Wembley Matters recently drew attention to the Brent Council Internal Audit that found a possible conflict of interest in the directorships of Brent's companies First Wave Housing and i4B. See LINK. Wembley Matters drew attention to the role of a councillor director who is the brother of the Leader of Brent Council as well as Brent Council officers.
Brent Council responded to the Audit: Management Response: We will review job descriptions to identify and mitigate conflicts of interest.
Proposed changes to the Board membership and governance arrangements for both companies have now been tabled for Cabinet on September 12th. The decision is led by Cllr Mili Patel, Deputy Leader of the Council:
To agree the proposed changes to the Board membership and governance arrangements of the Council's housing companies i4B Holdings Ltd and First Wave Housing Ltd
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: For Determination
Wards affected: (All Wards);
Notice of proposed decision first published: 22/07/2022
Decision due: 12 Sep 2022 by Cabinet
Lead member: Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Reform
Lead director: Strategic Director - Customer and Digital Services
Department: Customer and Digital Services
Contact: Harry Chavasse Email: Harry.Chavasse@brent.gov.uk.
Documents
- i4B/First Wave Housing Governance and Board Membership Update
3 comments:
Both these companies depend 100% on Brent Council support. When something goes wrong it is Brent Council that extends its loans or makes more money available. All the risk lies with Brent Council and its taxpayers. So what is the point of these two companies other than creating extra costs and bureaucracy and providing positions for members of the Butt extensive family? A full Council explanation would be welcome.
There is no reason for councils to have wholly owned companies delivering council services because it creates a layer of opacity. Public assets should be open to public scrutiny. It’s suspect when a council adopts the practices of offshore property companies
1) Avoids Right to Buy.
2) Creates housing that Brent can choose who to house in.
3) Supposedly reduces homelessness and more specifically less people in Bed and Breakfast.
4) It creates Key Worker Housing at "under value rates" to be used to attract staff to Brent Council's employ.
5) Creates a false housing market in Brent.
6) Hasn't reduced the Counil House Waiting List
7) Gives Brent Council yet anothe Smoke and Mirrors scheme to brag about
8) Gives Brent the chance to follow Croydon
9) Allows Brent's unwanted to be moved out ove the Borough
10) Brent has become a Private Landlord in other parts of England
Post a Comment