RCC Working Parties - volunteers needed!

From the BEO:
____

Dear Resident,

We are seeking volunteers who would be willing to join some of the Residents' Consultation Committee's (RCC) Working Parties. At their Annual General Meeting in February, the RCC reviewed all of the Working Parties and identified a number of vacancies.

The RCC is keen to hear from any resident that feels they have the time and interest to join either of these two Working Parties:

Leaseholder Service Charge Working Party - this Working Party will comprise 8 resident representatives and relevant officers from the Barbican Estate Office. The RCC will nominate 2 members and we are looking for 5 more volunteers. The objective of the Working Party will be to monitor and provide input into the management of the resident service charge account, which will include budgeting, planning, forecasting and cost control. One aim of the Working Party will be to make recommendations on how to ensure financial decisions achieve a balanced outcome in ensuring services are well provided and the estate continues to be well maintained, while looking for opportunities to achieve these at the best price for residents. 

There is already an established working party which provides a similar role in relation to the Service Level Agreement and service delivery, and this has been highly successful in maintaining good quality in the services provided to residents, and in bringing forward suggestions for improvements, many of which BEO officers have been able to implement. The aim of this new working party is to achieve the same ongoing input at a detailed level into the financial management of the Barbican Residential Estate, which is not always possible in the context of a full RCC meeting where finance is one of many agenda items discussed. 

Asset Maintenance Working Party - this Working Party comprises 8 resident representatives and relevant officers from the Barbican Estate Office. There are already 5 serving members and we are looking for 3 more. This Working Party has just been re-launched and will have an oversight of and provide comment on the Asset Maintenance of the Barbican Estate. The objective of the Working Party will be to maintain the Estate in a very good condition, to avoid unplanned costly major repairs and to plan future financial commitments both for the landlord and residents with a view to saving money in the long term. A copy of the Terms of Reference is enclosed.

The Working Parties are likely to meet four times a year but there may be additional meetings in the first year. Residents are normally appointed to working parties for a period of three years. Meetings are likely to take place in the early evening at 6.30pm at the Barbican Estate Office and members must be able to attend the majority of the meetings. 

We anticipate there will be more applicants than we will be able to accommodate on the Working Parties. In order to help us to form a group that brings a diverse spread of interest and experience in the subject, if you wish to apply, please send us a short supporting statement. This should ideally be around 200 words, in which you set out what is your interest in joining the Working Party, what you think you can bring to this Working Party, and any relevant experience. The Leaseholder Service Charge Working Party is not expecting everyone to have a qualification in accounting, but is important that all members are comfortable in examining financial statements and budgets. Please send your application to: Julie.Mayer@cityoflondon.gov.uk by Monday 18 April 2016. We will inform all interested parties of the outcome of their application.