Chief executive of Six Town Housing to retire

Sharon McCambridge, chief executive of Six Town Housing, has announced that she will retire in 2023 at a date to be confirmed.

Joint statement as follows from: Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, leader of Bury Council; Cllr Clare Cummins, cabinet member for housing services; and Robin Lawler, chair of Six Town Housing Board.

“Sharon has successfully led Six Town Housing for 13 years during which she has successfully delivered a large decent homes programme and created a successful in-house contractor in Repairs Direct. Sharon has always put tenants at the heart of what Six Town Housing does and she has enjoyed the confidence and trust of the board and the council.

“Rather than move to appoint a new CEO, we have agreed the council will commission a review of the options for the future of Six Town Housing.

“It is timely to review the current arrangements. The regulatory requirements are changing to require a stronger role for the council and the resources available for the management and maintenance of council housing in Bury are reducing at the same time as significant budget reductions for the council as a whole. Therefore, we need to look at how we use our collective resources to continue to deliver the management and maintenance of our housing stock within a cohesive neighbourhood offer to achieve excellence in customer service, community safety, environmental management, and the regeneration of the borough’s townships.

“The review will explore the following options for management of the council’s housing stock:

• maintain the ALMO with improvements to its effectiveness and efficiency
• bring the stock and housing management services under direct management of the council
• a hybrid where the board of Six Town Housing would remain responsible for the stock and services but management would be combined within the structure of the council
• undertake a stock transfer

“The options will be considered against the criteria of the best quality of service to tenants and best value. The options will also be assessed for their contribution to the Let’s Do It strategy and the borough’s housing strategy.

“The options appraisal and assessment will take place this year. Tenants will be fully consulted before decisions are taken by the council in the spring of 2023.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 20 October 2022.

Picture: Sharon McCambridge.