The Committee received a deputation from Nick
Martin-Clark from the Haringey Leaseholders Association and Paul
Burnham from Defend Haringey Council Housing. NOTED:
- On the day
prior to the meeting, the High Court had granted permission for a
Judicial Review around a leaseholder specific issue, on the grounds
that the consultation process was flawed and that Homes for
Haringey (HfH) did not have a valid contract in place with Haringey
Council. The issues raised around consultation and accountability
could be applied to the proposed Haringey Development
Vehicle, particularly because the issue
that was the focus of the Judicial Review and the HDV related to
the Future of Housing Review. There were also direct legal
challenges being made to the Development Vehicle.
- The HDV
reflected the Government’s estate regeneration programme,
which was accompanied by minimal public funding and instead
encouraged local authorities to secure funding from the private
sector instead.
- There were
significant concerns around the protection of resident’s
rights of return and, despite verbal promises to the contrary,
protections were not reflected in written Council
policies.
- The
process of developing the HDV should be
halted to allow further scrutiny.
The Committee received a second deputation from
Adrian Weir, of the Unite trade union, accompanied by Danny Spencer
of the GMB union. NOTED:
- It was
surprising that Haringey had chosen Lendlease as its preferred
bidder. Lendlease had a history of anti-trade unionism and
blacklisting construction workers, which had had a devastating
effect on affected workers and their families. They had also been
found to have over charged on public sector contracts in America
and had had to pay significant compensation.
- In 2013
trades unions launched High Court proceedings against a number of
construction employers over blacklisting claims. A number of out of
court settlements were received in 2016; however a number of issues
remained outstanding.
- Lendlease
were one of the companies that had proceedings issued against them
and it had been confirmed in the construction press that Lendlease
had settled their cases. Blacklisters should not be rewarded with
public contracts.
In response to the deputation, the Committee sought
clarification on whether it was Lendlease that undertook
blacklisting or whether the cases referred to related to
Bovis, which had since been taken over
by Lendlease. Mr Weir responded that these cases referred to did
refer to Bovis, but Lendlease must have
been aware as part of the due diligence prior to the takeover. In
addition, there were more recent accusations of blacklisting
against Lendlease relating to the Bluewater shopping centre.
Cllr Alan Strickland, the Cabinet Member for
Housing, Regeneration and Planning responded to the deputations.
NOTED
a.
The consultation on the Future of Housing Review was
a consultation on tenancy management and did not look at wider
issues of regeneration, and was not a direct precursor to the
Development Vehicle. Tenancy consultation in areas like
Northumberland Park, including on estate renewal and regeneration,
started before the Future of Housing Review, and before the then
Prime Minister’s announcements on estate renewal.
...
view the full minutes text for item 11