Agenda and minutes

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at the meeting.

The meeting was not webcast.

An apology for absence was received from Yvonne Denny (Church Co-opted Representative).

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).

There was no 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.

Councillors Bull and Winskill declared personal interests 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.

To receive a presentation on the work of the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Jane Ray (Care Quality Commission (CQC) Compliance Manager) and Nercan Culleton (CQC Inspector) introduced the work of CQC, the regulator for health and social care, which merged three inspectorates -  Healthcare Commission (HCC), Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and Mental Health Act Commission.

Ms Ray’s team inspected Mental Health for Enfield and Haringey and some social care services. A programme of reviews had started with Haringey PCT wards on St Anne’s site (and other non-Haringey sites) and some adult care services being inspected.  The order in which services were inspected was determined by a variety of sources including if a partner such as the Local Involvement Network (LINk) had a concern about a particular service, this service would be one of the first to be inspected.

In response to the Committee’s questions the following was noted:

• CQC would continue to inspect care homes although reporting would be more focused on a set of outcomes including quality of care, medication being administered was in line with service user records, nutritional needs were being met, residents received assistance when they requested it as well as interviews with staff and service users’ families.  Additional aspects of care could be inspected; often in response to issues raised about a service.
• CQC was involving LINks before large inspections were taking place although it was recognised that discretion was required to ensure that a service was not made aware that inspectors would be visiting.
• Services were inspected every 2 years but more regularly if a service was failing to improve.
• It was not CQC’s role to comment on efficiency savings being made by local authorities although it will monitor the services that were closing to ensure people were adequately cared for during transitional periods.

The Committee agreed that the Chair would write to the Care Quality Commission suggesting that services inspected by Haringey CQC teams were aligned with NHS configurations rather than different CQC teams working across different sectors.  The Committee suggested that CQC inspectors be more systematic in seeking out the experiences of families and carers (Action No. 189).

RESOLVED to note the presentation about the work of the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Briefing and answers to questions – Councillor Toni Mallett, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration.

The Committee received the briefing from Councillor Tony Mallett, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration and written answers to the advance questions submitted.  The following information was noted in response to supplementary questions from the Committee.

Q2 – Economic Development - The Committee requested regular updates to all Council Members on how the shared service with Waltham Forest would operate (Action No. 190.1).

Q3 – Town Centre Business Partnerships – The Committee noted that the Council assisted with the setting up of Town Centre partnerships but with no area based grant funding available they will be encouraged to bid for external funding and supported by the Council in these bids.

Q7 – Tottenham Hotspur FC – A briefing note was requested on the discussions held with Spurs about the regeneration of Tottenham as part of the stadium redevelopment.  Committee members expressed concerns that no fixed commitments had been made by the Club to employ and train local people and that a health centre had not been included in the development plans (Action No. 190.2).

Q11 – Alexandra Palace – The Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Economy rejected the suggestion that the Charitable Trust status of the Palace was a potential obstacle for redevelopment and stated that the issue was about finding a cost effective solution acceptable to both the Council and the local people.

Q12 – St Ann’s Hospital – Officers expected a health facility on the site as well as a mixed use development including housing and allotments with a bus route going through the site in accordance with the Council’s Unitary Development Plan.  In response to a question about whether a general hospital might be re-established the Assistant Director Planning, Regeneration and Economy explained that this could not be ruled out and once a set of health outcomes was clear the Council would consider the infrastructure of the site and the possible investment strategies.

Q16 & Q22 – Wards Corner – The Committee requested that a briefing note be provided to Members on the history of Wards Corner and what the current plans for the site were (Action No. 190.3).  The Committee heard from three local people from Wards Corner supporting a community led development of the site and expressing concerns about the Grainger proposal and that any future equalities impact assessment was fair.  It was noted that when the Community led planning application was complete and the Council had all the information it required it would be processed.  The Cabinet Member stated that she was keen to have a development supported by all parties concerned and that any proposals going forward would be considered by the Planning Committee.    In response to questioning on whether the Planning Committee hearing the application would consist of new members the Assistant Director of Planning, Regeneration and Economy stated that this would be the case as far as was possible.

A question on Transport would be referred to Councillor Canver who was attending OSC on 28^th March (Action No. 190.3).  ...  view the full minutes text for item 190.

To consider the Older People’s Housing Strategy 2010-2020 prior to it being presented to the Cabinet in March 2011.

The draft Older People’s Housing Strategy 2010-2020 can be viewed at:

http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=128&MId=4544&Ver=4

Hard copies have been sent to Committee Members only but are available on request.

The Committee received Haringey’s Older People’s Housing Strategy 2011-2021, introduced by Rosie Green (Housing Strategy and Partnerships Manager) who highlighted that there was a lack of specialist housing in the Borough and over-provision of sheltered housing compared to other boroughs.  Ms Green gave thanks to Haringey’s Forum for Older People for its help during consultation.

The Committee asked for more information on the Housing Minister’s commitment of £180m as part of the Disabled Facilities Grant programme for councils to help fund home adaptations to help those with disabilities to live comfortably and independently in their own home (Action No. 191).

The following was noted in response to questions and concerns raised by Committee Members

• If the Council was to develop more Older People housing it would have to work closely with housing associations.
• It was reported that two extra care schemes would be developed in the west of the borough and, in the east of the borough, residential care blocks would be decommissioned.  Extra care facilities will be developed in areas including Hornsey, Highgate and Seven Sisters High Road.
• As part of a Supporting People review the use of existing sheltered housing stock will be considered and the housing strategy and adults services teams will have an input.
• Despite a waiting list for sheltered housing the Council had void properties because some areas were not popular, for example many people would prefer to live in the west of the borough or people were not willing to live in the void properties. 

It was noted that it was difficult for the Council to reduce under-occupancy of properties and the Committee recommended that the strategy include additional information about what further could be done to manage under-occupancy.

RESOLVED to note the report and recommend that more information about under-occupancy work be included in the Older People’s Strategy.

Briefing and answers to questions – The Leader, Councillor Claire Kober.

The Committee received the Leader’s briefing and responses to the advance questions submitted and the following information was noted in response to supplementary questions. 

Q3 – Debts outstanding – The Committee expressed concern about the large amount of outstanding debt and was provided with a breakdown of some of the figures.  In relation to parking debt it was reported that the Council was in line with other London local authorities although Haringey saw a high number of unregistered vehicles. 

Q5 – Shared Services – In response to concerns that the Council was not further advanced in arrangements for shared services the Leader explained that there was little evidence that other local authorities were any further ahead than Haringey.  It was noted that Haringey had agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with Waltham Forest about shared services and it could take three or four years for savings to be realised, which would not solve the Council’s current financial pressures.

Q9 – The Committee expressed concerns that its Budget recommendations were not agreed and that it was not able to scrutinise the original list of potential services from which money could be withdrawn and put forward alternative options in the short space of time available.  The Leader recognised that scrutiny of the Budget had been a positive process.

The Committee requested timeframes for the refreshing of the Council’s website which was currently being undertaken.  It was reported that the first phase would look at the customer experience of the website such as making things easier to find as well as removing pages that were not used, and the second phase would introduce systems for transactions to be conducted online for those Haringey residents who would prefer this to face to face contact (Action No. 192).

The Committee asked that Councillors be consulted on new procedures for member enquiries.  The Leader explained that there would be cross party consultation about the process for members enquiries in order to make the system more streamlined and more responsive.  It was recognised that some members and even members of local community groups received responses to their enquiries quicker than others and this could be due to the members themselves sending requests directly to the relevant officers, or an enquiry being sent to the wrong officer and causing a delay or simply a response being dealt with quickly.

In relation to the Council’s Governance review the Leader clarified that an Officer Board meeting led by the Governance Development Group will be drafting protocols for the new governance arrangements.  Anything requiring constitutional changes would be presented to the Constitution Review Group at the end of March and workshops for members would be arranged in the future.

The Committee expressed concerns about its ability to scrutinise Health and Wellbeing, outside agencies and the work of Cabinet Members in the future if it was restricted in numbers of meetings it could hold.  The Chair stated that he envisaged a minimum of 8 Overview & Scrutiny meetings for ordinary business and 2 Child  ...  view the full minutes text for item 192.

To note the outcome of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Assessment of Performance report for Adult Social Care for 2009/10.

The Committee received the report on the Care Quality Commission’s Annual Performance Assessment of Adult Social Care 2009/10 introduced by Lisa Redfern (Assistant Director – Adult Services) and Helen Constantine (Head of Governance and Partnership). 

The Committee noted that the assessment judged Haringey as “Performing Well” and congratulated officers and commented that the challenge would be to maintain the same level of service in the future with all the funding cuts.  Ms Redfern explained that there would be no changes to the Council’s commissioning budgets and policy and users would continue to be placed in facilities CQC rated as “Excellent” or “Good”.

In response to the Committee’s concerns about the closure of drop-in centres and the transition to personalised budgets and how this would be managed it was reported that the service was hitting the target to have 30% of personalised budgets in place and could take this forward.  Until consultations and re-assessments had concluded it was not possible to estimate how many service users would take up personalised budgets.

In response to the Committee’s concerns that the pressure on the service would be even greater due to NHS budget cuts officers explained that there were options to work closely with the NHS and share back office functions, Some PCT health commissioners would be transferring to the Council when the PCT closed.

RESOLVED to note the Care Quality Commission Annual Performance Assessment and congratulate Adult Services on the result.

To receive a presentation from the Mental Health Trust (MHT) on the Mental Health Commissioning and Transformation programme.

NO REPORT _ DO NOT ATTACH

The Committee received a Powerpoint presentation updating on future plans for mental health services presented by Maria Kane (BEH Mental Health Trust (MHT) Chief Executive) and Andrew Wright (BEH MHT Director of Strategic Development), including that there was potential for primary care services to be placed at the St Ann’s Hospital site, which the Committee supported. 

It was recognised that there was a general desire to have a master-plan in place for investment at St Ann’s and community engagement and consultation on potential options was taking place.  It was noted that prior to any discussions with developers the MHT would consult with local people and other stakeholders, including GPs and apply for planning consent within the year and, until the St Ann’s site became a Foundation Trust, the NHS London would be required to approve any plans for Capital investment.

The Committee requested a briefing note on the meeting between Haringey Mental Health Trust and the Whittington hospital about the structure of services and how community health structures and the new relationship with the Whittington would deliver homogenous services across the Borough (Action No. 194.1).

A visit would be arranged to the Whittington Hospital to meet the new Chief Executive (Action 194.2).

The Committee requested a briefing note about how the Mental Health Trust was contributing to the safeguarding of children and how it linked with the Council (Action No. 194.2).

The Committee requested a meeting with MHT and a tour of the St Ann’s Hospital site (Action No. 194.3).

RESOLVED to note the presentation on the future of Mental Health Services.

An opportunity for Members to feedback on the Budget Scrutiny process for the 2011/12 to 2013/14 financial planning, which took place in January 2011.

The Committee expressed disappointment that there were no clear outcomes from the budget scrutiny process and agreed that a letter should be sent to the Leader expressing the Committee’s concerns about the Cabinet response to the budget scrutiny process (Action No. 195).

Members expressed that they would be reluctant to contribute the same amount of time and effort into future budget scrutiny due to a general feeling that decisions had already been made and the Committee had not been given the  time or opportunity to consider alternative options.

An opportunity for members to be updated on pre-scrutiny reports and to suggest future pre-scrutiny reports.

There were no such items.

There were no such items.

To approve the minutes of the Budget Scrutiny meetings held on 5^th January 2011, 17^th January 2011 and 31^st January 2011.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meetings held on 5^th and 31^st January 2011 were approved as correct records of the meetings.

The minutes of the meetings held on 17^th January 2011 were confirmed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

Minute No OSCO156 – Declarations of Interest

 “Haynes Centre” will be replaced with “The Haven”.

16^th March 2011 (Health) at the Hornsey Health Centre, 6pm

28^th March 2011 Civic Centre, 6pm

30^th March 2011 (Child Protection) Civic Centre, 6pm

9^th May 2011 Civic Centre, 6pm

The Committee noted the future meeting dates.

To note the actions completed since the last meeting.

The Committee noted the actions.

The meeting ended at 21:30pm.