Riverside aims to be open and accountable to customers, stakeholders and other service- users. We aim to make information easy to find for other interested parties such as partners, regulators, politicians and members of local communities. We also encourage employees or others with serious concerns about any aspect of our work to come forward and express concerns.

Our guiding principles are that we will:

• Provide information in a way which reflects the wishes and needs of customers and other interested people.
• Make information available about our plans, decisions, policies, standards, and performance.
• Provide information about how we are governed, our finances and how we achieve value for money.
• Make sure information is easy to find, relevant, accurate and wherever possible self- explanatory.
• Respond to requests in a way which is cost effective and proportionate.
• Always act lawfully and comply with any requirements set by our regulators.

Although we have chosen to adopt an open approach, within The Riverside Group only Riverside Scotland is classed as a public authority for the purposes of Freedom of Information legislation.

For more information on what to expect from organisations which handle personal data, please see the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

What this means in practice

What we publish routinely

We publish and provide the following information in different ways and formats to meet the diverse needs of our customers. In many cases we use our website to share information but we may print some documents such as leaflets and newsletters. We also use social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.

Financial information:

• Annual Financial Statements.
• Our Chief Executive’s, executive and non-executive directors’ renumeration, as well as salary banding of senior colleagues earning over £60k.
• The composition of our Board and workforce by key protected characteristic.
• The Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap.
• Details of all expenditure over £500 on regeneration work funded via the regulated Affordable Homes Programme.

Our service standards, performance and plans:

• A list of our main group policies.
• Information on our services and how we manage our properties.
• Customer care information on planned maintenance.
• Planned regeneration projects.
• General information on what to expect when undergoing improvements and repairs.
• Our Annual Report to Customers.

Value for money:

• Information on Value for Money, which is included in our Financial Statements and the Annual Report to Customers. We provide information comparing our costs and performance with that of other social landlords.

How we are governed:

• We adhere to the National Housing Federation (NHF)’s Code of Governance by publishing the following:

• • A clear explanation of how we are governed, including how Board members are appointed and their biographical details and photographs. We also publish information on our Board members’ declared interests, such as directorships of other companies.
  • Minutes of our Group Board meetings, which are published with redactions.

Information available upon request, and when we will not provide information

Individuals and groups can request information about Riverside that is not routinely published. We will comply with these requests wherever possible and respond within 20 working days.

In some cases we will be unable to provide information requested. This is likely to be the case where:

• It would involve disclosing personal information as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018.
• The information is confidential or commercially sensitive.
• The information is in draft form.
• Disclosure is prevented by law.
• The information is not readily available/ is difficult to access.

In these circumstances we will respond to the request within 20 working days explaining why the information cannot be provided.

For further information on access to personal data, please see our privacy policy.