Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Linda Banton                         -Beverly Mitchell substituted

Councillor Patrick Egan

Paul Head

Janette Karklins       

Claire Kowalska                   

Martha Osamor

Naeem Sheikh

Walter Steel

Michael Thompson

Ray Travi

Apologies for lateness were also received from Councillors Brian Haley and Charles Adje, and from Gary Ince.

It was noted that Colin Compton had resigned from the Enterprise Partnership Board due to work pressures and the Chair requested that the Board’s thanks to him for his work as a member of the Board be placed on record.

The Chair welcomed Nicholas Standing as a new member of the Board.

The Chair will consider the admission of any new 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 considered under the Item 15). 

None.

Members of the Board must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decisions made in relation to those items.

None.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5 May 2009 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 May 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for 2009/10.

It was noted that Cllr Haley had replaced Cllr Amin as a member of the Enterpise Partnership Board. Cllr Haley was nominated as Vice-Chair for 2009/10.

RESOLVED

That Cllr Haley be appointed Vice-Chair of the Enterprise Partnership Board for 2009/10.

To appoint a representative from the Enterprise Partnership Board to the HSP for 2009/10.

It was requested that nominations for a representative to the Haringey Strategic Partnership be forwarded to the Chair after the meeting. Nominations received would then be circulated to the Board for approval.

The Board received a report setting out proposed terms of reference and membership for the Enterprise Partnership Board for 2009/10, incorporating the additions requested by the Board at its previous meeting.

RESOLVED

That the terms of reference of the Board for the new municipal year be agreed and adopted.

The Board received a presentation from Marc Dorfman, Assistant Director for Planning, Regeneration and Economy, on the progress made in respect of the Council’s resilience plan for the recession. The presentation looked at the statistics relating to the impact of the recession to date, the predicted future impact and the actions the Council was taking and considering introducing as a response. It was noted that while the employment rate for Haringey had reduced, the improvement in employment rates in the borough had been above the London average prior to the recession. It was also noted that the improvement in key skills in Haringey was much higher than the London average, by around 11%. The Committee asked for the number of Job Seekers Allowance claimants in the borough, and it was reported that in Tottenham there were around 5,500 and approximately 3,500 in Hornsey and Wood Green.

Among the actions being taken to support local residents during the downturn were the extension of Haringey Guarantee outreach locations, the development of further working partnerships, the expansion of the Haringey Apprenticeship scheme and the increased promotion of the Fuel Poverty programme. Additional actions being considered included the expansion of credit union services into the borough, offering recognition for businesses employing local people, promoting volunteering as a route back into employment in partnership with the voluntary sector, working with Citizen Advice Bureau to increase support for growing advice needs and promoting flexible working as an alternative to redundancies.

In response to a question from the Board regarding the effectiveness of the measures in place it was reported that, although it was difficult to link specific actions with measurable effects, the move to increase the number of invoices paid within 10 days had been welcomed by local businesses. The Board noted that, with banks becoming increasingly risk-averse in their lending, it was essential to support local businesses by ensuring that proposals being developed and submitted for loans were of a satisfactory quality.

It was reported that advice and support was needed by more affluent sectors of the community in the present economic climate. This to be balanced with the essential focus on the support being offered to the poorest communities, with programmes that included skills training and the Haringey Guarantee supporting people back into work.

The Board discussed the impact of the recession on different industry sectors, and the need to consider carefully any proposals that would have an impact on the extent of land used in the borough for manufacturing and distribution.

The importance of the role of the voluntary sector in creating opportunities for people to develop skills and experience and prepare for employment was emphasised. It was acknowledged that it was important to differentiate between volunteering and work placements in this context, and to ensure that placements were structured to ensure that they could contribute to the skills needs of local employers. The Board agreed that the voluntary sector needed to be acknowledged as a business entity and to receive support in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 130.

The Board received a report on the Future Jobs Fund, a recently announced Government initiative to create 150,000 employment opportunities between October 2009 and March 2011 across the country for the long-term unemployed. The scheme was for 18-24 year olds and those in unemployment hotspots and was originally for those who had been out of work for 12 months, but this had now been reduced to 10 months. The jobs created would be for at least 25 hours per week, for a period of at least six months. In partnership with local stakeholders at least 155 jobs had been identified to date, it was hoped that this would increase to 200. Pay would be based on the London Living Wage, as opposed to the National Minimum Wage. The aim was that some of these jobs would lead to the creation of permanent posts. It was anticipated that a bid would be ready for submission to the DWP in October 2009, and that this would lead to the creation of the first new jobs in January 2010.

The Board asked about the management costs of this initiative, and it was reported that this was being looked at with HR, and that it was hoped that the management resources could be shared with some existing Council programmes.

RESOLVED

·                    That the report be noted.

·                    That members of the Board consider opportunities for creating jobs in their organisations.

A verbal update will be provided by Job Centre Plus.

The Board received an oral report on the Personalised Employment Programme Pilot, announced in July 2009. This pilot would operate across Haringey, Barnet and Enfield for a period of 4 years from March 2011, and offer flexible support mainly to Job Seekers Allowance claimants and Incapacity Benefit / Employment Support Allowance claimants. Phase 2 of the Flexible New Deal was due to be rolled out in the North and North East London Job Centre Plus district from October 2010; under the pilot scheme, Haringey, Barnet and Enfield will not be included in this roll-out, and it is anticipated that existing programmes would continue to cover any gaps created as a result.

A project manager from the DWP had been appointed, and the Council would be working closely with Job Centre Plus on the design and operation of the pilot. Further information on the scheme would be available at a forthcoming meeting with Job Centre Plus and the DWP, scheduled for 11 September 2009.

The Board requested that an update on the scheme be provided at a future meeting, once further information was available.

RESOLVED

That the update be noted.

The Board received a report on the progress made in attempting to renegotiate the incapacity related benefits stretch target. Both requests to remove the condition in the stretch target agreement that prevents the Haringey Guarantee from engaging with people on the mainstream programme Pathways to Work and to change the make-up of the target had been agreed by the DWP, but were subsequently both refused by the CLG on the grounds of value for money concerns and the precedent that would be set for other agreements. Clarity had, however, been obtained on where the condition relating to engagement with people on mainstream programmes applies, meaning that people initially registered on the Haringey Guarantee can be referred to Reed, as the Pathways to Work provider, for support.

Although the request was refused, this clarity around the condition in the stretch target agreement was a positive development. The Board noted that the deadline for meeting the stretch target was March 2010, but that the partnerships that had been formed in working to this target would be more lasting.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.

The Board received a report providing an update on the Enterprise Board Risk Register, namely the risks associated with National Indicator 153 (working age people claiming out of work benefits in the worst performing neighbourhoods). The Board had resolved at a previous meeting that in the current economic climate it would receive an update on this indicator at each meeting.

The risks remained the same, but new controls relating to the North London Pledge 2, a partnership arrangement with Reed in Partnership and new Job Centre Plus provision had been added.

RESOLVED

That the Board note the Risk Register, updated in relation to NI 153.

The Board receive a report on progress in the main programmes tackling worklessness in the Borough – the Haringey Guarantee, Families into Work and the North London Pledge.

Quarter 1 of 2009/10 showed that Haringey Guarantee had achieved 60 sustainable jobs, in spite of re-commissioning work earlier in the year. 59 families were engaged with Families into Work; 8 people from workless families had been supported into work and 18 were looking for interviews, and it was intended that 100 families would engage with the scheme over three years.

Haringey Council had submitted a successful proposal on behalf of Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest for a pilot Sustainable Employment programme, North London Pledge 2. Funding for this project would be £2.5m, and the programme would run from October 2009 to March 2011. The North London Pledge 2 was focussed on assisting workless residents into sustainable jobs, and that the target was to support 625 residents across the three boroughs into employment. It was noted that Haringey was the lead authority on this pilot, and that funding could begin to be drawn down once the contract was signed. It was further reported that the scheme would fit in with the Personalised Employment Programme pilot which was due to start in 2011, and that delivery partners were largely already in place through the existing Haringey Guarantee work.

RESOLVED

That the development and progress in each of the programmes be noted.

The Board received a report providing an update on business and enterprise activities funded through the Area Based Grant. These activities were underway and monitoring would be taking place in the coming months.

The Haringey Business Board, including representatives from key business partners had been established and had met for the first time on 10 June. The next meeting of the Board was scheduled for 22 September 2009 and would focus on business opportunities related to procurement associated with the Olympics. Two meetings of the newly-formed Wood Green Business forum had been held; partners in the forum were looking at funding a website for the forum and it was hoped that other partnership arrangements of this kind could be encouraged. It was reported that the Area based Grants programme was supporting the Green Lanes Food Festival, due to take place on 20 September.

Further to the earlier discussion regarding engagement with the voluntary sector as a business sector, it was suggested that John Egbo and Juneed Asad discuss how this could be progressed outside the meeting.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.

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

There were no new items of urgent business.

To raise any items of AOB.  

·                    The Chair introduced Cllr Adje, attending the meeting as an observer in his capacity as lead for Enterprise on the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Cllr Adje reported that the remit of his scrutiny review was to look specifically at business support and the voluntary sector and that input and examples of good practice were being invited from a variety of sectors. Cllr Adje welcomed the opportunity to observe the meetings of the Board and follow up on the issues raised via the scrutiny team, and looked forward to continuing to attend as an observer.

·                    Volunteers for the role of HSP representative were invited to contact the Chair outside the meeting. Approval would then be sought from the Board members in order that the process was as open and transparent as possible. The quality of the reports and information supporting the work of the Board was highlighted, and it was noted that this would greatly assist whoever took on the role of representative on the HSP.

·                    It was reported that the London Plan, Mayor’s Transport Strategy and the Economic Development Strategy would be produced in October 2009, and would be reported to the November meeting.

·                    The framework for the 2010/11 economic development assessment would be presented to the Board for discussion at its meeting in February 2011.

·                    The Board was provided with an update from NHS Haringey. From May 2010 Haringey Community Health Services, the NHS provider arm, as distinct from the commissioning arm, would be joint with Islington NHS. It was reported that the bid to operate a Fit for Work pilot scheme in Haringey had been unsuccessful, and that further feedback on the application was awaited. Haringey was a pilot site for the Improving Access to Psychological Services initiative, and the Board would be kept updated regarding progress with this project.

To note the dates of future meetings set out below:

The Board noted the dates of future meetings.

The meeting closed at 3.30pm.