NIFHA Governance
NIFHA is a not-for-profit organisation that is owned and democratically controlled by the affiliated housing associations in its membership. Each member has equal voting power in General Meetings and (if elected or co-opted) in meetings of the governing body (NIFHA Council).
NIFHA’s constitution guarantees that any financial surpluses are re-invested to help the Federation accomplish its mission.
NIFHA Council
This is NIFHA’s governing body and comprises 21 members elected at the Annual General Meeting and up to 4 co-optees appointed by NIFHA Council. The Council meets about six times per year and members serve for terms of three years and one third of them retire each year.
The key roles of the Council are to:
- set the Federation’s objectives;
- approve plans and policies to achieve those objectives;
- establish and oversee a framework of delegation coupled with suitable systems of control;
- establish and oversee a framework for the identification, management and reporting of risk;
- deal with business that presents major risks for the Federation or its members; and
- ensure the Federation’s actions are consistent with the law, its values and generally accepted standards of probity.
NIFHA Council Members 2007/08
 |  |
|---|---|
Ray Cashel (Vice Chair) & | Members of NIFHA's Council 2007/08 |
| Chair | Frank Dunne | North & West HA |
| Vice-Chair | Ray Cashell | SHAC |
| Council Members | Chris Alexander | Triangle HA |
| Kevin Butler | Connswater Homes | |
| Arthur Canning | Trinity HA | |
| Charlie Charleton | Belfast Community HA | |
| David Duly | Habinteg (Ulster) Ltd | |
| Ian Elliott | Oaklee HA | |
| Jean Fulton | BIH HA | |
| Arnold Hatch | South Ulster HA | |
| Peter Howard | Abbeyfield UK (NI) Ltd | |
| David McCallum | Co-ownership Housing | |
| John McLean | FOLD HA | |
| Clare McCarty | Clanmil Housing | |
| Mona McCausland | Dungannon & District HA | |
| John Patterson | Flax HA | |
| Peter Privilege | Newington HA | |
| Robert Roulston | Ulidia HA | |
| John Tinman | Presbyterian HA |
With the exception of certain decisions which must be taken by the whole membership in General Meetings, the Council is responsible for everything the Federation does. It achieves this by delegating authority for operational matters to a number of committees and concentrating on strategic issues.
Two committees support the Council:
Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GP)
The main task of the F&GP Committee is to safeguard the resources of the Federation. It scrutinises the draft budget, management accounts and audited accounts before recommending them to the Council. The Committee is also responsible for NIFHA’s human resources, its office and equipment.
Professional Practice Committee (PPC)
The PPC plays a leading role in the Federation’s representational work by deciding how NIFHA should respond to numerous consultation documents received from bodies which can affect the work of housing associations. It also proposes policies and procedures to help housing associations improve their services.
The Fora
The fora are self-help groups of housing association personnel with a special interest in particular fields of activity. Their purpose is to facilitate learning from each other by sharing information, good practice and experience. They elect their own office-bearers and administer their own meetings.
From time to time the Federation may ask a Forum for advice or to help in some other way on a particular issue. Equally, the Federation is happy to consider requests or recommendations from the Fora.
NIFHA currently works with seven Fora:
- Development – purchasing land in areas of housing need, commissioning architects and other construction professionals, securing planning consent, satisfying the government’s value for money criteria.
- Finance– budgeting, accounting, cash flow, borrowing, treasury management, audit issues.
- Housing Management - matching applicants to available homes, maximising the income of tenants and associations, tenants’ rights and responsibilities, community development activities.
- Human Resources – staff recruitment, appointment, appraisal, development and retention
- Improvement – continuous improvement, best value, benchmarking, quality systems
- Information and Communication – management information systems, internet, websites, telephony, service centres, data protection.
- Maintenance - responding to tenants’ repair requests, arranging maintenance and improvement programmes, controlling quality and costs.
