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

None.

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 10 below).

None.

None.

A series of written questions were received from Nazarella Scianguetta on the subject of disability accessibility in the Borough, specifically in relation to high streets shops and cafes, parks and Council housing, and also on support provided by Adult Social Care and services provided for Aids & Adaptation.

Speaking to the Committee, Nazarella Scianguetta explained that disabled people in the Borough faced a range of challenges with accessibility. She informed the Committee that wheelchair users often could not access some shops due to produce and other obstacles occupying the floor space, some cafes due to a lack of ramps, or some parks because there were not sufficient pathways. She asked the Committee what the Council would do to improved accessibility and ensure that disabled people were able to fully participate in the local community.

Cllr White noted that there had not been sufficient notice of the questions to obtain a full response from Council officers but that a response would be requested and provided to the next meeting of the Committee.

Cllr Small explained that the most recent meeting of the Housing, Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel on 23^rd June 2025 had received a report on the issue of aids and adaptations. He suggested that the minutes of the meeting could be provided for information (NOTE: The report for this topic is available to view at: https://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/documents/s152115/Housing%20Aids%20and%20Adaptations%20Scrutiny%20Report%20-%20FINAL%20VERSION.pdf and the minutes are available to view at (see item 241): https://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/documents/s153658/Minutes%20-%2023%20June.pdf

Nazarella Scianguetta emphasised the importance of involving disabled people in meetings where relevant issues are discussed.

Cllr Gunes noted that inclusivity was an important consideration with parks, particularly in relation to visually impaired people, and that this policy area was part of the remit of the Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel. As the Chair of this Panel she would be happy to look into any specific concerns.

RESOLVED – That the Committee write to the relevant service Departments to obtain written answers on:

·       Disability accessibility in high streets and town centres

·       Disability accessibility in parks

·       Disability accessibility in Council housing

·       Aids & Adaptations

·       Support provided by Adult Social Care

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meetings held on 22^nd July 2025 be approved as an accurate record.

An opportunity to question Cllr Peray Ahmet, Leader of the Council, and Andy Donald, Chief Executive, on the Council’s priorities for 2025/26.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Peray Ahmet, and the Chief Executive of the Council, Andy Donald, introduced this item by setting out some key developments and achievements.

Cllr Ahmet began by highlighting the administration’s priorities of being competent, collaborative and radical which were included in the party manifesto and then turned into action through the Corporate Delivery Plan. Recent progress had included:

• 1,000 new Council homes will have been achieved by the end of 2025 and nearly 1,400 achieved by May 2026. This was against a target of 3,000 by 2031 so the progress was on track. The progress had been delivered through a combination of acquisitions and direct builds with Haringey being one of the only London Boroughs to still be building Council homes.
• Preparations were being made for the London Borough of Culture in 2027, following the award to Haringey last year. A new charity had been launched to oversee this and preparations included the completion of 36 ‘school streets’ which would increase to 40 by next year.
• Children’s Services had secured its first ‘good’ rating, SEND services had achieved the best possible rating and youth justice services had improved to a ‘good' rating.
• A focus on getting the basics right had included the approach to flood prevention and cleaning gullies on a regular basis.
• Investment of nearly £2m in eight parks, seven of which were in Tottenham and one in Wood Green.
• The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would be of the host venues for the Euro 2028 football tournament and the Council would be working with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and external partners on how this could best benefit residents.
• Working with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and other external partners on policy changes such as the expansion in the national funding for social housing and the new Renters Rights Bill which provides new enforcement powers for local authorities.

Andy Donald summarised a number of upcoming issues and challenges for the Council:

• In the national policy context, there were a number of reviews proposed including on adult social care, children’s social care and SEND.
• The reform of local government funding was not looking positive for Haringey in the medium-term and so senior officers and Cabinet Members were working to make the case for Haringey’s funding needs.
• Rising demand and costs of services was causing financial challenges with the cost of adult social care rising by 8.5% and temporary accommodation by 51% in 2024/25.
• Community cohesion was important in terms of recent events and there had been a lot of hard work to regain and build stronger connections with communities in recent years.
• In response to the recent CQC inspection, an Adult Services Improvement Board had been established which Andy Donald chaired along with cross-party membership. An OFSTED inspection on children’s social care was also expected soon.
• There was a rising number of complaints against the Council, partly because it was now easier to do so, and so significant resources were required to resolve these complaints. There had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

To consider the Budget report on the Council’s financial position at the end of Quarter 1 of 2025/26.

The report included with this item was first published as part of the agenda papers for the Cabinet meeting on 16^th September.

In opening the discussion on this item, Cllr White noted that the report in the agenda pack was on the financial position of the Council at the end of the first quarter of 2025/26 and had also been discussed at Cabinet earlier in the week. He added that the Scrutiny Panels would also be considering the report at their next meetings, including through the scrutiny of the relevant Cabinet Members and Corporate Directors.

The report was then introduced by Cllr Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance & Corporate Services and Taryn Eves, Director of Finance. Cllr Carlin explained that the Budget for 2025/26 had been set in March 2025 and had been increased based on the anticipated increased costs in various service areas. Unfortunately, the projections at the end of Quarter 1 (which estimated the position at the end of the financial year) showed that the increased funding had been outstripped by rising costs, particularly in adult social care and temporary accommodation. In addition, it was proving difficult to realise all of the ambitious savings proposals as there had been various savings and cuts over the past 15 years and so the newer proposals were typically ones that were more difficult to achieve. However, around 70% of savings proposals were currently on target.

Cllr Carlin noted that the pressure on adult social care was increasing as the number of people still requiring care packages continued to rise. With regards to temporary accommodation, Haringey was generally very effective in preventing people from becoming statutorily homeless which meant that the numbers hadn’t risen as much as in some other Boroughs. However, the shortage of suitable private accommodation meant that landlords were charging more and this was contributing to the overspend. Around 80% of the Council budget was used to provide statutory services.

Cllr Carlin said that the Council was doing everything it could to reduce costs as part of its financial recovery plan, including the use of spending control panels of senior directors to consider all non-essential spending of £1,000 or more. Non-essential recruitment was also limited where possible including by holding vacancies for longer and managers were looking at how to streamline procurement projects to use finances more efficiently. There was therefore some optimism that the overspend could be brought down.

Cllr Carlin and Taryn Eves then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Cllr White reiterated the high proportion of the Council budget that was for the delivery of statutory services and quoted paragraph 1.4 of the report which referred to a forecast overspend of £34.1m and the part mitigation of this through the use of £6.1m of uncommitted corporate contingency. He commented that this was only a short-term mitigation which would not be available in future years and queried how feasible it would be to resolve the structural financial issues. Cllr Carlin, responded that, while 80% of the budget was dedicated to statutory demand-led services, it was still possible to achieve reductions and streamlining within this. There needed to be a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To consider the report on the Council’s progress against the actions outlined in the Corporate Delivery Plan (2024-26) as at the end of Quarter 1 of 2025/26.

The report included with this item was first published as part of the agenda papers for the Cabinet meeting on 16^th September.

In opening the discussion on this item, Cllr White noted that, as with the previous item, the report had also been discussed at Cabinet earlier in the week. He noted that Directors and Cabinet Members were not available to respond to service-related questions, but that they could be scrutinised through the round of Scrutiny Panel meetings.

Margaret Gallagher, Strategic Lead for Data & Business Intelligence, explained that the report provided an update on progress against the Corporate Delivery Plan (CDP) at the end of Quarter 1. There was a different approach to the format, with highlights included in Appendix 1 and exceptions and areas that were not on track set out in Appendix 2. All of the 188 activity lines were detailed in Appendix 3 and the KPIs set out in Appendix 4. The KPIs were particularly pertinent as the government was introducing a new outcomes framework based on accountability for Councils in England with over 100 metrics. Haringey Council had provided a response to the consultation on the new framework.

Margaret Gallagher and Taryn Eves then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Referring to Appendix 1 on page 163 of the agenda pack, Cllr Connor noted the red performance indicator against the number of complaints upheld by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman. She noted that the letter to the Council from the Ombudsman stated that the Council’s response to the timely compliance recommendation remained poor and continued to add to the frustration and distress caused to complainants. Cllr Connor queried what was being done differently with the process to improve this. Taryn Eves noted that annual feedback & resolutions report was discussed at Cabinet earlier in the week which included some details about the response. Cllr White added that this report would be brought to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 20^th October which this could be discussed in more detail.
• Cllr White referred to the section on page 181 of the agenda pack about remodelling and restructuring customer services to be fit for purpose, noting that this strongly correlated with the negative feedback that the Committee had previously received through the Scrutiny Café consultation event about the experience that residents had in communicating with the Council. He suggested that this line of the CDP could be scrutinised as part of an agenda item on customer services that was scheduled to be brought to the meeting of the Committee on 20^th October. Cllr Connor added that a line about improving access to customer services on page 184 could also be included in this discussion. (ACTION)
• Cllr Small asked about the capacity within the Council to carry out significant modernisation, as referred to earlier in the meeting regarding digitalisation. Taryn Eves observed that the capacity and resource (particularly project support) to do this was now in place with regard to digitalisation, but other areas could always be progressed faster if there was more resource available. It was therefore important to target the resources that were available towards the areas where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider and approve the Scrutiny Review by the Housing, Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel on Temporary Accommodation (TA) Placements Policy and Private Rented Sector (PRS) Discharge Policy

Cllr Small introduced the report on the Scrutiny Review by the Housing, Planning and Development Scrutiny Panel on Temporary Accommodation (TA) Placements Policy and Private Rented Sector (PRS) Discharge Policy. He informed the Committee that the Review resulted from the work of his predecessor as chair of the Scrutiny Panel, Cllr Alexandra Worrell. The context of the Review had been the circumstances of Temporary Accommodation in the Borough and the impact on residents. Like many local authorities in London and elsewhere, the housing crisis was felt most acutely by some of the most vulnerable people at the most vulnerable times in their lives. The Review examined possible improvements that could alleviate pressures on residents who may require Temporary Accommodation. The evidence highlighted particular vulnerabilities of minoritised groups, victims of domestic violence and families within support placed out of Borough. Cllr Small noted that the Council’s ability to change the situation was limited which highlighted the importance of lobbying the government for national policy improvements and cooperating with other local Boroughs to ensure that they did not undercut one another. There also needed to be a duty of care from the Council to provide support with other needs that Temporary Accommodation residents may have. The Review also stressed how deeply the housing crisis was affecting residents, that the Council was taking this seriously and that the recommendations were intended to help alleviate the impact on residents.

Cllr Connor commented that this was an excellent report and welcomed the recommendations that were realistic and focused on services that the Council could help to provide. In particular, she highlighted the recommendation for a dedicated Temporary Accommodation support officer. She also asked about the potential to link families in Temporary Accommodation with Family Hubs that could provide additional support. Cllr Worrell said that the impact on families and children came out a lot as a theme of the Review and agreed that Family Hubs having an awareness of when children were placed in Temporary Accommodation would be a good idea that could potentially be discussed further through the Scrutiny Panels. (ACTION) Cllr Small noted that this link had been raised in a recent SEND briefing, including the potential benefits of early intervention and the risk of additional needs developing as a consequence of their housing circumstances.

RESOLVED: That the Committee approve the Scrutiny Review and that its recommendations be provided to the Cabinet for consideration.

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

Dominic O'Brien, Scrutiny Officer, noted that the two main agenda items scheduled for the next meeting on 20^th October 2025 were the Annual Feedback & Resolutions report and a report on customer services and resident experience in contacting the Council. He added that the meeting in December 2025 could be an opportunity to scrutinise specific areas of the Q1 CDP update – there would be a Q2 finance update report at this meeting but the next CDP report was not anticipated until the Q3 update (scheduled for March 2026). He added that the Scrutiny Review on Violence Against Women & Girls was currently scheduled to be provided to the meeting of the Committee in November 2025.

Referring to page 164 of the agenda pack, Cllr Small noted that the Ombudsman Complaints Code had been implemented and that the annual self-assessment was due in September 2025. He requested that details of this be included as part of the update on the Feedback & Resolutions report to the Committee in October 2025. (ACTION)

Dominic O'Brien reported that the Committee meetings currently scheduled for 11^th December 2025 and 12^th March 2026 would both be moved forward a day and were now expected to take place on 10^th December 2025 and 11^th March 2026. When final confirmation had been obtained on these date changes, the Committee would be informed and the Council website would be updated. (ACTION)

• Mon 20^th Oct 2025 (7pm)
• Thurs 27^th Nov 2025 (7pm)
• Thurs 11^th Dec 2025 (7pm)
• Mon 19^th Jan 2026 (7pm)
• Thurs 12^th Feb 2026 (7pm)
• Thurs 12^th Mar 2026 (7pm)

• Mon 20^th Oct 2025 (7pm)
• Thurs 27^th Nov 2025 (7pm)
• Wed 10^th Dec 2025 (7pm) (moved from Thurs 11^th Dec 2025)
• Mon 19^th Jan 2026 (7pm)
• Thurs 12^th Feb 2026 (7pm)
• Wed 11^th Mar 2026 (7pm) (moved from Thurs 12^th Mar 2026)