Agenda and minutes

An aplogy for absence was received from Councillor Bloch.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent busines. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with at item 7 below).

None.

A Member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to the meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A Member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a Member of the public, with knowledge of the relevant facts, would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the Member’s judgement of the public interest.

None.

To note the following terms of reference for the review:

“to consider the future resourcing of actions to achieve strategic targets within the Safer and Stronger Communities block of the Local Area Agreement for Haringey 2007 – 2010 and to make recommendations thereon to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee”

The Panel noted that the review would be looking at the funding of actions to meet the Safer and Stronger Communities targets within the Local Area Agreement (LAA).  There were concerns that the current method of funding was not conducive to the meeting effectively the Borough’s LAA targets or addressing residents concerns due to an over reliance on short term grant funding, much a which was due to expire shortly.

The Panel felt that it would be useful to look at how other local authorities funded their activities.  It was suggested that Barnet, Camden or Lambeth might provide useful comparisons, particularly as they used a higher proportion of mainstream funding. 

The Chair reported that the date of the next meeting would now need to be changed due to a clash with the Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee.

AGREED:

1.      That the scope and terms of reference for review, as approved by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, be noted.

2.      That a visit to interview relevant staff at a nearby local authority about the structure and funding arrangements for their Community Safety activities be arranged.

To consider the key issues facing the Safer Communities Partnership in achieving the Safer and Stronger Communities targets within the LAA and meeting the challenges provided by the new sets of targets.  The Panel will receive evidence from Claire Kowalska, Community Safety Development Co-ordinator, Haringey Council and Simon O’Brien, Haringey Borough Commander, Police Service including:

·        An explanation of the LAA targets and their future development

·        Details of the funding for the specific initiatives that have been put in place to facilitate the meeting of the Safer and Stronger Communities targets

The Panel received evidence from Wayne Mawson, Deputy Police Commander for Haringey, Shaun Sweeney, Police Projects Officer and Claire Kowalska, Community Safety Strategic Manager. 

The Panel noted that community safety initiatives were funded with a high proportion of money from external time limited grants.  This had a number of disadvantages.  The delivery of initiatives often required considerably high levels of skill from staff and consequently high quality personnel were required.  The time limited nature of funding for posts did not assist recruitment and retention.  It could deter suitably qualified people from applying and inhibit the development of staff as the skills required to undertake the work were complex and took time to learn. Long term planning was difficult as funding decisions on changes to grant regimes were often taken at short notice and inconvenient times.  Reductions in the Safer Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF) had been announced in June and these had the potential to lead to redundancies for Haringey staff.  In addition, making applications for grants and monitoring them once they had been received was a very time consuming process.  If commissioning was undertaken over a longer period of time, economies of scale could be made. 

Many community safety initiatives and responsibilities were now statutory as well as covering areas of key concern for local residents.  The workload within specific teams had increased markedly.  The Youth Offending Service and the Anti Social Behaviour Action Team had seen a doubling in demand for their services.  In addition, the strategic planning function was also very important.  This involved working on the targets and national standards, analysing data and capacity building.  A new performance regime was soon to be introduced with the introduction of APACS (Assessment of Policing and Community Safety).  In addition, reporting of crime was being more actively encouraged and this was likely to increase workload further.  Police successes in apprehending young offenders was a factor in increasing pressure on the Youth Offending Service, who were required to undertake work with such young people in order to assist in their rehabilitation.

Staff in posts for which the funding was due to expire shortly were facing redundancy and it would be unsurprising if their performance suffered in such circumstances.  All of the Police officers who were involved in Safer Community Partnership work were supported by mainstream funding.  It was felt that consideration needed to be given to funding more of the Safer and Stronger Communities work though mainstream funding. 

Community safety was a partnership and there was a statutory responsibility for partners to actively participate and contribute.  The Police Service and Council currently tended to assume a large part of the responsibility but it could be argued that other partners should take a more active and equal role.  However, some of the other partners were constrained by limited resources. 

The main drivers for crime were linked closely linked to health, well being, education and housing and therefore mainstream activity by relevant partners in these areas was a considerable source of influence.  Section  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

None.

23 October at 6:30 p.m.

It was noted that the time and/or date of the next meeting would need to be changed from 23 October.  An alternative date would be notified in due course.  It was agreed that representatives from the Haringey Council Finance Service, Haringey TPCT, the College of North East London and the Government Office for London would be invited to attend.