Agenda and minutes

Venue: Woodside Room - George Meehan House, 294 High Road, N22 8JZ. View directions

Contact: Philip Slawther, Principal Scrutiny Officer, Email: philip.slawther2@haringey.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

97.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

Please note that 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. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. 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 and using the public seating area, 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.

Minutes:

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein’.

98.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Blake, Cllr Harrison Mullane &  Cllr Hymas.

99.

Urgent Business

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 as noted below).

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business

100.

Declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

None

101.

Deputations/Petitions/Presentations/Questions

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

Minutes:

None

102.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 284 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting on 12th December 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

103.

Placemaking Approach pdf icon PDF 295 KB

Minutes:

The Panel received a report which set out the new Placemaking approach for Haringey, the Placemaking approach to the emerging new Local Plan, and the rollout of Wood Green Voices and similar exercises to follow elsewhere in the borough. The report was introduced by Cllr Ruth Gordon, Cabinet Member for  Council House Building, Placemaking and Development, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 13-18. Peter O’Brien, AD Regeneration & Economic Development was present for this item, along with Bryce Tudball, Head of Planning Policy, Transport and Infrastructure. The following arose during the discussion of this report:

a.    The Panel sought clarification about what was being done differently in the Placemaking approach, that the authority had not done previously. It was commented that the Placemaking priorities were all well and good but they were the type of things that every authority would strive towards and that nobody would propose the opposite of what Haringey was laying out as priorities.

b.    In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that to some degree that was true, but emphasised that this was about embedding a new approach into all of its Placemaking activities, incorporating the Haringey deal as part of this process. By way of example, the Broadwater Farm engagement was sited, including the translation of communication materials into several different languages. Central to the Placemaking approach was putting people at the heart of it and considering how they used a particular space and how this could be supported through how those spaces were designed. 

c.    The Panel sought clarification about the Cabinet Member’s suggestion that part of the Placemaking approach was ceding power to the community, given that ultimately Cabinet would still be taking decisions. In response, the Cabinet Member emphasised the importance of co-production and co-design in terms of working with the community. As part of this, one of the key stakeholder groups was young people and ensuring that they were part of the co-design process. As part of Wood Green Voices, a representative group of stakeholders was put together and that this group would be built upon going forwards. This group would continue to be consulted with on future developments. The Cabinet Member acknowledged that certain processes would have to be agreed by Cabinet as that was the legal framework for local government decision making and that areas of technical expertise would still sit with officers.

d.    The Panel sought elaboration on how the Council was learning from its past mistakes through the new Placemaking approach. In response, the Cabinet Member set out that she felt the Council had perhaps not paid sufficient attention to the views of the community in the past and had tended to impose decisions rather than incorporate the views of its residents. The Cabinet Member emphasised that ultimately, it was a change of approach and culture of who the Council was as much as anything else.

e.    In response to a question, the Cabinet Member advised that a huge effort had been made to speak to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

104.

Improvement Plan for Housing pdf icon PDF 353 KB

Minutes:

The Panel received a report which provided an update the Housing Services Improvement Plan. The report was introduced by Cllr Carlin, Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 19-22. Jahedur Rahman, Operational Director of Housing Services, and Building Safety was also present for this agenda item. The following arose as part of the discussion of this report:

a.    The Panel questioned whether the Members Improvement Board that had been established would report into, or otherwise update, this scrutiny panel.  In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the exact governance arrangements around this were still to be determined by the Housing Improvement Board. The Cabinet Member commented that in her view, the Members Improvement Board needed to report somewhere and that this Scrutiny Panel could be that place.

b.    The Cabinet Member advised that the Housing Improvement Board was a closed Board, which was not open to the public. This was because the Board needed to be stringent and provide robust challenge, which may not be suitable for a public setting.

c.    In response to a question, the Committee was advised that the Chief Executive chaired the Board and that Cllr Carlin sat on it as the Cabinet Member. The Board Members were councillors Dunstall, Mason, Ali and Rossetti. The Board had held its first meeting in order to set up its terms of reference and it would continue to meet every six weeks.

d.    In response to a questions about officers on the Board, the Cabinet Member advised that key Housing officers would be present at meetings, but would not sit on the Board as members.

e.    The Panel questioned whether the Panel would be able to request the minutes of the Board. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the exact governance arrangements were being determined and that this was a request that would have to be put to the Board itself.

f.     Officers advised Members that the Membership Improvement Board had no decision making powers and that it’s role was to monitor the implementation of the Improvement Plan. The Membership Improvement Board did not produce minutes but it would produce a key actions log that could be shared with the relevant governance body.

g.    The Panel commented that there might be a lot of interest in the Board and that some thought would need to be given on how to manage the fact that the Board did not meet in public.

h.    In relation to a query about the budget, officers advised that aspects of spend related to the Housing Improvement Plan would go through existing formal financial approval processes, as per other areas of spend.

 

RESOLVED

 

Noted.

105.

Housing Associations

Verbal Update

Minutes:

The Panel received a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning, along with the Assistant Director of Housing, on housing associations. The Chair advised that housing associations and what the Panel can do to scrutinise them was one of the key issues that arose during the public scrutiny café event in September. The following key points were noted:

  • A meeting was held in the previous week with registered social housing providers, which was chaired by the Chief Executive of the Council. The meeting was well attended, with 17 Housing associations being represented.
  • The meeting was held in order to agree how social housing providers could better work together in the interests of residents.  By adopting a new partnership approach, it was hoped that providers could work together to solve common problems. The two key issues that arose at this initial stage were around engagement and damp and mould.
  • This strategic level meeting would meet every six months and there would be additional workstreams and meetings flowing from this; with task and finish groups picking up specific areas of concern.
  • In relation to possible roles for scrutiny in this process, it was suggested that the Panel could request performance updates from the seven largest providers (covering 84% of housing association tenants in the borough). As part of developing a strategic relationship, the group had agreed to share performance data and the Panel could request this from officers as and when it was available. Other possible areas to consider were: Inviting some housing associations in to answer questions; speaking to residents; site visits to a housing association; and requesting an analysis of complaints from housing associations. 

In response to this update, the Members asked some questions:

  1. The Panel queried whether, given the issue at stake, meeting every six months was too in frequent. In response, officers advised that the meetings were held a quite a strategic chief executive level and that six months was felt to be a realistic time frame. There would also be additional meetings and workstreams that fed down from this group.
  2. The Panel suggested that a briefing note should be circulated to all councillors on the partnership approach with housing associations as all members will receive extensive case work from residents. The Cabinet Member agreed to send an update to all members. (Action: Cllr Carlin).
  3. In relation to a realistic time frame for receiving the first batch of performance information, officers advised that the partnership had just been set up and that this may take some time. It was suggested 3 months was a reasonable timeframe. The Chair suggested that he would also like to invite representatives from housing associations to the same meeting to answer questions.
  4. The Panel agreed to have a separate discussion about how best to take forward scrutinising housing association as a panel. (Action: Philip).

RESOLVED

Noted.

 

106.

Work Programme Update pdf icon PDF 421 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

The Panel’s work programme for 2022-23 was noted.

107.

New items of urgent business

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

 

Minutes:

N/A

108.

Dates of Future Meetings

None.

Minutes:

TBC