Regulatory and compliance 

Regulation influences everything that the social housing sector does, whether this is by the Regulator of Social Housing, Welsh Government or the myriad of other regulation that relates to specific activities such as care provision, consumer credit, data protection or health and safety.

As the sector's primary source of regulation we are constantly advising clients on the Regulator of Social Housing's regime and regulatory issues, ranging from minor breaches through to significant and serious failures to meet the standards. This is sometimes tied in with other regulatory failures within the organisation, such as health and safety, data protection etc. Our experience allows us to advise clients on the broadest basis possible – we can spot the wider consequences of regulatory breach.  

Of course there are a range of other regulators and regulatory regimes relevant to our clients' businesses. For example, health and safety has taken a front seat over recent years and the work we have done training within organisations, assessing compliance, advising on breaches and steps to rectification has been particularly extensive during this period. We will continue to see movement in this area as changes are brought about following the ongoing consultation around reform of building safety.

Our wider work touches on areas such as; money laundering and compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017; obligations under the Criminal Finances Act 2017, and linked to this broader work on issues such as fraud and investigations; data privacy, the General Data Protection Regulations and subject access requests; compliance with the FCA's authorisation requirements in connection with financial activities; Care Quality Commission requirements in relation to health and social care; Charity Commission regulatory requirements, such as serious incident reporting and advising on Commission investigations and Litigation and investigations arising in connection with regulatory compliance issues.

Our advice is also informed by the work that we undertake with the regulators themselves. Over the years we have held, and still do, very close relationships with many of the regulators which has seen us involved in shaping policy, the drafting of legislation, preparation of regulatory and sector guidance, and indeed acting on behalf of regulators and industry bodies such as the National Housing Federation. This enables us to advise from a well-rounded perspective and often gives us a "real time" understating of regulatory views and attitudes which may prevail at that moment in time.

In brief

• Holistic understanding of our clients' businesses which enables us to advise on regulatory issues in the round
• Experts in governance and regulatory issues who advise on these issues daily
• Ability to problem solve from a practical and pragmatic perspective rather than just legal
• Ability to service and resource any problem, such as immediate investigatory work
• Advisors with knowledge from both sides of the coin, client and regulator alike