The system for reporting repairs to CHA 100%
Contact from tradespeople to arrange access 100%
The tradesperson arriving by the target date 100%
The length of time taken to undertake repairs 96%
The attitude of the tradesperson involved 100%
The tidiness of the contractor 100%
The quality of the repair undertaken 97%

 

Governance and Regulation

Our performance

At CHA we operate a robust performance management framework. This is underpinned by our desire to achieve continuous improvement across all areas of the Association.

Our well-established systems enable us to carefully monitor and report on our performance to our regulators and other stakeholders including:

The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR)

The SHR is an independent regulator of Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and local authority housing services in Scotland, accountable to the Scottish Parliament. Their statutory objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of current and future tenants, homeless people and others who use services provided by social landlords.

  1. Listening to tenants and service users and working closely with all our stakeholders.
  2. Regulating to support social landlords to meet their obligations and duties for tenants and those who use their housing service, with a focus on:
    • landlords’ discharge of their duties to people who are or have experienced homelessness, with a particular focus on duties to provide appropriate temporary and permanent accommodation.
    • the quality of the homes social landlords provides to their tenants and the standards of Gypsy/Traveller sites, particularly around energy efficiency and the safety of tenants and residents; and
    • landlords being able to achieve the standards and outcomes in the Social Housing Charter and meet their wider obligations, while keeping rents affordable and providing value for money.
  3. Reviewing our Regulatory Framework to ensure it remains effective and sustainable, enabling us to do the right things in the right way at the right time.  
  4. Being an effective public body.
  5. Responding to the Scottish Government’s public sector reform agenda, including helping to shape future private sector regulation.

The SHR has published a ‘How we regulate: a guide for tenants and service users.’ This short, summary guide lets people know more about:

  • who they are and what they do,
  • what you can expect from your landlord,
  • how you can find out about your landlord’s performance; and
  • how to raise a concern about your landlord.

You can view the guide here

They have also produced two short videos about who they are and what we do and how to raise a concern about a social landlord.

You can find the videos here –

Annual Return on the Charter

The Scottish Social Housing Charter (‘the Charter’) was introduced in April 2012 and sets the standards and outcomes that CHA and all social landlords must aim to achieve for their tenants and other service users.  

The SHR assesses if CHA is meeting the outcomes contained within the Charter, using a series of Charter indicators. In May, each year CHA submits their Annual Return on the Charter (ARC) to the SHR which it uses to make its assessment. More details about these indicators and the SHR’s online tool for landlords to submit ARC data – the Social Landlord Portal – are available on the SHR website here

Annual Assurance Statement

A new aspect of the Regulatory Framework which came into effect in April 2019 is the requirement for all social landlords to prepare an Annual Assurance Statement.

The AAS requires landlords to state they are meeting regulatory requirements and that they are compliant with the relevant regulatory standards, legal requirements, and statutory guidance relevant to the sector. Any areas of non-compliance should be highlighted, alongside actions being taken to address this.

A wide range of arrangements are in place to ensure that we meet our regulatory and statutory obligations and to provide members of the Committee with the assurance required.

Our most recent AAS was approved by our Management Committee in October 2023 and is available to view on the SHR website here

Financial Management

At CHA we manage our resources to ensure our financial well-being, while maintaining rents at a level that our tenants can afford to pay.

Our Management Committee ensures that CHA provides accurate and timely statutory and regulatory financial returns to the SHR. The Management Committee assures itself that it has evidence from external sources, such as Internal and External auditors, that the data is accurate before signing it off.

CHA is also required to submit information on its financial position throughout the year to other agencies as listed below:

Engagement Plan

As part of their Regulatory Framework, the SHR publishes an Engagement Plan for all social landlords based on their Annual Return on the Charter (ARC submission).

This Engagement Plan identifies areas where the Regulator requires further information from a landlord and is updated in response to actions taken.

Our Engagement Plans are available here. They are also available on the SHR website here

Significant performance failures

A significant performance failure is something that CHA does, or fails to do, that puts many or all its tenants at risk, and it does not take action to put it right.

This could be:

  • consistently not doing repairs when it should
  • not allowing tenants to apply for another house
  • putting tenants’ safety at risk, for example because it is not doing gas safety checks when it should
  • not helping tenants to report anti-social behaviour
  • not reporting its performance in achieving the outcomes and standards in the Scottish Social Housing Charter to its tenants

A copy of their guide can be found here

If you strongly disagree with what CHA says about its performance, or you believe that CHA has not involved you in the way it agreed to, you can report a ‘significant performance failure’. Please raise the issue directly with CHA first and give us the chance to respond. If CHA does not deal with the issue within its published timescale, then you can report it to SHR. You can also use their significant performance failure reporting form

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

CHA is committed to the principles of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion; this goes to the heart of the common values shared by CHA. For us, this means:

  • equality – every tenant and other customer has their individual needs recognized, is treated fairly and with respect, and receives fair access to housing and housing services diversity – respecting and valuing individual differences and unique characteristics, both in our organisation and in our communities
  • inclusion – making sure our staff, tenants and other stakeholders feel comfortable being themselves and that they feel valued, respected, and heard

We do not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We aim to achieve fair outcomes for all which is reflected in our Equal Opportunities Policy click here to view our policy

The Data Protection Act 2018

The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Data Protection Act 2018 controls how your personal information is used by CHA.

CHA is committed to holding your personal information securely. This means only those of our colleagues and contractors that need to see it have
access.

If we store your personal information and can do so solely on computers we will, however there will be cases where we have paper copies instead, or in addition to this. All computers are kept in a secure location and are password protected, our electronic files kept on shared network accessed by our computers are controlled by strict access permissions, so data is only available to those who need to use it.

Paper files containing personal or sensitive information will be kept in locked cabinets. Our computer systems are in our offices in Lanark, but we occasionally may use computers (including laptops and tablets) offsite, however they will always remain secure and under our control. We will keep your personal details for no longer than necessary. Once the information is no longer required for the lawful purpose for which it was obtained it will be destroyed.

Your Rights

If at any point you believe the information, we hold is incorrect you may request to see it, have it corrected or deleted. You are entitled to request a copy of any personal data we hold of yours.

You have the right to ask us not to process all or part of the personal information we have received, however we may be unable to provide our service to you if we are unable to record and process certain details. If you wish to complain about how we have handled your data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter on your behalf. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may submit a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Our Data Protection officer can be contacted at elizabeth.miller@clydesdale-housing.org.uk . 

A full Fair Processing Notice including details of how we retrieve, use, share and manage data from all client groups can be found on our Downloads page.

We are notified as a Data Controller with the Office of the Information Commissioner under registration number Z5173610 and we are the data controller of any personal data that you provide to us.

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) gives everyone a right of access to information held by Scottish public authorities.

FOISA gives you the right to request information about the housing services we deliver and the information we have provided to the Scottish Housing Regulator about our financial wellbeing and governance. You can also request environmental information which we hold under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EISRs).

Before requesting information from us, please check our website and the Scottish Housing Regulator’s website, as the information you are looking for might already be available there.

A particularly useful starting point is our publication scheme.  If you can’t find the information you are looking for, you can request it from us. We must provide it to you unless an exemption applies. Here are some useful tips when making your request:

  • Keep your request separate from anything else to allow us to identify and respond to it more

Model Publication Scheme

We have adopted the Model Publication Scheme 2018, produced, and approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

The Scheme can also be viewed in Publication Scheme Resources at the Scottish Information Commissioner website.

The scheme sets out our commitment to make certain classes of information routinely available, such as policies, minutes of meetings, annual reports and financial information. We have developed a CHA’s guide to information for this purpose. Our Guide to Information also provides details of charges we may apply to requests we handle.

Contact Us

If you have a request for information, please complete and submit our Freedom of Information Request Form which is available here to use.

Requests can also be made in writing, by email or in some other recorded format.

If you have any questions or require a copy of the Model Publication Scheme 2016 or the Guide to Information in a different format, please contact us at:

Clydesdale Housing Association, 39 North Vennel, Lanark ML11 7PT or mail@clydesdale-housing.org.uk

Withholding Information

Under Freedom of Information legislation, information may be withheld if there is a good reason for doing so.

If we withhold information, we will let you know why. If you are unhappy with our decision, or with the way we have dealt with your request, you can ask us to review our decision.

If you do not agree with the outcome of the review, you can ask the Scottish Information Commissioner to investigate.

 

Partners, Regulators and Trade Bodies

We have partner, regulatory or membership relationships with the following organizations’:

Employers in Voluntary Housing

Financial Conduct Authority

Scotland’s Housing Network

The Scottish Charity Regulator – OSCR

Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

Scottish Government

Scottish Housing Regulator

South Lanarkshire Council

Downloads

Click here to view our newsletters, Annual reports and much more 

 

 

Recruitment

Looking to find your home in housing?

If so, this is the place to be.

At CHA, we pride ourselves on being a close-knit team of almost 20 highly trained (and super friendly!) staff; committed to providing quality homes and excellent services for all – today and in the future that put our customers first.

We are always on the lookout for like minded, talented individuals to join us on our evolutionary housing journey!

CHA offers a range of career opportunities including, managerial, technical, maintenance, housing, financial and corporate.

We are committed to creating a fair and inclusive culture by creating an environment where diversity in all its forms is welcomed and celebrated in everything we do. We work hard to make CHA a great place to work and employer of choice.

Click here  to view our latest vacancies.

Scottish Housing Regulator complaints and serious concerns