Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Centre, High Road, Wood Green, London N22 8LE. View directions

Contact: Philip Slawther, Principal Committee Co-ordinator 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

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.

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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.

 

 

2.

Apologies for Absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Mark Chapman.

3.

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 at item below).

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Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

4.

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

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Minutes:

Cllr Moyeed declared an interest in relation to the Scrutiny Review into Wards Corner as he provided legal advice to market stall traders at the site.

5.

Deputations/Petitions/Presentations/Questions

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

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Minutes:

None

6.

Scrutiny Review on SEND pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a Scrutiny Review into Special Education Needs & Disability (SEND). The report was introduced by the Chair of the Children’s Panel, Cllr Dogan. Sue Leveson, a local parent carer representative who gave evidence to the review, was also in attendance. The Chair invited Sue to speak to the Committee. The following points were noted:

a.    Ms Leveson commended the report and advised that she welcomed the fact that the whole process was very inclusive and that it was clearly visible how the evidence had informed decision making. It was suggested that a similar approach would hopefully be undertaken in regards to co-production.

b.    Ms Leveson advocated that in the spirit of co-production, parents should be further involved with the monitoring of the review’s recommendations.

c.    It was suggested that 3 tranches were ear-marked for co-production but this always seemed to be something that would take place at an unspecific point in the future. Ms Leveson disputed that the 3 phases of co-production had taken place. Officers advised that the process had been completed and that co-production opportunities did take place. Ms Leveson suggested that parents had not been fully involved. The Chair of the Children’s Panel advised that he would look into theses concerns and the wider issue of co-production at an upcoming panel meeting. (Action: Cllr Dogan).

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Committee approved the report and its recommendations and that it be submitted to Cabinet for response.

 

 

7.

Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee scrutinised the Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) 2020/21 prior to its submission to Corporate Committee and Full Council for approval. The TMSS and covering report were introduced by Thomas Skeen, Head of Pensions, Treasury & Chief Accountant. The following arose in discussion of this report:

a.    The Committee sought reassurance around whether the TMSS was benchmarked against other local authorities. In response, officers advised that quarterly updates were provided to Corporate Committee and that benchmarking was undertaken with Arlingclose as part of this. In general, Haringey tended to adopt a lower risk profile for its investments than many other local authorities. In response to a follow-up question, officers advised that borrowing levels of around £400m were broadly average whilst £34m in investments was relatively low.

b.    The Committee also sought assurance around what the main driver/s were for the growth in borrowing needs. In response, officers advised that the biggest factor was the increase in the HRA in order to fund investment in housing stock. However, other significant areas of capital spend included schools, highways and street lighting. The other significant issue driving higher borrowing costs was the end of the MRP holiday and the basis for calculating that cost.

  1. In response to a question around the revenue costs of the level of capital investments, officers advised that the gross position in the General Fund in 2023/24 was around £33.6m but that a number of these were self-financing savings, which reduced the net position to around £21m.

d.    The Committee enquired whether officers were comfortable with the interest and other additional borrowing costs brought about by a substantial increase in borrowing in order to fund these capital projects. In response, officers acknowledged the impact of borrowing on the revenue budget and advised that the implications of servicing that debt were factored into the MTFS as part of the budget setting process. Officers acknowledged the need to continue to monitor the costs of borrowing and ensure ongoing affordability.

e.    In relation to the HRA, it was noted that this was slightly different as the expansion of housing stock also created additional revenue through rent payments. Officers advised that a HRA business plan had been developed which clearly set out these implications and the fact that this was a sustainable investment. The HRA business plan was due to be considered by Cabinet in February.

f.     OSC requested that it receive regular updates on the delivery of the capital programme. (Action: Thomas Skeen)

 

RESOLVED

 

That the proposed updated Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2020/21 was scrutinised and comments made prior to its presentation to Corporate Committee and Council for approval.

8.

CABINET MEMBER QUESTIONS - CABINET MEMBER FOR Finance and Strategic Regeneration (Finance Portfolio)

Verbal update

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee undertook a verbal question and answer session for noting with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration on his portfolio. The following arose as part of the discussion during the Q&A session.

a.    The Committee sought the Cabinet Member’s insight into the High Streets agenda. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the administration was working with the local traders in Wood Green and Turnpike Lane to ensure that businesses were engaged with and there was a joined up approach to parking, for example, in order to encourage vibrant high streets. The Cabinet Member advised that this issue was within Cllr Bull’s portfolio.

b.    In response to a follow up question around the two hour parking window in Muswell Hill and how the administration could offset the need to encourage business in the Borough with the declaration of a climate emergency and  its active travel plans. The Cabinet Member acknowledged these concerns and commented that it was a complicated issue and suggested that elderly or infirm residents needed to be able to access shops and services. The Cabinet Member agreed that further encouragement of hybrid or electric vehicles was needed along with improving cycling provision in the Borough.

c.    The Committee sought assurances about what was being done as part of the Community Buildings review. In response, officers advised that this was part of Cllr Blake’s agenda but that a report to Cabinet was being developed which would set out the administration’s proposals in relation to this issue. In regards to the likely financial implications of this report, the Cabinet Member assured the Committee that the report would address the issue of circular funding as well as the likely budget implications. The Chair commented that Cllr Blake was due to attend the next OSC and suggested that these questions could be put to him then.

d.    The Committee enquired as to whether a review had been undertaken into the impact of removing the £10k ward budgets, particularly in terms of supporting community groups. The Clerk agreed to put this question in writing to Cllr Blake. (Action: Clerk).

e.    The Committee sought assurance around what level of engagement with businesses in Hornsey and other parts of the borough outside of Wood Green and Turnpike Lane had been undertaken in respect of the High Streets agenda. Cllr Adje agreed that he would come back to the Committee with details of how the west of the Borough was represented  through the Haringey Business Alliance. It was noted that there was a Tottenham representative on this group. (Action: Cllr Adje).

f.     In response to a request for the Cabinet Members thoughts on Wards Corner, the Cabinet Member outlined that this was a complicated issue that had been going on for 20 years. The Cabinet Member advised that the site was owned by TfL and that there were a number of concerns around the building and Health and Safety at the site. Due to these concerns, the Management Company and TfL  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Scrutiny of the 2020/21 Draft Budget/5 Year Medium Term Financial Strategy (2020/21-2024/25) - Recommendations pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

* Clerk’s note – Cllr Connor, as the Chair of Budget Scrutiny, Chaired the meeting for agenda item 9.*

 

The Committee received a copy of the draft 5 year Medium Term Financial Strategy (2020/21 – 2024/25) along with a covering report which set out how the budget proposals had been scrutinised and also included the draft recommendations that had been proposed by the individual Scrutiny Panels. Members of the Committee were asked to consider and agree recommendations contained within this report so that these could be considered by Cabinet on 11 February 2019, along with the final MTFS proposals that would be put to Council on 24 February.

 

The report was introduced by Frances Palopoli, Head of Corporate Financial Strategy and Monitoring and Jon Warlow the Director of Finance, as set out in the addendum reports pack at pages 1-304. The Committee also received a late paper which set out additional information received by the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel on the budget reductions proposals. This report was included for information purposes. The following arose during the discussion of the draft Budget/MTFS:

a.    The Director of Finance set out the headline position for the General Fund and advised that this contained a lower amount of budget reductions than was envisaged a year ago. The Committee noted that the proposals included growth in budgets for key areas and that Adults in particular still required further budget growth to meet current demands.

b.    The budget contained the maximum 1.99% increase in Council Tax as well as 2% increase in the Adult Social Care Precept

c.    The Committee was advised that there was still a budget gap of £0.6m in the December report. The gap was characterised as being relatively small and the Director of Finance advised that the gap would be met by changes to corporate and technical services and the Committee was assured that there would be no impact on front line services. The Director of Finance highlighted that the budget gap of £600k compared favourably with the £7m shortfall at the same point in last year’s budget process.

d.    The Director of Finance highlighted ongoing concerns around the recovery plans for the Dedicated Schools Grant and acknowledged that this was very challenging position that was being felt across local government.

e.    The Budget proposals for the HRA set out an increase in Council rents of the rate of CPI inflation plus 1%. The Committee was advised that further detail on the HRA business plan would be included in February budget paper to Cabinet.

f.     The Chair of Budget Scrutiny welcomed the overview given by officers on the budget and requested that further detail be provided in Section 5 of the report as part of future budget scrutiny reports, both to the Panel and the main Committee. The Chair of Budget scrutiny highlighted the information that was included in the late handout as a template of the type of information to include in future, including information on the current position on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

New Items of Urgent Business

Additional documents:

Minutes:

N/A

11.

Future meetings

12th March

Additional documents:

Minutes:

12th March 2020