Agenda and minutes

Contact: Felicity Foley, Committees Manager  2919, Email: felicity.foley@haringey.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

None.

2.

Declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Minutes:

None.

3.

Rough Sleeping Strategy pdf icon PDF 245 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters, and Planning considered the report which sought approval of the draft Rough Sleeping Strategy, and the commencement of a public consultation of the strategy.  The  current Rough Sleeping Strategy was written in 2018. Over the course of 2021/22 a new draft Rough Sleeping Strategy has been co-produced with residents with lived experience of homelessness, council officers and community partners. The proposed draft Rough Sleeping Strategy was attached in Appendix 1 of the report and it built on successes delivered in the previous strategy to set out the principles, commitments and activities that Haringey would deliver to achieve the ambition to end rough sleeping in the borough.

 

The Cabinet Member was happy for the consultation to be conducted at the timescales proposed.

 

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

 

1.         To approve the draft Rough Sleeping Strategy attached at Appendix 1.

 

2.         To approve the commencement of a public consultation on the draft Rough Sleeping Strategy at Appendix 1.

 

3.         To note the significant resident and stakeholder co-production undertaken throughout 2021 and 2022. Specifically, to note that the draft commitments and activities within the strategy were co-produced by residents with lived experience of homelessness, council staff and partners using a participatory democracy approach, which included a public legislative theatre event in January 2022, facilitated with support from Arts and Homelessness International.

 

Reasons for decision

 

Rough sleeping was one of the most harmful and visible consequences of an unequal society. People affected by it were disproportionately victims of abuse and exploitation, more likely to die prematurely and less likely to secure their legal rights and fair access to health services. In 21-22, 268 people slept rough on the streets of Haringey; the cost of living crisis,  ongoing impact of Covid-19 and a challenging national policy environment means this figure is likely to increase in the coming years.

 

Haringey’s current Rough Sleeping Strategy was written in 2018. A new Strategy was required to reflect the significant reduction in rough sleeping achieved in the previous strategy period, and to restate our ambition to end rough sleeping and articulate the commitments and activities needed to do this. 

 

The Rough Sleeping Strategy was not a statutory requirement and therefore a statutory consultation is not required. However, the Council is committed to enabling all residents to actively participate in strategy development, as such, following approval of the draft Rough Sleeping Strategy a comprehensive consultation will be undertaken to seek the views of those who has not been involved in the development of the strategy so far.

 

Alternative options considered

 

Not to develop a new Rough Sleeping Strategy. This was rejected because, although developing a Rough Sleeping Strategy is not a statutory requirement, it is an important mechanism for securing shared understanding and borough-wide commitment to tackling this crucial issue.