Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Centre, High Road, Wood Green, N22 8LE. View directions

Contact: Philip Slawther, Principal Committee Co-ordinator 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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.

 

2.

Apologies for Absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Dogan and Cllr Jogee.

 

Cllr Berryman attended as a substitute for Cllr Jogee.

3.

Urgent Business

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 below).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no items of Urgent Business.

4.

Declarations of Interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no Declarations of Interest.

5.

Deputations/Petitions/Presentations/Questions

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

6.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 241 KB

To agree the minutes of the meeting on 25th November 2019 as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting on 25th November were agreed as a correct record.

7.

MINUTES OF SCRUTINY PANEL MEETINGS pdf icon PDF 240 KB

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

 

·         Housing and Regeneration – 4th November

·         Environment and Community Safety – 5th November

·         Children and Young People’s - 7th November

·         Adults and Health – 14th November

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Adults and Health Panel advised that the as part of the discussion around the Haringey Safeguarding Adults Board, Dr Cooper had been invited back to a subsequent Panel meeting to give a further update.

 

The Chair of the Housing and Regeneration Panel gave the Committee an update on Scrutiny Review of High Road West. The Committee noted that work had begun and that Panel members had undertaken site visits to the Peacock industrial estate and to the Love Lane estate.

 

 

RESOLVED

 

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

 

·         Housing and Regeneration – 4th November

·         Environment and Community Safety – 5th November

·         Children and Young People’s - 7th November

·         Adults and Health – 14th November

 

8.

Fairness Commission pdf icon PDF 143 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received an update report on the progress of the Fairness Commission as set out in pages 49 & 50 of the agenda pack. The report was introduced by Jean Taylor, Head of Policy. Cllr Amin was also present as the relevant Cabinet Member. It was noted that final report of the Fairness Commission was currently in draft form and was expected to be agreed by commissioners at the end of January. The report would then be launched on 20th February to coincide with UN World Day of Social Justice. At its meeting in March, the Council’s Cabinet would agree its response to the report and this would include identification of who would take on responsibility for delivering the Commission’s recommendations going forwards. The following arose from the discussion of the report:

a.    The Committee sought clarification about what happened to the issues raised as part of this process that did not fit within the five key areas/working groups agreed by the Commission. In response, officers acknowledged that a huge amount of responses were received and that this information was subject to a prioritisation process, which took account of the frequency of a particular issue being raised as well as focusing on issues that were closest to the Commission’s key focus such as social justice and fairness. Officers also advised that the feedback received was also checked against existing data to determine key themes and trends. The Committee were assured that feedback and responses received had been shared with commissioners and senior officers across the Council as part of the reporting process.

b.    The Committee sought assurances around receiving sight of which groups and individuals had been engaged with as part of this process. In response, officers advised that a detailed list of those who had been engaged with would be included at the end of the report. Officers also reassured the Committee that there had been a conscious process of scheduling additional engagement activities for those that felt under represented.

c.    The Committee sought assurances around how officers would co-ordinate with existing activities taking place such as the Youth at Risk Strategy and Haringey Community Gold. In response officers acknowledged that there was some level of crossover and that they had worked to avoid duplication. The Youth at Risk Strategy had been revisited as part of the process for setting the recommendations of the Fairness Commission.

d.    In response to a question around whether the recommendations of the Commission would be implemented within the life time of the current administration, officers advised that the medium term goals should be easily achievable in this timeframe and also set out that the outcomes would be measurable.

e.    The Committee enquired about what contingencies were in place to ensure the ongoing delivery of its recommendations, if for instance, a new administration came in with different policy objectives. In response, officers set out that the Commission was made up of 22 people, most of whom were not Councillors and so there would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

CABINET MEMBER QUESTIONS - CABINET MEMBER FOR CORPORATE AND CIVIC SERVICES

Verbal Update

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel undertook a question and answer session with Cllr Amin, the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Civic Services on her portfolio. The Cabinet Member gave a short verbal update:

 

·         The update and refit programme for Haringey’s libraries was underway and works had begun at Hornsey Library.

·         The Physical Activity and Sports Strategy was in the process of being implemented. This looked at how leisure facilities could be more accessible and included investment in green gyms in parks.

·         The Committee was advised that Haringey had been shortlisted for the London Borough of Culture.

·         Haringey was going through a redesign and restructure of its HR processes. This included a recruitment focus in supporting local people. Examples of this included the development of a local graduate trainee programme and working with local schools on apprenticeships.

 

The following arose from the discussion of this item:

a.    The Committee sought assurances around what meetings the Cabinet Member had with The Friends of Libraries groups, following the concerns raised about Marcus Garvey at OSC in July. In response the Cabinet Member advised that she met with the Friends of Marcus Garvey about every 2 months. The Cabinet Member commented that one of the issues raised at OSC was around staffing levels in the children’s library. There was now a member of staff focused on the children’s library. As part of a review of children’s library provision, the service had introduced a libraries promise and were meeting with children and parents to talk about how to improve provision. 

b.    The Committee enquired how access to leisure services and undertakings to improve physical activity levels, would be monitored. In response, the Committee was advised that there was significant monitoring and data available on this, particularly around take-up levels for the concessionary rate and engagement with the summer activity programme. Officers agreed to share a breakdown of the take-up for the concessionary rate for leisure facilities. (Action: Zoe Robertson).

c.    In response to a question around whether consideration had been given to bringing the Hays contract back in-house, officers advised that they were approaching the final year of this contract and discussions were ongoing around any potential future redesign of that service. However there were concerns around commercial sensitivity that prevented discussing this in a public forum.

d.    The Committee welcomed the previous use of autism-friendly colour-coding of library books in Marcus Garvey and enquired whether this could be brought back. In response, officers agreed to look into this and give further consideration about how to develop a consistent approach across Haringey libraries. (Action: Charlotte Pomery).

e.    The Committee raised concerns about the use of Wood Green and Marcus Garvey Libraries as customer service centres and sought clarification as whether Cabinet Member planned to continue with this policy. In response, the Committee was advised that significant capital resources had been invested into these sites to merge libraries and customer services. However, the Cabinet Member acknowledges some of the Committee’s concerns and advised that they were looking at ways  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Priority X Budget Scrutiny pdf icon PDF 439 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Council’s 2020/21 Draft Budget / 5-year MTFS 2020/21 – 2024/25 proposals in relation to Your Council/Priority X. The report was introduced by Frances Palopoli, Head of Corporate Financial Strategy & Monitoring. Richard Grice, Director of Transformation and Resources was also present. The following points was raised during the discussion of this agenda item.

 

YC01- Reduction in Paper Usage

 

The Committee raised a general point about separating out income generation proposals from budget savings in future reports. In response, officers advised that the two were treated in terms of budget proposals but acknowledged that they could be separated out in future. 

 

YC02- Income from joining the London Counter Fraud Hub

 

The Committee sought clarification on whether joining the hub was dependent upon 26 local authorities signing up to it and whether the prospects of this happening were looking good. Officers confirmed that a minimum of 26 local authorities were required to make the hub viable. Officers also advised that although they were not there yet, that discussions had been overwhelmingly positive and it was hoped that there would be 26 other local authorities willing to sign up to it.

 

The Committee also enquired whether £50k income was a conservative estimate given the potential amounts at stake through Right to Buy fraud etcetera. In response, officers advised that £50k was the best estimate of shared returns, based on pilot schemes in other authorities and evidence to date.

 

In response to a request for clarification, officers advised that the initial joining fee for the scheme was £75k and that the £705k set out at the bottom of page 68 of the pack was a typographical error.

 

 

YC03- Legal income from Clinical Commissioning Group.

 

The Committee suggested that this proposal seemed slightly theoretical. Officers assured the Committee that they were confident that this saving would take place and suggested that it may already have been implemented. 

 

YC04- Finance Directorate Savings .

 

The Committee sought clarification about the suggested loss of posts and where these would take place. In response officers advised that of the total £540k saving, £340k was earmarked for the next financial year. Of that £340k, it was anticipated that this would include a loss of 2 FTE posts (£70k).  The majority of the FTE posts lost would take place in the second tranche of the saving, which would take place in 2022/23. Committee Members were assured that the impact of the changes would be reviewed and assessed before the second tranche was implemented but that it was too early to accurately quantify the number of FTE reductions at this stage.

 

YC05- Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust (APPCT).

 

The Committee sought assurance around whether the proposed £195k reduction in revenue grant from the Council had been communicated to APPCT in the context of the huge savings that had been made from the Council’s budget over the last ten year period. In response officers advised that they were confident that this was the case and that those conversations had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Facilities Management Transition pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received an update on the transfer of FM services back in house, which was identified as the Council’s the first insource programme. The report was introduced by Andrew Meek, Head of Organisational Resilience & Joe McBride, Transition Manager as set out in the agenda pack at page 127. The following arose from the discussion of the report:

a.    In response to a question around who had overall control for FM services once in was brought back in house from 1st April, officers advised that soft FM services would be managed by Haringey Council and hard FM services would be managed by HfH. In response to concerns about governance, the Committee was assured that the Corporate Landlord would have overall control and would have a role in co-ordinating overall requests to HfH.

b.    The Committee noted concerns with HfH’s current track record on issues of repairs and maintenance and complaints from residents in this regard. The Committee sought assurances that additional responsibilities around management of hard FM for the Council would not make their repairs and maintenance service worse. In response, officers acknowledged these concerns and advised that funding was the crucial issue. The Committee noted that there was a separate funding source for the two; repairs and maintenance was funded through the Housing Revenue Account, whilst Facilities Management was funded through the General Fund.

c.    The Committee enquired about the future direction of the insourcing agenda and enquired whether consideration had been given to adult social care and school catering services being brought back in-house. In response, officers set out that the transfer of FM services was the first insourcing programme and that a report was going to Cabinet in March which would set out the timeline and the focus of the insourcing programme going forward.

d.    The Committee requested that a further update on the insourcing programme be brought back to OSC. Officers acknowledged this request and agreed to come back to Members with some further thoughts on how best to accommodate this request and likely timescales. (Action: Andrew Meek/Joe McBride).

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Facilities Management Update report was noted.

12.

Scrutiny Review on SEND pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was deferred to the next meeting as the Chair of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel was unavailable.

13.

Work Programme Update pdf icon PDF 121 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a copy of the work plans for OSC and the four Scrutiny Panels, along with a scoping document for a Scrutiny Review on Schools. The Report was introduced by Rob Mack.

 

The Committee was advised that work was underway to develop the work plan for 2020/21 so that it was in place and ready to go following Annual Council in May. The Committee noted that the survey for the proposed Scrutiny Café event in March was being developed and should be available on the website in February.

 

RESOLVED

 

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

 

    II.        That the Committee approved the scope and terms of reference at Appendix B of the report for the review by the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel on Schools.

 

14.

New Items of Urgent Business

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None

15.

Future meetings

Additional documents:

Minutes:

23rd January

12th March