Partnership News May 2017 | Page 8

Governance update AmicusHorizon/Viridian resident meeting, 4 April 2017. Chaired by Ola Solanke We are proud of Optivo’s commitment to high quality resident governance. For example, we have three residents on our Board – that’s a quarter of our total Board members – which is unusual for a larger association. We also give residents the chance to get involved in improving services. They can do this through formal resident governance and informal resident involvement. Most recently, our formally involved residents helped us shape Optivo’s new resident governance structure, which Shadow Board has now approved. Click here to view the new structure. The structure has a range of options that appeal to residents’ interests and match their skills: z z L  ocal General Panels and Local Repairs Panels will scrutinise local performance and service delivery z z Chairs and Vice Chairs from Local Repairs Panels will form a Repairs Chairs Sub Group. Residents were keen there should be a central group scrutinising the design and delivery of asset management strategies; for example, extending the Direct Labour Organisation (DLO) z z The Services Panels will enable in-depth scrutiny of key service areas – namely complaints and policies 8 z z T  hese groups will all feed in to the Resident Strategy Group (RSG). This will be made up of reps from each group, plus an independent resident Chair z z A separate Scrutiny Panel will carry out in-depth reviews across the business, with an annual programme set by the RSG. We’ll start recruiting to the structure after amalgamation. If you know any residents who you think may be interested, please pass their details to your respective Resident Involvement Teams. Viridian’s Resident Scrutiny Board recently won the TPAS (South) Excellence in Resident Scrutiny Award. AmicusHorizon currently holds the Quality Assured Scrutiny accreditation. When it comes to resident involvement, Optivo is building on strong foundations. Ola Solanke Resident Governance member