Knowledge Exchange Seminar - 22 June 2016 - HOUSING ISSUES: GOVERNANCE AND RIGHTS

“Promoting evidence-led policy and law-making within Northern Ireland” – that is the underlying aim of the Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series (KESS). KESS is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, formally partnering a legislative arm of government – the Assembly - with academia. Aiming to encourage debate and improve understanding, KESS provides a forum to present and disseminate academic research findings in a straightforward format, on issues that are relevant to the Programme for Government. It seeks to bring the findings to the attention of key participants and decision-makers in the policy and law-making processes in Northern Ireland, such as MLAs and Assembly committees, as well as the wider public sector. 

Embedded in the KESS model are: the local universities via their academics; Assembly committees via their Chairpersons; the Assembly’s Research and Information Service (RaISe) via its Researchers; and, a broad spectrum of attendees. (Attendees include: MLAs and their staff; political party staff; Assembly and Departmental officials; others from the public and private sectors; academics; voluntary and community groups; and, members of the public.) For this reason, KESS creates unique engagement opportunities; and importantly provides a ‘pathway’ for more, in-depth discussion at a later date about findings presented at KESS. 

The Series is jointly delivered by RaISe, in partnership with all three universities located in Northern Ireland (NI) – the Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB - co-founder in 2011), Ulster University (Ulster - in 2012) and The Open University (OU - in 2013). 

Seminars are free and are held on Wednesdays from October 2015 through June 2016. Each seminar starts at 1.30pm in Parliament Buildings, located on Stormont Estate. Most seminars cover a range of themes under one broad heading – see below for relevant dates and timings. On arrival, delegates receive a seminar pack that includes the academics’ policy briefings and power point presentations, including contact information. 

Tea/coffee is provided following presentations and discussion. Free parking is available to all. Kindly allow time to pass through Assembly Security upon entry to Parliament Buildings; and ensure that you specify your special needs (for example, wheelchair accessibility) when registering. The Assembly is committed to fulfilling its equality-related roles and responsibilities and will take reasonable efforts to meet requests relating to them.

To reserve your place at a seminar, email [email protected].

22 June 2016

HOUSING ISSUES:

GOVERNANCE AND RIGHTS

Mr Peter Shanks and Prof David Mullins (Ulster) - Paradox and Performance: A Review of Housing Association Corporate Governance Arrangements in Northern Ireland

This presentation reports on the findings of an 18 month independent study of housing association (HA) corporate governance arrangements in Northern Ireland. The presentation will address the question ‘Who Governs’, informing policy-makers of the current composition of HA boards, recruitment methods, tenure, remuneration and training and development. It also focuses on how HAs are governed, highlighting key findings on board performance and strategy, executive and non-executive roles and relationships, and managing accountability to key stakeholders. The third part of the presentation highlights what HA boards govern including financial management, housing management, property development, asset management and corporate governance; and concludes offering a set of policy and practice recommendations on how HA boards can improve their corporate governance. This presentation is timely given the Department for Social Development’s (DSD) review of social housing (SHRP). Its findings and recommendations aim to help inform policy-makers on how HAs are governed and on the DSD’s Social Housing Reform Programme (SHRP), which includes a number of reviews and strategies relating to governance, (e.g. regulation, tenant participation, and engagement between the housing sector and local government). 

Dr Alice Diver (Ulster) - Putting dignity to bed? The taxing question of the UK’s housing rights relapse

The recent statutory cap on Housing Benefit in England and Wales is commonly known as the 'bedroom tax' or the 'spare room subsidy', depending upon whether one is a critic or a proponent of it.  It has given rise to a small, but significant spate of domestic legal cases that examine issues such as legally justified discrimination and the impact of public purse decision-making on socio-economic rights (e.g. housing, health care). This presentation examines 'bedroom tax' case law.  It examines whether some form of baseline, adequate housing rights standard can ever be identified (i.e. in respect of preventing indignity, squalor or homelessness), or whether instances of inequity, unequal treatment and discrimination will be inevitably framed as both lawful and justified, on the basis of finite state resources. The findings of such an examination are highly relevant within the context of Northern Ireland, given the 'welfare reform' controversy, budgetary challenges and the apparent need for a 'fairness agenda'. They serve to highlight the inherent link between rights and public expenditure, in particular how a failure to ring-fence funding for fundamental rights can easily serve to nullify the concept of a right to adequate housing or health care.