Agenda and draft minutes

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The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

There were no apologies for absence. 

The Chair will consider the admission of any late 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 be dealt with under agenda item 8).

There were no items of urgent business.

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

There were no declarations of interest. 

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were no deputations / petitions / presentations / questions.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment considered the report which sought approval to award a contract for the Granicus Digital Customer Relationship Platform (CRM), providing CRM and online MyAccount continuity and improved services as part of Corporate Delivery Plan, Think Haringey First and the Resident Experience Programme.

The Assistant Director for Customer Services advised that the contract would be for a period of 2 years with options to extend for up to 1 further year at a total cost for the 3 years not exceeding £931,497.  This would enable the service to consider the future requirements for council services, before looking to retender the contract.

The Cabinet Member requested that consideration be given to a more joined up Customer Relationship Management system across the Council, so that different systems were not being used in different departments and for residents to receive the best service from the Council.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment RESOLVED to:

1.           Approve the award of a contract for the supply and support of Granicus Customer Platform software for a period of 2 years from 1^st November 2023 to 31^st October 2025 at the value of £519,498 with the option to extend by a further 1 year to 31^st October 2026 at the value of £411,999. The total contract value including draw down options is £931,497 over the 3-year period.

2.           Note that the contractually committed cost for the baseline product in year 1 is £171,499 and for year 2 and 3 it is £133,999 per annum making a total baseline product cost of £439,497

3.           Note that in addition to the baseline product cost the contract will allow for draw down options. The value of these options is £214,000 for year 2, and £278,000 for year 3 giving a total over 3 years of £492,000. This is required now so spend is approved when the draw down options are required, and their individual business cases and budget have been approved. The options are available but not mandatory or authorised at point of contract award.

4.           Note that for the agreed draw down options the Director Culture, Strategy and Engagement or Director accountable for the line of services at that time will have the delegated authority to authorise contractual draw down options without lead member sign off.

Reasons for decision

The current contract for Granicus expires in November 2023.  We have already expedited our 2 years plus 2 x 1-year extensions under GCloud 11.  The new contract would be under GCloud 13 for 2 years plus 1.

The new contract will enable business continuity of the newly implemented resident digital provisions plus provide the means to significantly enhance the digital service offer to residents, businesses, agencies and services making it easier to access, transact and receive updates on Council services.

Agreeing this new contract under the GCloud13 for 2 years plus 1 will allow the council to do market engagement, peer review with other councils and define the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment considered the report which sought approval for the implementation of the new Discretionary Relief Policy as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.  The report summarised the proposed changes to the Haringey Council Tax Discretionary Relief Policy for the Award of Discretionary Reductions in Council Tax Liability under Section 13A(1)(c) Local Government Finance Act 1992 to be introduced from 1^st November 2023. The report also recommended options to improve the applicant’s experience.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Local Investment RESOLVED to

1.            Agree the new Discretionary Relief Policy as set out in Appendix 1 of the report and note that it will come into force on 1^st November 2023.

Reasons for decision

The Discretionary Relief Policy is a way the Council can redistribute the financial burden on Council Taxpayers and provide additional support to those in exceptional financial hardship due to extenuating circumstances.

The reasons for proposing the key changes are as follows.

Including homeowners

The key change in the policy is to extend the discretion to include homeowners where previously they were automatically excluded. This means that every request can be considered on its individual merit regardless of tenure type. The previous limitation on the policy that it can only be awarded to non-homeowners has also been removed in order to maximise the Council’s discretion to help residents facing hardship. There may be situations where there is little or no value, or even negative value, in a home, or where it might be inappropriate to sell or borrow against a home. This change allows the Council to consider such factors in making a decision on hardship.

Clarifying that a council officer may make an application behalf of the council taxpayer.

This will allow officers to support residents through the process and ensure that the most vulnerable residents are adequately represented.

Providing an email address for applications

This will allow applications to be directed to the decision-maker more quickly

Appending the income and expenditure form and ensuring that applicants provide details of any savings or other assets

This clarifies the information requirements and provides for a structured submission of supporting evidence in the event that a Single Financial Statement is not available.

Amending the scheme to seek to make it easier to understand

The policy has been re-drafted to clarify the criteria and to emphasise the support and assistance with the application process that is available for applicants.

Alternative options considered

No change to the existing Discretionary Relief Policy

This is not recommended because amending the scheme will help council tax payers to access the support on offer and improve their experience.

There were no new items of urgent business.