Agenda

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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.

Minor clarification to the 2^nd of March minutes relating to deputation representation.

Change to Political composition and Appointments to Committees 2023/24 and Committee position changes.

Update on Special Urgency Decisions

Standards Committee report  seeking approval of :

1.Amendments to Part Four of the Constitution, Section J Contract Procedure Rules

2.Constitutional related actions arising from the independent review of the Council’s arrangements for property negotiations, acquisitions, and disposals or intended transactions, approved at Cabinet on the 18th of April 2023, namely:

·         Guidance on the role of Council appointees to voluntary sector organisations, reminding them of their role as stewards of public funds.

·         Guidance to councillors meeting with landowners, contractors etc when not in their capacity as ward councillors.

·         Protocol for Decision Making to provide consistency and support.

3.Changes to the Petitions Scheme and Council Standing Order section on Petitions.

4.Addition of the Licensing Hearing protocol to the Council’s Constitution.

E – Petition on No to LTN’s

Cllr Cawley-Harrison to Cllr Ahmet

1. A couple of weeks ago you made a decision to allow Festival Republic to run the Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park for the next 5 years, plus allowing them a second weekend of events each year. This decision was taken behind closed doors, and was designated as ‘non key’, meaning there was no opportunity for Overview & Scrutiny to review the decision. Is this the kind of better listening and sharing of power you were talking about when you launched the Haringey Deal? 

Cllr Ahmed Mahbub to Cllr Emily Arkell

2.The Council recently signed a 5-year contract with Festival Republic to hold wireless and other events in Finsbury Park. Can the Cabinet member explain what are the benefits of this deal for residents?

Cllr Barnes to Cllr Williams

3. You will no doubt have seen the report from the housing ombudsman, stating that failure in Haringey’s housing service stemmed from a “culture of apathy and an acceptance of poor practice”, with emails from as late as December 2022 showing that service leaders’ only real motivation seemed to be the avoiding being ordered to pay compensation by the ombudsman. Given the rejection of the idea of a Service Level Agreement with our tenants and leaseholders, what specific measures is the council taking to change the culture of the organisation?

Cllr Kaushika Amin to Cllr Ruth Gordon

4.  Haringey has set out a bold and an ambitious council house building programme with 3000 new homes being built by 2031. Can the Cabinet Member outline what steps are being taken to ensure projects like this will ensure high quality housing stock for residents?

Cllr Rossetti to Cllr Ahmet

5. The current Members Enquiries system is not fit for purpose, with enquiries frequently not being logged, being logged late, and missing deadlines for responses. The new system being put in place will not impact on any of these problems. What are you going to do to improve this failing area of the council?

Cllr Thayahlan Iyngkaran to Cllr Sarah Williams

6. The Council is cracking down on rogue letting agents, protecting Haringey’s 90,000 private renters. Can the Cabinet member explain how many penalties have been given since this new policy was introduced?

Motion A

Period Poverty

Proposer: Councillor Rossetti

Seconder: Councillor da Costa

Council notes:

• In June 2022, a Plan International UK survey found that nearly one in four girls in London were unable to afford period products since the start of the year;
• The charity found that girls across the country were cutting down on food and school spending in order to afford period products;
• An ActionAid 2022 survey showed that of those who have struggled to afford menstrual products in the last six months, 75% said they had prioritised spending money on food, 49% had prioritised gas/electric, and 31% prioritised fuel;
• Nearly half (46%) of those who struggled to afford sanitary products in the last six months kept sanitary pads or tampons in for longer than recommended or used toilet paper, and 10% doubled up their underwear; and women, girls and others who menstruate are at risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) if they do not have access to clean period products;
• The Period Products Scheme for schools and colleges in England has provided free period products to all state maintained schools and 16-19 education organisations in England since 2020;
• Scotland was the first country in the world to make period products free for all;
• Councils such as Sutton, Southwark and Oxford have set up or agreed schemes to provide free period products.

Council believes:

• No-one should experience period poverty.

Council resolves:

• To provide free period products in all of the council’s public toilets and buildings including libraries and community centres, including all female, male, disabled and gender-neutral toilets;
• Where possible, to provide sustainable period products for free;
• To ensure there are sanitary waste bins in all of the council’s toilets;
• To regularly communicate to residents that free period products are available in council property;
• To monitor whether state-maintained schools and education institutions in Haringey participate in the UK government’s period product scheme;
• To call for the UK government to make period products free and available to all those who need them.

Motion B

Withdraw the Illegal Migration Bill

Proposer: Cllr Lucia das Neves, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Wellbeing

Seconder: Cllr Erdal Dogan

This Council is committed to defending the human rights of all our residents, and to fulfilling its public sector equality duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people.

The Council’s Welcome Strategy sets out our ambition to be an inclusive place: for people from all cultures, nationalities, and backgrounds, and to work closely with our communities and voluntary organisations to make Haringey a welcoming borough for everyone who wants to live and work here.

This Council notes that:

1)    The Government is bringing forward yet another immigration bill, at a time when there are currently no safe routes to the UK for the vast majority of those who seek asylum here, including those with family members in our communities.

2)    Arriving irregularly is often the only option for asylum seekers, yet the provisions of this Bill  ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.