Agenda item

Cabinet Member Questions - Communities

An opportunity to question the Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor Maker Blake, on developments within the areas of his portfolio that come within the Panel’s terms of reference (i.e. youth service and combatting youth offending).

Minutes:

Councillor Mark Blake outlined key developments within his portfolio:

·         Funding that the Council had received from the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund had been used for Haringey Community Gold project and youth outreach work.  Over 1,000 young people had been involved in a range of activities so far.  Haringey Community Gold had also provided a significant part of the summer programme.  In addition, training sessions and apprenticeships had also been offered; 

·         The Young People at Risk Executive Group had met on 19 September and would be meeting bi-monthly to provide strategic oversight of the strategy.   It was chaired by the Director of Children’s Services.  A new delivery plan for the strategy would be developed in the new year;

·         He had recently chaired a workshop on reducing the number of children that come into contact with the youth justice system that had been held with colleagues from the voluntary sector.  Recommendations from the outcomes of this were currently being developed;

·         There was a commitment to build a youth space for Wood Green as part of regeneration of the area.  This would act as a hub for youth provision as well as providing a base for generic youth work. Some potential sites were being looked at and he was pressing regeneration colleagues for this to be progressed quickly;

·         He had attended a meeting of the exploitation panel, which reviewed with high risk social care cases.  He had been impressed with the work and commitment of staff.  It was highly pressurised and challenging work and it was important that those who worked on the front line were listened to so that improvements could be made.

 

In answer to a question regarding the location of potential sites for the youth space in Wood Green, he stated that it was best that this was somewhere that was considered neutral territory in respect of “post code” issues.  There was a wider culture of violence though, not all of which was linked to gangs.  A lot of violent incidents were not reported to the Police.

 

In answer to a question regarding the use of schools for youth provision, he stated that he had been invited to speak at the Headteachers Forum.  He was happy to develop a proposal jointly with the Cabinet Member for Children and Families to take this forward.  He was mindful of the fact that many schools relied on the money that external lettings brought in but progress could still be made if only a few schools agreed to assist.  The Panel noted that the latest bid to the Greater London Authority (GLA) included a commitment to work with two secondary schools and there were high hopes of a positive response.

 

He shared the concern of Panel Members regarding the safety of pupils returning home from school. The new Borough Commander had introduced changes to rosters though and these would provide a greater Police presence between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., which was when many problems occurred.   The Police would need to be involved in any discussion regarding the expansion of after school clubs.  There was a significant issue with knifepoint robbery and addressing this was a major priority for the Police.

 

In answer to a question, he stated that he shared concerns about postcode issues.  A visit was being arranged with the Leader to Bruce Grove youth centre and he was happy to discuss how the centre could be more inclusive to young people from other areas of the borough.  He wished to develop mediation as a way of easing tensions.   There were no easy solutions though but it was a high priority for the Haringey Community Gold initiative.

 

In answer to another question, he stated that he would support the setting up of multiple youth hubs in Wood Green but there would need to be the resources for this to happen.  In respect of the Street Rangers that were being used in Wood Green, this project had been approved under the previous administration and was funded by the Wood Green Business Partnership.  He would prefer that the borough had more uniformed Police officers instead.  He agreed to respond in writing to the Panel regarding the feedback that had been received on the interaction between the Street Rangers and young people.

 

Panel Members noted that some schools did not currently have safer schools Police officers, although recruitment was currently taking place.  The Cabinet Member stated that he was not in a position to ensure that all schools were provided with one but could request that this happened.

 

In respect of violent youth crime, he was supportive of the work being undertaken by the Borough Commander to change Police rosters to that they were better able to respond to incidents.  In addition, officers from the Violence Task Group were providing some local investigatory support.  There were currently discussions at a strategic level regarding the use of stop and search.  He was sceptical about its effectiveness but was happy to look at relevant data.  There were concerns regarding its use on younger children and in respect of first contact as these could create hostility to the Police.   Youth work was being expanded but this was being done from a low base due to severe cuts that had taken place previously in Haringey.  Increasing engagement with children and young people was a particular priority.  He felt that that there was a need for earlier intervention and a greater focus on strengths when assessing young people, rather than risk.  An independent advisory group was being set up and consideration could be given to inviting them to a future meeting of the Panel.

 

He felt that there was a need for more early intervention but the focus of activity was at the acute end of the scale as early intervention was not statutory.  Multi agency working could always be improved.  In particular, there could be better engagement by the Probation Service.  Ann Graham, the Director of Children’s Services commented that there had previously been funding for early intervention but this had now ceased.  However, services could still respond to children who were considered to be in need.

 

AGREED:

 

That a briefing note be provided by the Cabinet Member for Communities to the Panel on the interaction of Wood Green Street Rangers with children and young people in the area.