Agenda item

Cabinet Member Questions - Communities and Equalities

An opportunity to question the Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities, Councillor Mark Blake, on developments within the parts of his portfolio that relate to the terms of reference of the Panel.

Minutes:

Councillor Mark Blake, the Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities, reported on developments within the areas of his portfolio that fell within the Panel’s terms of reference as follows:

·         The Children at Risk strategy had now been finalised and this had established a strong framework for addressing key priorities, such as youth violence.  The challenge now was to deliver results and attract additional funding, particularly from external sources.  Detached youth workers were to be employed as part of the Haringey Community Gold initiative but there were only six of them and there were limits to the areas of the borough that they were able to cover.  They would nevertheless be able to play an important role in engaging with young people, especially those at risk, and working with Police colleagues;

·         The Community Gold projects had been established and would be a major part of the summer programme.  They would include basketball and the Exodus project to divert young people away from gangs. There was a young person’s advisory group that had been established as a requirement of the funding to provide feedback.  Progress reports would be provided to the Panel in due course;

·         Engagement had taken place with a community provider in Tottenham that worked with young women at risk of criminality or sexual exploitation in order to develop a community advocacy scheme.  Previous engagement with young people had shown a large amount of distrust and estrangement between young people and state agencies and, in particular, there had often not been good relationships with the Police.  The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) showed Haringey currently had the lowest level trust and confidence in the Police.  However, the mistrust amongst some young people was wider than this and also covered children’s services, schools and the NHS.  There was a potential role for community organisations in providing advocacy for young people and to support better engagement with a range of services; and

·         A seminar would take place during the autumn on reducing the criminalisation of children, which was an objective within the Borough Plan.  The purpose of this would be to consider with community and voluntary sector organisations and partners how this could be progressed.  There were particular concerns regarding the demographic of young people who were coming into contact with the Police and discussions were already taking place regarding this.

 

In answer to a question regarding the meeting on knife crime that had taken place in Muswell Hill, he reported that it had been organised by local parents and they had invited him to attend.   The Council would be arranging some meetings on concerns relating to violent crime and Muswell Hill would be included within these.  The Panel noted that a letter had been read out at the meeting from the Headteacher of Fortismere School.  Parents had felt that they needed to take action and it appeared that there had been a lot of under reporting of incidents.  The Headteacher of Woodside High School had held a meeting of parents in March to which over 200 parents attended.

 

Ms Hendricks reported that the Youth at Risk Programme would be supporting up to 40 schemes that were aimed at supporting young people. At the moment, the scale of interventions was being mapped out.  She agreed to provide further details on the number of opportunities that were being created, the number of youth workers employed and what it was hoped that the overall impact would be.  She estimated that the total number of youth workers employed was in the region of 50. 

 

Panel Members commented that the top priority for Homes for Haringey residents was more youth services and suggested that there might be scope for these to be offered under resident services.  Ms Hendricks thanked Members for their suggestion and agreed to raise it with Homes for Haringey.

 

In answer to a question regarding Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams, the Cabinet Member reported that he had recently spoken to the new Borough Commander regarding the need for Police on the street in violence hot spots within the borough.  He felt that there had not been enough consideration of the Police’s role in developing relationships within communities. However, there were constraints on what the Police were able to do due to the effects of austerity. The Mayor had recently increased the mayoral precept to the maximum possible though and all the additional funding had gone to the Police.

 

In answer to a question regarding Section 60 stop and searches, the Cabinet Member stated that he had written to the previous Borough Commander expressing concern at the lack of consultation that there had been regarding changes to this that had been announced by the Home Secretary.  The new Borough Commander had acknowledged the need for proper consultation on such issues.  This was particularly pertinent for Haringey due to its history.  The tensions that could arise from stop and search did not normally concern Haringey based Police officers but ones brought in from outside the borough.  There was no specific issue about the Section 60 powers.  When used effectively, its use could prevent violence and disorder but it could also generate resentment if used inappropriately.  There were particular concerns at the potentially negative impact of stop and search on younger children.

 

AGREED:

 

1.    That the Cabinet Member be requested to provide further details of the Exodus programme to the Panel; and

 

2.    That the Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Social Care be requested to provide further details for the on the Youth at Risk programme and, in particular:

·         The number of opportunities that were being created;

·         The number of youth workers employed; and

·         What it was hoped that the overall impact would be.