North British slams 'out of date' Audit Commission findings

England's largest housing association has hit back at a critical Audit Commission report that said it should improve its provision of services to tenants.

North British Housing was pulled up throughout the report for failing to translate policy into practice.

But managing director Hilary Keenan said the report was out of date because it was published eight months after the inspection. She added that the scale of the inspection had not been wide enough and that, at the time of the visit last December, the association had already been dealing with some of the problems highlighted in the report.

"The inspection covered only three of the possible 11 areas of service, and these selected areas coincided with areas where we are already investing considerable efforts and resources," Keenan said.

"We believe inspections are an important tool, but the lack of timeliness perhaps affects how useful it will be in this case."

The report criticised North British for a number of weaknesses in its responsive repairs service, gas safety procedures and its customer complaints process.

The report said: "North British has a comprehensive procedure for dealing with gas safety, but the inspection team found that in all areas visited there were a significant number of properties with certificates more than a year out of date."

However, North British says a system for ensuring its properties have up-to-date gas certificates has been in place since March.

North British has more than 45,000 homes and is the largest member of the Places for People Group. It works in more than 200 local authority areas and has an annual repairs and maintenance budget of £41m.

A Housing Corporation regulatory assessment of North British, published at the end of August, indicates that the association's complaints about its inspection result are justified. The corporation awarded North British a green-light rating in all four of its regulatory categories.

The assessment added: "The group has already put in place the majority of changes necessary to meet the recommendations put forward by the Audit Commission."