Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Councillor Kaushika Amin

Tracey Baldwin                                  -Penny Thompson substituted

Councillor Bob Harris

Councillor Niglun Canver

John Egbo

Michael Jones

Maria Kane

Joanne McCartney GLA AM

Sharon Shoesmith

Walter Steel

The Chair welcomed John Brown of the London Fire Brigade and noted that this was his first meeting as a member of the HSP.

Members of the HSP must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decision required with respect to these items.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2008 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the amendments set out below, the minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2008 be confirmed as a correct record:

1)     Michelle Stokes be added to the list of those present.

2)     Minute number HSP85, paragraph 5, first line, be amended to read:

‘It was noted that approximatley twelve per cent of the funding available had been allocated to Third Sector projectors.’

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under Item 17 below).

No items of Urgent Business were received.

A presentation will be made.

The Board received a presentation on the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA).

An overview was given of the scope of the CAA and it was noted that it was comprised of two key strands:

Area Assessment

This strand would consider how effectively local public services delivered local priorities, economic prospects, community safety and potential for future improvement.

Organisational Assessment

This strand would consider the use of resources and performance management and how the Council, Police, Fire and PCT delivered value for money through their combined use of resources and performance management.

In assessing this four key themes would be considered:

• Management of finances
• Governing business
• Managing resources
• Managing performance

In terms of the Area Assessment the following key areas that it would focus upon:

• How well do local priorities express community needs and aspirations?
• How well are the outcomes and improvements needed being delivered?
• What are the prospects for future improvements?

It was noted that the Local Authority would be required to produce and publish an Annual Summary, which would include an overview of key priorities, overall successes and challenges and a summary of future prospects. It was envisaged that these would form a tool for members of the public wanting to obtain an overview of the Borough.

In addition to this a flag system of red and green flags would be used to indicate areas where arrangements were considered inadequate to deliver improvements or where exceptional or innovative practice was demonstrated.

The Board was advised that that the CAA would take a more holistic approach to assessing performance and would gather evidence over the course of a year rather than focussing on a limited period.

It was noted that the following timescale for the introduction of the CAA had been set out:

• January 2009:            Publication of CAA Framework
• February 2009:          Publication of Final Council CPA Results
• November 2009:       Publication of First CAA Reports 

In response to a query, the Board was advised that as the CAA was perception based, there were no specific sanctions within it that could be issued against the Local Authority or Partners if they failed to meet these. There were sanctions under existing legislation that could be applied where performance was unacceptable.  

The Board was advised that the Audit Commission would have access to existing validated data and that this would inform the inspection.

In response to query as to how the role of the Voluntary and Community Sector would be measured, the Board was advised that the Council’s relationship with HAVCO would be considered and the involvement of the CLF representatives on HSP and Thematic Boards.

The Chaired noted that each partner organisation would now need to consider it would address the four key themes set out above. 

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

This report will be sent to follow.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of performance against National Indicators (NI’s) included within the Local Area Agreement (LAA) during the 1^st Quarter of 2008/09.

It was noted that at present there were a number of Indicators where data was not available at present. However, the report provided information based on the latest available data, in order to give an indication of current performance.

The Board was advised that four risk areas had been identified:

• Prevalence of Chlamydia in under twenty year olds
• Improved street and environmental cleanliness levels of graffiti and fly posting
• The percentage of non-decent Council houses
• Domestic violence –repeat victimisation

Overall performance during the 1^st Quarter had been good. It was acknowledged that the lack of data available in relation to some Indicators was disappointing. However, it was envisaged that this would be resolved in many instances during the 2^nd Quarter.

In response to a query, the Board was advised that the survey referred to under NI 1, which was due to have taken place in September, had not yet been completed. However, the work had been carried out and the survey would be published in November.

The Board discussed hospital admission rates and it was noted that, despite having the highest alcohol mortality rate in London, alcohol related hospital admissions were relatively low in the Borough. The Director of Public Health noted that this issue was recognised by the PCT and that the new Alcohol Strategy included actions to develop understanding in this area.

There was agreement that future reports should provide an overview of the measures being taken by each Thematic Board to address Indicators showing as Red.

The Chair underlined the need for Thematic Boards Chairs to be proactive in their management of performance issues. 

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted and the measures set out in the report to address areas of under performance be noted. 

2. That future reports should include details of the measures being taken by the relevant Thematic Boards where Indicators were showing as Red.

A presentation will made and there will be an opportunity for discussion.

The Board received presentations on two under performing LAA targets, NI 113: Prevalence of Chlamydia in Under Twenty Year Olds and NI 195d: Improved Street and Environmental Cleanliness Levels of Graffiti and Fly Posting.

Following the presentations the Board considered the following three questions and considered how these could be address:

• What are Partners doing to support this priority?
• What further actions would you like to undertake?
• What support would you need to undertake these?

NI 113:Prevalence of Chlamydia in Under Twenty Year Olds

During discussion the following suggestions were made:

• It was noted that young men in the category were particularly difficult to target and there was agreement that the Partnership needed to identify new ways of reaching this group.

• It was suggested that facilities used by young men such as gyms, barbers and leisure centres should be used to promote Chlamydia testing and general alertness of sexual health.

• There was agreement that flyers and leaflets to promoting Chlamydia testing should be distributed to all partners and that partners should ensure that these were available at any relevant event or place.

• It was noted that the PCT had created a dedicated website to promote and provide details of Chlamydia testing and it was agreed that details of this should be circulated to Partners.

• That Partners should ‘market’ the message about Chlamydia testing and raise awareness amongst the community generally.

• It was suggested that representatives from each organisation should be trained to act as a contact point for cascading information on Chlamydia. A list of contacts should be compiled and circulated to partners.

• That ways of better utilising social networking sites and IT should be considered.

• There was agreement that schools had a key role to play in raising awareness of sexual health and Chlamydia amongst young people. Rather than just addressing the issue of Chlamydia in isolation, work should be carried out with schools to mainstream this into this existing curriculum.

• That there should be analysis of the number of young people who were tested for Chlamydia outside the Borough and where these tests were being conducted.

• That the next issue of Haringey People should be used to publicise where Chlamydia testing could be taken and information available in relation to testing.

NI 195d: Improved Street and Environmental Cleanliness Levels of graffiti and Fly Posting

The Board discussed the number of prosecutions in the Borough and was advised that there was not always a correlation between the number of prosecutions and the reduction in the number of instances of fly posting.

It was noted that there was already information sharing between Boroughs regarding regular offenders.

The Board was advised that in order to pursue a prosecution individuals had to be caught first hand. Without this type of evidence it was not possible for a prosecution to be taken forward.

During discussion the following suggestions were made:

• That the Police and the Council’s Enforcement Team should liaise and share details of known ‘hot spots’ with a view to the Police  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.

The Board received a report that reviewed Performance Management across the Partnership and included recommendations to assist in embedding this.

As part of the introduction of the new HSP Performance Management system consultants had been employed to produce guidance on the roles and responsibilities of the Thematic Boards. As part of this a series of workshop sessions had been held and a process had been developed for the Thematic Boards to use.

It was envisaged that the 2^nd Quarter would see the embedding of the Performance Management Framework.  This would be monitored by the HSP PMG.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report that presented the findings of the Area Based Grant Review.

It was noted that the Review had taken place during July and August at the request of the HSP PMG. Of the one hundred and forty-four projects assessed one hundred and sixteen had received Green status, twenty-two Amber and six had been rated as Red.

In order to ensure that the process was fair and transparent it had been reviewed against criteria contained within the Haringey Compact. The review had been carried in conjunction with colleagues from the Community and Voluntary Sector and found that the process met the criteria.

It was suggested that it would be useful if the information contained within the report was also analysed be Sector.

RESOLVED:

1. That the recommendations, as set out in the report, be noted.

2. That consideration be given to analysing the information contained within the report by Sector.

The Board received a report outlining proposed amendments to the HSP’s Terms of Reference.

The amendments were proposed in order to reflect expectations placed on Local Strategic Partnerships (LSP’s) following the publication of new Statutory Guidance and the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA).

The adoption of the new HSP Code of Corporate Governance also required the Terms of Reference to be reviewed in order to make reference to the Community Link Forum and its role as the mechanism for providing representation from the Community and Voluntary Sector.

In order reflect that the Fire Service was included within the list of public bodies assessed under the CAA, a position on both the HSP and PMG had now been allocated to the organisation.

In addition to this the Mental Health Trust had renewed its membership of the HSP and the PMG had agreed that ‘Breakfast Meetings’ should be held with representatives from the Private Sector to facilitate its involvement with the Partnership.

There was agreement that the designation of ‘Councillors’ within the membership list should be moved from the heading ‘Voluntary and Community Sector’ to ‘Statutory and Core Agencies’ under ‘Haringey Council.’

It was noted that there were sometimes circumstances in which a deputy may need to be sent on more that two consecutive occasions. There was agreement that the wording in relation to this should be revised to state that it was unacceptable to give apologies for more than two consecutive meetings without a substitute being fielded.

RESOLVED:

That revised Terms of Reference, as presented within the report, be adopted, subject to the amendment set out above in relation to the use of substitutes at meetings.

The Board considered a report that presented the Council’s Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy 2008-11.

It was noted that this built upon the previous Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy that had ended in March 2008 and took into account new statutory duties and guidance.

A strategic framework was proposed that set out how the relevant Thematic Boards would manage delivery of the activities within their responsibility. An  Alcohol Strategy Group would also be formed, which would report to the Safer Communities Executive Board, Well-Being Strategic Partnership Board and Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board to ensure that each of the strands were properly coordinated and delivered effectively.

The Board was advised that the Local Authority had a statutory duty to produce a Strategy and that Government guidance stated that this should address all alcohol related harm.  The Strategy also reflected local priorities reflected in the Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement and the importance of providing an effective and coordinated response from a wide variety of organisations was noted.

In response to a query as to whether additional posts referred to in the report had now been approved, the Board was advised that at present this issue was not resolved. There was agreement that documents being considered by the Board should be updated, as far as possible, before being submitted for consideration.

It was noted that further guidance was likely to be received from the Government during the life of the Strategy and therefore it was suggested that the foreword should make clear that it was a ‘living document’ that would be updated on a continual basis to reflect these changes.    

RESOLVED:

1. That the strategic priorities contained within the Strategy be endorsed.

2. That the proposed strategic monitoring  and evaluation framework be endorsed.

3. That the proposed approach and delivery programmes be supported by the Board.

The Board received a report that provided details of the Council’s new Child Poverty Strategy and Action Plan.

It was noted that the need to address the levels of children living in poverty was recognised under National Indicator (NI) 116 of the LAA. The key aim of the Strategy was to ensure that the Council and its Partners worked together in a joined up way to reduce child poverty in the Borough and the Strategy and Action Plan set out proposals for tackling this issue.

The Strategy and Action Plan had been consulted upon with the HSP Thematic Boards and the Youth Council and the consultation period was due to close on 5 November 2008.

The Board was advised that a Working Group, consisting of Members and officers of the Council, had been established in order that the Strategy was properly considered by all Council departments. It was suggested that Partners should take similar steps to ensure that their organisations were assisting in achieving the Strategy’s objectives. 

It was noted that the changes in the current economic climate were recognised and measures to address this were being considered.

It was suggested that the Strategy should place a greater emphasis on the contribution that better health standards could make to quality of life. 

RESOLVED:

That the Child Poverty Strategy and Action Plan be noted.

The Board received a  report that provided an update on progress against Haringey’s Core Strategy and the future programme for taking the Core Strategy forward for adoption.

The Council’s Cabinet had approved the first stage of the Strategy in December 2007. The Council had opted to produce a ‘Preferred Options’ document that would be consulted upon with statutory bodies, stakeholders and the public before proceeding to the final draft stage.

The revised timetable for adoption of the Core Strategy was due to conclude in Summer 2010.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the outcome of the consultation on the Issues and Options paper and the next stages of the Core Strategy.

The Board received a report setting out the Council’s response to a Green Paper published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) ‘No One Written Off: Reforming Welfare to Reward Responsibility’.

RESOLVED:

That the Council’s response to the Green Paper be noted.

This report is for information.

The Board received a briefing paper that provided an overview of the how the LAA National Indicators selected by Haringey compared with those chosen by its ‘Nearest Neighbours’ (as defined by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Association (CIPFA)). It also drew comparisons with other London Boroughs and provided a picture of the picture nationally.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted. 

The Board received a report that provided a summary of the activities undertaken by each of the Thematic Boards since the last HSP meeting.

In addition to the information contained within the report the following additional updates were provided:

Better Places Partnership

It had been agreed that the Better Places Partnership and Integrated Housing Board should hold two joint meetings per year in order to provide an opportunity for discussion of their shared priorities.

Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board

A successful event had been held at the World Café to launch the new Children’s Plan. The event had been attended by over one hundred people involved in delivering the Plan.

Enterprise Partnership Board

A successful event had been held on ?? to launch the Families into Work project at Northumberland Park. 

Integrated Housing Board

Nothing further to add.

Safer Communities Executive Board

The Board had agreed to hold its meetings in two parts, consisting of a general business section and a discussion forum where a specific topic was considered.

Well-Being Strategic Partnership Board

A Health Inequalities event was being held on 25 November and members of the Board were welcome to attend.

RESOLVED:

That the report and verbal updates provided be noted.

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 3 above.

No new items of Urgent Business were raised.

To consider any items of AOB.

Public Appointments/Volunteering

The Chair reminded the Board that there had been agreement that it should take an active role in increasing the number of people taking an active role in public life.

Due to a lack of interest, an event due to held on this issue, in July, had been cancelled. He asked for Partners support in raising the profile of this issue.

Haringey Compact -10^th Anniversary Celebration

The Board was advised that an event was being held on 10 November, at ?? to mark the 10^th Anniversary of the Haringey Compact.

To noted the following dates of future meetings:

• 26 February 2009
• 27 April 2009

The Board was asked to note the following dates of future meetings:

• 26 February 2009
• 27 April 2009