Issue - meetings

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

Findings from the Progress Review visit that took place in June 2024, as a follow-up to the Corporate Peer Challenge that took place in May 2023.

The Leader of the Council introduced the report for this item. It was noted that the Council had taken part in the peer challenge in May 2023, and this review showed the improvements that had been made on core Haringey deal priorities. The report demonstrated that good progress had been made to encourage communities to participate in decision making processes; for example, more than 700 residents were engaged to help shape the 10-year Borough Vision. In terms of some of the areas which were highlighted as requiring further improvement, these included the fact that there were not many opportunities for members and senior officers to interact outside of formal meetings to improve trust and confidence.

The following was noted in response to questions from Cllr Cawley Harrison –

-       In terms of the capital programmes, recommendations were around the governance, oversight and the size, all of which were works in progress at this stage. Some of the improvements that were set out in the report would be presented to Overview and Scrutiny Committee. There was still work to do to ensure that the overall governance was in place.

-       Officers were working to create different spaces for wider member and officer engagement. Efforts were put in to identify different ways of reaching members and providing information to them, a lot of these initiatives were driven by the Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality. The Member bulletin had been revamped and officers had put a lot of effort into reminding officers to brief ward members about initiatives going on in their ward. This was an ongoing piece of work.

RESOLVED

1. To note the findings set out in the report at Appendix A, which was produced by the LGA following the Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review that took place in June 2024.

2. To note the updates to the recommendations set out in the action plan at Appendix B.

Reasons for decision

There is an expectation that all Councils who take part in LGA Corporate Peer Challenges publish the reports that are produced as part of the process and take action in response to them.

This paper publishes the report that was produced by the LGA following the Corporate Peer Challenge Progress Review that took place in June 2024.

The recommendations are important in helping the Council improve, including building stronger relationships with residents and communities in Haringey and providing better, more efficient services.

Alongside the LGA’s report, the update on the action plan sets out what the Council is doing to respond to the recommendations from 2023, including specific actions, when they will be delivered, and who will be responsible for delivering them.

 Alternative options considered.

As this report is to share information and provide an update on committed actions, the only alternative is to not publish or share updates on this. It was decided this is not an appropriate option as the LGA expect the Council to be open and transparent and this is consistent with our approach and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89