Issue - meetings

Please note: the amendment proposed at the Corporate Committee meeting on 16 November 2021 is attached for reference. (Additional information to follow.)

This item was resumed from the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

The Chair highlighted that a late paper had been circulated on the day of the meeting and asked whether members required some time to consider the paper. At 7.05pm, the Committee agreed to a short adjournment. The meeting resumed at 7.10pm.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning introduced the report which provided a response and further information in relation to the motion moved by Cllr Ejiofor at the Committee meeting on 16 November 2021. It was explained that the report proposed to take forward the process for the renaming of Black Boy Lane based on the Committee decision made on 17 March 2021 whereby there would be a further period of consultation to provide further assurances to the residents of Black Boy Lane and to elicit their support for the change of street name. It was highlighted that residents and other groups were informed about the Committee’s decision in March and would have a legitimate expectation that further consultation would be undertaken. It was proposed that the consultation would run from 1 December 2021 to 19 January 2022 and that a further paper would be reported to the Committee on 1 February 2022.

In response to a question about the decision in March 2021 to undertake further consultation, it was explained that there had been delays due to the pre-election period where council business was restricted, that there had been a new Cabinet, and that the council was still responding to the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cllr Ejiofor noted that the paper referred to the requirement for an executive decision to fund the package of support for residents in the event that the renaming of Black Boy Lane was agreed. He added that the previous decision of the Committee had noted that funding for the street renaming had been identified and enquired whether this could be used. The Assistant Director for Commissioning explained that there could be some changes based on the results of further consultation with residents in the immediate vicinity and the proposal for an executive decision would allow for any alterations in case the existing funding was insufficient.

Cllr Ejiofor enquired about the time period between a decision in February 2022 and any implementation, noting that the pre-election period for the council elections would start in 2022. The Deputy Monitoring Officer stated that he was not aware of a minimum time period for the implementation of street renaming but that it might be necessary to check the requirements for this process.

Cllr Amin enquired about the timescales for consultation and enquired whether the figures could be benchmarked against similar work that had been undertaken by other authorities. The Assistant Director for Commissioning explained that the proposed consultation period would run from 1 December 2021 to 19 January 2022; this would end before the Committee meeting in February and would provide a good time period for consultation, acknowledging the bank holidays at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11

The Assistant Director for Commissioning introduced the report which responded to the Committee’s request for further consultation on the proposals for renaming Black Boy Lane before moving forward. In this context, the report detailed the council’s proposed approach to working with residents and communities on improving the diversity and representation in Haringey’s public realm. This report covered the range of issues where there were plans to engage with residents in relation to the public realm, the approach to co-production to be adopted, and a summary of work to date.

It was noted that a number of residents would be affected by street renaming and that the report considered the council’s approach to reviewing the council’s public realm and wider conversations. It was envisaged that the approach would be community led and would address systemic inequalities in the borough.

Cllr Ejiofor expressed his disappointment with the content of the report. He commented that the Committee had undertaken a long discussion at its meeting in March 2021 and that a number of recommendations had been made which were due to be implemented between March and October 2021. He stated that Black Boy Lane was offensive and that the report presented to the Committee appeared to delay the renaming of this street. He asked that the renaming of Black Boy Lane was separated from the broader review on street renaming across the borough. He added that the costs of renaming this street would be notional and would be met from existing budgets. Cllr Ejiofor expressed concerns that no action had been taken regarding the renaming of this street and stated that councils should lead change in relation to challenging racism.

Cllr Ejiofor moved the following motion:

This Corporate Committee has decided to separate the process for a broader buildings review from the process for moving forward with the renaming of Black Boy Lane.

The Committee recalls the comments made by the Corporate Committee at their meeting of 17 March 2021 and notes that the Committee has already agreed the following:

(i)            Considered the feedback from the Second Statutory Consultation ‘Notice of Intention’ on the renaming of Black Boy Lane to La Rose Lane, in particular, the Corporate Committee had noted the objections from residents and organisations directly affected by the proposed renaming;

(ii)          Considered and took into account the Equalities Impact Assessment of the proposed change on protected groups and the actions proposed to mitigate the impact including a commitment to provide support, a dedicated staff resource and resident/organisation payments; and

Furthermore, using the authority granted to this committee under the London Building Act (Amendment) 1939 Section 6(1) now agrees to the making of an Order to rename Black Boy Lane to La Rose Lane to take effect on 1 February 2022 and concurs that officers should now provide the necessary assurances to residents of Black Boy Lane for the change of this street name. The Committee also instructs officers that the support package offered to the residents be further explained and clarified.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11