§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what precautions have been taken to ensure that under the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994 minority groups are not discriminated against in the event of a hostile majority taking over management of tenancies.
§ Sir George YoungMinority groups are protected under the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994 and associated guidance in a number of ways.
Any tenant affected by the right to manage proposal notice may become a member of the tenant management organisation—TMO. The TMO must, in the conduct of its affairs, avoid discrimination against any person on grounds of racial origin, gender, sexuality, disability or religion.
The approved agent who carries out the initial feasibility study under the right to manage is charged with ensuring that the TMO option is not pursued for discriminatory purposes. If, in his opinion, the TMO is not operating in accordance with its constitution, or is pursuing tenant management in order to exclude certain sections of the community, or if its committee or board is not reasonably representative of the community it serves and has no plans to remedy this, the agent is expected to submit an early report which brings the feasibility study to an end.
The approved person is required to submit, within two years of his appointment, a report of the full feasibility study to the Secretary of State. This report sets out, inter alia, the agent's assessment of the TMO's competence to carry out the management responsibilities it wishes to take on from the local authority. The TMO must be able to 115W satisfy the agent that its committee is representative of the community it serves. Any TMO aspiring to take on the allocation of tenancies must do so within the framework of the local authority's policies and procedures, including those on equal opportunities.
Local authorities have responsibility for monitoring the performance of TMOs, including their performance on equal opportunities.