Agenda and 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 item one on the agenda in respect of filming at the meeting and Members noted the information contained therein.

To note any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Yvonne Denny.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of Interest.

There were no deputations, petitions, presentations, or questions.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting on 12 October 2023 as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the previous meeting on 12th October 2023 be agreed as a correct record.

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

·         Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel – 18^th September

·         Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel – 21^st September

·         Climate Community Safety & Culture Scrutiny Panel – 11^th September

·         Housing, Planning & Development Scrutiny Panel – 20^th September

RESOLVED

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

·         Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel – 18th September

·         Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel – 21st September

·         Climate Community Safety & Culture Scrutiny Panel – 11th September

·         Housing, Planning & Development Scrutiny Panel – 20th September

To receive an update on the Leisure Services.

The Panel received a report which provided a summary of the current position regarding the provision of leisure management within Haringey and the steps being taken to enhance that provision.

Before the report was introduced, the Chair advised the following:

Cabinet is due to consider a decision on Leisure Management at their meeting on Tuesday 5^th of December and the papers for the Cabinet meeting are being published later this evening.

In accordance with the scrutiny procedure rules and access to information rules, we will continue to consider the report at hand and raise questions/ issues/ concerns on the information in this report. Please can it be noted that the contents of the Cabinet report will not be referred to in responses as the report is deemed an officer report with recommendations and no decision has been made by cabinet on this report.

Advice has been provided by Democratic services, supported by Legal services, that this is the appropriate way forward as Scrutiny are considering the report in line with Constitution provision at part 4 section G and paragraph 9.1, following the OSC meeting in July. This is not a pre-call in and also not a policy review contained in the work programme to allow the report to be shared with Scrutiny and discussed at a public meeting prior to consideration by Cabinet.  

In view of this being a key service area which has been of considerable concern to us as a Committee, I have agreed with Democratic services that the Committee officer will take a close note of the matters raised in the discussion and I will review these notes and compare to the content of the Cabinet report and then further attend Cabinet to raise any outstanding issues /concerns from this committee meeting not addressed in the report.

The report was introduced by Cllr Emily Arkell, Cabinet Member for Culture Communities and Leisure. Also present for this item were Mark Stevens, AD for Direct Services & Simon Farrow, Head of parks and Leisure. Cllr Arkell introduced the report as set out in the agenda pack at pages 51 to 57. The following arose in discussion of this agenda item:

a.    The Panel outlined the degree of frustration felt by the local community in the amount of time that the swimming pool at Tottenham Green Leisure Centre had been closed. A member of the Panel commented that there were a large number of marginalised residents in and around Seven Sisters and that its closure had a disproportionate impact on a range of different groups. Of particular concerns was children with autism, as swimming was a vital lifesaving skill. The Panel member sought assurances around when the pool would be open.  In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged the frustrations felt by residents and advised that the Council had offered residents the option of using Park Road leisure centre in Hornsey, but it was understood that this was not an option for everyone. Residents were also able to use Fusion managed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive a report and accompanying presentation on the impact of the introduction of voters ID requirements for elections.

The report was introduced by Councillor Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment as set out in the agenda pack at pages 57 to 92.

By way of introduction, the Panel was advised that this report provided details of the impact the introduction of Voter ID had on elections, the additional legislative changes which had been implemented and those which were scheduled to be implemented in accordance with the Elections Act 2022 and other government legislation.

It was noted that voter ID was problematic for a certain group of people, mainly for the younger population. Statistics outlined that 1% of people were turned away from voting for not obtaining a valid voters ID. Unfortunately, the statistics were not able to gather data on details including gender, age, and ethnicity.

Research had also been carried out around the potential number of people who may not have had an ID to vote. There was an estimation of around 9500 Haringey residents who did not have a voter ID. Haringey, compared to other London boroughs, had the benefit of carrying out the by-elections with voter ID and there had been work done to encourage people to have voter ID and this was also outlined in the presentation as set out in the agenda pack.

The following arose during the discussion of this agenda item:

a)    It’s very difficult to obtain quantitative date on the amount of people who did not turn up due to not having an ID to vote. However, the presentation highlights the turnout for the local government by-elections. Low turnouts resulted in analysing data difficult.

b)    Officers advised that during the last election, it was noted that many people arrived with an ID and those who arrived without an ID, later came back with an ID to vote.

c)    There had been 4 local government by-elections this year, 3 of which were after the introduction of voter ID. These by-elections have allowed the Electoral Registration Officer / Returning Officer to further refine plans in advance of major elections in 2024.

d)    The Communications plan promoted voters ID by reaching out to local residents in the wards by emails, letters, posters, leaflets, and digital advertisement.

e)    In response to a follow up question, the Committee was advised that by using more different creatives digitally, this would encourage a higher turnout, raise awareness, and prompt people to apply for a voter ID if needed.

f)     The Committee was provided with an update on the new parliamentary boundaries. The Committee heard that the final set of boundaries was approved by the Privy Council early November. Following the dissolution of the current parliament, the current Tottenham and Hornsey & Woodgreen would cease to exist. They would be replaced with Hampstead and Highgate, Hornsey and Friern Barnet, Southgate and Wood Green, and Tottenham (amended boundary). There were also plans to start the voter registration and voter ID campaign in February 2024.

g)    The Committee noted that in terms the Voter Authority Certificates, these were all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive an update on Finsbury Park Events.

The report was introduced by Cllr Emily Arkell, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities & Leisure as set out in the agenda pack at pages 93 – 100.

This report provided a summary of the current position regarding:

• The income generated from major events in Finsbury Park,
• What that income had been spent on
• The impact of that funding on other parks.

The borough held a number of major events in Finsbury Park every summer with over 10,000 people in attendance. This year, there had been two weekends with major events which included the Wireless Festival and the Krankbrother event.

Since 2012, the council had generated £8.7 million from events, and of that £7.4 million had come directly from events hosted in the park. The income had varied year on year both as the popularity of events had increased, but also following the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions during 2020 and 2021. This year, the income generated from events was approximately £1.27 million.

There were four key areas of spending of the income generated in the park which included:

• Money being reinvested in the park to improve or add new facilities in the park.
• Funded the base level of management that all parks in the borough received.
• Spending on an additional level of staffing resources dedicated to Finsbury Park.
• Spending on the cost of the events team who generated the income and managed the delivery of the events.
• There had been no major events during 2020-21 and this had been down to Covid.

The following arose during the discussion of this agenda item:

a)    The money generated from major events at Finsbury Park, would not contribute towards any of the maintenance and up keeping of any other parks in the borough.

b)    In terms of the events team at Finsbury Park coving other events, the Committee was advised that events were also held in other parks and part of the events team cost was met from other events, but the lions share 93-95% was funded by events in Finsbury Park.

c)    In terms of the base level of service for the park, Finsbury Parks Management forms part of the wider management of parks in the borough and received input from a range of shared service delivery including playground maintenance, machinery, grass cutting, The Conservation Volunteers, and other similar services.

d)    Most of the funding for the parks came from events. It was noted that over time, the money the Council provided to fund Finsbury Park had been replaced by the income generated from these events. As a result, Finsbury Park benefitted from maintaining and improving the park and did not fall into a position where savings had to be made elsewhere in the borough.

e)    The Committee sought for clarification regarding the spending of the income generated by Finsbury Park as the report highlighted that the overall cost of maintaining the park in 2022-23 was circa £1.61m. Officers confirmed that the Council still provided funding to Finsbury Park every year and was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To follow.

The report was introduced by Philip Slawther, Principal Scrutiny Officer as set out in the additional reports pack of the agenda at pages 1–4.

The Committee was advised that this reports sets out a number of changes to the membership of the scrutiny panels due to resignations and that the Committee to agree the changes to the membership as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

That Committee considered the report and agreed the changes to the membership.

Report to follow

The report was introduced by Philip Slawther, Principal Scrutiny Officer as set out in the additional reports pack of the agenda at pages 5 – 46.

Under the agreed terms of reference, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could assist the Council and the Cabinet in its budgetary and policy framework through conducting in-depth analysis of local policy issues and could make recommendations for service development or improvement.

The Committee may:

(a)  Review the performance of the Council in relation to its policy objectives, performance targets and/or particular service areas.

(b)  Conduct research to assist in specific investigations. This may involve surveys, focus groups, public meetings and/or site visits.

(c)  Make reports and recommendations, on issues affecting the authority’s area, or its inhabitants, to Full Council, its Committees or Sub-Committees, the Executive, or to other appropriate external bodies.

In this context, on 28th November 2022, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed to set up a review project to look at Landlord Licensing in the Private Rented Sector.

The Committee provided positive feedback and credited all the hard work around producing this report. 

The Committee noted that this report would go towards the Council Forward Plan and presented to the Cabinet in the next few months.

RESOLVED

      i.        The Committee considered the report and approved the recommendations as set out in the report.

    ii.        The Committee agreed to submit this report to Cabinet for a response.

To receive a verbal update on the Work Programme.

The report was introduced by Philip Slawther, Principal Scrutiny Officer as set out in the agenda pack at pages 101 – 112.

This report provided an update on the work plan for 2022-24 for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee was advised that next meeting was scheduled for 9 January 2024 where the meeting would be reviewing the Complaints Annual Report and the budget recommendations around Communication, Strategy and Engagement.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee to note the report.

There were no new items of urgent business.

·         9 January

·         18 January

·         11 March

·         9 Jan 2024

·         18 Jan 2024 (Budget)

·         11 March 2024