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Rochdale Boroughwide Housing appoints permanent chief executive
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) has appointed a new permanent chief executive, seven months after its previous boss departed amid a scandal over the death of a two-year-old boy.
Amanda Newton will take up leadership of the housing association in the autumn, replacing interim executive Yvonne Arrowsmith.
Ms Newton joins from Merseyside landlord Livv Housing Group, where she is currently executive director for customer insight. She previously worked as director of business effectiveness at Plus Dane Housing and as a senior consultant at PwC.
Between 2012 and 2014, she worked at the government’s Homes and Communities Agency – now Homes England – on the design of the performance management framework for the social housing regulator.
Ms Newton’s appointment comes seven months after the inquest into the death of toddler Awaab Ishak concluded he died from prolonged exposure to mould in an RBH flat.
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In the immediate aftermath of the inquest, then-chief executive Gareth Swarbrick refused to resign.
However two days later, RBH announced he had been sacked, following pressure from the media and central government.
The housing association said Ms Newton would lead the continued implementation of RBH’s recovery plan, which includes a damp and mould taskforce, repairs service reviews and a stock condition survey of all its homes.
In April, RBH’s representative body, made up of elected tenants and staff, appointed Kevin Brady as chair amid a board shake-up.
Mr Brady is also an alumnus of Livv Housing Group.
Ms Newton said she is looking forward to working alongside the board and representative body “to rebuild an organisation that focuses on its tenants, the quality of its homes and the value that it brings to the wider community”.
She added: “There are exciting times ahead and we’ll approach this together with an unwavering commitment to do the very best for the people of Rochdale.”
Mr Brady said: “Amanda brings a wealth of experience from across the public, private and social housing sectors. Her experience in implementing large-scale transformation programmes, aligned to an unrelenting customer focus, will be a formidable asset to RBH, as we reshape our services around our tenants and the quality of our homes.”
