Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

It was noted that apologies had been received from the following people:

Manoj Ambasna

Rod Cullen

Janette Karklins

Naeem Sheikh

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2008 as a correct record.

The Board received the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2008.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2008 be confirmed as a correct record.

To elect a Chair for the new Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That Dr Ita O’Donovan be elected as Chair for the ensuing municipal year.

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

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Kaushika Amin be appointed as Vice-Chair for the ensuing municipal year.

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 with respect to these items.  

No declarations of interest were made.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items or urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda items where they appear. New items will be dealt with under Item 17 below).

No urgent items of business were raised.

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 representatives elected to the Enterprise Partnership Board were as follows:

• Rod Cullen
• John Egbo
• Martha Osamor

The Chair thanked Pamela Pemberton of the CLF for the presentation.

In response to a query as to whether there was a mechanism in place to allow CLF Board members to feed back to their main body; the Board was advised that the CLF met on a quarterly basis where feedback was provided. In addition to this an annual workshop was also held, which was specifically designed for representatives sitting on the HSP and Thematic Boards to feed back on relevant issues.

The Board was advised that a mapping exercise was also being carried out by HAVCO to establish where organisations had specific interests and how these could be fed into this process.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

The Board considered a report requesting that the Board formally confirm its Membership and amend its Terms of Reference to reflect the inclusion of the new CLF representatives for the new Municipal Year.

In response to suggestions that the Terms of Reference should be amended further to include details of the CLF’s and role as part of the Board, the Chair noted that this was already taken on board as part of the overall Governance arrangements agreed between the HSP and HAVCO when the CLF was formed. Therefore it was not necessary to amend the Terms of Reference of individual Theme Boards.

There was further discussion in relation to the Membership of the Board and voting the rights granted to certain organisations currently included within the Membership.

The Chair requested that a report be brought to the Boards next meeting reviewing in detail the Boards membership and setting out proposals as to how this could be developed in order to ensure the best delivery of the Board’s objectives.

RESOLVED:

1. That the Membership, as set out, be confirmed for 2008/09.

2. That the Terms of Reference be amended to included the new CLF representatives.

3. That a report be brought to the Boards next meeting reviewing in detail the Boards membership and setting out proposals as to how this could be developed in order to ensure the best delivery of the Board’s objectives.

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

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Kaushika Amin be appointed as the Boards representative on the Haringey Strategic Partnership for 2008/09.

The Board received an update on progress in relation to the new Local Area Agreement.

It was noted that negotiations in relation to National Indicator (NI) 153 (the number of people of working age claiming benefits in the worst performing neighbourhoods) had been completed and a target to reduce this by 4.7 percentage points had been agreed over the next three years. Data in relation to NI 171 (new business registration rate) would not be available until later in the year and consequently targets attached to this NI could not be set at present.

The Board was advised that it had been agreed with GOL that a reduction should be made to the target in relation to NI 116 (number of children living in families in receipt of work benefits) from 36.4% to 30.5%.

In addition to the NI’s included within the LAA there were also Local Indicators, which the partnership would not be monitored on officially. However, these formed an important part of the LAA and would be monitored within the new Performance Management Framework. As part of the Performance Management Framework the Board would receive quarterly reports.

In response to a query as to whether there was a contradiction between the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s drive to encourage people to take up benefits and NI 153, the Board was advised that this had also been a target under the previous LAA. The drive to encourage people to take up benefits was aimed at different areas and therefore there was no contradiction between priorities. It was noted that the Haringey Guarantee also encouraged participants to take up benefits where appropriate.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That the replacement Local Indicators relating to increasing the take up of tax credits, as set out in the report, be approved. 

This report will be sent to follow.

The Board considered a tabled report on the Draft Regeneration Delivery Plan. The Assistant Director for Economic Regeneration apologised for the late circulation of the report.

It was noted that the Delivery Plan set out how the Regeneration Plan would be delivered in a concise format. The document did not list all of the projects contained within the Plan and instead referred to a selection of projects under themed headings.

The Board was advised that if they had any comment to make on the Delivery Plan they should feed them back to the Assistant Director for Economic Regeneration.

In response to a query in relation to procurement the Board was advised that under the heading of Prosperity local procurement was addressed. It was agreed this document would be circulated to the Board.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

This report will be sent to follow.

The Board received a report on the Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF) which was tabled at the meeting.

Prior to the consideration of the item the Chair apologised to the Board for late tabling of the report. The Chair underlined the need for reports to be circulated in a timely manner in order to allow Board members sufficient time to digest and comment on them.  

The report set out the business and enterprise priorities for the WNF and included proposals in relation to:

• Business Support
• Increasing the number of VAT registered businesses
• Business Engagement in Town Centres
• Business Education and Mentoring

Business Support

In terms of Business Support the Board was advised that the creation of a single business account and development of online services for business users were considered essential to the facilitation of positive interaction between the Council and businesses.

VAT Registration

Increasing the number of VAT registered businesses was an LAA indicator for measuring economic growth and all businesses with an annual turnover of more than £67K were required to be VAT registered. Initiatives such as working with businesses to increase turnover and promoting the benefits of VAT registration would be undertaken using WNF.

Business Engagement in Town Centres

This initiative would primarily focus on Wood Green and Tottenham and also extend to district centres such as Crouch End and Stroud Green. Consultation would be carried out with local businesses and Traders’ forums and measures to improve security and reduce crime would be identified.

In addition to the measures above work would also be done to promote Haringey to investors, stakeholders and visitors in order to encourage investment in the local economy.

Business Education and Mentoring

This initiative was intended to provide individuals and businesses with practical training, experience and skills to succeed in business and would focus on helping people identify pathways into higher education. This would include workshops for children at secondary schools at risk of exclusion from higher education.

In addition to this a business mentoring programme for secondary school students on accredited business courses would also be provided.

In response to a query as to whether there was a particular emphasis placed on deprived Neighbourhoods, the Board was advised that under the old Neighbourhood Renewal Funding (NRF) there had been geographical boundaries. However, under the WNF it was possible to take into account where there was deprivation and particular need.

The Board discussed use of WNF to target particular areas of deprivation and there was agreement that it would be beneficial to identify specific areas that would benefit from funding. It was noted that simple measures such as improving shop frontages often had a significant impact on the way an area was perceived and targeting resources in this way would help alleviate negative perceptions.

The Chair noted that this topic would be a good area for further discussion at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

A verbal update will be provided.

The Board received a verbal update on the recently held Business Awards event.

It was noted that the Business Awards had taken place on 29 May and that a significant amount of positive feedback had already been received. A booklet would be published shortly setting out how the Awards had been determined and giving an overview of the event itself.  

The Chair noted that establishing good working relationships with businesses across the private sector was of benefit to the Partnership. She invited any partners wishing to raise any specific issues in relation to the event to contact officers so that these could be given proper consideration.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update provided be noted. 

The Board received an update on progress in relation to the three main programmes in place to tackle Worklessness in the Borough:

• The Haringey Guarantee
• Families into Work
• The North London Pledge

Prior to consideration of the item the Board was advised that the report included within the agenda pack was in draft form and contained several pieces of incorrect information. A further report would be circulated once a meeting had been held with people who had participated in the evaluation in relation to the Haringey Guarantee.

The Chair suggested that members of the Board keep the original report for reference and for comparison against the final version.

The Board was advised that a Manager for the Families into Work project had been appointed and the job specifications for the other staff attached to the scheme were being put together at present.

In terms of the North London Pledge the Board was advised that an approach had been agreed in relation to the delivery of skills provision. The Council would be responsible for managing funding in relation to the management of the programme, communications and marketing. Evaluation of the programme would be directly commissioned and delivered by the London Development Agency (LDA).

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

1. That a further report should be circulated to the Board containing up to date information in relation to the Haringey Guarantee.

The Board received a report, for information, setting out the findings of the Sub National Review (SNR) of Economic Development and Regeneration.

The Board was advised  that the SNR looked at the mechanisms in place for economic development across the country and had concluded that reform was required in order to address challenges such as Worklessness and economic disadvantage.

In order address the findings contained within the report the Government had proposed the following measures:

• Abolition of Regional Assemblies (outside London)
• Streamlining of regional Government by requiring Regional Development Agencies to produce an integrated economic development and spatial strategy
• Strengthening the role of the Local Authority in economic development by placing a statutory duty upon them to assess local economic conditions
• Support for Local Authority collaboration across administrative boundaries

The new statutory duty meant the Council would be required to consult and work closely with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and options had been provided for implementing these new duties.

The Board was advised that a consultation document had been published in relation to the proposed reforms contained within the SNR and the deadline for this was 20 June 2008.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted. 

The Board received a report setting out performance against key indicators identified by the Board as being crucial to the delivery of its objectives.

The Board was advised that the rising employment rate in the Borough did not reflect the national picture. In addition to this the level of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance had fallen to its lowest rate since 1992 and currently stood at 1.4%.  The number of 16 to 19 year olds claiming Job Seekers Allowance had also fallen. 

The proportion of children aged 16 to 19 Not in full time Employment, Education or Training (NEET) had fallen to below the target level of 10.4 per cent and the Chair noted that this may have had an impacted upon the number of people in that age group claiming Job Seekers Allowance.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 6.

No items of urgent business were raised.

To consider any items of AOB.

No items of AOB were raised.

The following dates have been set for meetings during 2008/09:

• 2.30pm, 8 September 2008
• 2.30pm, 10 December 2008
• 2.30pm, 9 March 2009

The Board was asked to noted the following dates of future meetings:

• 8 September 2008
• 10 December 2008
• 9 March 2009