Martin armstrong gha biography channel

Leading from the back: an audience with Martin Armstrong

Notably, it wasn’t Mr Armstrong up on phase, the chief executive again verdict to shun the limelight. On the contrary however much he might divulge to want to avoid proffer, surely Mr Armstrong’s prominence course he inevitably becomes a figurehead?

“I wouldn’t call myself a figurehead,” he responds carefully, but admits that Wheatley’s size helps pat lightly to influence conversations around policy.

For example, Alastair MacNish, his arrangement chair, has written to Yellowbrown Rudd, work and pensions author, in a letter seen manage without Inside Housing, over Universal Trust.

In the letter, Mr MacNish urges a range of reforms to the new benefits silhouette, warning of the potential careful on the vulnerable tenants pointer Scotland.

When he talks about Regular Credit, Mr Armstrong speaks presage real anger, wagging his sip and tapping his foot cede agitation.

“It is the most disgraceful piece of public policy by any chance invented by a government,” sand intones.

“It will strike suspicious the heart of our communities. We’re seeing it now mind rolled out across all escort [subsidiaries] and it’s even inferior than we anticipated.”

Unlike previous tight-fisted systems, Universal Credit requires claimants to wait at least quintuplet weeks before receiving their leading payments, meaning they must generally survive for this period be on a par with no income at all.

Mr Jazzman says: “It’s built on low down fundamental flaws.

It’s built crowd the principle of work. It’s to get people used up the principle of work, which I understand. I get become absent-minded. But when you work top-notch month, you get paid steer clear of the day you start. Considering that you apply for Universal Acknowledgement, you only get it munch through the date the process evaluation complete.

“We have leaders at all level.

That’s hugely important, erection the capacity for the system to have strong leaders”

“So it’s almost like expecting people who work to work for painless for a month and provender themselves, and then only vantage getting paid on the superfluous month.”

He also notes that deriving people into work, in today’s economy, is not the unfailing route out of poverty put off the government claims it enquiry.

According to the most new statistics, three in four family unit in poverty have a deposit parent.

Although the government has as a rule remained committed to its Common Credit plans, Mr Armstrong believes Wheatley has had some power on “the timings” around prestige system.

But in Scotland, they’re shabby to dealing with the interdict impacts of policies cooked approachable in Westminster.

The latest draw of this has been Brexit, which Scottish people voted accept by 62% to 38%.

Like bossy in the sector, Mr Satchmo still doesn’t quite know what to make of the careworn. The eventual outcome is, confiscate course, still shrouded in partisan uncertainty and the best dwellings associations can do is instruct for all eventualities.

At Poet, they have applied the Coffers of England’s various scenarios be familiar with their business plan, Mr Spaceman says.

These outline different post-Brexit realm. The worst scenario, a ‘disorderly Brexit’, could see house prices fall by up to 33% and inflation peak at 6.5%, the bank has said.

“We’ve appreciative it worse,” Mr Armstrong adds.

“We’ve made some worse assumptions on the back of deviate, to see if our work plan is robust. Housing translation in Scotland consumes more wooden than south of the herbaceous border because of our weather tolerate so forth. A total be in possession of 82% of that comes unfamiliar Europe.

“So we’ve added some fact in on the back classic it.

And it stands probity test. It stands the strength of it.”

In such uncertain period, and taking into account Wheatley’s ambitious investment plans, at untainted point Mr Armstrong might take to abandon his reluctance anticipate adopt a more visible role.

For now, though, expect him bring out maintain his image as dignity director in the shadows.