Agenda

Please note 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.

To follow

Designation of the Council’s Section 151 Officer under the Local Government Act 1972.

Draft Council Calendar 2024/2025 –to follow.

a)    Audit Committee – Appointment of Independent Advisors to the Committee

b)    Cabinet  - Adoption of the Community Safety Strategy  - cover report to follow following Cabinet on the 12^th of March 2024

c)    Overview and Scrutiny – Annual Report  -  To follow

d)    Standards Committee – To follow

This will contain recommendations on approval of the Member Allowances Scheme 2024/2025 and  Changes to Council Standing Orders.

Haringey has achieved great things in recent years in the sports and the arts: back to back London Youth Games for the first time ever, a fantastic music service that enables young people to learn musical instruments as well as fantastic performance venues like Bernie Grant Arts Centre and Jackson’s Lane showcasing international talent.

The objective of the debate is to discuss the importance of extracurricular activities for young people and how supporting cultural provision provides positive experiences for young people.

1.    Cllr da Costa to Cllr Carlin

Reporting from Haringey Community Press has shown that the council is relying more and more on agency staff, with an increase of 12% between 2021/22 and 2022/23 meaning that more than a third of the workforce is on temporary contracts. Would you not agree that this over-reliance on agency workers, which the cabinet member has admittedly previously is worse than other comparable councils, is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money?

2.    Cllr Liam Carroll to Cllr  Gordon

I was glad to visit some of our council house building projects around the Borough, see the quality of the new homes being built and to hear that we are on track to build 3000 council homes by 2031. Can you provide us with an update on the next steps of the programme? 

3.    Cllr Cawley-Harrison to Cllr Ahmet

Our enquiries recently resulted in an admission from the council that “we do not currently have an accurate up to date list of all commercial property owned by the Council”, over a year since the independent property report flagged this as an issue, and the same report cited poor data management practices. If you can’t get something as basic as a list of what the council owns right, how can residents have confidence that their taxes are being spent responsibly?

4.    Cllr Johnson to Cllr Arkell

The council is bringing its leisure service back under democratic control later this year. Would you agree that direct control is the only way we can create a genuinely co-produced leisure service, one that is properly responsive to residents and reflects our diverse communities in Haringey?

5.    Cllr Barnes to Cllr Williams

The council’s performance on void properties means we are losing thousands of pounds in taxpayers’ money every day, and vulnerable people are being denied permanent accommodation unnecessarily. What are you going to do to get a grip on this programme?

6.    Cllr Sheila Peacock to Cllr Chandwani

Can you explain how the Household Support Fund impacts residents in Haringey?

Motion F

Protecting Haringey’s Libraries, and increasing library footfall and revenue

Proposer: Cllr Connor

Seconder: Cllr Rossetti

Council notes:

• The overwhelming opposition to library cuts submitted as responses to the 2024/25 budget consultation;
• That no libraries have been closed since 2010, and recognises that this leaves the borough in a better place than some neighbours. However, this cannot be used to deflect from the fact that the recent decision to cut hours will negatively impact Haringey’s residents in a multitude of ways;
• That, despite opposition, Haringey Labour closed the mobile library service in Haringey in 2014, retaining only the housebound part of the service;
• Following a review in 2016, council announced plans that would have seen the closure of Highgate Library and Muswell Hill Library, but were forced to reverse the decision due to overwhelming public opposition;
• The significant capital investment in Haringey’s libraries since 2018 to improve library buildings and facilities, with a target that the investment would increase library use, accessibility and footfall to library buildings;
• That cuts to council libraries are a political choice, not a financial necessity, and the proposed cuts for this year and beyond could have been avoided by approving the Liberal Democrat Amendment to the 2023/2024 budget;
• That the Director of Culture, Strategy and Engagement, and the Lead Cabinet Member for Libraries conceded at a Budget Scrutiny panel in December 2022 that the only two options explored in the options appraisal for libraries were the cuts as proposed, or the closure of some council libraries;
• The preliminary equalities assessment presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee predicted that cuts to libraries would have a negative impact on young people, older people, the disabled, parents of young children and those with the lowest socioeconomic status;
• That the cuts to council libraries are being carried out before an up to date library strategy has been published.

Council believes:

• Libraries are the only way that many children living in the borough have access to books, the only place for many of Haringey’s young people to study to ensure that they can maximise their full potential in life;
• Libraries provide essential internet access for those without it, especially those that are jobseekers, elderly, or living in financial hardship;
• Libraries provide a warm and safe space for many residents that would otherwise not have one, and so help prevent loneliness and poor health;
• Libraries are an open-door arts and events venue, providing a vital community space for a large number of events and local groups at all hours;
• That instead of cuts and reduced hours of access, council should be searching for opportunities to expand the number of services which can be delivered from libraries in an effort to improve footfall and increase the number of library users in the borough;
• That libraries are being severely underutilised, particularly in regards to revenue-raising opportunities, and that there has been a lack of strategic direction in maximising existing spaces in council libraries and a lack of support provided to library  ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.