Governance Update
I am delighted to tell you that all the boards met in January to review the proposed option for restructure and this included reviewing the seven responses we had from the customer consultation. 3 responses were clearly in support, 0 were against and 4 were general enquiries and did not state a view either way. Report to Joint Boards Meeting (add as pdf).
The boards agreed unanimously to approve a new common purpose board for Westward and Westcountry. Tarka board will continue in its current form.
There will be four service panels, predominantly made up of customers. Three of these panels will be geographically based and the fourth will be Supported Housing service focussed. Tarka board will take on the responsibility of one of the geographically based service panels.
We then met with the Customer Involvement Review Group to consider the future development of Service Panels, and their purpose and role within our governance structure. Their purpose is to strengthen customer decision making and strengthen the relationship between customers and the board. It was agreed that they would be made up of five customers, two independents (including one member from the common purpose board) and a member of staff. It’s early days yet and we are still working through much of the detail, so I will welcome your support and input during that process. This work continues with customer, board and staff members.
This change means that the members of both these boards will be stepping down and applying for the positions on the new board. This is part of an external recruitment process for board members which will take place in February. We are hoping that the common purpose board will be in place by the end of March.
The board recruitment process is built around appointing suitably skilled, experienced members and it is hoped that suitable candidates would emerge from our customers to take a place on the board. We will be providing support and training to encourage customers to apply and to help them through the process.
If you are interested in becoming A MEMBER OF A SERVICE PANEL or A MEMBER OF THE BOARD, or you know someone who would be interested, please let us know by completing this online form for our Customer Involvement Team. We will be offering additional support to customers who want to apply, so they are supported through the process.
There will be more detail in the forthcoming issues of the customer newsletters, Coast to Coast and Tarka Times.
Read our Group's news at The Westward Way - business newsletter.
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