Members of the Riverside Customer Voice (RCV) have voted to dissolve the entity, paving the way for the creation of a new customer influence and accountability framework, designed to give customers more opportunities than ever before to influence our services and make them better.

The decision was taken at the Annual General Meeting of RCV on March 6. It means that, in effect, RCV, its executive branch Riverside Customer Voice Executive (RCVE) and its constitution no longer exists.

RCV had, for many years, been one of the main ways for customers to have their say on Riverside and its services. The London Resident Panels, one of the main forums for similar customer input within One Housing Group, also held their last meetings during February.

For some time, a Customer Task & Finish Group, supported by TPAS, has been working to create the new framework.

That team of customers have been working together for months to plan that and carried out a survey of all customers in January to inform their work.

They’re now approaching the point of being able to begin to start to finalise what a new governance structure will look like, and their work is supported by the Riverside Group Board.

The measures they put in place will supersede and build on the work done by RCVE, hence the decision of members to dissolve.

Paula Simpson, Chair of the Task & Finish Group, said: “ We are making the necessary changes to resident involvement so the residents voice can not only be heard but it will now be an integral component to influencing decisions that affect all residents and the homes we live in.”

Jules Jackson – Secretary of RCVE and T&F member, added: “It’s been a challenge to bring together customers from all parts of the country and different types of tenures to work together to devise a new customer framework. It’s been successful and we have great personal relationships. It’s a very exciting time to join riverside to produce an exemplar customer focused framework.

Andrea Thorn, Riverside’s Interim Executive Director for Customer Services, added: “We welcome and accept the decision of Riverside Customer Voice members, and we look forward to working with the Task & Finish Group to develop our new framework.”