Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Councillor Kaushika Amin   

Eugenia Cronin                                 -Susan Otiti substituted

John Egbo

Lynne Featherstone MP

Councillor Brian Haley

David Lammy MP

Joanne McCartney GLA AM

Martha Osamor

Councillor Lorna Reith

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of Urgent Business. (Late items will be dealt with under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under Item 15 below).

The Chair invited the Chief Executive of NHS Haringey to give an overview of the action being take following the World Health Organisations recent increase to the level of alert in relation to the possibility of a pandemic following the outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico.

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

No declarations were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2009 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Board considered a report that provided an update in relation to the actions agreed at the previous meeting in relation to the Partnerships response to the recession.

It was noted that since the previous meeting the Chair had written to Partners inviting them to join a time limited Task and Finish Group that would be responsible for developing the Partnership’s approach to the recession.

At the previous meeting partners had been asked to contact the Council’s Head of Economic Regeneration with suggestions as to how this work should be taken forward. However, to date nothing had been submitted and there was agreement that partners wishing to make suggestions should do so as soon as possible so that they could be considered by the Task and Finish Group at it’s meeting in May.

Concern was raised that work should be not be duplicated and it was noted that the Government had produced a booklet that listed all of the schemes and taking place in the Borough to assist local business. This also included the contact details of the organisations providing these schemes. There was agreement that existing information and initiatives should be mapped to avoid duplication.

It was noted that there was a link between a downturn in the economic climate and increases in the level of crime and it was suggested that this should be considered by the Group. Concern was also raised in relation to some of the statistics referred to in the report in relation to crime and it was requested that these were checked with the Community Safety team following the meeting.

It was contended that many of the actions listed it the report were happening independently of the Partnership and that Task and Finish Groups should concentrate on forming new initiatives that could ‘add value’. It was suggested that a benching marking exercise should be undertaken to see how other Local Strategic Partnerships were addressing this issue.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That a further report updating the HSP on progress should be submitted.

A presentation will be provided.

The Board received a presentation on reducing the harm caused by alcohol and discussed how the Partnership could tackle this.

An overview was provided of the national picture and the prevalence of alcoholism in Haringey. It was noted that there was a clear link between economic deprivation and mortality.

The partnerships key indicator in terms of alcohol harm was National Indicator (NI) 139 (number of alcohol related hospital admissions). As part of the measures taken to address this an Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy had been formed, which included actions for a range of partner agencies and focussed on addressing:

• Alcohol related crime
• Impact of alcohol abuse on children and families
• Alcohol related violence

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety raised concern that at present there was insufficient focus on addressing the link between domestic violence and alcohol abuse. Work recently commissioned by the Safer Communities Executive Board and the Police suggested that between 70% and 80% of domestic violence was linked to alcohol abuse.

In response to a query the Board was advised that work was being carried out to gauge what impact the economic downturn was likely to have on alcohol harm and once further information was available a report would be brought to the HSP.

It was noted that improved coding of alcohol related admissions was partly responsible for the statistical rise recorded. However, it was considered that there was an underlying upward trend in the number of admissions.

Following general discussion the Board broke into groups and the questions set out below were considered two questions: What can your organisation contribute to alcohol harm reduction in Haringey and what can you do as individuals?

The following points were made:

Group 1

• It would be useful if information in relation to hospital related admissions was shared between the Police and NHS and analysed to inform a better joined up approach to knife crime and gun shot wounds and other crimes.

• Information sharing may also be used to determine how attitudes to alcohol within different ethnic groups impacted on crime and health issues.

• The Group felt that more preventative work could be carried out be GP’s to reduce alcohol related admissions.

Group 2

• The Group had discussed the link between Mental Health and alcohol abuse and there was agreement that a more joined up approach could be formed.

• Currently Crisis Resolution teams had direct access to people’s homes and it was suggested that links should be developed with the NHS and Social Services to flag up where additional support may be required.

• It was suggested that more liaison between clinicians and the Mental Health Service would be helpful.

• It was requested that the Council formally support the Chief Medical Officers view that there should be a minimum price per unit for alcohol.

• It was suggested that front line advisors working for Job Centre Plus should be trained in how to detect signs of alcohol abuse and mental health issues.

Group 3

• There needed to be a clear message and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update on the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) from Christine Moody of the Audit Commission.

It was noted that guidance was published on the Audit Commissions website in relation to the CAA and that this was updated in a regular basis. At present confirmation of the contacts for Local Authorities was still awaited and once confirmed this details would be circulated.

The CAA Self Evaluation was due to be received on 14 May and feedback from the Audit Commission would be provide in June.

The Board received an update from John Brown, Chair of the multi agency Working Group tasked with pulling together the evidence for the Self Assessment. The Group had taken an overview of the Partnerships LAA targets and how a more coordinated approach could be taken to achieving these.

A Special meeting of the HSP Performance Management Group (PMG) was being organised to consider the Self Evaluation prior to submission.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update be noted.

The Board received a report that provided an update on the development of Haringey’s Community Engagement Framework (CEF).

It had been agreed that the CEF should be established in order to provide a process and mechanism for the Partnership to engage with the local community on specific issues. The Third Phase of development was due to commence in May and would primarily focus on the CEF Delivery Plan.

In order to ensure that the CEF was as accessible as possible a ‘plain English’ version of the document was also being produced.

It was noted that it would be useful if the CEF were aligned to the User Involvement Framework established by HAVCO and the Voluntary Sector Team and there was agreement that reference would be made to this in the document.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Community Engagement Framework be agreed in principle.

2. That, as the final version may be subject to change following the final consultation period, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion and Involvement be delegated authority to approve the final version.  

The Board considered a report proposing guidelines for supporting and strengthening the links between the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) function and the HSP.

As part of the powers granted to the O&S function under the Local Government and Involvement in Public Health Act 2007, which came into effect in April, O&S was now able to scrutinise relevant partners and require them to provide certain information. The relevant partner authorities were now also required to give regard to recommendations made by O&S. 

In the light of these powers proposals had been put together to form a protocol setting out how the O&S arrangements would operate in relation to the Partnership.

It was noted that there had been provision within separate legislation for O&S to scrutinise the NHS and local health services for several years now. It was suggested that work should be carried out with partner organisations before  O&S looked at the Partnership to ensure that there was an understanding of what its remit was.

It was contended that the O&S Work Programme may need to forward plan  on a longer term basis in order to review the Partnership effectively. Whilst this point was taken on board it was noted that members of the O&S Committee determined the work plan.

The Chair noted that O&S had key role to play in supporting the delivery of the Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement targets and advised that Members of the O&S Committee were considering options for adopting a longer term Work Programme.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed guidelines be adopted.

The Board received a report setting out proposals for a Strategic Commissioning Framework (SCF) that would guide commissioning activity in relation to the HSP’s Area Based Grant allocation.

It was noted that the Enterprise Partnership Board (EPB) was currently piloting the Framework and that a draft Commissioning Prospectus had been produced. The Framework had drawn on other models of good practice and had looked particularly at the ‘Team Hackney’ model.

In response to concerns that the Community and Voluntary Sector did would not have sufficient time to build capacity within the Sector, if the SCF was adopted in the timescale proposed, the Board was advised that representatives from the Community and Voluntary Sector sat on the Commissioning Group tasked with developing the SCF.

It was noted that the Commissioning Group had been meeting regularly over the last nine months and that representatives sitting on the Group were responsible for ensuring that their respective organisations briefed on the development of the SCF.

Although the SCF was broadly welcomed by the Community and Voluntary Sector it was suggested that there should be more analysis of how the Area Based Grant (ABG) was allocated by sector and that this should be built into the SCF.

It was suggested that there should be provision within the Contract Monitoring part of the commissioning cycle to analyse cost effectiveness with a view to decommissioning projects where appropriate.

In response to a query the Board was advised that the SCF would be phased in as funds were allocated to the Thematic Boards over the next financial year.

It was confirmed that the SCF would begin to be phased in before the Pilot was complete therefore the pints raised during discussion would need to be fed back to the Commissioning Working Group.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Strategic Commissioning Framework be endorsed.

2. That a review of the effectiveness of the arrangements should be undertaken in twelve months time.  

3. That there should be further analysis by sector of the how the Area Based Grant was allocated.  

Please use the link below to access this report:

http://harinet.haringey.gov.uk/draft_area_based_grant_programme_2009-2010.pdf

The Board received a report, for information, that set out proposals for the creation of a Children’s Trust to replace the current Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board (CYPSPB)

It was noted that a Children’s Trust was being established following recommendations contained within the Joint Area Review (JAR) of Children’s Services in Haringey.

In response to a query regarding proposals in relationship establishment of Sub-Groups beneath the Children’s Trust the Board was advised that one of the options put forward was that these should be established on a geographical basis. An Away Day was currently being organised for members of the CYPSPB to discuss this and other issues in more detail.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report that set out a draft Whistle Blowing and Confidential Reporting Policy for the HSP.

It was noted that it was considered best practice to have a dedicated Whistle Blowing Policy in place for Local Strategic Partnerships that set out clearly how the partnership would respond to any allegations made against partners.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed HSP Whistle Blowing and Confidential Reporting Policy be adopted.

The Board received a report that provided an overview from each of the Thematic Boards of the work carried out during the last cycle of meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To consider the admission of any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.

No new items of Urgent Business were raised.

To consider any items of AOB.

No items of AOB were raised.

To note the dates for HSP meetings during the new Municipal Year 2009/10:

• 23 June 2009
• 5 November 2009
• 21 January 2010
• 25 March 2010

Concern was raised with regard to the scheduling of meetings and the length of time between the June and November meetings. It was requested that this was reviewed when the calendar for the 2010/11 was compiled.