Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following:

Lyn Garner

Jeanelle de Gruchy

Sunita Parbhaker

Lisa Redfern

Steve Thompson

Clare Winstanley

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 considered under Item * 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 take part in any decision made with respect to those items.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5 April 2011 as a correct record.

Prior to confirmation of the minutes the following updates were provided:

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 April 2011 be confirmed as a correct record.

To appoint a Chair for the new Municipal Year.

The Chair advised that a review of partnerships arrangements was currently being undertaken and whilst no decision had made with respect to this at present

RESOLVED:

That the current Chair, Vice-Chair and representative to the HSP Standing Leadership Conference should remain in place pending the review of partnership arrangements in Haringey.   

A presentation

A presentation was given on the Local Carbon Frameworks Pilot (attached at Appendix 2).

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

A presentation

A presentation was given by Martin Groombridge on the Islington, Haringey and City Credit Union.

The Credit Union had originally been established for employees of Islington Council and was initially extended to members of the public living, working or studying in the Borough and then to the City of London and more recently to Haringey. It had grown from two hundred members to over two and a half thousand members since its formation in ? 

The Board was advised that there was a common misconception that Credit Unions solely for people on low incomes or a poor credit history who were unable to obtain credit from other sources. The Board was advised that this was not the case; the Credit Union provided an alternative to traditional banks and building societies and was used by a wide range of people as a means of savings and borrowing money.

Credit Unions were commonly used in other countries and they operated as cooperatives with members effectively being shareholders. Unlike banks and building societies the cooperative determined it own rules with respect to borrowing and lending and did not impose punitive penalties for late payment therefore helping to prevent its members from spiralling patterns of debt.

One of the Credit Unions primary objectives was to help people avoid the high APR rates charged by ‘doorstep lenders’ and attached to ‘pay day’ loans. It was noted that this type of borrowing was rife in communities where people were predominantly on low wages or in receipt of Benefits.

The Credit Union also assisted people to get into the habit of saving money rather than borrowing and required people who were borrowing money to save a certain amount each week or month. In this way members would eventually be able to draw on their own savings when they needed additional finance. One of the Credit Union’s objectives was to help people develop  their budgetary and financial skills and it worked with its members to achieve this.

The Board was advised that one of the most effective ways of encouraging people to join the Credit Union was through recommendation and therefore Council staff who were members of the scheme were well placed to promote it’s merits to those who might benefit the most from it.

It was noted that although the Credit Union operated in a socially responsible way it was a profitable organisation that paid its shareholders approximately 1% in interest.

Following the presentation the Board discussed how the Credit Union could be promoted amongst Council employees and residents and put questions to Mr Groombridge.

The Chair noted that Homes for Haringey’s Chief Executive had been asked to consider how it could encourage its clients to join the Credit Union.

In response to a query as to why people opted to use ‘door step’ lenders and other expensive forms of credit the Board was advised that this was often due to the convenience that it offered. This could also be attributed to a lack of awareness and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 228.

The board to agree the draft for consultation

The Board received a report seeking agreement to the draft Homelessness Strategy to go out to consultation for a three month period commencing on 1 August 2011.

It was noted that the Homelessness strategy was a statutory document and that the draft document built upon the previous version reflecting the major changes that had occurred over the last year. These included reform to the Benefits system and changes to housing policy introduced by the new Government.

The key priorities of the draft strategy were to:

Ø      Prevention of homelessness and sustaining tenancies

Ø      Mitigation of the negative impact of reforms to the Benefits system

Ø      Partnership working

Ø      Maximising the supply of housing

Ø      Improving the life chances of homeless people

The Board was advised that there had been a deliberate emphasis placed on addressing the negative impact that changes made to the Benefit system and in Government policy with respect to social housing would have with respect to homelessness.

It was noted that partnership involvement was critical to the delivery of the strategy and that input from partners during the consultation period would be important in shaping the strategy. There was agreement that representations from the partner organisations present would assist in encouraging people to respond to the consultation exercise.

The Board was advised that there had been a drive to reinforce preventative measures in place and this included establishing, in junction with neighbouring Local Authorities, policies to stop inner London Boroughs placing homeless families in Haringey and other outer London Boroughs.

The Chair underlined the importance of partners engaging with the consultation process and there was agreement that the RSL reps present should encourage colleagues to respond this.

RESOLVED:

That the draft Homelessness Strategy should be approved for consultation.

Verbal item

The Board received a verbal update with respect to the work being undertaken by the Council to detect tenancy fraud.

A dedicated Tenancy Fraud team had been established within the Council’s Internal Audit team and this provided training to staff in Homes for Haringey on detecting tenancy fraud and a plan was being developed to better pin point areas of abuse.

It was noted that the Council had written to local Housing Associations inviting them to attend a meeting with the Chief Executive of Homes for Haringey, Phil Harris and the Tenancy Fraud team in order to look at how support to the Housing Associations in the area could be developed.

The Board was advised that some of the local Housing Associations were already working effectively with Enfield’s Tenancy Fraud team and it was indicated that they would be keen to develop a similar relationship with Haringey. 

It was noted that one form of tenancy fraud occurred when people did not declare assets that they held in other countries and that this was difficult to investigate. It was suggested that the team should look at whether it would be possible to work with embassies or other groups to investigate this type of fraud.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update provided be noted.

The Board received a report that set out performance during quarter four of 2010/11.

As the requirement to measure performance against to former Local Area Agreement targets came to an end at the fourth quarter of 2010/11 the Committee would need to consider how it would like to monitor performance moving forward.

It was noted that national targets with respect to the Decent Homes programme had been revised and officers advised that they would check with colleagues from the Council’s performance that this had been picked up.

There was discussion with regard to the monitoring of fuel poverty and it was noted that the survey that previously collected data with regard to this was no longer undertaken. It was suggested that an alternative measure should be formed in the absence of this and that this could be around the number of people assisted out of fuel poverty.

It was noted that the target with respect to the number of people living in Temporary Accommodation (TA) had not been met; although this was disappointing the number of people in living in TA had continued to fall at a consistent rate.

The Board was advised that the current partnership structure was being reviewed. A piece of work had been commissioned by the HSP Executive to consider how partnership working might operate in the future in the context of less resources, the abolition of the Local Area Agreement and Area Based Grant funding. It was likely that there would be a significant reduction in the number of Theme Boards in place and therefore the Board would need to consider how certain elements of it work might continue in a different format and what should be retained moving forward.

There was agreement that a report should be submitted to the next meeting setting out options around this.  

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.
2. That a report should be submitted to the next meeting of the Board setting out how work undertaken by the IHB might be taken forward under a streamlined partnership structure.

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

There were no new items of Urgent Business.

To raise any items of AOB.

There were no items of AOB.

To note the provisional dates for future meetings as set out below:

18 October 2011

19 December 2011

20 March 2012

The dates of future meetings, as set out below, were noted:

Ø      6.30pm, 18 October 2011

Ø      6.30pm, 19 December 2011

Ø      6.30pm, 20 March 2012