Agenda and minutes

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at the meeting.

The meeting was web-cast for live or future broadcasting on the Council’s website.

An apology for absence was received from Helena Kania (LINks).

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 below).

RESOLVED that the briefing on the NHS White Paper, “Liberating the NHS” – Department of Health consultation on the future of the NHS, be considered at agenda item 12.

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.

Councillors Gideon Bull and David Winskill declared personal interests in agenda item 6 as they were Council leaseholders.

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

There were no such items.

Briefing and answers to questions – Councillor John Bevan, Cabinet Member for Housing.

The Committee received the portfolio briefing and the responses to advance questions posed to Councillor John Bevan, Cabinet Member for Housing.  The Committee asked supplementary questions, the answers of which are noted below.

Re. Q2.  The Committee noted that private rental sector housing had been utilised in order to reduce the demand for poor quality temporary accommodation.  Officers stated that the Government’s housing benefit proposals would result in onward migration and a rise in the use of poor quality temporary accommodation and the Council was working with other boroughs to set minimum standards which landlords were expected to meet and had agreed that none of the boroughs involved would use poor quality temporary accommodation.

During the discussion about temporary accommodation it was agreed that the minimum standards criteria would be circulated to Committee members (action 59.1). Members were encouraged to notify the housing department about any cases of poor accommodation that were a concern.

In response to questions it was noted that the east of the Borough saw high use of temporary accommodation, however, much was outside of the Borough, mainly in LB Enfield, but all within London.  The Council was working towards bringing all temporary accommodation placements back inside the Borough.

The Committee asked how over-occupancy was being tackled and how residents were being persuaded to move into smaller properties. It was informed that the lettings policy had been amended to enable the best use of government grants to offer financial incentives to tenants and good support from officers was key.  It was noted that 16 under-occupancy moves had been arranged so far this year.  The aim was to encourage between 70 to 100 each year through home-swap and mutual exchange initiatives.

Re. Q13. The Assistant Director Strategic & Community Housing was asked to provide information about the future of Larkspur Close sheltered housing scheme in the report being presented to the Committee on 1^st November 2010 (action 59.2).

Re. Q20.  In response to the concerns officers acknowledged the challenge in the decision to invest by way of capital or revenue but recognised that much of the funds came from housing benefits (revenue) which could not be spent on capital projects.

Re. Q22.  It was noted that under its local procurement strategy Homes for Haringey could employ local businesses if they met the quality and cost criteria and offered local apprenticeships.

In response to the Committee’s question, it was noted that there were usually between 200-220 empty (due to people moving out) Council properties at any one time. 

RESOLVED that the briefing be noted.

To receive and note the Move-On and Rough-Sleepers housing strategies.

The Committee received the report on the Housing Strategies: Move-On Strategy 2010-15 and the Rough Sleepers Strategy 2010-12, introduced by Rosie Green, Housing Strategy and Partnerships Manager.  It was noted that the documents were sub-strategies of the Council’s larger Housing Strategy and would be reviewed annually.

In response to questions by Committee Members the following was noted:

A rough sleeper was anybody sleeping on the street, although some rough sleepers might sleep on friends’ sofas and those who chose to sleep on the streets were the more difficult to work with to get them off the streets.

The most recent official count, using national criteria, found 3 rough sleepers in Haringey compared to 10 last year but officers approximated that there may be between 25 and 30 rough sleepers in the Borough from time to time.  A high proportion of these were from Eastern European countries with which the Council attempted to facilitate reconnections, through a Government funded reconnection scheme. 

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To consider and note the report on the new Housing Allocations Policy.

The Committee received the report on the review of the Housing Allocations Policy introduced by Phil Harris (Assistant Director of Strategic & Community Housing). 

In response to Committee Members questions the following information was provided:

The Council employed a government funded specialist  to identify homes that were under-occupied. The specialist had conducted 100 visits which resulted in 70 moves.  The Council was working with housing associations to identify further under-occupancy but it was recognised that this was labour intensive.

Literature explaining housing allocations and options for people who under or over occupied properties would be sent to Members to provide to residents as necessary (action 60.1).

Under the new policy it was expected that many people would fall into Band D which was where need had been identified but there was reduced preference or “no local connection”.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To consider the NHS Haringey briefing on the development of pharmaceutical need assessment.

The Committee received the report on the NHS Haringey pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA, introduced by Pauline Taylor, NHS - Head of Medicines Management & Commissioning (Central) highlighting that there was over-provision of pharmacies in Haringey.

The Committee expressed concerns that legislation required the need for the establishment of a new pharmacy to be demonstrated yet there were 4 exemptions (below) where a business did not need to meet the “necessary and desirable” criteria.  A briefing note exploring this issue would be provided to the Committee (action 61.1).

Exemptions:

·        The pharmacy would be in a large retail development

·        The pharmacy would be open 100 hours a week or more and provide essential services

·        The pharmacy would include a one-stop shop/primary care centre

·        The establishment would be an internet pharmacy

The Committee expressed concern about applications for new pharmaceutical premises in terms of the impact on neighbouring businesses and reducing the footfall (number of people who walked past a store) and asked the NHS to consult with the Council’s planning department and consider its policy.  Councillor’s Browne and Winskill would be copied into any correspondence (action 61.2).

In response to its questions the Committee was informed that the review would consider other factors including opening days and times, central dispensing services as well as additional services that pharmacies were willing to offer but it was unlikely that a pharmacy already opened would be closed as a result.

The Head of Medicines Management & Commissioning – NHS would investigate and report back to the Committee if there were any pharmacies in Haringey that had been established through exemption from the “necessary and desirable” criteria (action 61.3).

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee be included in the formal consultation on pharmaceutical needs assessment.

Briefing and answers to questions – Councillor Joe Goldberg, Cabinet Member for Finance and Sustainability.

The Committee received the portfolio briefing and the responses to advance questions posed to Councillor Joe Goldberg, Cabinet Member for Finance and Sustainability.  The Committee asked supplementary questions, the answers of which are noted below.

Re. Q3.  The Cabinet Member explained that the primary commitment in terms of sustainability was to reduce the Council’s carbon usage rather than create power through wind/solar, which were also being considered as ways to generate future savings.

Re. Q4. The Committee requested a milestone report of the impact of the Council’s emergency expenditure restrictions imposed to tackle projected in-year overspend (action 62.1).

Re. Q7.  The Committee highlighted previous discussions on the possibility of using wasteland for allotment space and offenders on the Community Payback scheme to work on those spaces. The feasibility of this would be investigated and reported back to the Committee (action 62.2).

Q13.  The Committee would be provided with confirmation of how many rate payers would be eligible for the Business Rate Relief Scheme, officers believed it was approximately 3200 (action 62.3).

The Committee asked for the timeline for the SMART working programme and noted that the Council was part way through the SMART working programme.

Based on the current plan:  SMART working had been set up at Alexandra House in all except for one floor.River Park House had started working towards SMART and was due for completion in Dec 2010.  In Cumberland Road some teams were being moved out and the full completion would be over a longer period ending around Sept 2011.  Planning work for Station Road was starting now.

The Committee was informed that there had been a reduction in the use of consultants in the Council but where there were consultants these were used for a time specific or expert project.

The Committee noted that the potential for unused Council office space to be turned into residential use.

It was reported that the Council’s overtime expenditure (mainly for area such as care) was proportionate to other Council’s and that it was still beneficial to pay overtime rather than employ a new people to take on the additional hours.

RESOLVED that the briefing be noted.

To review the Procurement Strategy 2010-13 before it is considered by Cabinet.

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee considered the Haringey Procurement Strategy 2010-2013 report prior to its being considered for approval by the Cabinet on 14^th September 2010, presented by Michael Wood, Head of Procurement and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Sustainability.  The Committee noted the written responses to its advance questions and the following information was provided in response to supplementary questions.

The Council encouraged its suppliers to pay the London Living Wage and more work could be conducted to encourage suppliers to meet the Council’s social objectives.

In February 2010 the Council held a large event involving 130 businesses including local partners and a report will be available at the end of the year detailing what new local business had been conducted as a result of the event.

Officers recognised that sharing information about the cost of services and utilities was a good practice but could also be a disadvantage during negotiations.  Haringey had established a pan-London energy contract with other boroughs and partners which meant all were purchasing energy at the same price.  Similar schemes had been set up for the purchase of water, stationery and the employment of security services.

RESOLVED

i.          The strategy should clearly set and, as far as possible, quantify the anticipated savings and the financial years in which they will be delivered.

ii.         That there is likely to be a substantial increase in the formation of social enterprises and that L B Haringey lead capacity building should be explicitly encouraged in the Procurement Strategy.

iii.        That the Procurement Strategy should encourage working with public sector partner agencies to explore the pooling of procurement in a more structured way.

iv.        To help drive prices down, web-based commodity pricing should be    considered in association with partner agencies.

v.         Voluntary Sector and community organisations should be encouraged and supported to bid for contract services.

vi.        Procurement should continually seek to encourage local businesses and suppliers to bid for contracts.

vii.       LB Haringey should take the lead on capacity building and training of existing and new SME's, Social Enterprises and the Voluntary Sector but should encourage other public sector bodies to engage and contribute to this process.

“Liberating the NHS” – Department of Health consultation on the future of the NHS

REASON FOR URGENCY:

The Government consultations end on 5^th and 11^th October.  Therefore there was little time for the Committee to prepare for the Overview and Scrutiny workshop on 13^th September 2010 and coordinate its input into the Council response.

The Committee received the briefing on some of the key issues and commentary from the consultation documents and informing of the approach being taken to formulate a response to the Department of Health, presented by Melanie Ponomarenko, Scrutiny Officer.

The Committee asked for the briefing to be circulated to all Council members (action 65.1).

Further to its enquiries the Committee would be sent information on where the responsibility for Children’s Services would sit under the potential new arrangements as some parts of Children’s Services would not be managed under the consortia but maintained at a national level (action 65.2).

The Committee was invited to send any questions or comments to the Scrutiny Officer.

RESOLVED that the briefing be noted.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th July 2010.

Church Representative, Yvonne Denny had been omitted from the attendance list and this would be amended.

RESOLVED that, subject to the amendment above, the minutes be confirmed as an accurate record.

Monday 4^th October 2010

Monday 1^st November 2010, 6pm (Special)

Monday 1^st November 2010, 6.45pm (Child Protection)

Monday 29^th November 2010

Thursday 2^nd December 2010

Monday 6^th December 2010

Wednesday 15^th December 2010

Monday 31^st January 2011

Monday 28^th February 2011

Monday 28^th March 2011

Thursday 17^th March 2011 (Child Protection)

Monday 9^th May 2011

The future meeting dates were noted.

To note the actions completed since the last meeting.

The actions updates received since the last meeting were noted.