Issue - meetings

Verbal update

The Committee received a verbal update from the Leader of the Council, Cllr Ejiofor, on his policy priorities for the coming 12 months. Zina Etheridge, the Chief Executive of the Council was also present. The Leader advised that the Borough Plan sought to demonstrate how the Council would work closely with stakeholders and the wider community to deliver its objectives. The priorities for the administration were closely aligned to the objectives of the Borough Plan.

The Leader set out key areas of delivery in the past 12 months, which also closely reflected Labour’s manifesto commitments.

·         To build 1000 new houses by 2022. The Leader advised that, as of the first year, there were 227 new homes in the pipeline and that there was a natural time delay between acquiring sites etcetera and those houses being delivered. It was anticipated that the majority of homes would be delivered in years three and four. The Committee was advised that the decamp of two blocks at Broadwater Farm was a key challenge  and had put additional pressures on the Council’s housing stock. The Leader identified that the Council had received £262m from the Mayor of London and that there was due to be nearly £1 billion investment scheduled for housing across Haringey, including renovating derelict homes.

·         Violent crime in the Borough – The Youth at Risk Strategy was taking a public health approach to tackle this. The Council had consulted widely on this strategy and had received significant buy-in from partners and local stakeholders. The Council received £1.5m from the Mayor’s Young Londoner’s Fund. As part of the Haringey Community Gold there was a dedicated team of outreach social workers in place to engage with young people at risk. The Leader also set out that the Council had added an additional £250k into the youth services budget.

·         Fairness Commission. 1500 people had contributed to the engagement work around the Fairness Commission. Work was continuing about how we would take the issues raised and tarry them up to the Borough Plan.

·         Making Council Tax fairer through the Council Tax Reduction scheme. The Leader advised that through this scheme the administration had taken 6000 people on the lowest incomes out of paying Council Tax.

For Year 2, the Leader set out the following five priority areas for his administration.

·         Insourcing. Following a number of changes to the portfolios of Cabinet Members, Insourcing had been centralised and would now be the responsibility of the Leader. The Committee noted a lot of other Councils were looking at similar undertakings. Insourcing provided the Council with a lot more flexibility and control over how the money was spent.

·         Community wealth building. This was around ensuring that as much of public sector spending stayed within the local economy in Haringey. The Leader advised that he had established a Cabinet Member for Local Investment and Economic Growth to push this agenda.

·         Housing. The administration was looking to build its first new homes in July at Templeton Road in Seven Sisters. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22