Agenda and draft minutes

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.

The Chair referred Members present to Agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda front sheet, in respect of filming at meetings, and Members noted the information therein.

Apologies for lateness were received by Cllr Makbule Gunes.

Cllr White noted that a late paper had been received relating to the Scrutiny Review on Hospital Discharge from the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel. This would be discussed under Item 11 (Work Programme Update).

None.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19^th January 2026 as an accurate record.

Cllr Connor highlighted several corrections and requests for information relating to the draft minutes of the meeting held on 19^th January 2026.

Corrections:

• Item 75 (Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2025/26) – Referring to paragraph g, it was noted that the total EFS (Exceptional Financial Support) figure of £603m by March 2031 was not referred to in the draft minutes.
• Item 75 (Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2025/26) – Referring to paragraph k, there was an acknowledgment that “Members should view the budget report, TMSS, HRA Business Plan and the Capital strategy as a suite of reports that provided the context as a whole” but no action point on how to take this forward.

Requests for information:

• Item 76 (Scrutiny of 2026/27 Draft Budget) – It was noted that the item on ‘Leisure Commercialisation’ included a commitment to provide details of social value but this had not been included in the Cabinet response. Clarification was requested on this point. (ACTION)
• Item 76 (Scrutiny of 2026/27 Draft Budget) – Cllr Connor noted that there was an action point on the ‘Debt Levels’ item to discuss the appropriate procedure for bringing information on the Council’s overall borrowing to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the Audit Committee during the Budget setting process in future years. She requested that this action point be followed up. (ACTION)

Cllr Small noted that the Housing, Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel had made a recommendation to Cabinet about the Neighbourhood Moves Scheme but this did not appear in the Overview & Scrutiny Committee draft minutes. (Note from Scrutiny Officer – The item on the Neighbourhood Moves Scheme was included in the list of scrutiny recommendations to the Cabinet and a full response was given in the agenda papers to the Cabinet meeting on 10^th February 2026. See item 15 of the table at: https://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/documents/s155991/5.%20Appendix%204%20Cabinet%20Responses%20to%20Overview%20Scrutiny%20Committee%20Recommendations.pdf)

With the above corrections taken into account, the minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

RESOLVED – That, following the corrections outlined above, the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th January 2026 be approved as an accurate record.

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

-       Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel – 16^th December 2025

-       Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel – 16^th December 2025

The minutes of the following meetings were noted:

• 16^th December 2025 – Adult & Health Scrutiny Panel
• 16^th December 2025 – Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel

Cllr Connor reported that the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel had an agenda item on the Haringey Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB) annual report at a Panel meeting on 16^th December 2025. In response to a question from Councillors, the Independent Chair of the HSAB had stated that there was no evidence of grooming gangs (in the context of group-based child sexual abuse) in Haringey. In order to verify this, the Panel had agreed to request and scrutinise the relevant crime data from the Metropolitan Police. Agreement had been reached with the Police to present this information at the next meeting of the Scrutiny Panel on 9^th February 2026 but subsequently declined the invitation a few days before the meeting.

Cllr Connor proposed that the Police instead be invited to attend the next meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 11^th March 2026. She noted that the grooming gangs issue covered the remit of three Scrutiny Panels represented by the Chairs of these Panels at the Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

• Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel – remit includes Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG)
• Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel – remit includes children’s safeguarding
• Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel – remit includes crime prevention & reduction.

 
Cllr White expressed his support for this proposal, noting that it was important for the Committee to look at how this type of crime was being recorded and to understand what was happening in the Borough. He also noted the cross-cutting elements of this issue across the Scrutiny Panels which made it an appropriate issue for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to consider.

RESOLVED – That the Metropolitan Police be invited to attend the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 11^th March 2026 to provide crime data on grooming gangs in Haringey.

To provide an overview of employment data and to respond to the Committee’s concerns about worklessness, insecurity of work and low pay.

Cllr White opened this item, noting that the Committee had requested this report due to concerns raised at the ‘Scrutiny Café’ consultation event about worklessness, insecurity of work and low pay in some areas of Haringey.

Helen McDonough, Head of Inclusive Economy, then introduced the report which included details of the Council’s programmes, initiatives and levers around employment and skills. It also provided background information from Capital City College about their work in Haringey. Helen McDonough highlighted some key points from the report:

• Haringey had higher overall levels of unemployment when compared to statistical neighbours and some areas of Haringey had some of the highest levels of unemployment in London.
• Within the number of people in Haringey who were economically inactive, there were relatively high levels of people who were inactive for reasons of ill health.
• Haringey had one of the lowest levels of job density in London which impacted on opportunities for residents to be able to access work. In addition, jobs in sectors that were lower paying were overrepresented in Haringey which contributed to high levels of people experiencing in-work poverty.
• The lack of the right skills was a significant issue for Haringey residents and the report included information about the support available. The Council provided direct services through the Adult Learning Service and Haringey Works and also worked closely with partners including Jobcentre Plus and Capital City College. The support provided by the Council was directed at those furthest from the job market who experienced the most barriers to employment as these were the residents who struggled to access mainstream provision such as Jobcentre Plus.

Mark Burrows, Group Principal, Adult & Higher Education at Capital City College then spoke about the work of his organisation and how, through the partnership with Haringey Learns and Jobcentre Plus, they were coordinating and channelling pathways for learners. He explained that 42.5% of the College’s learners had low prior attainment or no qualifications and the College had built pathways for them, including through ESOL (English for Speakers of Second Languages), English/Maths training and career advice and guidance. This approach was aligned to the GLA’s Inclusive Talent Strategy and Industrial Strategy. He added that Capital City College ‘Adult Achievement’ levels were in the high 90s (in terms of percentage). Finally, he noted that as part of National Apprenticeship Week, they were raising awareness around apprenticeships as a good option for Haringey residents to benefit from improved skills, income and social mobility.

Helen McDonough and Mark Burrows then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Cllr Gunes commented that most of the provisions offered by the Council were aimed at entry-level positions with low or no qualifications, but felt that there were other young people who may be more able, but were from disadvantaged backgrounds, who did not appear to be offered much support. Helen McDonough understood the concern but explained that around 80% of the funding was from external sources and tended to be focused on specific cohorts, particularly people who were inactive in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

To provide an overview of the Council’s workforce, strategic workforce planning and employee wellbeing.

Cllr Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance & Corporate Services, introduced the report for this item which provided an overview of the Council’s workforce, strategic workforce planning and employee wellbeing. She drew the Committee’s attention to Appendix A, which was a copy of the People report that is provide to the General Purposes Committees. She noted that the overall numbers had not reduced, particularly with the recent insourcing of Homes for Haringey and the Fusion contract for leisure centres.

Referring to paragraph 3.3.1 of the main report, Cllr Carlin said that the Council had a dedicated wellbeing hub with support and resources available on the staff intranet and various programmes for employees.

Dan Paul, Chief People Officer, reported that the Council had agreed a Workforce Strategy in July 2024 which led to a process of planning within directorates and services. The process developed by Human Resources for this was summarised in section 3.2 of the main report and was ready to be rolled out from Autumn 2026 in line with the new Corporate Delivery Plan and Council service planning in order to help deliver the next administration’s priorities. On workforce wellbeing, he noted that this was regularly discussed with the trade unions and, as illustrated in Appendix 1, sickness levels were currently on a downward trajectory.

Cllr Carlin and Dan Paul then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Cllr Small acknowledged and welcomed the recent success in bringing down the number of agency staff. However, he queried why, according to Appendix 1, there were the equivalent of 45 full-time positions who were off-payroll interims and consultants. Cllr Carlin responded that most of these were not consultants but were positions in certain areas with recruitment difficulties. While efforts were made to reduce this, this was an issue across all local authorities and included areas such as digital, surveyors, lawyers and finance. The Council aimed to address this by recruiting and training staff from universities, though this was difficult to do in competition with the private sector. She added that there were some staff who preferred to work on a consultancy basis rather than a Council salary, but were also generating significant income for the Council in the work that they were doing. Dan Paul clarified that the posts included in the Off Payroll Workforce section of Appendix A were only those costing £500 per day or more. He reiterated that these tended to involve technical or hard to find skills and some were short-term cover for senior posts so were not always more expensive than a permanent employee.
• Cllr Small queried whether there were aspects of the Council’s pay bands and structures that made it more difficult to recruit in certain areas. Cllr Carlin confirmed that it was possible to override salaries in hard to recruit areas and that this decision was taken on occasion. However, in some areas, even this was not sufficient to overcome the recruitment difficulties. Dan Paul added that this practice was referred to as a ‘market supplement’  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

To note the current 2025/26 work programme for the Committee and to propose any amendments as required.

Cllr White reported that the next meeting on 11^th March would include items on:

·       Q3 – Finance update

·       Q3 – Corporate Delivery Plan update

·       Approval of Scrutiny Reviews

·       Grooming gangs (TBC)

He added that there was a late submission of a Scrutiny Review report for approval from the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel. Cllr Connor, as the Chair of this Panel introduced the report which was on Hospital Discharge and looked at the overall joined up approach including reablement and integrated community care. Recommendations were based on improvements such as a stronger multi-agency community-based approach. Cllr Connor noted that there was ongoing work to redesign reablement services so there were considerations about how this would work and be monitored. She also highlighted the Home from Hospital offer, which was an approach to ensure that people being discharged from hospital to their homes had all the essentials such as food and heating at a time when they may require extra support. Continuing Healthcare (CHC) was also covered by the Review including the strengthening of residents’ ability to get the right information and for the Council to obtain the right levels of health funding, which had historically been lower than similar Boroughs.

It was noted that the Scrutiny Review had also been circulated to the members of the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel for final comments and so the Committee was requested to delegate any final minor amendments to the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel. Though not anticipated, it was agreed that any significant changes, including to the recommendations, would be circulated to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED – That the Scrutiny Review on Hospital Discharge be approved and referred to the Cabinet, subject to any minor amendments by the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel.

-       11^th March 2026 (7pm)

Dates of future meetings are noted in the agenda papers.

• Wed 11th Mar 2026 (7pm)