Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the following Members:

Ellen Struthers

Pamela Moffett

Paul Hand

Andrew Travers

Symon Sentain – who was represented by JANE CHAMBERS

Neil Mawson – who was represented by ANDREW BILLANEY

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at Item 10 below).

There was no Urgent Business.

Members must declare any personal and/or pecuniary interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decision required with respect to these items.

There were no Declarations of Interest

To approve the minutes of the Better Places Partnership meeting held on 13 September (attached).

The minutes of the Better Places Partnership meeting of 13 September 2006 were agreed and signed by the Chair. 

As the minutes of the BPP meeting held on 8^th March 2006 were unavailable at the meeting, they were requested to be presented at the next meeting for discussion and approval.

The Board were presented with information on the current year’s programme for NRF and SSCF which are based around five themes as set out in the report before the Board. It also heard about the progress against the delivery of these programmes. The Board discussed some of the programmes such as Ground Work where it was suggested that some funding be kept aside for the possible future facilities due to demand from Area Assemblies and Older People’s Forum. The board heard that the process of reviewing the NRF/SSCF funding was a multi-facetted process including Neighbourhood Management officers. There was also involvement by the Better Haringey Board to ensure management scrutiny although there had been a reluctant to avoid setting up further levels of bureaucracy when there was a central mechanism to monitor the programmes, managed largely by Council officers who report back to the Haringey Strategic Partnership Board (HSP) by way of information packs.

The Board also discussed the idea of requesting licensed premises to open their lavatory facilities to the general public as part of their licensing conditions. This request however, would need to be made through the Licensing Committee. The Board heard that there should be move investment for healthy lifestyles in terms of physical activities and open spaces especially for the 18+ cohort of young persons. And there was a call for investments in parks and open spaces in this respect especially for the Ponds Park.

The Board was informed that the timetable for allocating the surplus of funds would be lead by final proposals seeking final approval by the HSP at its meeting on 22 March 2007, and noted that all projects, other than those highlighted in the report before the Board, would secure same funding in the next financial year.

RESOLVED

That Board receive a briefing from the Parks Department, in conjunction with the Friends of Park groups, at its next meeting (see Item 8 below).

The Board was presented with the current draft of the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) and invited to comment on it via the SCS web-site (www.haringey.gov.uk/hsp) by 5 January 2007. The Board was encouraged to pick up on what had not been included in the SCS to date, especially where this would enhance its robustness as a community strategy.

The Board had a brief discussion about some of the content of the draft CSC to date and highlighted that the vision statement would need to be reconsidered to make it more meaningful. The Board noted that whilst the current community strategy had been used as a foundation to the SCS, it was necessary to re-write the document for a number of reasons, namely that the Government had requested communities strategies that placed greater emphasis on partnership working, and addressed more explicitly the green agenda, and had a stronger emphasis on public health. With regard to Haringey, it was felt that the emphasis on bridging the gap between the east and west of the borough was no longer a meaningful priority, but that input into remedying this was welcome. The Board also recognised that unlike the current community strategy which was largely Council led, the SCS would be strictly HSP led with the Local Area Agreement (LAA) elements providing the delivery mechanism in terms of funding and target setting. The Board sought clarity on how the SCS would be achieved, including how partners would have an input into advancing the elements and targets that would be established as a result of the SCS. The Board heard about the examples set by Manchester City Council and its local strategic partnership in terms of sustainable planning and service improvements. Alongside the LAA, the SCS would enable greater pooling of funding in order to maintain a strategic lead on local service delivery and improvement in the future in Haringey, with its emphasis on broader ownership, as is seen happening in Manchester. 

At this stage in the meeting, the Chair left the meeting due to a conflicting engagement. The Vice-Chair took over proceedings for the duration of the meeting.

The Vice-Chair thanked the Urban Environment Team and Group Manager for the success of the Climate Change Workshop and for its information sharing and stimulation of much needed discussions about the issues surrounding climate change.

The Board was given a full briefing on the workshop including the background to it in terms of the Nottingham Declaration (which was signed jointly by the Council’s Chief Executive and Leader), and its key aims. The facilitators notes from the meeting are attached to these minutes at Appendix Two (below). The Board  was informed that in follow up to the workshop, there would be an extensive discussion with partners early into the New Year.

The Board had a discussion about various issues relating to climate change. It heard about the dissolution of Local Agenda 21 and the formation in its place of a new forum, Sustainable Haringey, which is initially for wide ranging consultation events for those who live and work in Haringey to talk about sustainability environmentally and socially. The Board also considered the need for a sustainability framework mechanism for each directorate within the Council’s corporate structure which would facilitate permeatation across the Council’s reporting lines and service delivery. The Board also requested that there be consideration for a list of income maximisation opportunities for people to highlight the benefits and cross-cutting savings in terms of sustainable living, design and working practices within local communities.

RESOLVED

That the Board undertake to an full-scale exploration of shared responsibility over climate change over the coming year.

The Board were introduced to the  Friends of Parks Forum and its areas of work and its role in identifying strategic goals that are in-line with the Council planned parks projects and initiatives. It is also active in ensuring efficiency is achieved in terms of the management of parks and open spaces within the borough, emphasising that it is a good example of partnership working and calling for more resources and capital from amongst partners to advance its work. The Friends of Parks Forum called on the Board to ensure that there was robust quality assurance in place from the Council’s Parks and Open Spaces Team. There was also an invitation to the Haringey Primary Care Trust to join the Friends of Park Forum to ensure that physical activity was firm on the agenda in terms of the strategies relating to parks and open spaces. It was also mentioned that the Forum should consider engagement with youth groups, by way of the Haringey Youth Council.

RESOLVED

That the Board have a discussion on recourses implications as set out by the Friends of Park Forum, and to receive a joint report of the Forum and the Parks Team at its next meeting.

(i)         TERMS OF REFERENCE AND MEMBERSHIP: The BPP will be asked to affirm the terms of reference and membership for 2006/7.

·        Due to time constraints and issues over the accuracy of the draft Terms of Reference, the Partnership agreed to consider this at its next meeting, where it would be placed first on the Agenda for that meeting.

·        Smoking in Public Places Ban on 1 July 2007 – the Board heard that this would be taken up by the Haringey Well-Being Partnership Board in due course.

To consider any new items admitted under Item 2 above.

There were no items of urgent business.

·        26 February 2007, 6:30pm venue tbc

·        26 February 2007, 5pm

Partners should submit proposed agenda items for the next meeting to Nicolas Mattis no later than 4 February 2007.

·        To consider and agree the Terms of Reference for the Board.

·        Life Expectancy Action Plan

·        Parks and Open Spaces Joint Report

·        Climate Change