Yvonne Baulk, the council’s head of housing and public protection, was honoured at the CIH Scotland Awards for her Excellence in Leadership.

This award highlights the quality of leaders in housing who show innovation, vision and collaboration.

Yvonne has committed herself to public service for more than 35 years and, for the last decade, she has been responsible for leading, improving and developing award-winning services at North Ayrshire Council.

She is also vice chair of the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO) where she has helped develop national policy.

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for Green Environment and Economy, said: “Congratulations to Yvonne on being honoured with this award. It’s testament to the sector-leading work being delivered by our Housing team every day across North Ayrshire.”

Yvonne said: “I’ve been privileged to work with very dedicated and talented people across North Ayrshire over the last 13 years and for me this award recognises everything we’ve achieved as a team. We all share a deep-rooted commitment to public service and improving the lives of our residents in any way we can. Housing is central to every aspect of our residents’ wellbeing and it’s our responsibility to ensure their homes are affordable, high quality and people feel safe and secure in our communities.”

In her role, Yvonne has driven forward the council’s ambitious housebuilding programme, which aims to deliver more than 1,600 new-build council homes across North Ayrshire, as well as a range of other initiatives which are changing tenants’ lives for the better.

Yvonne has also helped steer the council’s response to support displaced people from Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan; was at the forefront of the council’s delivery of service during the Covid pandemic, when teams were asked to step out of their daily roles to do what was needed, from food preparation and delivery through to daily calls with vulnerable tenants to minimise isolation and ensure access to services; as well as helping to transform North Ayrshire’s Housing service into a modern, climate-conscious service.