gentoo It's how you live Gentoo Customer Consultation - Information about Gentoo's future — Have your say In our consultation with you during December and January we explained lo you why Gentoo needed to change and outlined some proposed changes to get your views. Times are tough and as you may have seen in the media recently, organisalions like Gentoo are facing a number of challenges: There is a greater demand for social housing than ever before There have been cuts to Government funding for social housing There is to be a reduction in social housing rents Welfare Reform has led to huge changes to benefits Today, the needs of our customers are beyond just housing and new include things like care and Support needs, help with getting into work or education, financial advice and much more This all means that Gentoo now needs te be able to de more for less. Although the need to change remains, in the light of some of the feedback we have received fron customers and from omer siakehoiders, (such as Sundertand City Cauncit?, we are amending the proposals. This letter sets out the new proposals and what they could mean for you. Please take the time to read this letter and let us know what you of the proposed changes by Friday 30 October 2015. The proposed changes We currently operate as a group of companies and divisions. Genloo Group Limited is the overall parent company. It is a privale company, but does not have shareholders. It is a not for profil company which means that any profits that we make are put back into local communities to support local people. Gentoo Group is a housing association regulated by Ihe Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and has a Board of up to 13 directors including one tenant and one Sunderland City Council nominee, who oversee the governance of the Group. At the moment, some homes are owned by Gentoo Group, but most homes are owned by Gentoo Sunderland Limited, which is also a regulated housing association and a subsidiary of Gentoo Group. Gentoo Sunderland has a Board of up to 15 directors made up of 5 tenants, 5 Sunderland City Council nominees and 5 independent members. There are also 5 Local Management Committees who make decisions relating to specific localised management issues. Please tell us of you need hela ta rend ar understand this. beryeireoaion! 11 you need this information in another format or another language please contact us on GJOIS1 525 5253 i‘The group structure — keeping two landlords In our previous consultation, we proposed simplifying our group structure by transferring ownership of your homes from Gentoo Sunderland to Gentoo Group. We have considered this proposal and have decided that we are not at this lime proposing to proceed with the transfer of the ownership of Gentoo ‘Sunderland’s homes lo Gentoo Group Limited. Instead, we will retain the current ownership and management arrangements. This means that there will be no change of landlord for you. If Gentoo Sunderland is your landlord now, that will not change. Gentoo Sunderiand’s Board and the Local Management Committecs will continue to have an overview of the housing management services that you receive, including the repairs and maintenance services, Gentoo Sunderland will remain a subsidiary of Gentoo Group Limited and the Gentoo Group Limited Board will continue to have the overall responsibility for the Group. It may be that we will decide in the future thal moving to one Sunderland based landlord in the Group would be be in the longer term, but if we do reconsider this proposal, we will consult with you again before any such changes arc made. Proposed changes to the Boards In our previous consullation, we also proposed some changes to our gavernanoe structure to ensure that our Boards are as cffective as possible. The current Gentoo Sunderland Board has 15 members as described above. This has been the same Board structure that has been in place since the original transfer [rom Sunderland City Council in 2001, All regulated housing associations are required lo adopt a Code of Governance. Gentoo has adopted the National Housing Federation's Code. The new National Housing Federation Code of Gavernance’s good practice suggests that housing association boards should not be larger than 12 members. We are therefore suggesting that Gentoo Sunderland adopts this model, changing to a Board of 4 tenants, 4 Sunderland City Council nominees and 4 independents. This reduces the number of Board places available to tenants by one, but ratains the current equal thirds approach to Board membership which was est iblished at ‘the lime of the original transfer. We are also proposing changes to the Gentoo Group Board. The proposal is to increase the number of tenant and council nominees on that Board so thal there would be 2 tenants, 3 council nominees and 7 independents to replace the current arrangements. It remains essential for the Boards to have all of the skills and experience nacessary to govern our complex organisation. Tenants and Council nominees can bring a diverse range of skills and experience to the Boards, but essential business and technical skills and experience are often required from the independent board members. The Council has agreed that for an initial period of one year (extendable at its discretion) it would use one of its places to nominate a suitable person with [hese skills to strengthen the Board during, this period of change. The Council would retain one third of the votes at general meelings of Gentoo Sunderland, the same as at the time of transfer in 2001Applying for charitable Community Benefit Society status ‘As mentioned in our earlier consultation, Gentoo Sunderland Limited and Gentoo Group Limited are both currently registered as private limited companies. We previously proposed ihat Gentoo Group would apply to become a charitable Community Benefit Society (CBS). We are now proposing that both Gentoo Group and Gentoo Sunderland will apply to become charitable Community Benefit Societies. A CBS is a type of organisation specifically formed to benefit the community and not just its members. ‘As explained in our last consultation document, the reasons for this proposal are: Having charitable status would better reflect our values and help us towards our vision which is fo ‘improve the Art of Living beyond imagination’ for more individuals Becoming a charity could save approximately £6,000,000 (six million pounds) per year in tax, which could then be reinvested to benefit our customers Charitable organisations can apply for a different range of grants which may open up new sources of funding for some activities The main limitation is that there are some things that a non-charitable company can do that a charitable CBS cannot do. Once charitable, Gentoo Group and Gentoo Sunderland would need to ensure that those companies only undertake activates that a charity could undertake. The Boards of Gentoo Group and Gentoo Sunderland have considered this and are satisfied that the business activities undertaken by each are suitable to be undertaken by charitable CBSs and that this will nol be an issue. What would the proposed changes mean for you? The following things would stay the same: = as You would remain a tenant or leaseholder of your existing landlord Your rights as a tenant or leaseholder would not change All rights set out in your tenancy or lease agreement, together with all statutory rights would remain unchanged, including the Preserved Right Buy and Right to Acquire We would slill be regulated by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) We would continue to invest in our homes. and cornmiunilics We would still actively involve you in decision making and improving services through our customer involvement structures and activities The following would change (but would not affect existing tenants): = We would need to review our lettings policy for future tenants to ensure lhal we only house people who are in need of social housing. In practice we would not expect this to significantly change the people who we house and existing tenants would not be affected by this changeHave your say At the moment these are just proposed changes and before we do anything, we would like to hear what you think. To make sure your views are considered we need to hear fram you by Friday 30 October 2015. Please remember to include your full name and address. You can let us know what you think in the following ways: Write to: Customer Consultation Gentoo FREEPOST PO Box 1273 Sunderland SR5 SHL 3} haveyoursay@gentoogroup.com @ 07860 022 026* 0191 525 5253 Mon-Fri 10.00am-5.00pm Next steps We will be considering your feedback and feedback from ather stakeholders and our funders, and will be working with the Gentoo Group and Gentoo Sunderland Boards to agree any changes. We expect to be making our decisions in relation to this proposal before the end of 2015. As previously outlined, we are regulated by the HCA and they also nead to approve any changes before we would be able to go ahead We will share the result of this consultation and the agreed changes with you in your local newsletters and an our website: {FY gentoogroup.com Thank you for taking the time: to read this letter and for providing your feedback. ‘Texts willbe changed al your network's standand rate