Agenda and minutes

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

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.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Alessandra Rossetti and Councillor Patrick Berryman. Councillor Alessandra Rossetti joined the meeting virtually but could not be considered to be present for the purposes of the attendance record.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under item 14 below).

The Chair highlighted that there was one late report. Ayshe Simsek, Democratic Services & Scrutiny Manager, said that the late report pertained to item 9, Proposed Renaming of Black Boy Lane.

Councillors Peter Mitchell, Barbara Blake, Kaushika Amin, Dawn Barnes, Mark Blake, Mahir Demir, Joseph Ejiofor, Scott Emery, Emine Ibrahim, and Preston Tabois declared an interest in relation to item 9, Proposed Renaming of Black Boy Lane as the subject had been discussed previously by the Committee. All members confirmed that they would consider the information in the reports and the issue with an open mind and would take part in the discussion and voting on this item.

The Chair said that there was a single deputation in relation to agenda item 9, Proposed Renaming of Black Boy Lane, from a representative of Stand Up to Racism. The Committee agreed that the deputation would be taken immediately before item 9.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Corporate Committee meeting held on 16 November 2021 and reconvened on 23 November 2021 as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Corporate Committee meeting held on 16 November 2021 and reconvened on 23 November 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To consider the arrangements for the appointment of an external auditor.

The Chief Accountant introduced the report which set out recommendations to recommend to the Full Council that Haringey Council opts in to the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA) scheme to enable them to appoint the external auditor for the Council and for the Pension Fund.

It was explained that, in 2016, the Secretary of State specified the PSAA as the appointing person for local authority audits; this gave PSAA powers to appoint external auditors for every local authority. The appointing period was for 2018-19 to 2022-23. Local authorities had until 11 March 2022 to opt into the second appointing period which would run from 2023-24 to 2027-28. The Chief Accountant noted that the advantages and disadvantages of the scheme were set out in the report and that it was recommended that the Council opted in to the PSAA scheme.

In response to a question from the Committee, the Chief Accountant said that most, if not all, London Boroughs were expected to sign up to the PSAA scheme.

RESOLVED

To recommend to Full Council that Haringey Council opts in to the Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA) scheme to enable them to appoint the external auditor for the Council and for the Pension Fund.

To consider the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2022-23 for recommendation to Full Council.

The Head of Pensions and Treasury introduced the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2022-23 which provided an update on the council’s treasury management activities and performance in the first half of the financial year to 30 September 2021 in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Treasury Management Code of Practice. It was explained that the report was for the Committee to note and that it would be presented to Full Council as required by the Code of Practice.

An overview of the document was given noting that it detailed the Council’s borrowing and investment strategies for the next five years, while identifying risks and controls associated with these processes.

It was noted that the report had been reviewed by the Scrutiny Committee with no formal comments; however, they had asked questions that the officers had agreed to answer in writing to them. It was outlined that the code of practice stated that the strategy should be agreed annually setting out a three year position, but Haringey had decided to cover five years so that the document could be more accurately aligned to the medium term strategy and budget report.

It was noted that the Public Work Loans Board (PWLB), was no longer lending to local authorities who were planning to buy assets for yield. This new policy would not affect Haringey as this was not a practice that Council had pursued previously, therefore allowing the Council to continue to access the PWLB loans going forward.

The context for the report was developed in conjunction with the Council’s consultants Arlingclose and the assumptions for new loans were set at an average of 3%. The need for the Council to borrow were set out in the Capital Financing Requirement at Table 1 of the report. The borrowing strategy was set out at section 4, detailing how the Council intended to finance borrowing. The key issue was around meeting the affordability requirements and achieving cost certainty over the long term. The Treasury Investment Strategy detailed how investments would be made on income that was received in advance of expenditure. The Council’s primary objectives remained achieving security and liquidity before seeking financial return, as required by the code of practice.

In answer to questions from the Committee, the Head of Pensions and Treasury said that the Council would repay Lender’s Option Borrower’s Option (LOBO) loans in line with the Council’s LOBO loans policy and in consultation with the Council’s advisors, Arlingclose. It was important to find the optimum time for repayment; to date there had been no opportunities, that would materially benefit the Council, to repay these loans. In terms of short-term borrowing, 15% of the Council’s debt was made up of short-term loans, which were used on an ad-hoc basis to make up any short-term liquidity needs, for example, for emergency payments. Short-term loans often came from other local authorities and these rates were commonly set lower than bank rates. With interest rates due to increase, there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider the proposed renaming of Black Boy Lane. (Report to follow)

The Committee heard a deputation put forward by Mr Vivek Lehal, supporting recommendation 2.1.3 in the report titled ‘The proposed renaming of Black Boy Lane’.

The deputation began by emphasising his support for recommendation 2.1.3 in the report. He felt that the current socio-cultural climate was moving in favour of the recommendation and felt that it was not an issue that should be delayed. It was noted that the name of the pub on Black Boy Lane had been renamed as a result of a campaign. He stated that the naming of a pub or street ‘Black Boy’ contradicted progressive values and the renaming of the street should be part of the Council’s anti-racist agenda.

A Committee member asked the deputation if he was aware of other boroughs who had updated their names recently. The deputation did not have any specific examples of streets; he pointed out that the Albert Road Recreation Ground, had, as of 9 February 2021, been renamed to the O R Tambo Recreation Ground in memory of the South African anti-apartheid campaigner. He stated that the renaming of Black Boy Lane was in keeping with symbolic regeneration of the borough, which reflected the multi-cultural nature of the borough.

It was asked if the deputation agreed with the Mayor of London’s establishment of the Commission on Diversity in the Public Realm and its brief to diversify the stories shared and commemorated across the city, and whether this was a progressive attitude. The deputation believed that the Mayor’s stance was a progressive one, although there was debate around the idea of changing the names of streets and buildings as it could be considered as ‘whitewashing’ history. He felt that this was not the case as the process of renaming was a vital one as it was intended to reflect contemporary, multi-cultural London. Therefore, he said it was necessary to rename Black Boy Lane to reflect the diverse demography of Haringey.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning introduced the report which responded to the Committee’s request for further consultation with Black Boy Lane residents, an Equalities Impact Assessment, and a support package for residents. The Assistant Director for Commissioning outlined the following about the consultation process:

-       a statutory notice of intention was posted, in 12 languages, to every household and business on the street;

-       an online survey was conducted;

-       residents were given the opportunity to provide postal feedback;

-       there were three engagement sessions, two of which were hybrid, and one was online;

-       drop-in sessions were held through the local area co-ordinator; and

-       plans for more door-to-door knocking sessions were cancelled due to the surge in Covid-19 case numbers caused by the Omicron variant.

The report set out the nature of the responses to the consultation. Overall, 78% of respondents were not in favour of the proposed name change and 22% were in support. When considering residents of Black Boy Lane, 81% were not in favour of the name change and 19% of resident  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

There were no items of urgent business.

To note the dates of future meetings:

1 February 2022

10 March 2022

To note the dates of future meetings:

Thursday, 10 March 2022

Items 11-12 are likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 1, 2, 3, namely information relating to an individual, information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual, information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information), and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege

could be maintained in legal proceedings.

RESOLVED

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of items 16-17 as they contained exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 5; namely information relating to an individual, information which was likely to reveal the identity of an individual, information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information), and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

To confirm and sign the exempt minutes of the Corporate Committee meeting held on 16 November 2021 and reconvened on 23 November 2021 as a correct record.

The exempt minutes were agreed as an accurate record.

There were no new items of exempt urgent business.

CHAIR: Councillor Peter Mitchell

Signed by Chair ………………………………..

Date …………………………………