Agenda and minutes

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at the meeting.

The meeting was recorded for live or future broadcasting on the Council’s website.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Newton, for whom Councillor Butcher was acting as substitute.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Bull.

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 7 below. New items of exempt business will be dealt with at item below).

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

Councillor Butcher declared a personal interest as a leaseholder and school governor.

Councillor Adamou declared a personal interest as one of her daughters was a social worker and one of her daughters was a teacher.

Councillor Mallett declared a personal interest as she was on the Schools Forum and Broadwater Farm Community Centre was in the ward she represented.

Councillor Winskill declared a personal interest as a leaseholder.

Councillor Adje declared a personal interest as a school governor and Chair of the School Admissions Forum.

Yvonne Denny declared a personal interest as Chair of the management board of the Triangle Children’s Centre.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were no such items.

To update Members on the financial planning position and to consider the Pre Business Plan Reviews (PBPR) 2010/11 to 2012/13 in respect of the portfolios for:

1.         Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance

2.         Resources

3.         Enforcement and Safer Communities

4.         Community Cohesion and Involvement

5.         Children & Young People

Children’s and Young People’s Service

Cllr Reith, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, introduced the pre-business plan review and responses to requests for information in which a number of issues relating to budget pressure were drawn out, such as the increase in the number of children in care and the Southwark judgement, which would have an impact on all local authorities. It was reported that a briefing note had been circulated on issues relating to the Early Years funding formula and that £8.5 million had been provided by central government for the creation of additional primary places in response to an anticipated increase in demand in the borough, and that work to create additional capacity had already commenced.

In response to a general question from the Committee, Kevin Bartle, Corporate Finance, advised that Committee members had been provided with information on the revenue budget for reference to the base budget position during their discussions.

In respect of question 1 on fees and charges, the Committee noted that the response provided did not give an indication of the amount that was anticipated to be raised and requested further detail. It was reported that fees had been reviewed in order to reflect recent changes in tax credits, and that it was anticipated that the proposed increase in fees would increase income by around £70k. Charges covered by Service Level Agreements, where schools had the ability to choose their provider for non-statutory services,  had also been reviewed in order to ensure that the full cost of providing those services was covered. In response to concerns that Haringey had been reported as not being competitive in respect of Service Level Agreements, it was reported that Haringey offered additional value, such as security, even where they were not the cheapest, as some external providers were prepared to loss-lead. The Committee asked about procurement issues, and it was reported that the Council offered the ability to procure on behalf of a number of schools in order to achieve savings, although schools were free to use other providers. In response to a question from the Committee, it was confirmed that, if a significant number of schools chose to go to other providers for a particular service and not to use Haringey, there would come a point where it was no longer viable for the Council to offer that service to the remaining schools, who would be advised accordingly. Cllr Reith reported that Haringey was doing as much as possible to be the provider of choice for schools in the borough.

The Committee asked whether there had been any development in the campaign on the area cost adjustment for Haringey. Cllr Reith reported that she had attended a meeting with Diana Johnson MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, with David Lammy MP, Tony Brockman and Neville Murton, which had been useful. Haringey’s case had been put forward at the meeting, and appeared to have been fully understood. It was reported that the Department for Children, Schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

There were no such items.