You asked us to provide:
1) Copies of all assurance reports that have been submitted to the SHR board in the last two years, to demonstrate that SHR's regulatory practice complies with its statutory obligations to perform its functions in a way that is proportionate, accountable and transparent, and targeted only where action is needed. As well as a listing of the evidence sources that have been provided to the Board, as part of the process of providing it with assurance.
2) A description of the arrangements SHR has had in place since 2012, to provide the SHR Board with independent assurance about SHR's effectiveness in carrying out its regulatory functions and activities. As well as:
- copies of external reports submitted to SHR's Board for this purpose in the last two years;
- the terms of engagement SHR has in place with the Scottish Government's internal audit service; and
- a listing of the internal audit reports the SG service has provided to SHR, with details of the subject matter of each report if this is not clear from the report title.
You asked us to note that you are seeking information about external assurance relating to how SHR has carried out its regulatory role, rather than information that is about SHR's internal management such as IT or having our annual accounts audited.
3) How many of SHR’s senior managers (CEO, Directors, Assistant Directors) have worked in a senior management role in a registered social landlord, and what collective experience the managers have of senior level working in an RSL in the fields of governance, financial management and service planning or delivery. You asked us to note that in asking this question, you are not requesting any personal or confidential information.
We provided:
1) Reports or extracts of reports providing assurance submitted to SHR Board and the Audit & Risk Assurance Committee of the Board during 2018 and 2019.
2) Links to published information that relates to the scope of the questions that may be helpful.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information requested because exemptions under section 30 (b) (i), section 30 (b) (ii), section 33(1)(b) and section 38 1(b) (2) of FOISA applied to that information. We provided the reasons why those exemptions apply.
3) Our assurance map that summarises the assurance arrangements that SHR has in place. This looks across at all our arrangements to provide assurance and sets out our:
- management controls;
- governance oversight;
- independent scrutiny; and
- external accountability.
4) Our Memorandum of Understanding with the Internal Audit Directorate of the Scottish Government and a list of the reports provided to our Audit and Risk Assurance Committee including copies of reviews covering:
- Notifiable events; and
- Regulatory Framework review.
5) We explained that we do not retain data gathered in recruitment exercises such as detail of previous employers and employee experience. This is in line with Scottish Government policy. To give a flavour of the Management Team’s experience, we confirmed that our records show professional membership of the following organisations:
- Association of Chief Executives;
- Chartered Institute of Housing;
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants;
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants;
- Law Society Scotland; and
- The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.