Agenda item

The Committee received an update report on the progress of the Fairness Commission as set out in pages 49 & 50 of the agenda pack. The report was introduced by Jean Taylor, Head of Policy. Cllr Amin was also present as the relevant Cabinet Member. It was noted that final report of the Fairness Commission was currently in draft form and was expected to be agreed by commissioners at the end of January. The report would then be launched on 20^th February to coincide with UN World Day of Social Justice. At its meeting in March, the Council’s Cabinet would agree its response to the report and this would include identification of who would take on responsibility for delivering the Commission’s recommendations going forwards. The following arose from the discussion of the report:

a.    The Committee sought clarification about what happened to the issues raised as part of this process that did not fit within the five key areas/working groups agreed by the Commission. In response, officers acknowledged that a huge amount of responses were received and that this information was subject to a prioritisation process, which took account of the frequency of a particular issue being raised as well as focusing on issues that were closest to the Commission’s key focus such as social justice and fairness. Officers also advised that the feedback received was also checked against existing data to determine key themes and trends. The Committee were assured that feedback and responses received had been shared with commissioners and senior officers across the Council as part of the reporting process.

b.    The Committee sought assurances around receiving sight of which groups and individuals had been engaged with as part of this process. In response, officers advised that a detailed list of those who had been engaged with would be included at the end of the report. Officers also reassured the Committee that there had been a conscious process of scheduling additional engagement activities for those that felt under represented.

c.    The Committee sought assurances around how officers would co-ordinate with existing activities taking place such as the Youth at Risk Strategy and Haringey Community Gold. In response officers acknowledged that there was some level of crossover and that they had worked to avoid duplication. The Youth at Risk Strategy had been revisited as part of the process for setting the recommendations of the Fairness Commission.

d.    In response to a question around whether the recommendations of the Commission would be implemented within the life time of the current administration, officers advised that the medium term goals should be easily achievable in this timeframe and also set out that the outcomes would be measurable.

e.    The Committee enquired about what contingencies were in place to ensure the ongoing delivery of its recommendations, if for instance, a new administration came in with different policy objectives. In response, officers set out that the Commission was made up of 22 people, most of whom were not Councillors and so there would likely be a level of institutional memory. Officers suggested that the breadth of representation on the Fairness Commission would hopefully lend itself to being a supported by any future administration.

f.     The Committee sought reassurance about the extent to which children and young people, particularly in the east of the Borough, had been engaged with  and how this information had been taken on board. In response, officers advised that significant engagement had been undertaken with schools to talk to children about the prioritisation of issues and fairness. This was done through a variety of forums including drawing exercises etcetera. Officers acknowledged that they spoke to both younger and older children and were conscious of the need to reflect the different experiences of the two.

g.    The Committee challenged the fact that a number of issues around adult social care had been omitted from the remit of the Fairness Commission as they were being dealt with through other forums and suggested that the reasons for this would need to be strongly reflected in the final report so that the community were aware and understood its remit and terms of reference. Officers acknowledged these concerns and advised that the final report would have a strong focus on frontline service delivery.

h.    In response to a question around the communications plan for the Commission’s final recommendations, officers advised that  this had not been finalised but officers committed to feeding this back to OSC once it was available. (Action: Jean Taylor).

RESOLVED

That the Commission’s progress was noted.