The Regulator used its statutory powers to appoint a manager and five appointees to the Board at Thistle in August last year after an independent review identified failures to meet Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management at the RSL.

The manager’s remit was to address failings identified in a governance review conducted by Thistle Housing Association in March 2018, to oversee delivery of the governance improvement programme and embed sustainable change in the organisation.

The appointees were to lead on and prioritise supporting the governing body to ensure that Thistle complies with the Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management and outcome two of the Scottish Social Housing Charter, as well as supporting the manager and the governing body to carry out a review to identify the best strategic solutions for Thistle’s tenants and service users.

The Regulator said Thistle’s governing body had initially accepted the findings from the review and agreed an extensive and ambitious Governance Improvement Programme to address the review recommendations and to bring about transformational change in the organisation. It commissioned independent consultants to support it to deliver aspects of the programme over the following 12 months.

However, the Regulator added, Thistle had not always shown it was capable of delivery the required changes without strong leadership and expertise. It then used it statutory powers to make the six appointments.

Thistle appealed against the Regulator’s use of statutory powers in November, though the decision was upheld by an Appeal Panel the following month.

Now the Regulator has prolonged the appointments by another two months.

In an updated regulation plan, the Regulator said: “We have asked Thistle to demonstrate to us how it intends to address the weaknesses in its leadership and capacity to enable it to deliver and embed the necessary improvements required to achieve compliance with the Regulatory Standards of Governance and Financial Management.  We have asked Thistle to provide us with a plan to address this by the end of February 2019.

“We have therefore decided to extend the appointment of the manager and the five appointees to the Board until at least the end of April 2019 to provide Thistle with an opportunity to develop the plan and allow us to consider this plan.”