Statement of Compliance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 2020-2021

Statement of Compliance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010

Sections 31 and 32 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the Act”) impose duties on Scottish public bodies to publish information on expenditure and certain other matters as soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year. We produce this statement to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Act.

As the independent regulator of social landlords, our statutory objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of current and future tenants, people who are homeless and others who use services provided by social landlords. We want to see successful social landlords delivering good outcomes for tenants, people who are homeless and others. This means that:

• landlords achieve the outcomes and standards in the Scottish Social Housing Charter;
• Registered Social Landlords are well-governed and in good financial health; and
• lenders and public funders have confidence to continue to invest in social housing.

We want to be a transparent, responsive, best value organisation. Our annual report and accounts for 2020/21 sets out the impact of our work and the outcomes we achieved, together with our associated costs. This was laid before the Scottish Parliament in November 2021.

Public Relations

We spent £120,555 on public relations in 2020/21. This is 2.7% of our total budget in the year and includes sector events, our website costs and our staff costs for producing external communications including our range of publications, social media and website.

Overseas Travel

We did not incur any costs in relation to overseas travel.

Hospitality and Entertainment

We spent £0.00 on catering costs in 2020/21. No expenditure was incurred on gifts, benefits or sporting or cultural events.

External Consultancy

We spent £49,141.55 on external consultancy in 2020/21. This equates to 1.1% of our total annual budget. This includes our legal advice costs, a review of asset management recommended practice, tenant consultation activity and staff survey costs.

Payments in Excess of £25,000

Section 31(3) of the Act places a duty on public bodies to publish the amount, date, payee and subject matter of any payment made during the financial year which has a value in excess of £25,000.

Payments were in relation to our website and work to modernise and support our regulatory IT systems.

Members or employees who received remuneration in excess of £150,000

Section 31(4) of the Act places a duty on public bodies to publish the number of individuals who received remuneration in excess of £150,000.

No employee, office holder or other individual involved with SHR received remuneration in excess of £150,000 during 2020/21.

Sustainable Economic Growth

Section 32(1) (a) of the Act places a duty on public bodies to publish a statement of the steps it has taken during the financial year to promote and increase sustainable growth through the exercise of its functions.

In delivering against our published priorities, we contributed to the Scottish Government’s overall objectives and National Outcomes.

During 2020/21 our regulation contributed to:

• the social housing sector’s response to the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic
• securing a financially sustainable housing sector that can contribute to growth through house building and maintenance activity;
• the continuing supply of good quality social sector homes and services to help accommodate Scotland’s ambitions for population growth, and to make our country a more attractive place to live and work; and
• ensuring that landlords work to prevent people becoming homeless, and so help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland.

Efficiency, effectiveness and economy

Section 32(1)(b) of the Act requires public bodies to publish a statement of the steps taken to improve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the exercise of their functions.

Our sole source of income in 2020/21 was a grant from the Scottish Government. We spent £4.479m of our £4.535m budget, this included a £0.200m capital budget.

During 2020/21 we continued to operate throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of pre-existing resilience we were able to quickly, and at minimal cost, move staff to remote working without a break in delivery of core functions.  Our Regulatory Framework is designed to enable us to regulate effectively and sustainably within our resources. In consultation with stakeholders we adapted our regulatory approach to respond to the demands and pressures of the pandemic.

In 2020/21 around 76% of our revenue costs were staff costs, 7% were IT equipment and support and 4% was accommodation. Our current office accommodation which we moved to in 2018 delivered annual savings, with costs being around £0.150m less than we spent on our previous permanent office. Our Business Intelligence Systems represent the majority of our IT costs. These systems support our regulatory data collection and data analysis.

In the current economic climate, we will continue to work with all involved in social housing to ensure effective regulation that protects the interests of tenants, people who are homeless and others who use the services of social landlords.