Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bloch, Bull, Khan, Reece, Stanton, and Weber, and for lateness from Councillor Scott.

See Minutes 69 & 71.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/orif it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

The Chief Executive advised of the following advance notice of declarations of interests:

Councillor Reith declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 - Presentation on Local Authority Action on Climate Change, and Item 11 - Report on Haringey's carbon footprint and progress made to date to reduce carbon emissions and proposals to develop a borough wide carbon management plan, as she was a member of the Tottenham branch of Friends of the Earth, and her partner was employed by the national office of Friends of the Earth.

Councillor Davies declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 16 - Motions O & P, as he was an employee of the housing Charity - Shelter.

Councillor Engert declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 16 - Motion Q as a Board Member of London Travel Watch which came under the Greater London Assembly’s auspices.

Councillor Winskill declared a general personal interest as a Haringey Leaseholder.

In addition, Councillor Strang declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 16 - Motions Q, as he was an employee of Transport for London.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 November 2010 be signed as a true record.

1.      The Mayor reported, with sadness, the passing of his personal Chaplain Father Geoffrey Seabrook on 11 January 2011. The Mayor informed the meeting that Father Seabrook had been the Rector of Hornsey and Prebendary of St Paul’s Cathedral, and had also served as Deacon of the West Haringey Synod. The Mayor also commented that Father Seabrook would be remembered for the valuable work he had done with Children in the area specifically within the Anglican Community, together with his warmth and empathy with people of all faiths and his wise counsel in times of trouble and grief.  The Mayor added that Father Seabrook would leave a void that would be extremely difficult to fill. The Mayor advised that he would on behalf of the Council pass on a message of sympathy and condolence to Father Seabrook’s family.

At the request of the Mayor, the meeting stood for a minute’s silence in memory of Father Seabrook.

2.      The Mayor also reminded the meeting of the National Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2011 and the commemorative event taking place on Sunday 23 January 2011 at Bruce Castle Museum. 

3.      The Mayor passed on the Council’s congratulations to all of the residents of Haringey who were awarded honours in the 2011 New Year Honours List.  The Mayor particularly sent the Council’s good wishes to Susie Constantinides who was awarded an MBE for services to the Cypriot Community.

RESOLVED

1.      That the changes to Political Group composition as detailed in  paragraphs 8.1 & 8.2 of the report be noted.

2.      That the resultant changes to Council body memberships as detailed in paragraphs 8.7 & 8.8 of the report be agreed as follows:-

(1)    Councillor Bloch to fill the vacant position on the General Purposes Committee.

(2)    Councillor Davies to  be shown as an Independent member on the Muswell Hill Area Assembly membership.

3.      That the change of date of the next Council meeting to 24 February 2011 be agreed noting the necessity to alter the date of the Council tax setting meeting as the GLA  would not be confirming their precept until 23 February 2011.

There were no items to report.

There were no items to report.

There were two deputations to address the meeting.

The first deputation was received from Jenny Sutton of Haringey Alliance for Public Services.

Members asked questions of the deputation and received responses thereto.

The Leader of the Council responded to the deputation.

The second deputation was received from John Snelling the Employee Side Secretary.

Members asked questions of the deputation and received responses thereto.

Councillor Goldberg, Cabinet Member for Finance and Sustainability responded to the deputation.

The Mayor thanked the deputations for attending.

A presentation was given by Steve Turner – Head of Carbon Economy, New Economy Manchester.

Members asked questions of the presenter and received responses thereto

The Mayor thanked Mr Turner for his presentation.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Sustainability – Councillor Goldberg presented Haringey’s first Annual Carbon report. He informed the meeting that climate change posed a severe threat to the environment, the community and to the local economy. Following a campaign organised by Friends of the Earth involving hundreds of local residents, there was cross party political support to work towards a 40% carbon reduction by 2020. Councillor Goldberg reported that a Carbon Management Plan covering the Council’s operations was agreed in 2010 and which set out an ambitious plan to deliver a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2015; ahead of the community wide target. This demonstrated leadership by example and provided a benchmark for other organisations in the borough. Haringey was one of 9 local authorities in England to have been selected to take part in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Local Carbon Frameworks pilot. The aim of this pilot was to develop best practice in local carbon reduction action planning and bring together a core group of experts to support those pioneering action on climate change.

During 2011 Haringey would lead on the development of a Carbon Management Plan for the borough, which would require support from residents, businesses, organisations and voluntary groups across Haringey and for this reason, a membership organisation for all those wishing to support action on climate change, known as Haringey 40:20, would be established.

This report provided an overview of the carbon emissions baseline for Haringey and set out a transparent framework for reporting on progress towards attaining the carbon target. The report also explained the next steps being taken to develop a Carbon Management Plan for Haringey.

Following Councillor Goldberg’s introduction other Members contributed to the debate together with the following external speakers:-

John Broderick - Tyndall Centre For Climate Change, Elizabeth Cox - New Economics Foundation, Samantha Heath - London Sustainability Exchange,  Tony Bosworth - Friends of the Earth and Warren Hatter, Local Improvement Advisor.

Councillor Goldberg concluded the debate.

RESOLVED

1. That it be noted that the report provided a framework for making transparent the progress being made by the Council and other organisations, in order to support work towards a 40% reduction target by 2020.

2. That full support be given to the development of a Carbon Management Plan for Haringey in 2011 noting that the success of the Carbon Management Plan for Haringey would be dependent on the coordinated action of businesses, faith groups, schools, public bodies, charities and every individual who lived in the borough.

The Mayor agreed to the admission of this report as urgent business. The report could not be circulated earlier as the public consultation exercise did not finish until 8 January 2011 and the results needed to be collated and incorporated. The report was urgent in order for consideration to be given to the proposals for change in the current governance arrangements, to be effective from May 2011.  

RESOLVED

1.      That members and officers develop further the proposals contained in appendix 1 of the report in order to implement changes from May 2011.

2. That the results of the public consultation as outlined in appendix 2 of the report be noted.

3. That an informal Delivery Group of Members be established, as described in paragraph 5.3.3 of the report and in accordance with Article 15.03(a) of the Constitution, to consider in detail all proposed text changes to the Constitution outlined in, or related to Appendix 1 of the report, with a view to making recommendations for adoption by full Council and implementation as from Annual Council in May 2011;

4. That the Delivery Group give special consideration to those issues set out at paragraph 5.3.4 of the report having regard to the concerns expressed by Members and in the public consultation.

5. That the changes, as a result of the governance review, be reviewed 12 months after implementation by the Delivery Group.

The Opposition gave notice of their wish to debate “Managing Haringey’s Housing”.

Councillor Wilson spoke on behalf of the Opposition Group.Councillor Bevan responded on behalf of the Majority Group.

The Mayor thanked Councillors for their contributions.

ORAL QUESTION 1 - TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR ADULT AND COMMUNITY SERVICESFROM COUNCILLOR WILSON:

Will the Cabinet Member please confirm that the £396,516 saved by Haringey in its London Borough Grants contribution will be committed to the support of local voluntary sector bodies and could she please identify which bodies will receive that support?

ORAL QUESTION 2 – TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR FINANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY FROM COUNCILLOR WATSON:

Now that we finally have the settlement, what is the impact of the CLG funding allocation on the borough’s finances?

ORAL QUESTION 3 - TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES FROM COUNCILLOR STRANG:

How many Haringey children will receive funding under the Pupil Premium and what is the estimated total funding for Haringey’s schools?

ORAL QUESTION 4 - TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL FROM COUNCILLOR CHRISTOPHIDES:

As one of the most deprived authorities in London, how will Coalition cuts impact poverty levels in the borough?

ORAL QUESTION 5 –TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES FROM COUNCILLOR JENKS:

Does the Cabinet Member have any information on the number of Haringey residents who have had to spend periods in detention as part of their immigration to this country?

ORAL QUESTION 6 – TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES FROM COUNCILLOR PEACOCK:

At the last full Council meeting Cllr Allison alleged that there were 10 children missing from care in the borough and asked the Lead Member to address what the Council was doing to look after them. Can the Lead Member tell us if the allegation was accurate and if not would she like to set the record straight?

ORAL QUESTION 7 - TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR FINANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY FROM COUNCILLOR REECE:

Why has Haringey council been one of the last London boroughs to become compliant with the requirement to publish details of all items of expenditure over £500?

ORAL QUESTION 8 - TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR ADULT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES FROM COUNCILLOR GIBSON:

Can the Lead member please update members on the outcome of the recent Care Quality Commission assessment?

The Mayor agreed to the admission of this report as urgent business. Under Standing Orders, notice of questions was not requested until eight clear days before the meeting, following which matters raised had to be researched and replies prepared in order to be given at the meeting.

There were 8 oral questions and 22 for written answer.

Oral Questions 3- 8   were not reached in the allotted time and written answers would be supplied to these questions.

a)     Cabinet – Reports 5 & 6 – 2010/11.

REPORT OF THE CABINET – NOS 5 & 6/2010-11

RESOLVED

That Cabinet Reports 5 & 6 /2010-11 be received and adopted.

Motion N (2010/11)

Councillor Gorriehas given notice that he will move in the following terms:

Fair Votes Motion

This Council supports moves to change our parliamentary voting system, which will see Haringey’s Members of Parliament elected under a fairer system. 

Council calls on the Returning Officer to take steps to promote participation in the Referendum.

Motion O (2010/11)

Councillor Gorriehas given notice that he will move in the following terms:

Rogue Landlord Motion

This Council notes:

• A recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) showing that of those officers working on housing enforcement in the private rented sector, nine out of ten had encountered landlords engaging in harassment or illegal eviction, and 78% had dealt with landlords who persistently refuse to maintain their property to a safe condition
• It is only a minority of private landlords that are threatening and abusive to their tenants

• The damage rogue landlords can have on vulnerable tenants and the wider community
• The lack of protection for tenants if they make a complaint against a landlord
• Local authorities can serve an improvement notice or prohibition order where housing conditions fall below an acceptable standard. If the landlord fails to comply they can be prosecuted.
• Harassment and illegal eviction are criminal offences. Local authorities can prosecute landlords who commit these crimes.
• Shelter’s recent survey with the CIEH, shows 66% of Environmental Health Officers working in the private rented sector said that in their area no landlords had been prosecuted in the last 12 months for failure to comply with an order under the 2004 Housing Act, although over 40% said that under a quarter of such orders issued by their local authority had been complied with.

The Council resolves

·        To take a zero tolerance approach to rogue landlords

·        To use the full range of tools and powers at our disposal to tackle rogue landlords

·        To carry out regular housing conditions surveys, focusing on areas in which the stock is poorly maintained and the level of private renting is highest.

·        To use in instances where the Councils becomes aware of rogue landlords operating in low demand areas, to consider using power to introduce a selective licensing scheme.

·        To back up their enforcement policies with adequate resources to make them enforceable as the cost of rogue landlords’ activities will be picked up in other ways, such as a higher number of tenants requiring homelessness assistance.

·        To take advantage of the provisions of the 2004 Housing Act, which allows a recoup of costs by charging the landlord.

Motion P (2010/11)

Councillor Gorriehas given notice that he will move in the following terms:

Council welcomes

• The news that the Government has committed itself to the key Liberal Democrat pledge of providing more social housing by scrapping the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system.
• In particular it welcomes the council retaining all receipts from Right to Buy sales and the council retaining all money from rents in their area, rather than seeing the rent income and  ...  view the full agenda text for item 73.

Due to the late hour Motions N, O, P & Q were not considered.