020 7625 1799
   
  

Neil Ayre

News release: Odu-Dua moves on

Odu-Dua Housing Association is embarking on an extensive programme of improvement and renewal following the dismissal of its Chief Executive earlier this month and a court judgement last week upholding the CEO’s removal.

In the coming weeks the Association will modernise its governance arrangements, re-focus on services to tenants and tenant involvement and embed a culture of transparency and openness.

In respect of governance reforms, Odu-Dua will upgrade its rules to the National Housing Federation Model Rules 2011 and at the same time adopt the NHF Code, Excellence in Governance undertaking a rigorous programme of compliance testing including independent external scrutiny. The Board will build-up and refresh its membership in a planned way following a Board appraisal process as longer serving Board Members retire in accordance with the NHF’s recommended nine-year limit.  There will be no repeat of the situation where the previous Chair John Oke and Board Member Efua Taylor knowingly served well in excess of the nine-year rule.

The renewed focus on tenants includes a comprehensive review of customer facing services and the establishment of a customer panel and tenants’ forum to ensure a wide range of tenant voices are heard.

“The court decision last week agreeing our claim and dismissing our former CEO’s counter claim against Odu-Dua, brings to a close a difficult and distracting episode for the Association,” said Odu-Dua Chair and tenant Board Member Sandra Brown. “We are now re-focussing our attention on our tenants and on the urgent task of ensuring the governance of Oda-Dua and the services we provide are of the highest quality.”

In a Court Judgement on February 20th Judge Nigel Gerald upheld Odu-Dua’s decision to suspend and subsequently dismiss Lara Oyedele for gross misconduct and dismissed her counterclaim for repudiatory breach of contract arising from a breach of Odu-Dua’s rules.

“The facts of this matter are that the former CEO stopped recognising the Board of Odu-Dua despite receiving legal advice which confirmed that it was legal and could act and sought to establish her own board in its place having joined the camp of the former Chair whom she thought had been done a wrong” added Leslie Laniyan, Company Secretary. “Using what are ultimately tenants’ resources was not something that the Board of Odu-Dua took lightly but we had to act to protect the interests of the association in response to what the judge termed the most serious act of gross misconduct when describing the former CEO’s actions in taking possession of the office on 14th November.  The Judge recognised the Board was placed in an impossible position by the former CEO and her suspension and subsequent dismissal were justified and unanswerable.”

Odu-Dua was awarded damages as well as all its legal costs, in addition, both Ms Oyedele and her false board were refused Leave To Appeal.

For more information contact Odu-Dua Housing Association, 020 7625 1799.

Camden Employment, Training and Opportunities Fair 2014

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Employment, training and opportunities fair

 

Date: Wednesday 19 March

Time: 9am to 11.30am

Place: Working Men’s College (Richard Cobden Learning Centre), 44 Crowndale Road, NW1 1TR.

 

There will be information about the opportunities available in Camden, which include jobs across a range of sectors, including administration, hospitality, retail, facilities management, and health and social care.

There is no need to make an appointment, you can go along to:

• Speak to training providers available to help you find the right job or training opportunity.
• Apply for jobs on the day and get help with preparing for interviews.
• Get information and advice from local colleges, the National Careers Service and Job Centre Plus.

 

Christmas & New Year Office Closing Times

 

Please be aware that all our offices will be closed
from 12pm, Monday 23rd December 2013 and
re-opened at 9am on Thursday 2nd January 2014.

 

For emergency repairs over the Christmas period, please call APM Maintenance on 020 8385 2133. When you call APM Maintenance you must quote the authorisation code GREENHOUSE 13.

Please note that the number is for emergency repairs only. Please check your Tenants’ Handbook (pages 10 & 11) for examples of those repairs which are classified as emergencies.

 

Fire Fighters Strikes confirmed for Friday 1st November and Monday 4th November

The London Fire Brigade has confirmed that another two strikes have been called.

A four and a half hour strike will take place on:

DATE OF STRIKE ACTION:

Friday 1st November 2013, TIME: 18:30 – 23:00

A further two hour strike will take place on:

DATE OF STRIKE ACTION:

Monday 4th November 2013, TIME: 06:00 – 08:00

With it being the nearest weekend to bonfire night there is a concern about the safety of any firework displays that may be planned.

Also it is highly recommended that you ensure that the area around final exit doors is kept clear and that fire doors are checked for proper functioning.

The Fire Authority has a legal duty to provide London with an emergency fire and rescue service and it has taken action to ensure the continuing provision of a reduced service in the event of a strike (or any other event which deprives the Brigade of its usual workforce).

The provision, known as ‘CapitalGuard’, is a contracted service providing up to 27 fire engines. It is intended to provide a reduced level of operational capability sufficient to fulfill the Authority’s basic statutory duties. This means that the 27 fire engines will attend a limited range of incidents and that, in the first instance, the normal initial attendance to incidents will be just one fire engine.

LFB have posted the above information on their website. To view it please click on the link below:
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/contingency-plan.asp