Issue - meetings

[Report  of the Assistant Director for Governance. To be introduced by the Leader of the Council].The report will seek to appoint Members to serve on the  sub committees set out below for the new municipal year 2016/17 and to confirm the terms of reference of these committees:

·         Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee

·         LHC Joint Committee.

The Leader introduced the report, which sought agreement to the re-establishment of the Corporate Parenting Cabinet sub-committee with the terms of reference contained at Appendix A and continued the joint committee arrangements with the LHC.

RESOLVED

1.    That for the 2016/17 municipal year, to establish the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee and the LHC as per the terms of references at Appendix A and B.

2.    Following political group nominations received after the Cabinet pack was published, the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee Members be as follows:

Councillor Weston Chair,

Cllr Stennett,

Cllr Berryman,

Cllr Jennifer Mann

Cllr Opoku

Cllr Hare

Cllr Morris

3.    That Councillor Strickland and Councillor John Bevan continue on the LHC board.

Reasons for Decision

To keep an overview of the Councillors statutory role as a corporate parent to children in care and young people leaving care.

The Council currently uses LHC frameworks as an efficient way of procuring technically complex products and services for its building refurbishment and maintenance programmes.

By becoming a Constituent Member of LHC the Council will benefit            from:

§  Influencing the future direction of LHC including the identification of new products and services which could be beneficial to the Council.

§  Increased learning of procurement practices and technical know-how for use by the Council’s officers in carrying out its own procurement programmes.

§  Share of the LHC annual surplus.

Alternative Options Considered

The Constitution advises that all Advisory or Consultative Committees will continue in operation only until the first meeting of the Cabinet, in the next municipal year following their establishment when they must be expressly renewed or they cease to exist. Therefore, the alternative option would be for the Corporate Parenting Advisory Committee to cease and this would mean that there is not a scheduled opportunity for Members and officers to meet and discuss the wellbeing of children in care and to ensure that the Council is meeting its corporate parenting obligations. This Committee is different to the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel as it concentrates on Looked after Children and care leavers and reports directly to the Cabinet. 

Haringey has been a Member of the LHC, formerly the London Housing Consortium, for forty years. In February 2012 the Haringey Cabinet approved a recommendation to remain in the LHC Joint Committee and leaving this consortium would affect accessing some shared procurement expertise and support on compliance.