Agenda and minutes

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.

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 lateness were received from Cllr Gideon Bull who joined the meeting at 7:10pm.

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).

None.

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 Members’ Register of 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 interest are

defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Cllr Pippa Connor declared an interest by virtue of her membership of the Royal College of Nursing.

Cllr Pippa Connor declared an interest by virtue of her sister working as a GP in Tottenham.

Cllr Gideon Bull declared that he was currently employed by NHS England.

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

None.

To seek formal approval of the appointment of a non-voting co-opted Member to the Panel.

The Chair introduced Ali Amasyali and set out the recommendation in the report that he be appointed as a non-voting co-opted Member of the Panel.

RESOLVED - The Ali Amasyali be appointed as a non-voting co-opted Member of the Panel.

RESOLVED – That the non-voting co-opted Members of the Panel for the remainder of the 2021/22 Municipal Year be confirmed as Helena Kania and Ali Amasyali.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

Referring to the item on the monitoring of recommendations from the day opportunities scrutiny review, Cllr Connor noted that support had been expressed for information being provided to young people about transitions between services and suggested that this should be noted as an action point with information received from officers on how this is being done. (ACTION)

Cllr Connor noted that a written update had been received about the former site of the Irish Centre and suggested that more detail was required, specifically on whether any decisions had been made about the relocation of the Grace Centre. (ACTION)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th September 2021 be approved as an accurate record.

To consider the annual report of the Haringey Safeguarding Adults Board for 2020/21.

Dr Adi Cooper, Independent Chair of the Haringey Adult Safeguarding Board (HSAB), introduced the Board’s Annual Report for 2020/21 which she explained was one of the Board statutory duties. Dr Cooper said that the Board continued to meet under the unprecedented conditions of Covid restrictions, as did partner agencies. A Safeguarding Covid-19 Task & Finish Subgroup had been set up to monitor responses to the changing conditions on safeguarding caused by the Covid restrictions.

Other groups had varying degrees of success in terms of maintaining their core duties and responsibilities but, overall, the core duties and responsibilities of the Board were maintained. The data section on pages 17 to 22 of the report illustrated what was going on and through the Covid-19 Task & Finish Subgroup it was possible to respond quickly to the changes in what the data showed was happening.

The work of partner agencies on safeguarding was summarised from page 23 of the report and the Appendix from page 39 of the report set out the actions relating to the HSAB Strategic Plan.

A section on the Safeguarding Adults Review Subgroup started from page 12 of the report. There had been two Safeguarding Adults Reviews undertaken in 2020/21, one of which related to a person with mental health needs while the second was a thematic review on homelessness following the deaths of three homeless people in the borough. There had been a robust response to this with improvements on homelessness from partner agencies including the Council.

For the year ahead there was concern about the long-term impact of Covid on safeguarding, including on people’s mental health and possible increases in the inter-generational incidents of domestic abuse, and so the Board would continue to monitor these issues.

Dr Cooper then responded to questions from the Panel:

• Asked by Cllr Demir about the new Haringey Multi-Agency Solutions Panel referred to on page 13 of the report, Dr Cooper said that the approach was known as creative solutions and that when the Panel comes together it should try to find answers rather than hand problems over to other agencies.
• Asked by Cllr Blake about the increased number of safeguarding concerns received, Dr Cooper said that historically this has been welcome in the sense of increased awareness of safeguarding. However, in the last year there had been a national trend reflecting not just increased awareness but also increasing pressures caused by Covid on safeguarding risks. She was therefore concerned about this being a less than positive trend, though it was too soon to judge that. The national picture suggested cases being reported later and with more complexities as a consequence of Covid.
• Cllr Blake highlighted challenges about what institutions were doing on safeguarding following the concerns about the Metropolitan Police over the Sarah Everard case. Dr Cooper said that the issues for the Police had not had a knock-on effect on partner agencies in terms of safeguarding, though the legislation and guidance for agencies make clear that the right systems and processes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To provide an overview of the Adult Carers’ Strategy for 2020-2023 which is for all unpaid adult (aged 18+) carers who live in Haringey, or who live outside of Haringey and care for somebody who lives in Haringey.

Charlotte Pomery, Assistant Director for Commissioning, introduced this item noting that the Council had recently been working with carers across the borough to co-develop the Adult Carers’ Strategy which had been launched earlier in the year.  The aim of the strategy was to identify better ways of identifying and supporting carers in the borough. While this may sound straightforward, there were many carers who did not identify themselves as carers. The launch of the strategy was described as Phase 1 while the creation of a Carers’ Action Plan to deliver this was Phase 2. The Carers’ Action Plan had been co-designed and work on delivering it had already started. This included five workstreams:

• Having a life of your own.
• Looking after your health and wellbeing.
• Managing your finances, benefits and debt.
• Your caring role.
• Your housing and managing at home.

An Equalities Review on support for carers in Haringey had been commissioned and carried out by Carers First. This had highlighted the importance of involving carers as experts, supporting them to maximise their income and to be able to take breaks from caring.

A carer from the working group then spoke to the Panel about her experience. She had recently been appointed as a co-chair of the Carers’ Strategy Working Group and had done so because she wanted carers to have a voice and be effectively supported, including young adult carers and carers for those with mental health needs who were underrepresented. She told the Panel that she had been a young adult carer for the past 15 years looking after a family member in the borough with mental health and physical health needs and learning difficulties but had only been identified as a carer in the past year or so. Her caring responsibilities were wide ranging including first aid, practical, emotional and financial support and volunteering work. She explained that caring was difficult and takes a toll physically and emotionally and so it was essential that carers were supported. Because carers are experts by experience it was important that the Carers Strategy was co-produced and co-delivered in an integrated approach at every level with carers. As co-chair she aimed to help lead towards substantial and effective change to improve carers’ services and support carers that had previously slipped through the net. The Carers’ Strategy Working Group, (formed of carers, the Council, the NHS and the voluntary and community sector) was presently engaging with stakeholders to ensure that the seventy actions were measurable and that the right people were working on them. Cllr Connor thanked her for the clear presentation and the huge caring responsibilities that she undertook on a daily basis, noting the significance of her only recently having been identified as a carer.

Cllr Bull welcomed the work in this area and emphasised the importance of supporting young people who were caring for their parents or other family members and of understanding that carers do not always understand what support they are entitled to. Charlotte Pomery  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To provide a presentation to the Panel on ‘locality working’, a community-based approach that aims to better address need in local neighbourhoods, reduce inequalities and build better outcomes with and for residents.

Cllr Connor introduced this item, explaining that the Panel had recently visited the Northumberland Park Neighbourhood Resource Centre where there had been useful discussions about the locality working approach. The slides provided in the agenda pack were noted by the Panel and proceeded straight to questions.

Cllr Peacock requested that the local ward Councillors for Northumberland Park be more closely involved in this initiative. Charlotte Pomery noted that there had been some engagement events held but said that she was happy to engage further with the ward Councillors.

Cllr Connor asked about the safety of the external environment to the Neighbourhood Resource Centre given concerns about crime/anti-social behaviour which could put some vulnerable clients off from attending. She also asked about the involvement of the local Police and whether any support for the initiative was being provided by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club which was close by. Charlotte Pomery emphasised that the initiative was a geographically based approach so wasn’t just about the building. She added that the next stage was to work with the community, not just on the design of the building, but on what else they’d like to see in terms of partners. They were already working with the Regeneration Team on this because it was recognised that the wider environment would impact on the ability of staff and residents to engage in the work. There had also been early conversations with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and the local voluntary and community sector on how they could be part of the wider offer.

Asked by Cllr Demir whether local organisations such as the Mental Health Trust or providers of adult education classes could use the space, Charlotte Pomery confirmed that this was the type of use that was envisaged and noted that Barnet Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust (BEH-MHT) was currently reorganising their community offer. Their staff could use local resources such as this which would be closer to users and build on integrated working alongside local authority staff. It was intended that the use of the building would have three strands:

• Enable and encourage integrated working.
• Offer a workspace hub for staff from the Council and other partners.
• Increase community use to support health and wellbeing outcomes.

Asked by Cllr Demir about the safeguarding of staff, Charlotte Pomery said that security measures were being built into the design of the building such as exits and alarms.

Asked by Cllr Blake what this approach would mean for young adults, including those in contact with the criminal justice system, Charlotte Pomery said the intention was that all ages would be able to participate in provision at the Neighbourhood Centre and that they were engaging with Early Help Service colleagues about the engagement of young adults.

In response to concerns from Ali Amasyali about difficulties in accessing the Neighbourhood Centre by public transport, particularly for wheelchair users, Charlotte Pomery said that there were public transport links into Northumberland Park and that the building itself would be fully wheelchair accessible. She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To consider any additions or amendments to the Panel’s current work plan for 2021/22.

The Scrutiny Officer discussed possible dates with the Panel for forthcoming visits to Cranley Dene Court and Lowry House as part of the Scrutiny Review on health and well-being in sheltered housing. There would also be an evidence session with the CCG and BEH-MHT.

It was also noted that a pre-budget finance briefing for the Panel would be held on 1^st December.

·         16^th December 2021

·         3^rd March 2022

·         16^th December 2021

·         3^rd March 2022