Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

It was noted that apologies had been received from the following members of the Board:

David Anstey            

Niall Bolger

John Brown

Eugenia Cronin

Judith Hanna

Peter Livermore

Pamlea Moffatt

Jill Sterry

Ellen Struthers

Esther Vanlith

Members of the Board 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.

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of urgent business will be dealt with under Item 11 below).

No items of urgent buiness were raised.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2008 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2008 be confirmed as a corrects record.

To elect a Chair for the new Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Brian Haley be appointed as Chair for the ensuing Municipal Year.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the new Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That Cenk Orhan be appointed as Vice-Chair for the ensuing municipal year.

To appoint a representative to the Haringey Strategic Partnership Board (HSP) for 2008/09.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Brian Haley be appointed as the Boards representative on the HSP for the ensuing municipal year.   

A presentation will be made by the Community Link Forum.

The Board received a presentation from the Community Link Forum (CLF) setting out it’s objectives and work to date and an overview of the recent CLF election process.

It was noted that the CLF had been established as a means of improving the link between the Community and Voluntary Sector and the Partnership. Following ratification of the CLF Agreement by the Haringey Strategic Partnership (HSP) in July 2007 work had been carried out by the organisation that had culminated in the CLF Elections in April 2008.

The CLF was allocated three places on each of the Thematic Boards; three of these were allocated to the elected CLF representatives and one was allocated to a representative from HAVCO. The HAVCO representative appointed to the Better Places Partnership was Pamela Moffat, who had previously sat on the Board in her capacity as a representative of the Mobility Forum.  

The representatives elected to the Better Places Partnership were as follows:

• Cenk Orhan
• Pete G Ravenor

It was noted that a third representative had not been elected to Better Places Partnership Board. At present the CLF was looking at options for cooption.

The Chair thanked Pamela Moffat of HAVCO for the presentation and opened discussion by asking for clarification as to the role of HAVCO and the CLF.

The Board was advised that HAVCO was essentially the wider umbrella organisation that provided support to community and voluntary group and charities. As part of its work HAVCO also provided strategic support and advice such as ensuring that organisations had proper governance structures in place.

The CLF had been formed specifically to facilitate the provision of Community and Voluntary sector representation within the Partnership.

The Board was advised that an audit of the LAA priorities, carried out by the CLF, had confirmed that these were broadly in line with the priorities of its members.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

A presentation will also be provided on this item and there will be discussion on the following:

• Progress in the negotiation of the Local Area Agreement

• Feedback from the Local Area Agreement Workshop
• Progress on the development of the Greenest Borough Strategy
• Discussion about how the Better Places Partnership should shape itself to deliver against its objectives

The Board received a presentation setting out how it was proposed that its objectives and the LAA targets within its responsibility, would be delivered within the new frameworks currently being established. 

The Board was responsible for the delivery of two key areas that sought improving the quality of life in Haringey:

• Delivery of Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets both specifically within the Boards responsibility and relevant targets within the remit of other Boards
• Delivery of the Greenest Borough Strategy (endorsed by the HSP in April 2008)

The LAA targets had been negotiated with GOL and the LAA document had been formally submitted on 30 May and was currently awaiting ministerial sign off. The Board had responsibility for delivery of the following LAA targets:

• Reducing CO2 emissions
• Improving levels of recycled waste and composting
• Improving street cleanliness
• Increasing the number of Green Flag Parks in the Borough
• Increasing the percentage of people who were satisfied or fairly satisfied with local parks and green spaces
• Access to services and facilities by public transport

The Greenest Borough Strategy had been adopted by as a Partnership Strategy in April 2008. This had been considered appropriate in order to reflect that need to work in partnership in order to achieve the Strategies objectives. It was noted that the Strategy included seven priority themes:

• Improving the urban environment
• Protecting the natural environment
• Managing environmental resources efficiently
• Leading by example and managing partnership resources efficiently
• Sustainable design and construction
• Promoting sustainable travel
• Raising awareness and involvement

The Board was advised that the intention of the presentation was to stimulate discussion around how future Board meetings should be organised. It was suggested that the format of the Boards meetings should be revised with one area being focussed on for discussion. In addition to this it was suggested that there should be a review of the current membership of the Board to ensure that it was ‘fit for purpose’ and best placed to deliver its objectives.

It was noted that there should be a review of the Boards structure to ensure that the Partnership’s strategic decision making function was complemented by a more focussed working groups that could assist the Board deliver its objectives.

It was proposed that the quarterly meetings of the Board should be used to provide a strategic focus and an overview of priorities and the allocation of resources.

Following the presentation the Chair opened discussion by asking the Board for feedback in relation to proposals around the structure of future meetings. There was a general consensus that it would be helpful if each meeting was used to discussion a maximum of two of the priorities contained within the Greenest Borough Strategy. It was noted that it would be helpful if an overview was provided, prior to discussion of how the LAA targets within the Boards responsibility related to these priorities.

It was also suggested that, where appropriate, experts from external organisations should be invited to attend Board meetings to inform discussion. There was agreement that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Board received a report requesting that it formally confirm its Terms of Reference and Membership for 2008/09.

It was noted that the Terms of Reference needed to be amended in order to reflect the appointment of the new CLF representatives.

The Board was advised of the following amendments to the Membership list:

Metropolitan Police               -the official representative would be Chief Inspector Jon Williams.

Environment Agency -the official representative would be Esther Vanlith

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the amendments set out above, the Terms of Reference and Membership of the Board be confirmed as set out for 2008/09.

The Board was advised that the combined Better Haringey Awards and Better Haringey Green Fair had be held between 5 and 7 June, at the Broadwater Farm Community Centre and the Town Hall Approach Road, Tottenham.

Positive feedback had been received in relation to the Green Fair, which had been attended by approximately 3500 members of the public. At present the project team were in the process of writing to everyone involved in the Fair, thanking them for their contribution and requesting that they complete a feedback form.  In addition to this an officers feedback session was being held to discuss areas where the event could be improved upon for next year.

The Chair noted that the events had been successful and invited members of the Board to advise officers if they wished to comment in the event.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 3.

No new items of urgent business were raised.

To consider any items of AOB.

The Board was advised that the New Deals for Communities (NDC) representative that the organisation was currently in the process of producing a ‘Master Plan’, which would identify geographical, rather than Ward based areas, affected by the NDC.

The document was being produced as the Ward based approach meant that the impact upon and needs of adjacent areas were overlooked.  

A stakeholders meeting was being held in order to discuss the Plan and Council officers had been invited to attend this. It was hoped that this would provide an opportunity to consider how information collected could be used to inform the Council’s Core Strategy. Within the Core Strategy ‘Employment Zones’ would be identified and the NDC considered that this piece of work would play a key role in informing this.

The following dates are scheduled for the Better Places Partnership Board:

• 6 October 2008
• 18 December 2008
• 16 March 2009

The following dates of future Board meetings were noted:

6 October 2008

18 December 2008

16 March 2009