Agenda and minutes

Please note: This meeting may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council's internet site - at the start of the meeting the Chair will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed. The images and sound recording may be used for training purposes within the Council.

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at the meeting.

Due to technical difficulties it was not possible to announce, with certainty, that the meeting would be web cast. Officers would endeavour to obtain a transmission after the start of the meeting and therefore members were asked to keep this in mind when asking questions and presenting issues.

Apologies for absence were received from Sandra Young and apologies for lateness from Cllr Ejiofor.

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 14 below).

There were no items of urgent business to consider.

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.

Cllr Gail Engert declared a personal interest in agenda item 10, scrutiny review  on the support to workless young people aged  16-24,   as a close family relative worked for the Government’s  Education department.

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

There were no deputations, petitions, presentations or questions for the Committee to consider.

An opportunity for the Committee to question the Cabinet Member, Councillor Bernice Vanier, on the Communities portfolio.

The Committee received a brief overview of the Cabinet Member Portfolio for Communities and noted that the key priorities were: reducing crime in the

Borough, reducing repeat offending, increasing public confidence & satisfaction with community services and preparation for the Olympics. This involved continuing with the cross border co -operation with Enfield Council to tackle crime, reflecting changes in delivery of services following public consultation exercises, taking forward the successful strategy on dealing with drugs and alcohol abuse, holding the Police to their commitment of 3 hours of visible policing a day and working with them on their new cluster arrangements for policing in the borough.

In response to questions and clarifications sought by the Committee the following was noted:

• In the coming days Members would notice an increase of 150 Police officers in Enfield, Haringey and Hackney that would be working closely to apprehend the perpetrators involved in the recent shooting of a young Turkish man at Turnpike Lane station. The increased number of Police officers would also aid the feeling of security in the Green Lanes area, as there were concerns from the local community about reprisal incidents. The Cabinet Member for Communities would ensure that local ward Councillors and local secondary schools were aware of the increased Police presence.

• The Kirkin report on the disturbances in Tottenham would be published in the coming days and it was anticipated that questions on the decision making processes and strategies, used to deal with the disturbances, would be answered in this report.

• Officers were in the process of analysing the results of the first two rounds of Area Forum meetings. This would include assessing the   key topics that attracted people to the meetings. Early comments were that participants liked the workshop style sessions run at the September meetings to discuss the disturbances in Tottenham. Committee members had differing expectations about the numbers of people that should be attending the Area Forum meetings. Some members felt that a smaller number of people attending the meetings was not a negative response from the community. Often the people attending were representative of resident or community groups and would provide a collective view to the meeting and also give feedback from the meeting to their respective groups. Whilst other members felt that there was a need to draw a wider pool of local people to the meetings to discuss local issues.  

• The Cabinet Member acknowledged that the new Localism Bill could have an impact on how the Area Forums planned to engage and work with people in the local communities .The Forums were work in progress and would strive to engage a wider range of participants at meetings.

• The Chair highlighted some discrepancies in the Cabinet Performance report for the Community Safety Manger to be aware of: the performance baseline data for anti social behaviour, LSI 1, serious acquisitive crime reported in Appendix 2 which showed that there were 19.1 cases per 1000 residents. These areas in the report would be examined and rectified if  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

To consider the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy Statement before its final approval by Full Council.

The Committee considered a presentation on the Council’s responsibility for treasury management. Members were responsible for setting the rules for the borrowing and the investment of the Council’s cash. This treasury management role included:

• Following  CIPFA guidance,
• Setting prudential indicators (limits for borrowing and investing),
• Taking an assessment of the risks
• Having a strategy for borrowing,
• Deciding the types of investments the Council will make to keep money accessible but   with a return at the same time,
• Monitoring and setting investment limits relating to surplus cash,
• Dealing with maturing debt in a cost effective way.
• Deciding on a list of counterparties that the Council will invest with(The Council will obtain external advice from treasury management advisors when compiling this list) 

The Corporate Committee were responsible for formulating the Treasury Management Strategy and had decided at their meeting in January that they wanted further information on the non UK banks proposed for investment  in and a wider picture on the use being made of existing counterparty institutions.

 In response to the presentation the following information was provided to members of OSC:

• The national line is that Councillors need to be more informed about the treasury management activities of the Council and there are specialist advisors to provide advice and guidance when recommendations are being compiled for members to consider. The Council’s advisors for the past 3 years have been Arlingclose.  As, part of obtaining this role, they had been able to demonstrate previous advice provided to their clients on the need to withdraw monies from the Icelandic banks in 2008.  Apart from monitoring credit reference agency ratings, there were also a number of other practical methods used to assess the credit worthiness of financial institutions. These were: Credit Default Swap Prices, Share Prices, Macro-economic indicators, Net debt as % of GDP for countries, Sovereign Support Mechanisms and Corporate Developments.

• The current policy was to make good effective use of the Council’s cash balances through investment in Money Market accounts and borrowing from other local authorities as these offered a higher rate of return than savings accounts.

• As yet there were not recommendations formulated on how the Council would take forward borrowing for housing stock in the future. Although, the Council were to have £232m of HRA debt written off, in return it was anticipated that the Council and other local authorities my not get future subsidy for housing.

• Understanding on the Corporate Committee’s position to withhold lending to non UK counterparty institutions was sought and comparisons between the Council’s and other local authority treasury management activities.  It was noted that not all local authorities had the same strategy for lending and borrowing and there were too many different examples to make a comparison. The Corporate Committee had asked officers to withhold investments in non UK banks until March so that they could consider a report on the banks and money markets accounts used in the last 12 months. This was to enable them to get a better picture of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

An opportunity for the Committee to question the Cabinet Member, Councillor Alan Strickland, on the Economic Investment and Social Inclusion and Planning portfolio.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Investment, Social Inclusion and Planning joined the meeting and gave an overview of the key projects being worked on in his portfolio area.  Key recent developments were the successful negotiations between the Council and the GLA, culminating in a £41m regeneration package for Tottenham.  Also Tottenham Hotspur Football Club were now committed to staying in the borough and redeveloping their ground following negotiations with the Council and GLA. The Cabinet Member for Economic Investment, Social Inclusion and Planning was committed to ensuring that there was a consistent coherent regeneration of the Tottenham area. There would be a report to the Cabinet meeting, on the 7^th February, setting out the priorities for Tottenham which included an initial indicative list of requirements for the area with information on the process to achieve them and a map of what will happen over the coming year.  Following this report, the Council would launch a master planning exercise for Tottenham which will further initiate detailed consultations on the proposals for the Tottenham area with the public and partners.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Investment, Social Inclusion and Planning further spoke of the Leisure externalisation process which was at the competitive dialogue stage and development of community hubs with wrap around services.

 The following information was noted in response to questions

• The Tottenham Hotspur Football Club planning application was due to be considered by the Planning Committee on the 13^th February and the papers were available for public view. They contained an indication that space was allocated for health, education and a supermarket but as yet there were no details on who was proposed to be placed in these spaces.  Previous section 106 funding agreements between the football club and Council were proposed to the Planning Committee for revision. This would enable the redevelopment of the stadium and draw in £400m of investment to the area.  The Committee were asked  to note that,  before reaching this agreement with Tottenham Hotspur Football  club,  the Council had commissioned  specialist advice  which concluded that the Club  had a financial plan that had a reasonable prospect of supporting a viable and implementable development in the Northumberland Park area  and with the  Council’s  public investment had the potential to lever in further wider  investment into the area.

• In response to a question about the how the Area Forums take forward the neighbourhood plans, which are part of the localism act, this was quite a broad issue and there were a number of different officers leading on the   different areas of the localism act. The Assistant Director for Planning, Economy and Regeneration was leading on Neighbourhood plans and they were examining the Highgate cross Neighbourhood Forum.

• In terms of planning enforcement, the Committee were asked to keep in mind the severe reduction in officers working in this area of work. Although the annual monitoring report was indicating that the service was meeting its targets for planning enforcement despite this.  There was an acknowledgement that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

To consider the update on the Support to Small Businesses scrutiny review.

At this point ,in the meeting, the  Chair passed the chairmanship to the  Vice chair, for consideration  of this item, and briefly  vacated the meeting.

 The Committee considered how actions had been progressed from the Scrutiny review into the support of small business completed in 2010.

Cllr Winskill raised a number of key concerns about the timeliness, interpretation and implementation of recommendations arising from the review into support to small businesses. The Assistant Director for Planning, Regeneration and Economy contended that there had been a good response from the service to recommendations of the review and offered to go through the report and explain further on the actions being taken forward.

RESOLVED

That Cllr Winskill and the Assistant Director for  Planning, Regeneration and Economy  meet outside the Committee meeting to discuss further the report.(Action 95.1) Cllr Winskill

To consider the report updating on the proposed scrutiny review of worklessness.

The Chair  returned to the meeting and resumed chairmanship.

The Committee discussed the timing of a proposed review into support to workless young people aged 16-24.  It was recommended that the Committee await the implementation of the Youth Strategy and Worklessness strategy (being considered by Cabinet in March) before undertaking a review. It was accepted by Committee members that Scrutiny had the role of scrutinising policies that were already in operation and they could better add value by examining the outcomes arising from the policies to tackle worklessness in a year’s time. There was also an equal feeling that worklessness was a current high profile issue in ward areas and some Committee members did not feel comfortable deferring a review on this. Some community practices for getting local young people into jobs were shared and there was a feeling that, individually, members had a responsibility, at this time, to make a contribution to supporting young people into work. 

 The Chair felt it was unfortunate the report on worklessness had not been available for the February Cabinet meeting as considering the report may have allied some concerns of OSC members.  The Cabinet Member for Economic Investment, Social inclusion, and Planning advised the Committee that the previous scrutiny review into the Haringey Work Guarantee had been a source of reference for the Cabinet report on tackling worklessness. The Chair did not want to take forward a pre call in of the decision as this would be a call on officer resources. He suggested O&S members considering the report in a private session. The Cabinet member would need to take officer advice on making the report available to O&S members before the Cabinet meeting.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and  the Chair and Vice Chair be given discretion to seek a way forward for involving members of the Committee and other interested members in the consultation process for the Cabinet report on Worklessness due for consideration at the Cabinet meeting on the 20^th March 2012.  (Action 96.1) Chair

To consider the update on the scrutiny review of Transition from Children to Adults Services.

 The Overview and Scrutiny Committee received an update on the recommendations made in the Overview and Scrutiny Review of Transition from Children to Adult services.  There had been a concerted effort on joint working between multi agencies, private and independent sector to make the transition for children and their families from the Children’s service to the Adult’s service as seamless as possible. The work of the Transition Board had been recognised by the National Transitions Programme.

Part of the service’s work following the review included:

• Ensuring that the outcomes of the pathway were driven by what does a good service look like for a young person and their family?

• An annual information evening for over 14 year olds and their parents with SEN (Special Educational Needs) to aid becoming aware of the pathways available into adult services . The next Transition Fair would take place on 23 February  2012 11.00am at Tottenham Hotspur Football club and would involve 35 service providers coming along to talk to families  about the services available.

• Twenty Five young adults with complex disabilities had taken part in a work experience programme with 15 young adults living outside the borough also participating in a mentoring programme.

 The Overview and scrutiny were pleased with the progress of actions being taken forward since the review and noted the following information:

• In relation to working with Health on pathways for young people with mental health issues, since the review here had been significant changes in personnel, for both the Council and Health, however criteria had been compiled which would help ensure that vulnerable young adults were identified and progressed through the mental health pathway. An update on this work could be provided after the meeting.

• Web links between the Adults General Directory and Transition Zone were in development and would be available at the end of April.

• The Head of Services to Children & Young People with Additional Needs & Disabilities offered to speak with Helena Kania   after the meeting about the work of the 14plus panel and further elucidate on how heath, education and social care teams share information and have a holistic approach to the services provided to a young person.

• The funding conditions, supplied by the YPLA, for supporting specialist education placements   in 2013/14 was still awaited. The local authority were working to the previous funding conditions and would continue to closely monitor this situation.

• Linking services to the young adult, including employment support services would be part of the pathway compiled for the young person progressing from Children’s to Adult services.

• There were 19 referrals to the mentoring scheme of which 15 young took up a place on the scheme.

• There was interest about the provision for children / young people with long term severe disabilities that were entering adulthood. This was recognised as a growing cohort and the Committee requested information about: available future provision, the scale of services required their likely needs and number. (Action 97.1)Cllr Winskill

RESOLVED

1. That Adult services, and Children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

The Committee noted that there was an Area Forum Chair’s meeting on Thursday 09^th February at 6.00pm.

 Issues that were likely to be raised were:

• Response to the Muswell Hill Area Committee resolution on fortnightly collections.

• How the area forums function

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 12^th and 14^th December 2011 (TO FOLLOW).

RESOLVED

That the minutes of Overview and Scrutiny held on the 12^th and 14 December be agreed as a correct record of the meeting.

None

Provisional Late February 2012 (date to be confirmed) – Special

Monday 30^th April 2012

The Chair advised Committee Members that there would be an additional Overview and Scrutiny meeting on the 20^th February starting at 5.30pm with Health partners at the Civic Centre, Committee rooms 1& 2. The current health items were: Draft Health Infrastructure Plan, GP Consortia Update, The Laurels, Whittington Health Update, and Whittington Foundation Trust Application. There was also a Scrutiny Review into Registered Housing to be considered.

To note the actions completed since the last meeting.

Noted