Page 12 - ISHA News Autumn 2019

Change at the top
We are very pleased to have two new Executive Directors. Both
are absolutely committed to building and maintaining safe, quality homes that people are proud to call their own and being rooted in the communities we serve.
Dawn Harrison is our new Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods. Dawn has been with ISHA since 2016 as Head of Customer Homes and has been promoted to this role. Dawn has over 25 years’ experience working
in housing in both the public and private sector.
Dawn has told us she is absolutely delighted to be appointed as the new Director of
Housing & Neighbourhoods and believes she can make a difference. She is excited by the challenge
of delivering our shared vision of a cracking landlord service and ensuring our homes are safe for everyone. She is really looking forward to working with you, our tenants and residents to understand what you truly expect from us as a landlord and for you to help shape the services we deliver going forward.
Olukunle Olujide joins us in November 2019 from Guinness Partnership. He will be our new Director of Development, replacing Colin Archer who is retiring after being Director of Development for 19 years.
Olukunle has extensive experience and has told us he is looking forward to bringing his skills to help drive
forward ISHA’s ambitious plans for the future, including the provision of genuine and much needed quality affordable homes, coupled with an excellent customer focused service in the communities we serve.
Olukunle is also keen to continue the good work
of Colin Archer with existing North River Alliance (NRA) partners and establish relationships with other organisations and partners.
Census Rehearsal
Every ten years the ONS (Office for National Statistics) runs the census in England and Wales – a nationwide survey of the population and housing. The census is the only survey which provides a detailed picture of the entire population.
It informs many decisions both nationally and locally on issues like diversity, and on the provision of key services in the area where you live such as school places, hospital beds, GP and dental services, where to build houses and roads, as well as business decisions as to where and what to invest in.
The next census scheduled for March 2021 will be “digital-first”. For the first time, the census will be predominantly online, but there will be help available for those unable to fill in the census online.
In preparation for this, the ONS will be running a Census Rehearsal in October 2019. This “mini-census” will be an end-to-end test of just about everything ONS need to do for the real thing. It will take place in
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four diverse testing areas across the country (Carlisle, Ceredigion, Hackney and Tower Hamlets). ONS will invite households in these selected areas to take part by filling in a census rehearsal questionnaire.
The rehearsal is an important way for ONS to test that all their processes, systems and services are effective and working as they should before the 2021 Census. By running a rehearsal, they aim to make sure that the census runs smoothly and that it represents everyone.
We are aware of the importance of census data and are assisting the ONS with getting the message about the census rehearsal out to as many communities
as possible.