Agenda and minutes

The Chair introduced all present to the meeting and informed them that the meeting was being webcast.

Apologies for absence were received from Mariatta Ezeji.

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 15 below).

There was no business to discuss.

There were no declarations of interest.

None.

To scrutinise the draft Treasury Management Strategy Statement prior to adoption by full Council in accordance with the Council’s Constitution (Part 4, Section 1).

George Bruce – Head of Treasury and Pensions – and Kevin Bartle – Assistant Director, Finance – introduced the Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS).  Nicholas Keeling and Laura Wingham from Arlingclose (Treasury Management Advisors) were also present.

The TMSS was a three year future looking plan.  This report had been considered by the Corporate Committee, and comments made by Overview and Scrutiny would be fed back to Corporate Committee for final approval, and then the report would be ratified at Full Council.

NOTED the discussion and responses provided to the Committee:

·               Treasury Management would not be responsible for making decisions with regards to selling or renting properties in order to raise revenue.  TM worked within the boundaries of political decisions, and gave advice based on Council policies.

·               The Council had borrowed £30m less than last year, which saved over £1m in interest payments.

·               The plan was to not borrow long-term, and to run down cash balances.  Any borrowing that was required could be by short-term loans, with minimal interest.

·               Internal borrowing had enabled millions of pounds in interest payments to be saved.

·               The quantum of cash available for investment had reduced substantially and cash was mainly invested for the short term.

·               There were a number of factors taken into consideration when looking at banks – credit rating, market measures.  The list of recommended banks was reviewed on a monthly basis.

·               There were two main changes to the investment policy outlined in the report:

-       The introduction of ‘non-specified’ investment for banks which were not the highest quality.  ‘Specified’ investment for banks of the highest quality.  The minimum rating had been increased to AA- for the specified investment category and any which fell below this rating were now classed as non-specified.  The overall minimum credit rating which the Council would invest with had remained the same – the change was structural to allow differentiation between the quality.

-       Concept of investing in non-UK banks, but only where the country was AAA rated and the bank was A- rated.  There currently wasn’t any intention to invest with these over the next 12 months, but it was felt to be appropriate to include these within the framework.  The reason for the change was that UK banks were not necessarily of the highest quality compared to other banks globally and it was beneficial to have greater diversification in investment opportunities.

·               Overseas banking was monitored on a daily basis with updates provided by Arlingclose.  Monitoring was done on the same basis as UK banks, for example, looking at regulations and ensuring that there was a safe environment and considering Credit Default Swaps and share prices.

·               An internal audit took place every year, and was carried out by Deloitte.  Treasury Management was also audited on an annual basis.

·               Credit Union investment was considered as high risk and was therefore dealt with as bad debt provision.

The Committee had no amendments to make to the report and it was agreed that the report be referred on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The report provides Overview and Scrutiny Committee with outline details of the proposal to undertake a review of the council’s property portfolio in Wood Green, to propose options for the future use of assets.

Jon McGrath - Assistant Director, Property & Capital Projects – presented the report on Civic Presence.

NOTED:

·               The report was a statement of intent and outlined the essence of the project and the purpose behind it.

·               This was a piece of work to identify how the Council’s assets could be used in the best way for the Council.  It currently covered buildings – land could be looked at in another project.

·               A further paper would be available in March, and this would facilitate further discussion.

·               There was a 2^nd stream of work running in conjunction with this project on community buildings – each of these pieces of work would feed into an overall strategy.

·               The ceremonial function was very important and there were no set ideas on how this may look in the future.  Further papers would provide suggestions for the Council’s ceremonial functions.

·               There were no preconceived decisions – everything was up for review.

·               The Committee were assured that there would be Member involvement in each of the strands of work being done around the property portfolio.

Actions:

To provide the Committee with an update on the Smart Working review.

ACTION: Jon McGrath

The Chair thanked Jon for attending the meeting.

To provide an update on the recommendations made in the Scrutiny Review on Men’s Health in April 2012 which were agreed by Cabinet.

Dr Fiona Wright – Assistant Director, Public Health - provided an update on the Men’s Health Review from 2012.  Also present were Gerald Alexander – Chair of the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Local Pharmaceutical Committee – and John Nunney – Vice Chair of the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Local Pharmaceutical Committee.

NOTED:

·               There were 21 recommendations in the report, and responses / updates to these recommendations had been provided.

·               The review found that men underuse health services and prevention programmes.  The biggest contributors to death were cardiovascular disease and cancer.

·               In terms of liaison with licensing, a health impact assessment was carried out which covered gambling and fast food outlets.  One of the outcomes was that local food traders were encouraged to provide healthier catering programmes.

·               There was no data available to see whether there had been an increase in male attendance at GPs, but there were schemes in place to encourage men to attend.

·               Key pharmacy campaigns were now set nationally rather than locally.

·               There were also a number of programmes commissioned to feed into the Tottenham Regeneration programme.

The Chair thanked all for attending.

Members are asked to agree and approve recommendations of the Scrutiny Panels and OSC for referral to Cabinet for consideration.

TO FOLLOW

Councillor Winskill in the Chair

NOTED the recommendations as set out in the report.

Councillor Winskill commented on the advertising figures for Haringey People and stated that they should renew efforts to increase these so that the costs of production could be covered by these.

RESOLVED to note the report and refer the recommendations to Cabinet.

To receive an update on OSC project work.

Councillor Bull in the Chair

NOTED the date of the next project meeting on 6 February 2014.

To note the minutes, and agree any recommendations of the Scrutiny Panels.

·               Communities Scrutiny Panel – 7 November 2013

·               Communities Scrutiny Panel – 2 December 2013

·               Children & Young People Scrutiny Panel – 12 November 2013

·               Children & Young People Scrutiny Panel – 5 December 2013

·               Children & Young People Scrutiny Panel – 18 December 2013

TO FOLLOW

·               Environment & Housing Scrutiny Panel – 19 November 2013

·               Environment & Housing Scrutiny Panel – 2 December 2013

·               Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel – 11 November 2013

·               Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel – 12 December 2013

NOTED the minutes as set out in the agenda pack.

To note the Overview & Scrutiny Committee work forward plan.

NOTED the OSC forward plan.

The Chair informed Scrutiny Panel Chairs that if an extra meeting was required, then there was capacity to do so as long as it took place before purdah began on 14 April 2014.

For Members to note and discuss whether OSC wishes to input into any forthcoming decisions.

NOTED.

None.

None.

To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny meetings held on:

·               25 November 2013

·               16 December 2013

TO FOLLOW

·               6 January 2014

RESOLVED that

i)          The minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2013 be approved as a correct record.

ii)         The minutes of the meeting held on 16 December 2013 be approved as a correct record.

iii)       The minutes of the meeting held on 6 January 2014 be approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

-       That a note be included under the deputation made by Sally Billot to state that she had contacted the Chair after the meeting to clarify that she was speaking at the meeting in her capacity as a local resident

-       Councillor McNamara had recommended that the use of ‘protective’ surfaces be investigated, not ‘multi-use’ surfaces

Members also suggested that if meetings were not able to take place in the Council Chamber, then they should be audio recorded so that there was a record available in place of a webcast.

NOTED the date of the next meeting on 17 March 2014.

To note the actions completed since the last meeting.

TO FOLLOW

NOTED.