The new chief executive of scandal-hit Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has been announced today (June 12).
RBH has appointed Amanda Newton as their new permanent chief executive. The housing provider was slammed following the death of Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old toddler who lived in an RBH property in the Freehold estate.
His death was caused by prolonged exposure to mould at the family’s flat, a coroner found. In the wake of the tragedy, RBH staff were slammed for holding a 'wholly unacceptable' attitude towards refugees. Awwab’s family were asylum seekers from Sudan.
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Following Awwab’s death, the Manchester Evening News and charity Shelter campaigned to change the law in order to shake-up the social housing sector. The news also led to the sacking of RBH’s former chief executive, Gareth Swarbrick.
In the interim, Yvonne Arrowsmith was put in temporary charge of the organisation, describing the Housing Ombudsman report as containing ‘sobering but not unexpected findings’.
Amanda will take up her new role in the autumn and will lead RBH as they 'continue to deliver their recovery and improvement plan', claims the service. Ms Newton joins from Livv Housing Group, where she is currently executive director for customer insight.
The announcement follows a job advert which closed in late April. It confirmed that the new boss will earn ‘circa £168,000 per annum’ and revealed the scale of the task the head honcho has.
“This is a crucial appointment for RBH,” it said. “Our new Chief Executive is vital to the successful future of RBH, its tenants, communities, and staff teams. We now need to embed the immediate changes we have made and implement our recovery plan, to regain the trust of the wider community.
“At the heart of this is our unstinting commitment to deliver high quality homes and services, as that is what our tenants rightly expect of us. As a co-owned mutual housing society, we are rooted in the legacy of Rochdale’s pioneering co-operative heritage. We continue to be driven by direct accountability to our tenants and employees, and our social purpose.
“To be our next CEO you will need to demonstrate unequivocal commitment to this ethos. With a successful executive-level track record in social housing and turnaround experience, your leadership approach will need to generate trust and confidence across the full range of internal and external relationships. Your leadership style will be one that empowers, encourages, coaches, and gets the best out of people. This will be matched by a sharp focus on how we do things and our accountability for the impact we make.”
Having been announced as the incoming boss, Amanda Newton said: “Having the opportunity to lead an organisation like RBH, that is anchored in its communities and has a real ambition to do great things for its tenants, is an honour and a privilege. I’m looking forward to moving forward the recovery plan - working alongside the Board, the Representative Body and brilliant colleagues to rebuild an organisation that focuses on its tenants, the quality of its homes, and the value that it brings to the wider community.
"There are exciting times ahead and we’ll approach this together with an unwavering commitment to do the very best for the people of Rochdale who live in our homes today and in the future.”
Kevin Brady, Chair of the RBH Board, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Amanda to RBH. I am looking forward to working together to drive forward our recovery plan at pace and embed our new governance arrangements.
"Amanda brings a wealth of experience from across the public, private, and social housing sectors. Her experience in implementing large scale transformation programmes, aligned to an unrelenting customer focus, will be a formidable asset to RBH as we reshape our services around our tenants and the quality of our homes. Amanda is joining us at a challenging and exciting time for RBH and the Board extends a warm Rochdale welcome!”
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