Issue - meetings

The Leader of the Council, Councillor George Meehan, gave the following “State of the Borough” address:

Madam Mayor, fellow Councillors, Chief Executive, Officers, ladies and gentlemen.

May I start by saying how much pleasure it gives me to present to the Chamber the first State of the Borough Speech of this new Labour administration.

The people of the borough once again returned a Labour administration to run this Council on their behalf in May 2006 and my colleagues and I are proud to serve local people once again.

This State of the Borough speech means a great deal to me.

The more experienced Members in the Chamber will no doubt recall my previous State of the Borough speeches pledging, and reporting on, change, improvement, and progress for our residents.

This speech is different, for the achievements of Labour in transforming Haringey are now recognized nationally and this Council is now recognised as a high performing Council.

Recognition from the Audit Commission that we are this year, as an authority, "improving well", as we were for the first time last year, is testament to the determination with which myself and my colleagues have pursued improvements and driven through a transformation in the quality of council services.

What is more important, however, is that Haringey's residents share this confidence in their Council.  Residents have also noted the improvements that we have achieved, and will continue to achieve, as demonstrated in the recently published Residents Survey.

Evidence, Madam Mayor, as if it were needed, that Labour are the only party capable of governing Haringey Council.

I truly believe that we are now well prepared to achieve in the next few years a four star rating for this Council.

I believe that we can, and that we will, reach our goal of becoming an excellent Council, not just in the eyes of the Audit Commission but in the eyes of our residents as well.

The passion of my fellow Labour Councillors, and as I am in a generous mood - Members on the opposite side of the Chamber too - together with the dedication of our Council's officers, suggests to me that we all have our sight on the same goal: delivering excellent services for our Residents to improve the quality of life for everyone in the borough. They deserve no less!

To those of us on this side of the Chamber, excellent services are not just an end in themselves.  They are the means by which we deliver our programme of improvement for local people and through which we improve life chances for residents and transform our communities.

To us, excellent services are what enable us to achieve and drive forward the Labour agenda for which local people voted.

Haringey is the tenth most deprived local authority in England. This fact should unite all of us in this Chamber in our drive to improve the quality of life for our all diverse communities, to tackle inequality and to address the poverty  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88