Issue - meetings

Head of Local Democracy and Member Services to report that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 8 June 2011 on consideration of a Call In of the Cabinet Member Signing decision of 18 May 2011 relating to Children’s Centres in Haringey resolved as follows –

‘A.       That the decision be referred back to the Cabinet Member as the decision taker to reconsider the decision before taking a final decision within 5 working days in light of the views expressed by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  

B.        That the terms of the final decision of the Cabinet Member as in recommendation A. above be recommended to be a request that a special Cabinet meeting be convened within a further 5 working days.

C.        That the Cabinet Member and the Cabinet note the Overview & Scrutiny Committee’s reasons for referring the original decision on children’s centres back for reconsideration as set out below:

i.          Proposals made by schools to run children’s centres independently with reduced funding had not been fully assessed by the Council and should be reconsidered.

ii.        The Committee expressed concerns that opportunities to engage with school head teachers, governors and representatives of the Haringey Children’s Centre Alliance at an early stage had not been taken.  A committed engagement process between the Council and the Alliance should begin at the earliest opportunity.

iii.                Consultation on the proposals had not been fully effective as the proposed model in the Cabinet Member’s signing report of 18^th May 2011 differed significantly from the model proposed in February 2011.

iv.                 No reasonable responses had been provided by the Cabinet Member to the objections submitted by interested parties as part of the consultation.

v. There was no evidence in the proposals that a proper risk assessment of the consequences for early intervention and child protection had been conducted when assessing the move from the current model of children’s centres to the proposed new model.

vi.                 Experts attending the committee had expressed concerns that the proposed structure was unworkable and would present safeguarding concerns.

vii.               Experts who provided evidence and the Committee had expressed concerns about who would be responsible for the timely and effective identification of vulnerable children and children at risk under the new structure.

viii.             The key concerns raised by interested groups and experts around the loss of integrated multi-disciplinary working and early intervention following the proposed centralisation of staff should be fully addressed during reconsideration of the decision.

ix.  Children from the Coldfall Estate in Fortis Green who would normally attend the Northbank site and those who would attend the Highgate, Rokesly and Tower Gardens sites would be placed at greater risk due to the lack of provision in this area as a result of the proposals.

The following documents are attached –

a.      Report of the Monitoring Officer;

b. Report of the Director of the Children and Young People’s Service.