Agenda and minutes

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. 

By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein’.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ayisi, Yvonne Denny and Kefale Taye.

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 10 below).

None.

Councillor Connor declared a general personal interest (not specifically related to any items on the agenda) by virtue of her sister working as a GP in Tottenham.

RECEIVED the following questions from Lauritz Hansen-Bay concerning neighbourhood watch and the community:

a.         What is the Council’s policy on neighbourhood watch with regard to community safety?

The Council has financially supported Neighbourhood Watch over the last four years. During this time Neighbourhood watch has been strengthened and expanded to incorporate parks, allotments and local open spaces. It serves as a valuable intelligence gathering and communication vehicle on a variety of issues. The Council plans to continue to support this in the future at least within the remainder of the current Medium Term Financial Strategy.

b.         Has the Council consolidated with the Police and Haringey’s community on the future of neighbourhood watch?

The police have an on ongoing review of Police resources as part of their planned budget savings and have identified this post at risk. The council has been in discussion with the Police to confirm the councils position and commitment to future funding.

c.         If the link officer for Haringey neighbourhood watch was made redundant who would do this job?

The council and the police share responsibilities for community safety and would need to achieve the joint community safety outcomes in a different way.

Tracie Evans, Chief Operating Officer recognised the importance of the community safety network and confirmed that there were no current plans to make the neighbourhood watch link officer post redundant . Written responses to the questions raised would be provided after the meeting.

ACTION: CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Post Meeting Note – responses shown in italics

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2015.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2015 were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

To receive and note the minutes of the following Scrutiny Panel meetings and to approve any recommendations contained within:

a)        Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, 5 October 2015;

b)        Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, 5 November 2015;

c)         Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel, 13 October 2015;

d)        Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel, 13 October 2015.

RECEIVED the minutes of the following Scrutiny Panel meetings:

a.         Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, 5 October 2015

NOTED the minutes of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel held on 5 October 2015.

b.         Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, 5 November 2015

NOTED the minutes and recommendations of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel held on 5 November 2015 (page 27). Since the recommendations were drafted, the Outcome of Consultation and a decision on proposals relating to adult services had been taken by the Cabinet at its meeting on 10 November 2015.

RESOLVED that

(i)    the feedback to the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, referred to in the report, be noted;

(ii)  the recommendations ((b) on page 27 of the Adults and Social Care minutes, 5 November 2015) be noted;

(iii) the recommendations not be taken forward as the Cabinet had already considered the issues raised at its meeting on the 10^th November 2015.  The Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel would continue to monitor implementation of the changes to adults services going forward.    

c.         Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel, 13 October 2015

NOTED the minutes of the Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel, 13 October 2015.

d.         Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel, 13 October 2015

NOTED the minutes of the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel, 13 October 2015.

To consider a report on the impact of welfare reform, including Universal Credit and Benefits Cap.

RECEIVED the report on the impact of welfare reform, including Universal Credit and Benefits Cap, introduced by Jim Brady (Service Manager, Revenue and Benefits Team) as laid out in the report (pages 49-56). 

NOTED that

a.         it was unlikely that Haringey would be included in tranche 1 of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) digital programme for housing benefit payments;

b.         the Council would work with DWP to assist transition to universal credits;

c.         in response to questions:

·         about IT problems (10) – if the Council was invited to move to the digital programme a back-up system would be in place to manage any potential collapse of the Government’s system. There would be a slow transfer to this system by groups of benefit recipients;

·         about who was meant by ‘vulnerable claimants’: the term did not refer to specific groups but could include those who did not have access to the internet or those with disabilities;

·         about local independent agencies/ voluntary groups available to support people: the Council worked with HAVECO and would ensure communication between HAVECO and DWP;

·         about people affected by the benefit cap: large families were hit hardest by the cap.  This group had high rents and already received a large amount of funding from the state.  Families would be further affected when the benefits threshold reduced to £23,000.

·         about people having to move out of the Borough into cheaper accommodation:  the Council would support residents through discretionary housing payments if they wished to stay in the Borough and if they were engaging with the housing benefits team.  This, however, was not a sustainable strategy;

·         about the use of Council reserves: housing benefit was not expected to exceed budget by a large amount but it would be one of the many areas of overspend covered by earmarked reserves.  The Committee were reminded that overspend projections were contained within the Budget Report (second dispatch) here presented at the last meeting;

d.         Councillor Hearn expressed concern that some groups might be opposed to being referred to as vulnerable.  She suggested that an equalities impact assessment be conducted to establish a list of people at risk;

e.         Jim Brady explained that the expectation would be on the DWP to be more explicit about the groups they wanted local authorities to engage with;

f.          Councillor Gideon Bull drew the Committee’s attention to previous work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Benefits Take Up and Bedroom Tax.  He urged the Committee to review the recommendations that had been made in previous reviews, particularly in relation to Benefit take up; 

g.         in response to Councillor Bull’s request: the Council had not run a benefits take up campaign for some time but the Revenue and Benefits Team engaged with residents to assist with access to benefits;

e.         the Welfare Reform Club had been commissioned to investigate the cumulative impact of the welfare reform.  A report was expected in December and an action plan would be developed and could be reported to the Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

Question and answer session with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, Councillor Joe Goldberg focussing on his work on Social Inclusion, and to note the report on social inclusion.

For more information on social inclusion in Haringey visit:

http://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/haringey_stat_-_social_inclusion.pdf

a.         Cabinet Member questions

RECIEVED a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, Councillor Joe Goldberg on his portfolio areas.

i.          Carbon Emissions

                        NOTED that

A.        Haringey was a leading London borough in the reduction carbon and the Borough’s growth in population compared to its carbon emissions demonstrated success;

B.        the smarter homes project had been successful in improving energy efficiency;

C.        large homes in the wealthy areas of the Borough were a concern and needed investment to become more efficient;

D.        the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club development would include an energy centre to supply heat to the stadium and local estates;

E.        in response to questions:

·         Haringey’s schools were all at 45% carbon emission levels.  The Council provided sustainable investment funds (SIF) to implement energy efficiency measures.  The SIF was used to make Haringey’s swimming pool pumps more efficient;

·         the procurement team would be requested to provide numbers of schools which had taken up SIF funding;

ACTION: COUNCILLOR GOLDBERG

·         the way energy would be generated to new homes built as part of the Tottenham regeneration project was a concern to the Cabinet Member.  Solar panels should be supported to generate some energy, decentralised energy was a better idea but not the Council had not adopted the technology to support this.  Low carbon buildings were not aesthetically pleasing with small windows and no baths so that residents consumed less water); 

·         expectations of developers and the Mayor of London were clear and the Council and Planning Committee were responsible for ensuring policies relating to energy efficiency were followed.  Fines could be imposed if developers did not meet the requirements;

·         whilst recycling was not within the Cabinet Member’s remit he recognised the role that fewer weekly waste collections played in reducing emissions;

·         the community could be encouraged to reduce carbon emissions with the provision of more electric vehicle charging points, making the Borough more cycle friendly and more pedestrian friendly.  The 40:20 initiative was created to change behaviour and attitudes and communities were able to apply funds towards community initiatives to improve awareness.  Partners including 21 Century Homes in Highgate, voluntary sector organisations and the N10 energy co-operative have conducted some good work in educating the community.

RESOLVED to note the successes achieved through the 40:20 Ambition programme.

b.         Economic Development

i.          the economic growth paper aimed to create 20,000 local jobs by 2030 and ensure that local residents had the skills for these jobs;

ii.         the Opportunity Investment Fund (OIF) for Tottenham subsidised small businesses setting up in unused spaces;

iii.        Chicken Town and the Fashion and Technical College( FTA) Academy (the only manufacturing college in Europe) were among four pilot schemes through the OIF and further projects were in progress;

iv.        the Council provided opportunities to increase the skills of 16-24 year olds and enable their employability.  This initiative was supported by some large businesses;

v.         an apprenticeship drive in March 2015 resulted in 130 apprenticeships being agreed (the target had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

None.

To note the proposed scrutiny work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

RECEIVED the scrutiny work programme update report (pages 61-92).

NOTED that

a.         the recommendations from three completed scrutiny projects, agreed by the Committee in October, would be presented to Cabinet in December 2015;

b.         member training on monitoring performance was being arranged;

c.         the item on Customer Service Transformation had been deferred from the meeting on 25^th of January to the 8^th of March 2016;

d.         an update on previous scrutiny projects on the bedroom tax and benefits would be provided at the meeting on the 8^th of March 2016;

e.         the Environment and Community Safety Panel had agreed to scrutinise the issue of crime in Haringey’s parks and the wider element of the pressures facing the Police;

f.          the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Peter Morton would be invited to engage with the Committee on the co-design of future adult social care;

ACTION: CHAIR & CHRISTIAN SCADE

g.         the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel was progressing with the youth transition project.  There had been difficulties in gathering evidence particularly from schools.  A final report was expected to be presented to the Committee early in 2016.

RESOLVED to note the proposed scrutiny work programme for the remainder of the municipal year and the updates detailed above.

Thursday 17 December 2015

Monday 25 January 2016

Tuesday 8 March 2016 

NOTED the following dates:

Thursday 17 December 2015

Monday 25 January 2016

Tuesday 8 March 2016