Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

David Anstey

John Brown

Judith Hanna

Vicky Hobart

Pamela Moffatt

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

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve the minutes of the Better Places Partnership meeting held on 25 June 2007.

The minutes of the 25 June 2007 were confirmed as a correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.  

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the current Municipal Year (no nominations were made for the position of Vice-Chair at the previous meeting).

There were no nominations for Vice-Chair and therefore a Vice-Chair was not elected.

To consider and agree the draft revised Terms of Reference of the Better Places Partnership.

The Board considered a report setting out a Revised Terms of Reference for the Better Places Partnership Board.

At the previous meeting it had been agreed that the Terms of Reference should be revised and circulated over the summer. However, given that partners were likely to be on holiday, it had been considered that it was preferable to wait and submit these at this meeting in order to allow all partners to comment on them.

It was noted that the final version of the Terms of Reference would be agreed at the Boards next meeting on 17 December and that Board members should submit any comments or proposed amendments to Janice Robinson by 12 December.

This formed the first comprehensive review of the Board’s Terms of Reference since the it had been established. The Board was advised that a ‘light touch’ approach had been taken and there had been a focus on outcomes rather than formal protocol within the document.

The Chairman noted that the position of Vice-Chair had not yet been filled and suggested that it would be useful if one of the partner organisations was nominated. It would be useful if the membership of external partners could be determined prior to the next meeting in order that a Vice-Chair could be appointed from one of these.

It was noted that one of the Boards objectives was to oversee the Better Places Projects and that the Board was accountable for the delivery of these. Given the importance of this it was agreed that the Terms of Reference should reflect this responsibility.

The Board discussed the newly established Integrated Housing Board (IHB) and the potential cross over of work between the bodies. It was agreed that consideration should be given to this and that the Terms of Reference should take account of this and ensure that any areas applicable to both bodies were not considered in isolation. There was a general consensus that work was required to map out the areas where there was cross over between the IHB and BPP.

During discussion it was also suggested the following should be included within the Terms of Reference:

The Boards objective to ‘Encourage and ….

Membership –the cooption of individuals with a specialist knowledge in specific areas where appropriate.

The inclusion of reference to the disclosure of personal and prejudicial interests.

Following discussion partners were asked to send their comments and suggestions regarding revisions to the Terms of Reference to Janice Robinson.

RESOLVED:

1. That the draft revised Terms of Reference be approved for further consultation with Board members.

2. That the revised Terms of Reference be brought back to the Board for final approval on 17 December 2007.

The Board received a report outlining the proposed target areas for the Local Area Agreement (LAA).

The proposed target areas reflected the priorities identified following consultation with local residents and existing knowledge of the gaps where national standards were not being met. There had also been input from partners at the HSP Seminar held in June.

It was noted that there has been an initial meeting with GoL on the 14 September to discuss the proposed targets. The meeting had been positive and representatives from GoL had commented that the Council was on course and that the targets identified had formed a good initial basis for further discussion.

At present guidance was still awaited from central Government in relation to national priorities and until this was received the targets would be subject to change.

The Chair noted that there were three targets in relation to the environment and sustainability and questioned whether these should be revised following the formation of the Integrated Housing Board. There was a general consensus that this should be looked at and any that any cross cutting areas should be considered and reflected in the proposed targets.

It was noted that the Greenest Borough Strategy should be reflected in the environment and sustainability targets.

During discussion it was suggested that the Enterprise Board should also take on the criterion in relation to sustainability.

The Board was reminded that the Government had indicated that the LAA’s would form one of the key funding streams for partners in the future and that this should be kept in mind when setting the targets.

RESOLVED:

To note the proposed targets.

The Board received a presentation on the Community Group Transport Service (CGTS) from Chris Beckwith, which set out what the CGTS was and how it benefited local residents.  

It was noted that the service had been launched in Haringey in April 2006 and since its establishment it had proved popular amongst residents. In addition to the CGTS the HCT also provided a mini bus service that used volunteer drivers and allowed any member of the public between the ages of twenty-one  and seventy with a Minibus Drivers Awareness Scheme (MiDAS) certificate to drive a mini bus.

The HCT offered a range of other services designed to provide local transport options to people who were unable to access mainstream public transport.

It was suggested that Neighbourhood Management should be asked to contact community groups applying to the Council for grants towards trips to suggest that they use the HCT. It was noted that vehicles usually used by schools were often available during the school holidays and that it may be possible to utilise these. 

The Board discussed the Shop Mobility Scheme currently operating in Wood Green and it was noted that members of the public often experienced problems accessing this due to the location where the scooters were stored. The contract for this scheme was currently being renegotiated and there was a general consensus that progress on this should be reported to the Board with a view to looking the possibility HCT operating the scheme.

The Chair thanked Chris Beckwith for his presentation on behalf of the Board.

Report to follow.

The Chair accepted a late report on Progress on the NRF/SSCF Programme 2007/08 that was tabled at the meeting. It was noted that it had not been possible to compile the report it for despatch with the agenda as some of the information required was unavailable.

The report detailed the Projects Programme that was agreed by the HSP on 22 January and demonstrated how each project was aligned to LAA targets. The report also set out who was accountable for each project and this would be audited on an annual basis.

The Chair noted that it was difficult for members to discuss the reports in depth when they had not had sufficient time to them thoroughly.

The Board discussed the report and the Chair suggested that in future it would be useful if columns were added to the table to show expenditure against the budget. It was also noted that BVPI should be included and reflected in the table and that officers would need to address this.

Greenest Borough Strategy

An brief written update was provided on the Greenest Borough Strategy.

It was noted that the Strategy was being considered by Cabinet in December; following consideration by Cabinet it would be submitted to the Board for discussion.  

Update from Mobility Forum

A written report was provided on the Mobility Forum from Pamela Moffat who was unable to attend the meeting.

The Board noted the report and the Chairman thanked Pamela Moffat for submitting the report. 

Advertising Hoardings

It was noted that the Haringey Federation of Residents’ Associations had a meeting with officers from Haringey Council to discuss the removal of  illegal advertising hoardings and billboards.

The meeting had provided a useful forum for discussion and further meetings between the Council and the Federation would be held in the future.

It was suggested that it might be useful if particular ‘hotspots’ or offenders were identified and targeted in order to send out a clear message that illegal advertising hoardings would not be tolerated.

To confirm future dates for the meeting:

17 December 2007, 7.30pm, Civic Centre.

11 March 2007, 7.30pm, Civic Centre.

The dates for future meetings as set out below were agreed, subject to the time of the meeting being moved from 7.30pm to 6.30pm:

17 December 2007, 6.30pm, Civic Centre.

11 March 2007, 6.30pm, Civic Centre.