Agenda and minutes

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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 in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein.

Apologies for lateness were received from Cllr Jogee.

Cllr Dogan advised the Chair that he had to leave the meeting at 19:30 due to a conflicting appointment.

There were no items of urgent business.

In relation to Item 8, Councillor Moyeed declared an interest having represented the traders in his professional capacity as a solicitor. The Councillor agreed to not be present for Item 8, when the Scrutiny Review of Wards Corner would be under discussion.

None.

* Clerks note - the Chair decided to vary the agenda to take the item on Wards Corner first. The minutes reflect the order in which items were discussed rather than the order on the published agenda. Cllr Moyeed left the room at this point in the meeting. *

The Committee received a report which sought approval for the amendments made to the scrutiny review report as a result of the comments received from third parties and the Assistant Director responsonsible for the Planning Service. The Committee welcomed the amendments made to the report and commented that these reflected factual corrections rather any changes to the recommendations or the report’s focus.

RESOLVED

     I.        That the amendments outlined in track changes to the Wards Corner scrutiny review findings (which was attached as Appendix 1 to the report) be approved.

    II.        That approval be given to publish the updated review report; and for Cabinet to consider and respond to the findings and recommendations.

To agree the minutes of the meeting on 15^th October as a correct record.

* Clerk’s note – Cllr Moyeed returned to the meeting at this point.*

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the 14^th October be agreed as a correct record of the meeting.

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

·         Adults and Health – 5^th September 2019

·         Environment and Community Safety – 3^rd October 2019

·         Housing and Regeneration – 12^th September 2019

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the following Scrutiny Panels were agreed and any recommendations contained within were approved:

·         Adults and Health – 5^th September 2019

·         Environment and Community Safety – 3^rd October 2019

·         Housing and Regeneration – 12^th September 2019

The Committee received an annual report and analysis of complaints, Ombudsman cases, Member Enquiries and FOI requests for the 2018/19 municipal year. The report was introduced by Andy Briggs, AD Customer Services and Debbie Darling, Acting FIG & Business Support Manager as set out in the agenda pack at pages 123-136. The following was noted in discussion of the report:

a.    The Chair set out that the classification of reasons for a Member Enquiry of general information/service requests needed to be better explained and reflect the fact that many Member Enquiries were requesting a service because there had been an initial failure the deal with a problem. In response, officers acknowledged these concerns and advised that management were planning to upgrade the Respond system and would give some further consideration on how to implement this. Action: (Andy Briggs/Debbie Darling).

b.    The Committee noted that the Information Commissioner was pushing back on local authorities who did not meet the 90% response time target.

c.    The Committee also noted with concern the fact that Haringey had the highest number of upheld Ombudsman cases and one of the highest number of cases in total. In response, officers acknowledged this and advised that the establishment of a partnership reporting group would help the organisation to learn from complaints across the Council and that Corporate Board had agreed to its establishment at a meeting earlier in the week.

d.    The Committee sought assurances around what was being done with staff on the ground to ensure learning from Ombudsman cases and learning from Stage 1 complaints  before they escalated to Stage 2. In response, officers advised that learning was captured and feedback across the Council through directors and that the FIG team offered onsite training with teams across the organisation. It was suggested that the partnership group would hopefully drive learning from complaints and provide an impetus at a senior level.

e.    In response to a follow-up question around whether there was sufficient capacity within the service to implement the learning from complaints, officers acknowledged that they were stretched at present but set out that in future they were aiming to have a much more proactive service offer and shift their focus towards learning from complaints. The Chair set out that the role of culture was important in all of this. As an organisation, the Council needed to make sure that it listened to its residents and their complaints.

f.     In response to concerns that Children’s Services had the highest number of upheld cases  by the Ombudsman, the Committee sought assurances about what review mechanisms were in place to improve performance. In response, officers advised that the service needed to get a good understanding of the context of the individual cases and understand the year on year performance to understand whether improvements were being made. The AD for Customer Services and Libraries agreed to feedback to the Committee an update on what was being done around review mechanisms, to ensure that under-performing services were being monitored and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Committee received a report on the impact of Universal Credit on Council tenants in Haringey. The report was introduced by Tracey Downie, Interim Head of Income Management for Homes for Haringey as set out in the agenda pack at pages 137 to 141. The following was noted in discussion of the report:

a.    The Committee welcomed the report and noted with concern that the picture portrayed in the report was significantly worse than the Committee were led to believe during the previous discussion held on the subject in July. The Committee were advised that there were 1529 tenants in receipt of Universal Credit (out of a total of around 17,000) and that it had a significant impact on residents’ income. Furthermore, research had indicated that residents in receipt of Universal Credit were twice as likely to be in rent arrears. Arrears tended to be worse for tenants that routinely moved in and out of work.

b.    The Committee raised concerns that some of the people who were worst impacted by Universal Credit did not have secure tenancies in social housing, but rather lived in private-rented accommodation or were housed in Temporary Accommodation.

c.    In response to a question, officers advised that the total debt owed to HfH from 1622 tenants on Universal Credit was £971.400. The Committee noted that there were around 20 new HfH residents that transitioned to Universal Credit a week.

d.    In response to a question around how arrears were monitored, the Committee was advised that HfH were able track arrears from the date of a tenant transitioning to Universal Credit to where they were now and that, residents routinely accrued rent arrears particularly during the transition period.

e.    In response to a request for further information around staffing resources available to support tenants on Universal Credit, the Committee noted that the whole income support team provided a level of support and that a number of engagement events took place for tenants on this. There were 2 welfare advisors within HfH that provided an array of support and considered whether there were additional benefits that the tenant was entitled to. There were 3 dedicated officers who dealt with Universal Credit, as well as other officers who worked on the bedroom tax and the benefit cap. In total, it was noted that there was a team of six or seven staff who provided dedicated support in one aspect or another. 

f.     The Committee raised concerns with online applications and the equalities considerations inherent within this. In response, HfH acknowledged these concerns and set out that the online application process was a policy decision taken by the DWP which had created a real challenge in some cases. Particularly, as recipients were expected to maintain an online journal and provide responses to the DWP through that online journal. Support facilities were offered by HfH and through Haringey CAB but these services often had to be booked in advance.

g.    The Chair commented that, in light of the update received,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The Committee received a Borough Plan 2019-23 Priority Performance update, which was the second update relating to the new Borough Plan priorities, outcomes and indicators. The report reflected the latest data available as at September 2019. The report was introduced by Charlotte Pomery AD Commissioning as set out in the agenda pack at pages 143-150. The following was noted in discussion on the report:

a.    In response to a question, officers acknowledged the Committee’s concerns around decreasing performance in relation to GCSE results and highlighted differential attainment starting earlier as key concern.

b.    The Committee sought further information around apprenticeships and how much money was generated through the apprenticeship levy. In response, officers agreed to give this some further consideration and circulate a briefing to OSC on the apprenticeship levy. (Action: Charlotte Pomery).

c.    The Committee requested further figures around the total number of rough sleepers in the Borough. Officers advised that there was a count due later that week and that the numbers would be circulated to the Committee shortly. (Action: Charlotte Pomery).

d.    The Committee considered the broader service offer around homelessness and suggested that more needed to be done to understand what was being offered, including supported accommodation, and to whom. The Committee suggested that this would be something for the Housing and Regeneration Panel to pick up. (Action: Chair, Housing and Regen Panel).

e.    The Committee sought further information around the Citizens Panel and its composition. Officers advised that the Policy team were leading on this as part of the implementation of the Borough Plan. The Chair requested that an update be provided at the March meeting as part of the consultation and engagement report. (Action: Clerk).

f.     The Committee sought further information in relation to the school exclusions data and questioned when it would be updated. Officers advised that there was a 12 month lag in the data which was national DFE data and it had been updated recently. The Chair advised that this was something for the Children’s Panel to consider further. (Action: Chair - Children’s Panel).

g.    The Committee set out that there should be some monitoring and tracking of performance data for schools where BAME children performed well. This item was referred to the Children’s Panel to consider further. (Action: Chair - Children’s Panel).

h.    In response to a query around how performance was being monitored on the Council’s pledge to build 1000 new homes, officers advised that there was a strategic indictors on housing completions and that this was reported up to the relevant priority board.

RESOLVED

That Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

1. Noted the high-level progress made against the delivery of the strategic priorities and targets in the Borough Plan as at the end of September 2019, the second update on progress against specified outcomes in the Borough Plan 2019-2023; and

2. Noted that measuring progress would continue with quarterly reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee against the new measures via the new Priority Dashboards published on Haringey’s website.

Terms of reference for the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Review into High Road West.

Terms of reference for the Adults and Health Scrutiny Review into Commissioning.

The Scrutiny Review on Business Support had been paused in light of the Review on Wards Corner. The Committee noted that the final report for the review into Fire Safety was pencilled in to come back to the March Committee.

The Committee noted that the draft terms of reference for the review into High Road West would come back to the Committee in January to allow further comments from the panel Chair.

RESOLVED

1. The Committee noted the work programmes for the main Committee and Scrutiny Panels at Appendix A of the report and agreed any amendments as appropriate.

2. The Committee agreed the draft scoping document and terms of reference for the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel Review on Adult Social Care Commissioning, as set out in the second dispatch agenda pack.

3. The Committee agreed the draft scoping document and terms of reference for the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel Review on the High Road West regeneration site as set out in the second dispatch agenda pack.

N/A

14 January 2020 (Priority X)

23 January 2020 (Budget Scrutiny)

12 March 2020

The future meeting dates were noted as:

·         14 January 2020 (Priority X)

·         23 January 2020 (Budget Scrutiny)

·         12 March 2020