Verbal update.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council, Cllr Ejiofor and Zina Etheridge, the Chief Executive gave a verbal update to the Committee outlining the priorities of the new administration over the next 12 month period:
a. Overall, the aim was to deliver the Labour manifesto ‘Our Haringey, Our Future.’
b. In the first year, one of the priorities would be to develop the pathways necessary to ensure that the manifesto was delivered. To this end, a decision had been made on future of the Haringey Development Vehicle and a consultation had been prepared around amendments to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.
c. The Council had also launched a fairness commission, set up a wholly-owned development vehicle and established two companies to acquire properties for temporary accommodation.
d. Further examples of activities where work had already begun included: Starting the process of bringing services back in house, discussions had taken place with other Council’s about a ‘Preston’ model of how to bring money back into the local economy; and looking into what the future of Haringey’s youth service would look like going forwards.
The following arose in response to the Leader’s update on Council priorities:
a. The Committee welcomed the Leader’s commitment to openness and transparency and sought assurance about what was being done to tackle the large numbers of residents in Temporary Accommodation. In response, the Leader advised that he shared these concerns and that the administration had set up the wholly-owned development company as well as two joint venture companies to provide temporary accommodation properties. The Leader also advised that the administration would be looking to buy, as well as build, more social housing to increase the supply of Council housing more generally.
b. In response to a question, the Leader advised that that he also shared the Committee’s concerns around youth crime and youth services. The Leader advised that a booklet of activities had been developed for young people and that extra funding would be channelled into providing a programme of activities for young people over the summer. The Leader advised that he was hoping to arrange for the Borough Commander to come speak to Councillors about building links between the Police, young people and the wider community.
c. The Committee sought assurances around what was being done around school exclusions. In response, the Chief Executive advised that the issue was not necessarily around the overall number of exclusions but rather the disproportionate number of BME boys being excluded. The Chief Executive advised that officers were talking to head teachers about this issue, that work was being done to look at the data in detail and to see what best practice was around the country. It was suggested that the Council needed to look at what interventions could be undertaken well before it got to the point of a child being excluded from school.
d. The Committee sought assurances around the level of mental health services available for children and young people and what challenges were faced by young people in this area. In response, officers advised that Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) had set up a self-referral service called ‘choices’ and that a lot of work had been done on recommissioning services from CAMHS over a two to three year period. The number of people self-referring was quite low and work needed to be done to understand this, however it did mean that waiting lists were very short. The Committee noted that CAMHS services were struggling across the country but that Haringey was in a better position that it was a couple of years ago.
e. Officers advised that work had been undertaken to improve access to early intervention mental health services for children and adolescents, including pilot schemes operating in schools. There was also a dedicated service for Looked After Children experiencing mental health issues and the Council had strengthened the services available for children who had undergone several placement moves whilst being in care.
f. Officers advised that there was an extended wait for some CAMHS services, which was around 13 weeks and that work was ongoing to reduce this timeframe. The Leader advised that one of challenges that was apparent from working with partners through the Health and Wellbeing Board was the need to encourage providers to move money away from acute service provision into early intervention and prevention services, including for CAMHS.
g. The Committee raised concerns with the lack of local representation on London Health Board and suggested that there seemed to be a lack of scrutiny provision on health devolution boards. In response, the Leader agreed that he would pick this issue up and raise it at the appropriate forum.
h. In response to a query around the revision of care packages in light of rising costs and growing demand, the Chief Executive advised that this was being looked at but that further work needed to be undertaken. Officers commented that there was also a piece of work underway to adopt a co-design approach in Adult Social Services.
i. In response to a question about the Council purchasing and renovating empty homes to help tackle homelessness, the Leader advised that he was keen to work with officers to bring empty properties back into use and that this wasn’t limited to use for temporary accommodation. Officers emphasised that consideration of the overall support package offered to tackle homelessness was crucial.
j. In response to a query about what the upcoming challenges were in relation to the budget, the Leader acknowledged that the budget situation was difficult but advised that a number of difficult decisions had been made over recent years. As a result, the overall budget position was such that the Council could look to the future with some degree of reassurance, given the overall challenging financial circumstances.