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.

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 12 below).

None.

None.

Responses had been received from officers following questions about disabled accessibility at the previous meeting from Nazarella Scianguetta. This included a response from the Inclusive Response Service about a series of accessibility studies that had recently been carried out for the main high streets in Wood Green, Crouch End, Muswell Hill and Bruce Grove. A list of recommendations from the studies had been produced and shared with relevant departments to ensure that accessibility was embedded in policy going forward.

Cllr Connor highlighted the extensive scrutiny work carried out by the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel on improvements to aids and adaptations in people’s homes. She also noted that the most recent report on this issue from officers had stated that a new OT Aids & Adaptations Policy that reflected improved processes and practices was being finalised with the aim for completion by June 2025. Cllr Connor requested that details of the Policy be provided to the Committee. (ACTION)

Cllr Connor noted that information provided following the query about support from Adult Social Care for disabled people linked to a page on the Council’s website. However, while this provided information about some disabilities, it did not cover some conditions including physical disabilities.

Nazarella Scianguetta raised further concerns about housing for disabled people and reiterated some of the accessibility issues that disabled people experience in the Borough.

Cllr White proposed that further specific queries in these areas could be taken forward by the appropriate Scrutiny Panels.

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 18^th September 2025 be approved as an accurate record

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

-       23^rd June 2025 – Housing, Planning & Development Scrutiny Panel

-       30^th June 2025 – Adult & Health Scrutiny Panel

-       14^th July 2025 – Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel

-       28^th July 2025 – Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel

The minutes of the following meetings were noted:

• 23^rd June 2025 – Housing, Planning & Development Scrutiny Panel
• 30^th June 2025 – Adult & Health Scrutiny Panel
• 14^th July 2025 – Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel
• 28^th July 2025 – Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel

To consider the annual report which provides an overview of the feedback received by the Council in 2024/25 and how the Council has acted on the feedback to drive improvements.

Cllr Seema Chandwani, Cabinet Member for Resident Services & Tackling Inequality, introduced the report for this item. She acknowledged the high number of complaints recorded in the report, but reminded the Committee that the figures could not be easily compared with other Councils, for example if they had lower levels of housing stock compared to Haringey. Her main focus was on the content of the complaints. She also noted that some complaints received sometimes included factors which were not in the control of the Council.

Kirsten Webb, Feedback & Resolutions Manager, informed the Committee that the report provided a comprehensive summary of positive and negative feedback received by the Council between April 2024 and March 2025. It also reflected how resident feedback had driven service improvement and provided details of progress in specific areas. In Housing, there had been a high compliance rate of 99% for completion of orders issued by the Housing Ombudsman by the target date. However, there had been a significant rise in the number of Stage 2 escalations across the Council, with a 44% rise compared to the previous year. The placed greater pressure on Council resources as these cases tended to be more complex and time-intensive. Of the determinations made by the Housing Ombudsman, a higher rate of maladministration was attributed to Haringey Council when compared with the national average. In response to this, the Council was investing in additional staffing, a new case management system and the strengthening of internal monitoring.

Cllr Chandwani, Kirsten Webb and other officers then responded to questions from the Committee:

• Cllr White expressed concern about the deterioration over the last five years in the number of cases responded to on time. He asked if the Complaints team had the resources to deal with the volume of cases received. Cllr Chandwani highlighted specific changes such as the new case management system which would streamline the working of the team and ensure quicker responses. She also highlighted the emphasis on using complaints to inform improvements rather than adopting a defensive stance. Claire McCarthy, Director of Strategy, Communications & Collaboration, agreed that the new case management system would help with managing demand, including by reducing the amount of manual input required and freeing up more time to work with services on driving improvements.

• Cllr White asked what was going wrong with the Stage 1 complaints that was leading to so many cases reaching Stage 2. Claire McCarthy noted that some additional staff resources had been secured to deal with the increase in Stage 2 cases. She also reiterated the need to reduce defensiveness and to acknowledge mistakes at an earlier stage which would help to prevent the unnecessary escalation of complaints.
• Cllr Connor referred to the annual review letter from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman in July which stated that the Council’s timely compliance with recommendations remained poor, as it had the year before. She expressed concerns about the generally poor trajectory of performance in this area and noted that, according to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

Report to follow.

Cllr Seema Chandwani, Cabinet Member for Resident Services & Tackling Inequality, introduced the report for this item. She noted that Customer Services was a conduit to the Council’s main services and wished to acknowledge that it included some very hard-working frontline staff who were dealing with a range of difficult and diverse issues with a relentless level of demand.

Elaine Prado, Head of Customer Experience & Operations, then presented slides to the Committee which included the following points:

·       Performance levels were acknowledged to be at an all-time low both in terms of the percentage of calls answered (58% in September against a target of 90%) and the percentage of visitors seen in 20 minutes (61% in September against a target of 70%).

·       A key reason for the change in the performance statistics was the removal of the call capping from the telephony system. Previously, there had been two types of call capping:

o   A limit on the number of calls that could come into the system at any one point.

o   A limit on the number of callers that could join a queue on each line.

·       Since the removal of call capping, any number of people could join a queue and many would tend to wait until their call was answered.

·       There had been successive years of reduced budgets which inevitably led to reduced staffing.

·       The volume of calls to the contact centre was relatively steady. However, when the demand was matched to the budget and staffing available, this led to difficult figures. Ideally there would be 22.5 FTE posts to take calls against current actual staffing levels of 13.5 FTE posts on the phone lines.

Nathan Pierce, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer, then presented slides to the Committee which included the following points:

·       The Digital & Change team was involved in service modernisation through the digital transformation programme which would lead to improvements in the customer contact centre, primarily by reducing demand.

·       There was a new Digital Policy and a Digital governance structure that oversaw all digital and technology implementations.

·       Haringey’s internal team of developers were able to redesign entire processes in the Council from the first interaction with a resident to the end resolution being realised. The whole journey could be automated from beginning to end. 

·       The service modernisation programme was configured to be a savings programme so much of this work would have an impact on reducing demand to the customer contact centre.

·       The Service Modernisation Portfolio Board was overseen by Cllr Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance & Corporate Services, chaired by Taryn Eves, Director of Finance, and included all members of the Corporate Leadership Team.

·       The Board used a prioritisation framework to drive the business processes being worked on. This was primarily based on savings.

·       The Portfolio had been launched in May 2025 with work prioritised in Adults, Housing & Health and Children’s Services. There were around 25-30 live projects at any given time. There were at least 60 more of these projects in the pipeline and it was up to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To consider and approve the scoping documents and terms of reference for the following Scrutiny Reviews:

-       Provision of Services for Under 1’s and Delivery of Outcomes (Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel)

-       Cycling Safety and the Walking & Cycling Action Plan (Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel)

This item was for the Committee to consider and approve the terms of reference for two proposed Scrutiny Reviews.

Cllr Lawton introduced the scoping document for a Scrutiny Review on the Provision of Services for Under 1’s and Delivery of Outcomes by the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel. She explained that the aim was to look at provision particularly for babies and that there had been more evidence and information about what a crucial time this was for early intervention. The Review would therefore look at what services were available in Haringey in comparison to other Boroughs, including the new Family Hubs, whether these services could keep up with demand and the difference between families that could pay for various types of private services and those that couldn’t.

Cllr Gunes introduced the scoping document for a Scrutiny Review on Cycling Safety and the Walking & Cycling Action Plan by the Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel. She explained that the Review would look specifically at the Walking & Cycling Action Plan including a detailed look at the safety of roads for cyclists, cycling routes and how more people could be encouraged to cycle safely. Asked by Cllr Connor whether electric bikes would be included, given their speed and a number of accidents, Cllr Gunes confirmed that this would be covered in the scope of the Review.

The Committee welcomed the proposals for both Scrutiny Reviews and approved both of the scoping documents without any amendments.

RESOLVED – That scoping documents for the following Scrutiny Reviews be approved:

• A Scrutiny Review on the Provision of Services for Under 1’s and Delivery of Outcomes by the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel.
• A Scrutiny Review on Cycling Safety and the Walking & Cycling Action Plan by the Culture, Community Safety & Environment Scrutiny Panel.

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 of the Committee on 27^th November 2025 would be to scrutinise the areas of the 2026/27 Budget and MTFS that specifically related to the remit of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The next meeting shortly after this on 10^th December 2025 would include the Quarter 2 Finance update. The Quarter 2 Corporate Delivery Plan (CDP) update had also been pencilled in for this meeting but it was now understood that the next update would not be until Quarter 3 in March. This would enable an opportunity to scrutinise any areas that emerged from the Quarter 1 CDP update that had not yet been covered by the Scrutiny Panels. It would be necessary to specify in advance any areas for scrutiny so that the relevant Directors and Cabinet Members could be invited. Members were asked to send any requests for this by email. (ACTION)

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

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