Agenda and minutes

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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 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’.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr White and Cllr Amin. Cllr Barbara Blake attended the meeting as a substitute for Cllr Amin.

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).   

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

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

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting on 13^th March 2018.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the 13^th March 2018 were approved as a correct record of the meeting.

The Panel received a report which sought formal approval of the re-appointment of a non-voting co-opted member to the Panel.

RESOLVED

That a representative from Haringey Association of Neighbourhood Watches be appointed as a non-voting co-opted member of the Panel for the 2018/19

Municipal Year.

This report sets out the terms of reference and membership for Overview and

Scrutiny and its panels for 2018/19.

RESOLVED

That the Panel:

     I.        Note the terms of reference (Appendix A of the report) and Protocol (Appendix B of the report) for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

    II.        Approve the terms of reference/policy areas and membership for each

Scrutiny Panel for 2017/18 (Appendix C of the report).

*Clerk’s note – The Panel agreed to vary the order of the agenda and the item on the work programme was taken following Item 8. The minutes reflect the order in which items were taken, rather than they appear on the published agenda pack.*

The Panel received a report which outlined the development of the Panel’s work programme for 2018/20. As part of the overall work planning progress, a scrutiny café event was held earlier in the day with community representatives and local residents; to seek their input on which areas they would like OSC and the four scrutiny panels to consider as part of their respective work plans. The Chair provided a verbal update on the event and outlined some of the key themes that emerged.

Paragraph 4.11 of the report set out some of the areas that the Chair had identified for possible inclusion on the Panels’ work programme. In light of the Chair’s suggestions and those put forward at the scrutiny café event, the Panel were asked to consider which areas they would like to see incorporated into the work programme. A summary of the topics proposed is set out below.

Waste/Veolia

·         The need for a balance between enforcement action and creating behaviour change.

·         Flytipping and dumping.

·         Charges for bulky waste collection and the reverse incentive this creates for fly-tipping.

·         Green waste charges.

·         Recycling rate.

·         Street sweeping and the use of a uniform street sweeping schedule.

Environment

·         Air pollution and air quality- increased transparency and understanding where the monitoring points are.

·         Reducing plastic waste. The Council should lead by example on this.

Community Safety

·         ASB, crime and disorder. Examining how well partners work together to tackle these issues, including; Police, Noise Team, ASB Team and HfH.

·         Examining the background statistics around youth violence, including mental health services.

·         Discrimination against vulnerable communities such as travellers and BAME groups.

·         Youth violence and knife crime. The increased use of ‘Stop and Search’ powers by Police.

·         Reducing the criminalisation of children.

·         The gangs matrix.

·         The relationship between the police and the community. The impact of merging Haringey and Enfield police.

Parks/Leisure

·         The Panel undertook a detailed review into the funding and maintenance of parks last year. The Panel noted the need to prevent duplication and suggested that they would like to see an update on the implementation of those recommendations.

·         Events in parks.

·         Use of Bruce Castle Park for pre-match NFL events at Spurs. It was felt that a balance was needed between developing additional sources of revenue and wider public access.

·         How can the Council promote smaller community based events in parks

·         Progress made against the previous scrutiny review on cycling.

Cross-cutting themes

·         Providing to support to refugees and how this can be done in a joined-up way and the Government’s ‘Hostile Environment’ policy.

·         Whether the Council has a hate crime strategy.

·         Accessibility of services and ensuring equitable access for vulnerable communities.

Following discussion of the suggested topics for the work programme, the below points were noted:

a.    Officers advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety and Engagement took questions from the Panel on matters relating to his portfolio. In summary, the following points were noted:

a.    In response to a request for further information on proposals around community consultation, the Cabinet Member clarified that that officers were working on 3 key policy areas in respect of young people; youth violence, refreshing the youth services strategy and work being done by the Chief Executive’s office around vulnerable children. The Cabinet Member confirmed that he was looking to develop some level of community consultation in respect of these pieces of work but that the exact details of this were still to be agreed. The Cabinet Member suggested that, as part of this, he would like to hold a series of roundtable discussions with key partners, community groups and key service providers. The Committee was advised that officers were progressing work in all three areas and it was anticipated that these would be taken to Cabinet in February.

b.    The Panel requested further details be provided on what the big conversation would be with young people as and when this information was available. (Action: Cllr Mark Blake).

c.    The Committee noted with concern the statistics that showed a 11% rise in homophobic hate crime and requested information on what was being done to combat this. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged these concerns and assured the Panel that the Council was committed to working with the community to combat this. The Panel was advised that the Council had worked closely with partners to organise the upcoming Haringey Gay Pride event and that the Cabinet Member would be attending.

d.    In response to concerns about a rise in homophobic hate crime, officers advised Haringey was below the pan-London trend and that some of the increase could be explained by increased reporting rates. In response to a question about whether there was a London-wide response to this, officers suggested that hate crime was a top priority for the police and that this would likely be covered as part of their hate crime strategy. The Chair suggested that this might be something to raise with the Borough Commander at the Panel’s next meeting.

e.    In response to a query around the Council Tax reduction scheme, the Chair advised that this was a question for the Cabinet Member of Finance.

f.      The Cabinet Member suggested that the Panel may want to look into clear-up rates for crimes as well as complaints, as part of the future performance reports that it receives.

The Panel received a presentation from Sandeep Broca which provided a performance update in relation to the dataset covered by Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime. The following arose from the  discussion of the presentation:

a.    The Committee were advised that the statistics showed that there was a 6% increase in the total level of crime in Haringey over a 12 month period, up to July 2018. This was against a 4% average rise across London.

b.    In response to a query about the reasons behind the rise in crime, the Panel were advised that burglary had been a big driver behind the increase, as had lower level theft such as shoplifting. The Cabinet Member suggested that the reasons behind the rise of these crimes were difficult to unpick.

c.    The Panel welcomed the 13% reduction in knife crime and enquired the reasons behind this. In response, the Panel was advise that there was significant partnership working undertaken with schools and good links had been built in that regard. The level of reduction of knife crime among young people was around 24%.

d.    The Committee raised significant concerns with the large increase in lethal barrelled firearm discharges in Haringey. Officers advised that this was also a concern for police colleagues. The Panel were informed that a large number of these were suspected as being gang-related. The Chair suggested that this should be something for the Borough Commander to feedback on at the Panel meeting in October. (Action: Clerk).

e.    In response to a request for further information in relation to acid attacks in the borough, officers advised that, when the data was last reviewed, there had been three reported incidents involving noxious substances in the previous 12 months. Reported instances in Haringey were much lower that than those of Camden and Hackney.

f.     The Committee raised concerns around the exclusion of young people in schools and whether there were any links to knife crime. The Cabinet Member advised that the Council’s Policy team were undertaking a review of all available data on exclusions and it was anticipated this work would be ready in October. The Cabinet Member cautioned that the rate of school exclusions would be exacerbated by further cuts to the schools grant, which would have a disproportionate impact on the pupil referral unit and youth violence.

RESOLVED

That the Panel noted the 9 month update on the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review on Fear of Crime.

The Panel noted the report and agreed that a further performance update around street cleansing, waste and recycling would be brought to the Panel in conjunction with an invitation to the Cabinet Member for Environment to attend the meeting. (Action: Clerk).

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

None

16^th October 2018

15^th November 2018

18^th December 2018

7^th February 2019

11^th March 2019

16^th October 2018

18^th December 2018

7^th February 2019

11^th March 2019