Issue - meetings

Verbal update

The Committee undertook a Q&A Session with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment. The following arose as part of this session:

a.    The Committee enquired whether any decision had been taken in relation to setting the next year’s Council Tax rates. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that this was still under consideration at the current stage.

b.    The Committee asked for further information about how participatory budgeting would work. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that there were a variety of different models but that Haringey would be looking to involve resident engagement in its future budgetary processes. It was also suggested that this would include allowing local groups to spend local pots of money, such as the Carbon Fund.

c.    In response to a follow-up question, the Cabinet Member advised that she did not envisage consulting on the budget at an earlier stage in future, given how late much of the funding information was received from government and the resultant difficultly in making that engagement meaningful.

d.    The Committee sought assurances from the Cabinet Member about the level of borrowing proposed as part of the capital budget. In response, the Committee was advised that officers had provided assurances about the need for robust business plans to be in place and the need for continuous monitoring. The Cabinet Member set out that in times of austerity, the capital budget allowed the Council an opportunity to improve things for local residents, such as providing better parks and better housing.

e.    The Committee sought clarification about whether the Cabinet Member was suggesting that there was a risk that by not investing in the borough through the capital programme, that the long terms costs to the revenue budget would be even higher. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that this was absolutely the case and cited the Safety Valve project as a relevant  example of invest to save.  

f.     The Committee queried whether the local authority had considered the impact of budget deficits on schools in the east of the borough, including the fact that a number were having to make teachers and teaching assistants redundant. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged these concerns and advised that this was a prominent issue at the forefront of people’s minds, which had been raised at a number of recent meetings that she had attended.

RESOLVED

Noted.