North Wales housing association returns to compliance

This was specifically in relation to assurance on compliance, including statutory safety and the Welsh Housing Quality Standard.

The regulator’s intervention last year came a few weeks after Grŵp Cynefin asked its chief executive, Shan Lloyd Williams, and its group director of resources, Bryn Ellis, to ‘step back’ from their roles following an internal review. 

Grŵp Cynefin said that over the past 13 months, the group has been working “closely and thoroughly” with the regulator to develop a plan and make changes to its processes.

The regulator said: “Sufficient assurance has been provided that the most significant risks and concerns identified at the time of the previous regulatory assessment have been addressed.

“The group continues to implement further improvements and recommendations identified through various independent reviews and our regulatory assessment.”

In addition, Grŵp Cynefin maintained its compliant yellow grade for financial viability.

The regulator said: “The association meets our financial viability tests. Increased regulatory oversight will continue while the association implements its updated treasury strategy to support continued investment in housing stock and tenant services.”

Mel Evans, who had been interim chief executive at Grŵp Cynefin for the past year and was appointed to the role permanently this week, said: “Restoring our regulatory status has been our main objective since last year’s change, and this is the judgement we had been working towards.

“I’m delighted to be starting my new, permanent role as chief executive on such a positive note.”

Tim Jones, chair of Grŵp Cynefin’s board, said: “I’d like to thank all the staff for their great work, which has ensured that we have achieved a compliant status.

“It’s been a period of significant change for the organisation, but we can now look forward to building further on this success.”