Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Centre, High Road, Wood Green, N22 8LE

Contact: Philip Slawther, Principal Committee Co-ordinator 

Media

Items
No. Item

55.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. 

 

By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

 

The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair referred those present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting and asked that those present reviewed and noted the information contained therein.

 

56.

Apologies for Absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received

57.

Urgent Business

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with at item 14 below).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair advised that a call-in had been received in respect of the decision of Cabinet on 3rd July 2017 to enter into legal agreements with the preferred bidder and establish the Haringey Development Vehicle.

 

Under Paragraph 9, Part Four, Section H of the Council’s constitution: “Discussion of any called-in decisions shall precede all other substantive items on the agenda of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee”.

 

*Clerk’s note: The Committee considered the call-in item as the first item of business, however these minutes follow the order of the agenda.*

58.

Declarations of Interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Additional documents:

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

59.

Deputations/Petitions/Presentations/Questions

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a deputation from Paul Burnham from Haringey Defend Council Housing in relation to the called-in decision by Cabinet to establish the HDV, who made the following points: 

  1. The land assembly agreement did not contain a right of return for housing association tenants, instead the Council would have to make an extra payment for each tenant and their right of return. It was suggested that this was symptomatic of the power imbalance of the relationship between the Council and Lendlease.
  2. Lendlease did not believe in affordable homes.
  3. The documents presented to Cabinet did not show any tenure breakdown for Northumberland Park.
  4. The decision to enter into contract with Lendlease contradicted the Housing Strategy and other key Council policies, as a well as contradicting the key aims and principles of the Local Plan.
  5. The proposals outlined in the Cabinet report did not deliver what the Council said it would and the Committee was asked to send it back to Cabinet.  

 

In response to a request for clarification from the Committee, Mr Burnham acknowledged that, in relation to his point around tenures, he would have expected to see a breakdown of the number of social homes being built as part of the affordable housing strategy. In response to a request for further information around the alleged contradiction of Council polices and the proposals contained in the HDV, Mr Burnham advised that the Council was in the process of revising its estate renewal and rehousing policy to include a right of return for housing association tenants, which the HDV Land Assembly Agreement stated would not be offered for housing association tenants.

 

 

The Committee then received a deputation from Phil Wilkinson, Phil Rose and Sam Leggatt on behalf of Stop the HDV, who made the following points:

  1. The voices of Northumberland Park Residents had been completely ignored. Ms Leggatt advised that she was a resident in Northumberland Park and had not been consulted on these proposals.
  2. It was unfair to expect members of the public to read and comprehend over 1400 pages of documents in a week.
  3. Questions were raised as to why the demolition of the mosque   and the Asian centre on Caxton Road were not mentioned in the documents.
  4. Mr Wilkinson questioned the transparency of the process with the public, giving the example that he had submitted a Freedom of Information request and been told that there were no minutes of meetings held with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
  5. No comprehensive risk assessment had been publically disclosed and there were serious questions around a lack of due diligence.
  6. Alternative options should be examined.

 

In response to a query from the Committee on whether undertaking consultation at this stage would be welcomed by residents, Ms Leggatt advised that she did not think there was much use doing so at this late stage. Ms Leggatt advised that the Council had set up a consultation area on Park Lane recently but that the whole process felt very late and out of touch. The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

60.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 119 KB

To approve the minutes of the 13th June as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

61.

MINUTES OF SCRUTINY PANEL MEETINGS pdf icon PDF 203 KB

To receive and note the minutes of the following Scrutiny Panels and to approve any recommendations contained within:

 

Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Panel – 6th February

 

 

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

62.

Corporate Plan 2015-18 Priority performance update on Building a Stronger Haringey Together pdf icon PDF 184 KB

The report provides an update to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of performance against the outcomes and strategic priorities in the Corporate Plan 2015-18, reflecting the latest data available as at June 2017. It provides an overview of key performance trends and an assessment of progress against targets and objectives on an exception basis.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

63.

Provisional Outturn 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 838 KB

This report sets out the Council’s provisional budget outturn for the year ended 31 March 2017.  It sets out the provisional revenue and capital outturn for the General Fund showing the variances against budget together with the movements on reserves and the provisional capital and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue outturn. It also provides explanations of significant under/overspendings

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

 

64.

Updated Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2017/18 - 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

The report sets out the updated Treasury Management Strategy Statement and

Prudential Indicators for 2017/18 – 2019/20 to OSC before it is presented to Corporate

Committee and then Full Council for final approval. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

 

65.

Scrutiny Review on Fear of Crime pdf icon PDF 139 KB

The report sets out the findings of the review by the Environment & Community Safety Scrutiny Panel into fear of crime.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

 

66.

Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 118 KB

The Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report details the work of the five scrutiny bodies in Haringey, and the North Central London Joint Health OSC.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred.

 

67.

Overview & Scrutiny Work Programme pdf icon PDF 593 KB

The report outlines the indicative 2016/17 scrutiny work programme for approval by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

In addition to the recommendations set out in the report, the Committee AGREED that Councillor Jennifer Mann be removed from the Housing and Regeneration scrutiny panel and that Cllr Adam Jogee be removed from the Environment & Community Safety scrutiny panel.

RESOLVED

  1. To discuss and agree the indicative scrutiny work programme for the scrutiny

panels 2017/18 attached at Appendix 1of the report, having considered the Committee’s work programme at its June meeting.

 

  1. To discuss and agree the draft scope and terms of reference for the

Committee’s inquiry into Fire Safety in High Rise Buildings and the

Environment and Community Safety’s review on Parks, as set out at

Appendix 2 of the report.

 

  1. To note the briefing for Members on suicide prevention, as attached at

Appendix 3 of the report. This follows the letter from the Chair of the Commons’ Health Select Committee on Councils’ scrutiny role in relation to suicide prevention plans, and will be taken forward by the Adults and Health Panel.

 

  1. To note that further review work will be prepared and draft scopes referred

to the Committee at future meetings.

 

68.

New items of urgent business pdf icon PDF 255 KB

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The call-in of the Cabinet’s decision of 3 July Haringey Development Vehicle: Financial Close and Establishment was accepted as a new item of urgent business.

Stephen Lawrence Orumwense introduced the Monitoring Officer’s report setting out the process and the Monitoring Officer and chief finance officer’s view that this decision fell within the policy and budget framework. Following an outline of the process for the call-in meeting, and the possible outcomes available, the Chair invited Councillor Hare to set out why the signatories had requested the Cabinet decision be called in and the alternative action proposed.

Cllr Bob Hare set out his reasons for the Call-in and stated that he did not claim that the decision was outside the policy or budget framework. He believed that the establishment of the HDV should be referred back to Full Council to reconsider the scheme and with a vote on a proposal not to proceed with the scheme. It was felt that the scheme was too risky and offered too few benefits and protections to existing leaseholders and tenants. The regeneration schemes brought about by the HDV would fail to deliver adequate numbers of genuinely affordable social housing and that existing leaseholders would not be able to afford homes on a redeveloped estate.

 

Cllr Hare advised the Committee that the Liberal Democrats were concerned that a large amount of the papers recommending the Cabinet decision to form the HDV were exempt and had not been seen by the majority of Councillors. Furthermore, proposals for the HDV had failed to take into account the experiences of tenants and leaseholders from other similar schemes undertaken by different local authorities. Cllr Hare also advised the Committee that the Liberal Democrats were concerned with the choice of development partner, given their record on affordable housing, union blacklisting and over-charging of clients elsewhere. The timing of the proposals poor, given uncertainty around Crossrail 2 and the potential for a significant downturn in the housing market.

 

The Committee clarified that, should the Call-in be referred to Full Council, it would simply entail Full Council scrutinising the decision rather than the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and with the same available outcomes of the scrutiny. Full Council would not have the power to decide whether to proceed as Cabinet was responsible for taking executive decisions. Cllr Hare acknowledged the respective roles and functions of Cabinet and Full Council, but stated that the Liberal Democrats felt that the whole Council should be given a vote on it as it was probably the biggest and riskiest decision ever taken by Haringey.

 

The Committee sought clarification around what aspect of the Member Agreement cast doubt on the guaranteed right of return. Cllr Hare responded that he was concerned with the prioritisation outlined in the documents for a single move from current accommodation, with any move away likely hindering a return, for example, once a child had been enrolled in a different school.

 

The Chair invited Cllr Clive Carter to address the Committee in support of Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

69.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of Item 17 as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraph 3 – information relating to the business or financial affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting by virtue of Paragraphs 3 & 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972.

70.

New items of exempt urgent business

To consider any items admitted at 3 above.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the information contained in the exempt part of the report.

 

71.

Future meetings

To note the dates of future meetings:

 

16th October 2017

21st November 2017

16th January 2018

29th January 2018

26th March 2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The future meeting dates were noted as:

 

16th October 2017

21st November 2017

16th January 2018

29th January 2018

26th March 2018