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.

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

None.

None.

To approve the minutes of the meetings on 3^rd June and 4^th July.

The Chair of the Adults and Health Panel advised that in relation to Item 25 in the minutes, the key point was that client information from the social care system was aligned other medical information held by the NHS to ensure continuity and that access to all information was available in one location, through the patient portal.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meetings on 3^rd June and 4^th July were agreed as a correct record.

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

·         Children and Young People – 13^th June 2019

·         Environment and Community Safety – 11^th June 2019

·         Housing and Regen – 10^th June 2019 – to follow

·         Adults and Health – 20^th June 2019 – to follow

The Chair of the Housing and Regen Panel set out that the Panel minutes from 10^th June were still draft.

RESOLVED

That the Committee received and noted the minutes of the following Scrutiny Panels and approved any recommendations contained within:

·         Children and Young People – 13^th June 2019

·         Environment and Community Safety – 11^th June 2019

·         Housing and Regeneration – 10^th June 2019

·         Adults and Health – 20^th June 2019

This report provides an update on Universal Credit following a verbal briefing received in January.

The Committee received a report on Universal Credit, which provided an update from the verbal briefing received in January. The report was introduced by Jim Brady, Service Manager for SSC – Benefits, Training & Quality as set out in the report pack at pages 37-54. Also in attendance at the meeting were Daniel Blake - CEO at Haringey CAB, Phylis Fealy from the DWP and Julie Stevens, also from the DWP, and who was the overall manager for the Tottenham Job Centre. Cllr Amin, the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Civic Services was also present, along with Andy Briggs the AD For Customer Services and Libraries. The following was noted in discussion of the report:

a.    Haringey CAB advised that Universal Credit required a lot more interactions and engagement from his organisation with members of the public than any of the previous benefits that it was designed to replace, resulting in significant resource implications. The DWP set out that that relationships were a key factor in administering Universal Credit and that it required the development of clear pathways for support.

b.    In relation to a question around the number of landlords that had asked for rent payments to be made to them directly, officers advised that the introduction of Universal Credit had increased overall rent arrears and that it was likely to be a significant number of landlords. Officers agreed to come back to the Committee with the number of landlords in Haringey that had asked for rent payments to be made to them directly, following rent arrears. (Action: Jim Brady).

c.    In response to a question around the training and support offered to staff to help them assist claimants, officers advised that DWP staff had been sent into libraries to talk to staff and to go through all of the information that staff members needed to know. Officers acknowledged that the library staff were not experts and that their role was largely to assist those people to make a claim.

d.    In response to a request for feedback from frontline staff, officers advised that there had been very few problem claims or significant issues so far and that on the odd occasion were a problem had arisen, they had been able to speak to the Job Centre quickly and get the problem resolved. Haringey CAB advised that the biggest issue they had come across was that it required much more access to IT and online services. The DWP had provided public access computers to CAB for this purpose. The Committee noted that Haringey CAB staff provided a dedicated advice service in Marcus Garvey Library on a Monday.

e.    In relation to staff resources available, Haringey CAB advised that they had a dedicated service to support people up to the point of their first successful claim. The service comprised of six staff and any queries outside of this would be picked up by generalist help and advice staff. Daniel Blake advised that since the introduction of Help to Claim, the number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

This report sets out the Council’s provisional budget outturn for the year ended 31 March 2019.

Jon Warlow, Director of Finance, introduced the report which set out the Council’s provisional budget outturn for the last financial year of 2018/19. It was noted that there were some service overspends, which totalled about £9 million. The Director of Finance highlighted that the reserves position of the authority had improved slightly, as evident in the reserve statement section of Appendix 1 of the report.

The following was noted in response to questions from the Committee:

a.    Regarding a query around capital underspend and whether there was a missed opportunity to get going earlier on some issues, the Director of Finance mentioned that while everybody wanted the capital spend to be higher, there were positive results from this, namely in 2017/18 the outturn represented 37% of the capital budget and in 2018/19 it was 53%, which meant a 16% improvement in the year. It was noted that there was a continual focus to improve upon the 53% outturn. It was added that in relation to individual capital schemes, in many instances reasonable and explicable reasons were provided as to why there was not a full delivery. The Director of Finance highlighted that there were no resources lost in trying to minimise some slippage.

b.    The Director of Finance confirmed that road maintenance and infrastructure came under the capital budget. The Director of Finance noted that the degree of underspend on capital projects was variable depending on which project was viewed. The Director of Finance then referred to the Borough Roads scheme - scheme reference number 302 at page 80 of the report - which had a capital programme of £4,164 million and an outturn of £4,172 million. In terms of addressing road pothole issues speedily, Cllr Chandwani -the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods – clarified that there were two types of maintenance, planned and reactive maintenance, and noted that the type of maintenance referred by Cllr Jogee was reactive maintenance. The Cabinet Member further mentioned that an email that was sent to all Councillors about problems with the LOHAC contract that was managed by TFL. Regarding the LOHAC contract, the Cabinet Member acknowledged concerns with this contract and advised that a report to Cabinet had gone up in July around its retender.

c.    Regarding a query as to whether priority areas could be moved around within the capital budget, the Director of Finance explained that the budget was set based on the expectations at that point. During the course of the year there were some circumstances in which money was transferred through virement, but that was done through a proper decision-making process.  The Director of Finance noted that in relation to the scheme headings shown on the Capital Programme, those resources had been allocated for the stated purposes, and the schemes would continue to be delivered in the next year for their stated purposes when the schemes were carried forward.

d.    Regarding a query as to whether the remaining amount of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) would be carried over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

An opportunity for the Committee to question Councillor Adje on his Cabinet portfolio.

Councillor Adje, Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration, responded to questions from the Committee:

a.    The Cabinet Member noted that his main concerns were to ensure there was adequate funding for services to be provided for the people of the Borough, to ensure the Borough was secure, and that there was a balanced budget. 

b.    In terms of the Council’s finances, the Cabinet Member noted that everything was being done to ensure the Council had a balanced budget. Regarding the expected position of the Council’s finances in 2022, the Cabinet Member foresaw the Council’s finances being in a balanced position.

c.    Regarding possible virements to high road works, the Cabinet Member explained that if the fund was ring-fenced then it would be difficult to vire the funds; however, if a case was made where there was a grant that was not ring-fenced, then it would be looked at whether that could be used to assist.

d.    In terms of whether the budget was aligned with the manifesto, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that the two were aligned and were reflected in the Council’s Borough Plan.

e.    Regarding a query on funding for a nursery, the Cabinet Member advised that normally the school would have a maintenance budget, and if the maintenance had not been dealt with or there were insufficient funds, then the teacher or the finance subgroup of the governing body needed to raise the issues to the Governors, and also appeal to the Director and Cabinet Member on how the service could assist. In terms of the repairs for the nursery, it was advised that an analysis of the repairs needed to be made and a business case prepared. The Chair suggested that the issues with the nursery could be picked up and discussed at the Children’s and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel, especially around budgeting. (Action: Cllr Dogan).  

f.     In terms of making Council Tax fairer, the Cabinet Member referred to the CTRS, which was part of the Borough Plan. Regarding raising funds, the Cabinet Member explained that the Council had to collect funds from small business through business rates, however, to assist small businesses, the Council provided a three-month discount or rent-free period when businesses started. The Cabinet Member understood that Council Tax payment was difficult for some people and highlighted that everything was being done to apply discounts for residents who were unable to meet their needs, for instance there were single persons discounts to assist those that lived alone. He noted that Council Tax was a statutory payment, and therefore, the Council had a responsibility to collect the money, and in some cases, bailiffs were used as enforcement.

g.    Regarding a query on invest to save proposals in other portfolios, the Cabinet Member clarified that the term ‘invest to save’ should not be used loosely. Although there would be an input into the service, there would also be revenue costs, therefore consideration need to be made of whether there would be a yield on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

This report provides an update on the Front Office, Back Office Transformation Programme since the report brought to Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 30-4-19.

The Committee received a report which provided an update on the Front Office Back Office Transformation Programme, following a previous update provided to the Committee on 30^th April 2019. The report was introduced by The Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods. Andy Briggs, AD for Customers Services and Libraries, was present along with Helen Gaffney (HR Business Partner) and Belinda Black (FOBO Programme Director). Maggie Smith and Gerard McGrath from Unison were also in attendance.  The following was noted in discussion of the report:

a.    The Cabinet Member advised that her primary concern around implementing the FOBO programme was around ensuring that undue stress and excessive workloads were not placed on staff as a result. There had been significant consultation undertaken with trade unions and their concerns had been incorporated into the proposals as they developed. The Committee was advised that the formal staff consultation did not end until 25^th July but that the information given during the meeting was the latest that was available. The Cabinet Member set out that she recognised that the Council needed to offer a 21^st Century technology–based customer service solution to residents, whilst ensuring that services worked for everyone.

b.    In response to a question, officers advised that there were around 2000 calls and 300/400 emails per day to Haringey Customer Services.

c.    In response to a question, officers advised that there were nine staff engagement sessions held, including a number of pre-engagement sessions and that as a result, there were no surprises for staff in respect of these proposals. Officers advised that Committee that they had been able to have an open and constructive dialogue with staff and to ensure that the numbers of compulsory redundancies were kept to an absolute minimum. Officers advised that the number of expected redundancies had been reduced since last coming to the Committee and that through a series of mitigations they were able to advise that there would be no compulsory redundancies for staff.

d.    In response to a request for their comments, the Unison reps advised that engagement with management had improved since the previous update and that they were satisfied that a positive way forward had been found overall. The Committee noted a number of concerns from the unions which included:

                       i.        The process felt overly rushed and the unions felt that back-office jobs had been taken before management were able to demonstrate adequate technological solutions.

                      ii.        There was a lack of clear evidence to justify the level of posts deleted within the Revenue and Benefits service.

                     iii.        The unions raised concerns from staff that those left behind would be dealing with increased stress levels and workloads from backlogs.

                    iv.        Concerns were raised about  gaps in service and that Customer Service staff would be asked to attend Liability Order hearings without the proper training or accreditation.

                      v.        The Committee was advised that the unions remained concerned about whether the IT programme needed to run this programme was fit for purpose and the level of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

The purpose of this report is to provide a summary update on Library Services across the Borough and specifically the Library Enhancement programme, the LGA Library Peer Challenge, Branch Library Funding, and exploratory work on underutilised spaces and the potential for income generation.

The Chair asked the representatives from the Friends of Libraries groups to introduce themselves.

Mr David Bennie, Chair of For the Friends of Reading and Education in Haringey - which was an umbrella group for the various friends’ groups at different libraries in the Borough - and he was also Chair of St. Ann’s Library Friends. Firstly, Mr Bennie mentioned that he was pleased the Council kept nine libraries open and that the hours were not cut. Secondly, in terms of the Enhancement programme for the branch libraries, Mr Bennie was concerned that it had taken a long time and felt that it would be instructive to follow that back to understand how it took so long for a relatively small programme. Mr Bennie stressed that libraries had become crucial providers of Council services, for example the Council’s Customer Service Centre introduced at Wood Green library and Marcus Garvey library; however, libraries had become less welcoming and acted as a security operation to control people that were out of order. Lastly, Mr Bennie raised concerns on the uncertainty and long-term plans of Wood Green library and Coombes Croft library in Tottenham. It was further noted that Muswell Hill Library had access issues as the mechanical lift had not worked properly for a substantial period, and it was suggested that it would be ideal to have lift access for the upper floor of the Library.

Ms Jasmine Taylor, representative of Friends of Marcus Garvey Library, briefly referred to the email response from the Friends of Marcus Garvey Library that was sent to the Councillors regarding the inaccuracies in parts of the report. Ms Taylor raised concerns that issues that related to Marcus Garvey Library were kicked down the road. Ms Taylor explained that when Marcus Garvey Library re-opened following refurbishment, the Friends of Marcus Garvey Library and other residents carried out a community audit and had meetings with library management about issues with the library. It was acknowledged that some issues at the Library that were resolved, such as additional shelving, the youth section was returned, and the back door was no longer used as an entrance. Nonetheless, it was noted there was an agreement to reconfigure the lower floor to ensure there was better use of the Library space; however, it was felt that officers were hanging back on the agreement. It was highlighted that the £3 million that was meant to be spent on the Library was rather spent on customer service provision within the Library. Consequently, there were still various problems at the Library, particularly the lack of space. Ms Taylor put forward the following requirements for Marcus Garvey Library:

·         The reconfiguration of the Library to allow more space;

·         A Librarian within the children’s library and children’s desk in the Library to ensure children were provided support; and

·         The removal of light boxes, which took a lot of space and had no useful function.

Ms Joanna Bornat, representative of Stroud Green and Harringay library, acknowledged that in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

This report seeks approval of the work plans for the remainder 2018-20 for the Committee and its Panels.

The Committee considered the Work Programme Update report as set out at pages 121-153 of the agenda pack.

Following a discussion, the Committee agreed to postpone the recommended appointment of Cllr Diakides to the Housing and Regeneration panel in response to concerns that Cllr Stone did not feel that he had received adequate notification of the decision to replace him. The Chair commented that she had spoken to him in person about the decision.

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the work programmes for the main Committee and Scrutiny Panels at Appendix A of the report and agreed any amendments as appropriate.

N/A

1 October 2019

25 November 2019

14 January 2020 (Priority X)

23 January 2020 (Budget Scrutiny)

12 March 2020

The Committee noted the remaining scheduled meeting dates for 2019-2020:

·         1 October 2019

·         25 November 2019

·         14 January 2020 (Priority X)

·         23 January 2020 (Budget Scrutiny)

·         12 March 2020