The National Federation of TMOs good governance ‘kite mark’ for TMOs is a public symbol of good practice in a Tenant Management Organisation’s committee work, employment practices and accountability to its tenants.

The Kite Mark:-

• Recognises and celebrates good practice in the TMO sector
• Helps TMOs to identify and deal with areas of weakness
• Gives reassurance to the TMO’s landlords and tenants
• Strengthens TMO networks and mutual support

What does it involve?
The Kite Mark scheme is administered by the NFTMO, checked through independent external validation and supported by the government’s CLG and the Housing Corporation. In order to be awarded the Kite Mark TMOs have to:

1. Carry out a governance self-assessment check every two years.
2. Agree an action plan to address any governance weakness that is highlighted by the check.
3. Host an ‘inspection’ visit by two assessors - people from the TMO world.
4. Provide evidence that appropriate training is being offered to committee members

The Kite Mark Self-Assessment.
Click here to download the Kite Mark spreadsheet for more information and the table of standards your TMO will need to complete as part of the self-assessment. You will need to have Microsoft Excel software installed to use this spreadsheet.

The standards used in the self-assessment tool have been developed in consultation with TMOs. The standards are grouped under a number of key principles, which overall incorporate the key elements of good governance.

In order to identify where action may be required, TMOs need to be brutally honest in the rating score given during the self-assessment exercise. TMOs have often found that having a 'facilitator' to assist at the self-assessment stage can help move discussion forward and help critically challenge scores awarded.

The TMO needs to consider the description provided and debate how well the TMO perform against each of the standards. The lowest rating is 1 and the highest is 5. These ratings are described further in the assessment spreadsheet.

The Action Plan
The results from your self-assessment points to where you need to take action. The TMO needs to decide if it wants to take action and what that action should be.

Alongside your self-assessment you are asked to indicate if you need to take action and, if so, what priority this action should be given. You will be asked to select one of the following:
- No action required
- Low priority,
- Medium priority
- High priority.

Generally speaking, if you score below 3 for any of the self-assessment standards you should be thinking about taking action to improve. If you score below 3 for any of the 'essential' criteria then you must put actions in place to improve in order to be awarded the Kite Mark.

If the action points require new or improved policies you may find documents to help you in our Good Governance Policy Pack.

The External Assessment
Once you have completed your self-assessment and any action planning you have identified as necessary, you can make your Kite Mark submission to the NFTMO.

Your submission will then be allocated to two trained TMO governance kite mark assessors. The assessors will contact you to make an appointment for a Kite Mark Assessment Visit. The date the Assessors agree with you may depend on the results of your self-assessment and action plan. If quite a few issues need to be progressed in order to raise your results above the kite mark requirement, it may be necessary to delay the date of visit until you have made some headway.

You may also be asked to forward some key supporting documents prior to the Assessment Visit.

When the visit takes place, you will be asked to ensure representatives of the TMO board or committee are available on the day of the assessment visit. The assessors will want to talk to these board/committee members about the TMO's submission and supporting evidence. These meetings will be informal and friendly in style and are not trying to catch anyone out, but are aimed at making sure good governance issues are understood and well grounded in the organisation.

In addition to talking to representatives of the TMO and its staff, the Assessors will want to look at a range of supporting documentation.

The Award of the Kite Mark
Based on your submission and the Kite Mark Assessment Visit, there are two possible outcomes as follows:

If the Assessors agree with your self-assessment and this achieves the minimum standards set by the kite mark and your action plan appropriately addresses any issues you may have identified, the TMO will be awarded the kite mark.

Or

If the TMO has not reached the minimum standard and/or the action plan does not appropriately address essential issues of good governance, the TMO will be categorised as 'Working towards the kite mark standard'. The Assessor will inform the TMO of the areas which need to be addressed to achieve the kite mark. This could involve having to submit evidence of improvements undertaken following the visit, or in some cases a follow-up visit may be required.