Committee
Membership
Every tenant has the right to become a member of West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative, or to nominate someone from their household to become a member of the Co-operative at the cost of £1.00.
Membership gives tenants the right to:
- Vote for the Management Committee
- Stand for election to the Management Committee
- Attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and vote on appropriate items
- Receive AGM minutes and annual accounts
Only West Whitlawburn tenants, or their nominees, can become members.
The Management Committee
The Co-operative is run by a Committee of unpaid voluntary members, who are elected by the members. All Management Committee members are tenants, or their nominees, in West Whitlawburn. They are not paid and give freely of their time.
They control the Co-operative's business by:
- Setting the policies to be followed by the staff
- Making sure that the staff carry out the legal and financial responsibilities of the Co-operative
- Allowing staff to carry out the decisions of the Management Committee and run the day-to-day business of the Co-operative
The task of the Management Committee is made easier by splitting it into sub committees, which are responsible for different areas of work. West Whitlawburn has:
- A Housing Management Sub Committee, to deal with allocations, rent arrears, estate management and concierge.
- A Property Sub Committee, to deal with all maintenance and development matters.
- A Finance Sub Committee, to deal with all budget matters.
- A Staff and Recruitment Sub Committee, to deal with all staff matters.
Here is a current list of Committee members
West Whitlawburn Community Development Committee deals with the running of the Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre.
The work of all the Sub Committees is reported back to the Management Committee.
What's expected of Committee Members?
Committee members have to understand how the Co-operative works and what the key issues are. The Co-operative provides training to make sure that Committee members have the skills they need to run the organisation.
This is especially true for new committee members. Any member who thinks they may want to join the Committee is welcome to come along to meetings and get more information.
Who controls the Committee?
The Committee is responsible to its members.
Committee Members must also work within the rules of the Co-operative. The Co-operative is registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act and with the Registrar of Friendly Societies. These organisations perform a supervisory and regulatory function. The Committee is also accountable to Communities Scotland, which is the Government housing agency that monitors the work of all housing co-operatives and associations in Scotland.
Confidentiality
Although the Co-operative's Management Committee is made up of tenants, or their nominees, no personal and private information about other tenants is ever revealed. Only the Co-operative's professional staff have such details.
At times, Committee Members, in their role, have access to confidential commercial information. To ensure high standards of behaviour, all Committee Members must sign up to, and adhere to, a nationally agreed code of conduct and governance.
Important facts
- The Co-operative is independent and community owned and controlled.
- All of the Management Committee members are tenants, or their nominees.
- All of the Management Committee members are voluntary.
- Any member can stand for election to the Management Committee.
- The Co-operative is regulated by Communities Scotland through regular monitoring.
- The Co-operative gets funding for improvement works from Communities Scotland.
- Staff are appointed by the Management Committee.
- Staff are accountable to the Management Committee.
For more information on becoming a Committee member, please contact the office.
Page last updated 19th January 2005