Verbal Update
Minutes:
Cllr Ejiofor, the Leader of the Council gave a short verbal presentation to the Committee which set out some of the key actions taken by the administration in response to the current Covid-19 crisis as well as the next steps. The following key points were noted:
· A huge effort had been undertaken to transform the way that the Council worked and a number of services had to be reconfigured to fundamentally change how they operated. This was done almost overnight. The Leader characterised the scale of change being akin to implementing all of the emergency planning scenarios that the Council have conceived and tested, all at once.
· Operating remotely, limiting face-to-face contact to only when it was absolutely necessary, was crucial in changing the practical way the Council operated.
· The focus of the Council’s response was to protect the most vulnerable residents. The Council also prioritised the need to support the Public Health England advice which was to ‘Stay at Home’ and ‘Protect Lives’. The Council ensured that its staff were protected whilst also continuing to provide services to its residents.
· In addition to day-to-day services, the Council had a key role during the crisis to shield vulnerable people, to provide housing and ensure that parks and open spaces were used properly. The Council supported its NHS partners with seven-day discharge and in many cases this was being done within two-hours.
· A food distribution organisation was established which provided 300 deliveries a day.
· The entire Customer Services operation was reorganised to work remotely.
· A temporary mortuary was also established.
· Another key aspect of the Council’s response was to work with our voluntary and community sector partners to create the Connected Communities programme.
· The five key issues identified for the next phase of the Covid response were identified as: a planned phased return to school; access to funding; local economic development; supporting walking and cycling and how the Council supported the delivery of services going forwards.
· The Council has received additional funding from government to support the Covid response but this had almost been spent already in providing shielding, additional housing, food supplies etcetera.
· The Committee was advised that there was a projected £45m of additional expenditure as a result of the crisis. The Council had received £15.5m from government, which left a £29.5m gap. In addition, it was anticipated that there would be a drop in income of around £8m from a loss of domestic and commercial rents and as well as £12m reduction in business rates for next year.
· The Leader set out that, combined, this left a £70m black hole in next year’s budget which had been a balanced budget when it was agreed in February. The key task for the administration going forwards was to agree how it could balance the books and mitigate a £70m funding shortfall. The Leader advised that it was crucial that Council’s continued to engage with the government and kept the pressure up to ensure government promises around funding were kept.
The following points were raised in discussion of this agenda item:
a. In response to a request for clarification on the extent to which further funding was expected from central government, the Leader advised that in addition to the 15.5m of funding already secured, the administration was anticipating another tranche of ‘spend it now’ money to cover immediate costs, but there was no indication yet of how much that would be or when. The Committee was advised that the government had committed to reimburse councils but it was anticipated that some of the spending would be more likely to be reimbursed than others. The Leader set out that they expected to receive all of the money spent on protecting the shielded cohort and most of the expenditure in areas such as housing, where there was some degree of discretion in how the money was spent. However, in areas where additional expenditure occurred such as food security, it was anticipated that councils would have to make an argument that this was Covid-related. The Leader set out that all councils, along with voluntary and community organisations would be lobbying government collectively to make sure that it kept its promises.
b. The Chief Executive advised the Committee that, to date, the Council had received two tranches of initial funding. The Secretary of State had set out his approach in a number of speeches during the crisis and it was evident that the government’s message had shifted from an initial commitment to do whatever it took to the need for council’s to share some of the financial burden. There were concerns across local government that the government was seeking to row back on some of its commitments and would likely argue that some of the responses to the crisis entailed a level of discretion and councils effectively chose to do them.
c. The Committee noted concerns around the extent to which the financial impact of the crisis had been shared with residents and questioned what pressure was being put on local big businesses to assist with funding. In response, the Leader advised that the Council was still working out what the financial impact was going to be and that a report would be coming to Cabinet in June which set this out in detail. The Leader confirmed that he wanted to have a conversation with residents about the cost of shielding and providing 300 meals a day etcetera but this needed to be done when all of the information was available and the Cabinet report would form part of this process. In respect of businesses, the Leader advised that he would like to see large businesses work with small businesses as part of the community wealth building programme to ensure that the local economy came out of the crisis in reasonable health. It was commented that a number of large businesses had also been dramatically affected by the crisis.
d. The Committee sought clarification on whether there was a sense of the proportion around the expenditure that was in some way discretionary. In response, the Director of Finance set out that the authority had a major food need during the crisis and work was underway to assess how it could continue to address the level of need that existed. It was noted that addressing these financial pressures would be difficult going forward but that the authority was not unique in that respect.
e. In response to the recent high profile child protection case, the Leader acknowledged that the most important duty for a council was safeguarding and keeping young people safe. Following an Ofsted inspection in 2018 significant changes were made with new resources and new management in the disabled children team. The Lead Member for Children and Families would be attending the next OSC meeting at which point the administration would have had time to reflect and possess a greater understanding of the issues raised in the case. The Leader noted that the Cabinet Member and the Director of Children’s Services were going to meet with the Chair of OSC next week to discuss a role for Scrutiny in looking into this issue.
f. In relation to concerns about the reopening of the borough’s schools, the Leader commented that Haringey had a disproportionate number of BAME school children and that Covid-19 had a disproportionate impact on the BAME community, therefore the impact of reopening schools in Haringey would not be the same as in some other local authorities. The Leader emphasised that when schools reopened the key priority was to ensure that it was safe. It shouldn’t be a one size-fits-all approach or done to a set timetable. Some of the key issues were anticipated to be around class sizes, access/egress points and deep cleaning. The Leader emphasised the need for school governors to be ultimately responsible and the need for governors to sign off risk assessments before any individual schools were reopened.
g. In response to a question, the Leader confirmed that Cabinet were meeting regularly to discuss the financial impact on the authority as well as the specific impacts on individual portfolios.
h. In relation to concerns that the authority had performed poorly in relation to distributing the first tranche of small business grants and what lessons were being learnt, the Leader acknowledged that the authority had encountered some challenges and that there was scope for improvement. In mitigation, the Leader set out that Haringey had a much higher number of small and single trader businesses than many other authorities. There was also an issue with the database that was issued containing inaccurate and old data. As a result the Council would not be able to achieve a 100% score on the percentage of grants distributed.
i. The Committee sought clarification around the potential consequences to the Council’s strategic priorities as a result of the financial impact from Covid-19. In response the Leader acknowledged that there would be some impact on the Council’s ability to undertake some of the activities planned, especially at the pace that it wanted. As the country came out of lockdown, the administration would be examining what its key priorities would be but its main goal would be keeping the recession at bay locally, particularly through community wealth building. The Council signed pledges with residents, businesses and the voluntary sector at the start of the crisis and assurance was given that the Council would be working closely with these groups to deliver its priorities going forwards.
j. In response to a question around what actions the local authority was taking to ensure consistency with the reopening of schools, the Leader set out that school governance was fragmented and that school governors were ultimately responsible for what went on in schools. The local authority’s role was to provide advice and guidance. The Council was talking to governing bodies to ensure consistency and putting forward key areas for consideration, such as PPE and the flow of buildings. Both the government and the unions had set 5 tests for schools to reopen. The Leader reiterated the importance of school governors ensuring that their respective schools were properly risk assessed before reopening.
k. In response to a further concerns expressed around safeguarding, the Leader advised that the administration was reviewing the effectiveness of the changes made to the disabled children team and that this would be completed by the time the Cabinet Member attended the next OSC meeting.
l. In relation to consultation with parents, the Leader set out that the administration was committed to work closely with stakeholders as set out in the three pledges made at the start of the lockdown.
m. In response to concerns around the need for clear messaging, the Leader set out that if Members had any particular examples or areas where they thought messaging could be improved they should let pass this on to the Leader’s Office. (Action: All).
n. In light of the role played by care workers, the Committee sought assurances that all new care contracts would provide the London Living Wage and sick pay as a minimum. In response, the Leader advised that the administration had made a commitment that all council contracted care workers would receive the London Living Wage and they were sticking to this commitment. The Leader advised the administration was not able to move all care workers on to the new contracts before the outbreak of the Covid pandemic but the Council was paying those staff a bonus in lieu of this and as soon as it was possible to do so, all council contracted care staff would be moved to a new contract that paid the London Living Wage. The Committee was advised that there were also a number of small providers in the market in Haringey and therefore not all care workers in the borough were Council contracted.
o. In relation to the provision of sick pay to care workers, the Leader agreed to come back to the Committee with a response on sick pay. (Action: Cllr Ejiofor).
p. In response to a question around whether Haringey was looking at how it could participate locally with test, track and trace, the Leader acknowledged that this was being looked at. The Leader agreed that he would come back to the Committee with a written response on this and further assurances about access for those who needed to be regularly tested. (Action: Cllr Ejiofor).
q. The Committee sought assurances around what was being done to make cycling safer in the Borough, particularly in light of an anticipated increase in demand following the end of the lockdown. In response, the Leader advised that a meeting was taking place later in the week to look at a number of proposals in this area and pull together a deliverable programme. It was hoped that Covid crisis might afford the Council with opportunities to deliver a safer and more cycle friendly borough.
r. In response to concerns about opportunities for residents to have a chance to feed into these proposals, the Leader acknowledged the need for a strategic piece of engagement on the broader long term outputs but also advised that there were some actions that needed to be done quickly, such as supporting social distancing on pavements. The Leader advised that the administration was committed to undertaking engagement with stakeholders on the longer-term strategy at a suitable juncture.