The report rated the Association as providing ‘satisfactory’ services in just two areas including the provision of housing and its arrangements for people with support needs, but also highlighted failings in the remaining areas of assessment.
In three areas its approach to equal opportunities, letting housing and its maintenance service – the inspectors judged that there was ‘scope for considerable improvement’. In three further areas including its relationship to residents; rents and housing management the Association ‘failed to comply” with the Welsh Assembly Government’s Regulatory Code.

The report says that the Association ‘failed to demonstrate capability’ in securing continuous improvement. The Association had a business plan in place, but this had not considered all areas of importance within the Association. The Association was also not seen to be improving the quality of its services to residents and did not have arrangements in place to ensure it would be more effective in the future.

The report included a number of recommendations to promote improvement, including:

• Developing a clearly articulated strategic direction which addresses the key challenges facing the Association;
• Developing a coordinated, strategic approach to partnership working with local authorities and other partners;
• Working with residents to develop a comprehensive framework for the Associations relationship with residents; and
• Introducing effective arrangements to manage and evaluate outcomes of the Association’s anti-social behaviour and estate management services.

Jeremy Colman, Auditor General for Wales, said today:
“This report shows that Cymdeithas Tai Cantref was failing to provide a satisfactory service for its tenants, and there was little in the Association’s strategies to suggest it had the capability to improve services significantly. The recommendations in this report set out what the Association needs to do to improve its performance.”

Notes to Editors:

• The inspection of Cymdeithas Tai Cantref took place in October 2007. At the time of inspection the Association managed over 1,336 properties located in rural areas in Ceredigion, north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire with a small number of homes in Powys.
• The Association was established in 1989 and has 75 staff in two offices in Newcastle Emlyn and Aberystwyth.
• The Welsh Assembly Government has appointed the Wales Audit Office to carry out the inspection of housing associations in Wales. Inspection is carried out under the Local Government Act 1998, as amended by the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004
• The specific questions about each aspect the inspection covers are set out in the latest version of the Assembly Regulatory Code for Housing Associations in Wales. This can be found by clicking on the following link: http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/housing/publications/regulatorycode
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• The Wales Audit Office is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £19 billion of annual public expenditure.
• The Wales Audit Office was created in April 2005 through the Public Audit (Wales) Act, 2004, which expanded the functions of the Auditor General for Wales and enabled the transfer of staffs from the Audit Commission in Wales and National Audit Office in Wales to his employment.