Issue - meetings

[Report of the Chief Executive.To be introduced by the Leader of the Council.]

Formal adoption of final Borough Plan, incorporating consultation feedback, performance indicators, governance arrangements.

Appendix b – EQIA for Borough Plan to follow

The Leader introduced the report and set out the key ambitions behind the compilation of the plan which had been based on the manifesto. This included building 1000 Council homes in Haringey .The Leader expressed that the Cabinet were ambitious for Haringey’s future and for the people who live here. The Borough Plan set out the priorities of the Council and its partners for the next four years; and sets out the framework to deliver on this agenda for the borough together.

The Leader outlined that to achieve these goals, the Council need to change how it did things. The administration wanted to run an open, collaborative Council that genuinely engages people in shaping the borough’s future.

The Leader emphasised the default position of the administration which was to deliver services directly where this was prudent to do so, in order to maximise accountability, quality and other benefits to the community, as well as improving value for money where possible. The administration believed that public services need to be responsive to change and more democratically accountable.

The Borough Plan sets out the priorities for the borough. The consultation and engagement had confirmed that these were also top priorities for residents:

• Housing Haringey’s people: We believe that increasing the supply of traditional Council housing is one of the most important things we can do.
• Building and retaining wealth in our community: We will work to increase the prosperity of Haringey residents. We will put greater emphasis on procuring goods and services locally. We’ll support small and medium sized businesses to create high quality local jobs. Public pound spent on the community.
• Tackling serious violent crime: in particular, setting out a public health approach to tackling youth violence.
• Reducing inequality and making Haringey a fairer place: tackling inequality underpins everything we do.    

In addition to the requirement to identify and agree organisational priorities and objectives, the Council had a legal duty to set a budget. The administration were adopting a number of principles to guide them in making financial decisions, to make sure that the Council focused resources where there was the greatest need, and minimised the impact of cuts on those who need the Council’s support the most. The Budget was published alongside the Borough Plan and has been developed in parallel to it.

The Pledges were also set out and demonstrated the Council’s need to work with stakeholders and partners in the borough.

In response to questions from Cllr Dennison and Cllr Connor the following was noted:

In relation to the risks around keeping spending local, this was aimed at exploring how the Council spend money in a broader sense and of course there would be consideration of Haringey in the London context. The Cabinet recognised that there were local suppliers that employ local people and there would be further detail on what local should mean.

With regards to the saving on flexible police resources, the Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety, and Engagement commented on the appropriateness of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84