Tuesday 23rd September 2003.
The meeting convened under the chairmanship of the new chair of Management Board, Mr. Dapo Ladimeji, and begun at around 6.40pm.
The first anger showed itself before the minutes of the previous meeting were even approved. PCHA seem to wish to control history by controlling the account of what happens, and refused to allow a number of issues to be minuted, including a reference to a debate on why they were refusing to allow tenants onto the Management Board. Last year they said that this was because PCHA were "looking to formulate a policy". They have been in business for 40 years. Obviously not quite long enough. This debate will not be minuted. In addition, there was a discussion on the condition of short lifers who ended up outside the borough or in property leased from people like British Rail. Also, the furious row on how £250,000 had been booked to SL has been left out of the minutes. Despite the fact that it is not denied that any of these discussions took place, Mr. Ladimeji deemed them not to be important enough to be minuted.
Tom McGregor, Chief Executive, repeated much of the old arguments; blame for the computer system (why did you leave it in position for well over a year if it was so dreadful, Mr. McGregor?). He mentioned great progress for the New Court project, but on the subject of the street properties and the C.R.I.S.H. Co-operative, he seems to be on a different planet. He told us that he was keen that they had a chance to choose, had worked hard with the Housing Corporation to get them funding and liaise with Camden. In fact, to the visitors to the AGM he must have seemed like a cross between a fairy godfather and the National Blood Transfusion Service. He said that these properties "were out of his hands".
The Group Chief Accountant presented the annual accounts. Property worth £2.5m has been sold to reduce debt, and he showed financial improvements in many quarters, including a reduction in the debt of £2m, from £11.5m to £9.5m.
When the chair asked for questions, there was an uproar when Adrian Bird asked for an explanation for how £363,000 has been booked to around 100 shortlifers as management costs, and £162,000 for "routine maintenance". We are being asked to believe that SL tenants are costing £5,250 each. We are told that this is the real cost of SL. Peter Rutherford suggested that unless some real clarity was given, it must be assumed that some sort of fraud or at least improper accounting must be involved. Mr. Ladimeji kept trying to put a stop to this discussion. Absolutely no worthwhile explanation was given for how these two sums were spent. PR undertook to write to the Housing Corporation and the Audit Commission on the matter.
AB pointed out that the £2.5m sale of property was impeding the providing of proper homes to shortlifers to whom WHHA/Pathmeads had legal and/or moral obligations. PR asked why certain properties were neither being sold nor being rented. Mr. McGregor didn't seem worked up about either issue and muttered something about procedural problems and seemed to be blaming Camden.
The matter of Camden shortlifers who were transferred either to out of borough homes or homes leased from other parties like British Rail was discussed. Mr. McGregor acknowledged the worries, and said that he had "every expectation of satisfactory outcomes".
Mr Ladimeji was for ever reminding tenants of the very narrow nature of the AGM; it is to discuss the accounts, and that is all. PR pointed out the duties under the Housing Corporation's D8 (G4) rule. Mr. Ladimeji said that this meeting was not tenant consultation in any form; PR then added that there had been no consultation of any sort, and wondered what Mr. Ladimeji's "Regulatory Statutory Review" form, submitted by him to the Housing Corporation, had said about the issue.
Despite the fact that tenants were still boiling over with unresolved issues, Mr. Ladimeji slammed the door shut by closing the meeting at 7.20pm.
Mr. Ladimeji comes to us from the PCHA and Genesis Management Boards.
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