Should Housing Boards Represent Everyone – Even the Far Right?

John Giesen writes that boards should be representative but within the boundaries of their diversity and inclusion values:

We live in interesting times, or so they say. A lot is said about housing associations boards needing to be more diverse (quite rightly so) and we have also grappled with the concept of being representative of the communities in which we operate.

In the distant past, I worked in a London Borough where the National Front was very active and in the not-so-distant past I worked in places where its successor the British National Party, was strong and not too long ago won seats at local council elections. However, you knew, or felt, that these were always going to be in a minority.

Move on to current times and we now have county councils and other local authority areas where the Reform Party holds the majority of seats and as such determine the direction those councils take. We have also seen the demonstrations outside hotels used to house asylum seekers and the intimidating use of flags to let people know they are not welcome.

Where does this leave housing associations who operate in these areas and who will undoubtedly employ a lot of people from many diverse origins?

Given the above history, I have always been nervous about the concept of a representative board. I do believe that at a national level we should have proportional representation but that hardly seems appropriate, in my view, for a housing association Board. Unlike government, which operates on the basis that the opposition will continue to oppose decisions once enacted following a majority vote, board decisions are  meant to be supported by all its members once that decision is reached. In truth many, if not most, decisions are made unanimously

In my view, it is now more important than ever for housing associations to have strong values and to ensure that the whole organisation lives up to them. I know from personal experience that this can work. I also know that in some instances it does not!

How then do we ensure that it does? In my view it is the leadership of an organisation which is vital to success. This is leadership at both an executive and non-executive level.

So, what values do we need? I think we can get hung up on pedantic phraseology so I will offer a few words which I believe can show what I mean. Most housing organisations will include a value related to equality, inclusion or respect. Whatever the choice of word it seems to me that this is the key to success. Setting out the value and then ensuring that everyone in the organisation, from top to bottom understands that whilst at work their behaviour will be expected to mirror the value. Treating everyone equally and respectfully will be a minimum standard which must be followed.

Ideally, we might hope that over time individuals will come to understand and adopt such values in their private lives but being clear about what working for the organisation means and then ensuring that we measure that it is happening on the ground will be even more important as we head into an uncertain political future on both a local and national level.

Written by John Giesen, Board Member, Hundred Houses Society