Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from David Anstey, Neil Mawson and Lainya Offside-Keivani.

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will appear under agenda Item 13 below).

There were no items of urgent business.

Members of the Board must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not participate in the consideration of those items.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2009 as a correct record.

The approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2009 would be deferred to the next meeting of the Board.

The Board received a scoping report setting out work required to achieve Fairtrade status for the borough, granted by the Fairtrade Foundation. Encouraging the sale of Fairtrade products aimed to contribute to the tackling of poverty by enabling disadvantaged producers from poor countries to receive a better deal. It was proposed that a local Fairtrade steering group be established to progress the agenda including representation from HSP partners and at a community level.

Concerns were raised regarding the lack of progress implementing the agenda since the resolution to support Fairtrade was passed by Full Council in 2003 and the relatively unambitious targets outlined, particularly in relation to engaging local shops. Confirmation was provided that the goals identified constituted a minimum standard and that project management at the lead of the steering group would progress development of the agenda including revising targets based on research. In response to a query as to whether the existing partnership structure could be used to progress the project, it was confirmed that establishing a dedicated group was a requirement for the award of Fairtrade status.

RESOLVED:

·      That the Better Haringey Programme Manager liaise with John Wood from St Ann’s Church Tottenham regarding providing names of individuals from faith groups potentially interested in involvement with the Fairtrade steering group.

·      That the Better Haringey Programme Manager contact representatives from SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education) regarding the potential for involvement with the Fairtrade steering group.

·      That a letter from the Chair of the Board be sent to the Chairs of the other thematic partnership boards of the Haringey Strategic Partnership seeking nominations for representatives to sit on the Fairtrade steering group.

The Board received a report setting out issues relating to faith and recycling including the barriers certain communities face in fully utilising recycling services and how faith infrastructure could be used to overcome these barriers and improve participation rates to help meet challenging recycling targets. A more targeted approach would potentially allow the tailoring of service provision to the needs of faiths, based on approaches used in other authorities such as the community communication campaign used by Hackney focused on the Hasidic Jewish community.

John Wood from St Ann’s Church, Tottenham confirmed that recycling and the environment were currently high on the agenda of denomination and faith groups, although it was advised that engaging black majority faiths might prove challenging. It was proposed that a small, targeted pilot project be developed, recognising where possible the importance of a focus on youth education in relation to recycling. 

RESOLVED:

·      That the Chair, John Wood and Better Haringey Programme Manager scope a pilot project and develop a project plan including identification of clear targets, to be submitted for approval by the Board at the December meeting.

A presentation will be given.

The Board received a presentation from the Head of Enforcement on performance and progress against the Greenest Borough themes, with a focus on key projects under priority 1 of the Strategy – improving the urban environment.

An update was provided on the ‘My cleaner Haringey’ publicity campaign, with the objective of improving services, the customer interface, allowing more targeted enforcement and area based solutions. The publicity campaign would be centred on different themes such a dog fouling, lettering etc. Area based solutions would utilise local intelligence networks along with information garnered from ward walkabouts, area assemblies etc to inform zonal working and the development of ward level action plans.

The Board were updated on the reshaping of the Street Enforcement Service, a replacement for the Environmental Crime Service. The Service would be split into two teams to provide a uniform and patrol presence across the borough, with an extension of the hours of operation to 7 days a week.

RESOLVED:

·      That a further report be received to the December meeting of the Board setting out information regarding the roll out of the programme. 

The Board received an update report on the four successful bidders awarded funding under the Greenest Borough Innovation Fund. The successful organisations were currently in the process of producing project management documents required for approval prior to the release of funding. It was confirmed that the Board would remain a forum for challenge and support for the projects and as such would receive regular updates as part of ongoing monitoring, including a presentation at the December meeting identifying delivery targets for each project.

The Innovation Fund project would be repeated in the new financial year, provisionally centred around proposed themes or streams to encourage a greater range of applications capturing the whole agenda. Consideration would also be given to improving the speed of the process, better promotion of the eligibility criteria and evaluating the selection panel. The community representatives on the Board also agreed to feed back their experience as an umbrella group supporting organisations in the submission of bids, to inform process improvements for the next round of funding.

RESOLVED:

·      That the report be noted.

Publicity material will relating to the campaign will be circulated at the meeting.

The Board were advised that the Cleaner Haringey campaign literature was not currently available, although copies had been included in the presentation under item 8. The new campaign aimed to introduce new brand recognition and encourage ownership through the ‘My Haringey’ branding.

RESOLVED:

·      That the update be noted.

The Board received an update report on performance against the Greenest Borough Strategy. Key achievements included the establishment of a low carbon zone in Muswell Hill following a successful bid for GLA funding, implementation of a community energy monitor scheme, expansion of the mixed-material recycling service, sign up to the national 10:10 project and continuation of the water conservation publicity campaign.

Confirmation was provided that key milestones for the Clean Sweep programme would be included in the update report for quarter 3.

Concerns were expressed regarding the number of projects with a red RAG status. Confirmation was provided that some had been categorised as such due to their long-term nature, although it was recognised an update of resolution dates was required. In addition, uncertainty surrounding future TfL funding had also impacted on progress with some projects.

In relation to delays with the Lordship Rec scheme, the Board were updated that background work was currently being undertaken on site, and had identified significant problems with water quality. Remedial work would be undertaken in conjunction with the Environment Agency to resolve these issues through the use of hydrodynamic separators.

The Board were updated on the success of the Streetcar initiative, including potential expansion of the scheme.

RESOLVED:

·      That the report be noted.

·      That an update report on the Streetcar initiative, including potential expansion of the service be received to the next meeting. 

The Board received a highlight report setting out performance against the Local Area Agreement targets for the second quarter. Performance in relation to NI 192 – percentage of household waste sent for recycling, was highlighted as a concern with the stretch target not currently being met. Information was provided on actions to be undertaken to improve performance against this target contained within a designated Action Plan.

The Borough Commander questioned non inclusion of the stretch target from the 2007 LAA relating to carbon efficiency in the report, considering a financial reward was attached for meeting the local indicator.

RESOLVED:

·      That the Executive Policy Development Officer investigate whether the stretch target relating to carbon efficiency from the old LAA should be included in the monitoring report.

·      That performance reports for the Greenest Borough Strategy and Local Area Agreement targets submitted for future meetings be combined into one report with a covering report and produced in colour and a larger size.

To consider any items of new Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.

There were no new items of urgent business.

To raise any items of AOB.

The Board were provided with copies of the summary leaflet produced for the Community Engagement Framework (CEF). A full version of the CEF was provided on the Haringey Council website. A report proposing a draft CEF Delivery Plan had been submitted to the HSP Performance Management Group to progress to the next stage of the process.

Cllr Mallett advised the Board of her role as an Overview and Scrutiny member specialising in environmental and green projects and therefore her attendance at the meeting as an observer. She was also the Chair of the Sustainable Transport scrutiny panel which would feed into the work of the Board.

To note the dates of future meetings set out below:

• 1 December 2009
• 18 February 2010

The following future meeting dates were noted:

·      1 December 2009

·      18 February 2010