Agenda

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·         Changes to the Cabinet and political constitution of the Liberal Democrat Group for noting.

·         Annual Attendance of Members at meetings for noting.

·         Member’s Allowance Statement 2019/20 for noting.

To follow

a)    The Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual report.

1) Cllr Cawley-Harrison to the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Sustainability

Given the deadline for submissions on the Council's Commonplace engagement map for safer streets interventions came after all DfT and TfL bids were submitted for projects the council determined themselves, can the Cabinet Member confirm that Haringey Council will actually be commencing projects based on these resident's requests, and give assurance that a genuine engagement exercise?

2) Cllr Sarah Williams tothe Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal:

Haringey Council has managed to house over 400 rough sleepers during the COVID-19 pandemic; an unprecedented achievement and an important milestone in ending street homelessness. Can the portfolio holder reconfirm their support for the ‘Everyone In For Good’ campaign, which calls for urgent national and local action so that nobody is forced to sleep rough after lockdown?

3) Cllr Dixon to the Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families

It was clarified at Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 22^nd June that Islington is the Council working alongside Haringey to undertake a review into how Children Services dealt with the case where serious concerns were raised Mr Justice Hayden. As Islington has already been working alongside Haringey since 2018 isn’t there a concern that they didn’t pick up the problems within this service? How can we as Cllr’s now have confidence that this ‘review and case audit’ will address the serious problems identified by the High Court Judge?

4) Cllr Adam Jogee to the Cabinet Member for Local Investment and Economic Growth:

Businesses Grants have been a lifeline for many Haringey businesses, but they are just one of the measures needed to address the complex needs of local businesses and entrepreneurs as they recover from Covid-19. In what other ways is the council’s Economic Development team supporting local businesses?

5) Cllr Barnes to the Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal

Does the Cabinet Member accept that this administration was not going to meet its Council house delivery target even without the disruption caused by Covid-19?

6) Cllr James Chiriyankandath to the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Civic Services:

What are your priorities for Corporate and Civic Services now that you are responsible for this portfolio?

Motion G

Give care workers decent sick pay

Proposer:       Cllr Pippa Connor

Seconder:      Cllr Nick da Costa

Council notes:

1. That the Council is currently negotiating with third-party contractors for the provision of care services.
2. That as per statements made by the Cabinet Member and officers at Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 22^nd June 2020, these contracts will only make provision for the workers providing care on the Council’s behalf to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
3. That SSP is just £95.85 a week, is generally not paid until the fourth day of leave, expires completely after 28 weeks and is not available to part-time workers who on average earn less than £120 per week.^[1]
4. That the Government has loosened eligibility criteria for SSP in the context of Covid-19. However, these changes do not apply if a worker’s sickness has another cause nor do they affect the level of SSP.^[2]
5. That the Office for National Statistics estimates that as of April 20^th 2020, 131 care workers had been killed by Covid-19 and that they faced double the fatality rate of healthcare workers and the general population.^[3]
6. That there have been 25,000 excess deaths in the UK’s care homes since the start of the coronavirus outbreak and that this represents 43% of the excess deaths nationwide.^[4]
7. That the GMB Union has described proper sick pay as “by far the best way to stop covid-19 spreading through care homes.”^[5]
8. That staff directly employed by the Council are, depending on their length of service, entitled to between one and six months of sickness absence at full pay and equivalent period following that at half-pay.
9. That Haringey was accredited as a London Living Wage borough by the Living Wage Foundation in November 2018. In an official comment, the Leader of the Council said that: “Ensuring that all our staff earn enough to have a decent quality of life is a fundamental part of our commitment to making Haringey a fairer and more equal borough”.^[6]
10. The statements by the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on the 16^th March 2020 that “This government stands with local councils at this difficult time. Everyone needs to play their part to help the most vulnerable in society and support their local economy. The government will do whatever is necessary to support these efforts”.^[7]

Council believes:

1. That there is an overwhelming moral and public health case for the Council ensuring workers providing care on its behalf receive sick pay on similar terms to its own staff.
2. That SSP is not adequate to amount to a living wage.
3. That no care worker should face financial hardship because they followed public health guidance on preventing the transmission of potentially infectious diseases to those they care for.
4. That the coronavirus crisis has exposed that many essential workers are not valued by our society the way they should be and that care workers are  ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.