Agenda and minutes

The Chair opened the meeting and informed all present that the meeting would be webcast.

There were no apologies for absence.

There was no such business.

None.

None.

To note.

The Chair requested clarification on the protocol – how amendments could be made and how often it was reviewed.

Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, Legal Officer, informed the Committee that he was not aware of any review of the protocol having taken place.  Any amendments to the protocol required the agreement of the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition.  He suggested that the Committee should identify the areas which they thought should be amended, and this would be taken back by officers.

To follow.

The Chair informed the Committee that this item would be discussed with item 12.

To note the decision taken by the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny under delegated authority.

NOTED the decision taken by the Chair of Scrutiny under delegated powers.

An opportunity for the Committee to question the Leader and Deputy Chief Executive on the Council priorities for 2014/15.

The Corporate Plan 2013/14 – 2014/15 has been included as background information to this item.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Kober, Leader of the Council, and Zina Etheridge, Deputy Chief Executive, to the meeting.

The Leader provided an overview of the Council’s priorities for the forthcoming year.  NOTED:

·                This year was the start of a new administration, and there was a clear mandate for delivering the manifesto.

·                Priorities – early years, child obesity, mental health and improving outcomes, ‘cleaner, greener, safer’ borough, policing and improving community confidence, ensuring growth in the borough by skills training and employment opportunities, provision of a better housing offer for residents.

·                However, the Council was still facing a significant financial challenge.  Officers were working to set out a 3 year medium term financial strategy, and the Corporate Plan would be revised.  It was important to look at how the Council worked, and to focus on outcomes which would deliver for Haringey residents.

·                The Corporate Plan process would make clearer the activity of the Council, and help departments to plan better.

The Leader and Zina Etheridge responded to questions from the Committee:

·                The strategies behind the Corporate Plan were delivered through some of the Corporate programmes, and these were monitored through KPIs and programme boards. 

·                Where there were changes in senior personnel, these were report to the Corporate Committee, although it was accepted that this was not always communicated very well to other members not on the Committee.

·                One of the greatest failings in children social care was in Looked After Children – a lot of money was spent on the area, but the outcomes were not always achieved.  Work would be undertaken to ensure that outcomes were delivered.  If members were particularly interest in the Munroe recommendations then a separate briefing could be provided.

·                There had been a judicial review on Hornsey Depot, where the original decision of the judge had been upheld.

·                St Ann’s – one of the most important outcomes would be to ensure that people received the sort of support that they required in order to avoid inpatient care.  Inpatient care was costly and did not deliver good outcomes, therefore there needed to be better intervention and better outpatient care.  A new team had been commissioned to focus on discharges and moving patients through the system in a speedy manner.

·                Partnership working – the governance of partnership working had changed a lot over the past few years.  Although the Council had good working relationships with partners, there was still a way to go in terms of joined up working and governance.  2010-2014 saw a change from the traditional relationship with the voluntary sector to a commissioning based approach.

The Chair thanked the Leader and Zina Etheridge.

An opportunity for Members to ask questions on the progress against the Council’s outcomes and strategic priorities for 2013/14.

The report was received by Cabinet on 15 July 2014, and the recommendations were agreed as set out in the report.

Margaret Gallagher, Performance Manager, introduced the report as set out.  72% of the indicators had hit the target, although there were still some areas which needed focus.

Margaret Gallagher, Zina Etheridge and Tracie Evans responded to questions from the Committee.

·                Where departments were not meeting targets, the Corporate Delivery Unit was available to provide support across a range of areas.  Senior officers were responsible for monitoring the areas under their control.

·                HY117a (% of young people who are not in education, employment or trainings – academic year 12-14) – the jump between Q1 and Q2 was due to a seasonal peak which always occurred due to pupils leaving schools and the time lapse in catching up with where they have ended up.

·                The adoption figures were based on a three year rolling average, therefore it took some time to show an improvement or a decline.  For these particular figures, there were two placements which had taken an inordinate amount of time to place which had skewed the results.

·                Reoffending in the Youth Offending Service was at the lowest level it has been at 44.4% - although this was still above average, the YOS was working hard on a targeted approach to reduce this.

·                Work was being carried out to reduce the turnover of foster placements for Looked After Children in order to reduce the number of children being placed in 3 or more foster homes.

·                The call handling service in the Council was not as good as it should be, however the Customer Services Transformation programme should address these issues.

Actions:

For a note to be provided on the offender management unit.

The Chair thanked all for attending.

An opportunity for Members to ask questions on the provisional outturn priorities for the general fund, Housing Revenue Account, the Dedicated Schools Budget, the Collection fund and the Capital Programme for 2013/14.

The report was received by Cabinet on 25 June 2014, and the recommendations were agreed as set out in the report.

Neville Murton, Head of Finance, Accounting & Control, introduced the report as set out.  NOTED:

·                The capital position showed an underspend of £18.7m.  This was due to a significant slippage on schemes which would be spent in future years.

·                The HRA fund worked differently to the general fund, and to avoid large fluctuations it was best to create a smoothing reserve.

Action

For a note to be provided on appendix 2 – Place and Sustainability, property and capital projects, outlining when the review would be completed.

For a note to be provided on appendix 2 – Place and Sustainability, strategy and regeneration, outlining the reason for the underspends.

The Chair thanked Neville for attending.

Reports to follow.

Melanie Ponomarenko introduced the report as set out.  A review had been carried out by the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) on Scrutiny in Haringey.  The report made 5 recommendations.  The work programme ‘long list’ was set out in the report, and was compiled using the suggestions made at the ‘scrutiny café’.

The Chair suggested that each Panel Chair should meet with their relevant Cabinet Members to compile a more coherent list of items for the Panel work programmes.

The Chair also requested that the Legal officer provide some information with regards to changing the protocol and Constitution.

RESOLVED to agree the recommendations in the report.

To note and agree the draft Overview & Scrutiny Annual Report 2013/14.

RESOLVED to approve the Annual Report.

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

NOTED.

None.

None.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 2014.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 2014 were approved as a correct record.

To note the dates of future meetings:

2 October 2014

27 November 2014

18 December 2014 (budget)

22 January 2015

26 March 2015

NOTED the dates of future meetings.