Agenda

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Motion F: Arrange for an external investigation into the possibility of fraud within Haringey Council

Proposer: Councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison

Seconder: Councillor Tammy Palmer

Council notes:

·         The report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, dated 10 January 2022;

·         That the council failed to fully co-operate with the Ombudsman’s investigation by failing to provide information around contact with the owner of ‘Property B’;

·         That the council misled the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel regarding the timing of decisions taken on the Cranwood development;

·         That the council made representations to the LGO to remove Cllr Ejiofor’s name from the final report;

·         The Metropolitan Police investigation into allegations of fraud linked to the Cranwood development, which has led to councillors being interviewed;

·         The fact that other decisions, such as the purchase of Alexandra House and the installation of Teriy Keys, a.k.a. Smurfie Syco, as landlord-tenant at 141 Station Road, have been taken in recent years without proper processes in place and without oversight.

Council believes:

These allegations come at an extremely worrying time, just as the council is embarking on huge increases in spending on capital projects.

Council resolves:

·         To urge the cabinet to adopt in full the recommendations of the LGO report, namely:

·         To apologise to Mr X and pay him £1000 for the stress and uncertainty;

·         To reconsider the proposals for the development of the site. This should be considered by Full Council or Cabinet and the report should provide an accurate description of the history of the matter and should refer to the LGO report. It should consider all the possible options for the site including the inclusion of the terrace of houses in the scheme. If the decision is to proceed with the development including the terrace of houses the Council should provide a remedy to the tenants who were wrongly assured that they would be able to stay in the properties.

·         To identify whether councillors other than Cllr Ejiofor were aware of and / or involved in the ad hoc decision-making around the Cranwood scheme and to make this a matter of public record, to the legal extent it is possible to do so;

·         To arrange for an external auditor to complete an investigation into the possibility of existence of fraud and corruption within the council, to fully co-operate with this inquiry, and to publicly release the findings, including naming all those involved, to the legal extent it is possible to do so.