Agenda item

[ Report of the Chief Executive. To be introduced by the Leader of the Council]

This report provides an overview of the outcomes of the Council’s Recovery and Renewal process and is intended to inform the refresh of Haringey’s Borough Plan, 2019-23, in light of the impact of Covid-19 on both the borough’s residents and on the council, including the impact on council finances.

[Clerks note: The Leader noted at 7.52pm] that Councillor Mark Blake joined the meeting during the consideration of this item]

[Councillor Bull and Chandwani joined the meeting]

The Leader introduced the report which provided an overview of the outcomes of the Council’s Recovery and Renewal process and was intended to inform the refresh of Haringey’s Borough Plan, 2019-23, in light of the impact of Covid-19 on both the borough’s residents and on the Council, including the impact on Council finances.

The report was commended for being well written and containing an in-depth analysis of the issues.

In response to questions from Cllr Amin, and Dennison the following was noted:

• The pandemic had brought into sharp focus the issues that were already there, and some issues significantly exacerbated such as food poverty.
• The same process for publishing the Borough Plan was being followed as in previous years. The Council would be publishing the outcome of the refresh of the Borough Plan and delivery plan in time for the new financial year.
• Page 79 indicated that the borough had the 4^th highest COVID-19  related death rates  in London, this was  per 100,000, but the number of confirmed cases had been lower and information on the reason for this mismatch was sought. Agreed that a written response be provided by the Director for Public Health.
• With regards to the residents in most need of mental health support outlined in the report, BAME, LGBT plus and trans people, and what the borough was doing to specifically support these people, it was noted that the level of support provided to LPA and LGBT+ community was quite specific and a response would be provided in writing on this.
• The Deputy Leader suggested that when the Borough Plan is refreshed, there could be additional 2 pages outlining the administration’s delivery of services and reducing inequality over the last two years. This could be set out before outlining the forthcoming challenges.
• The Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Transformation emphasised that people had been suffering food poverty a long time before COVID-19 and although the scale of the issue had changed, there was a need to recognise that there was level of individual poverty in Tottenham and Wood Green.

The Leader commented on the research undertaken after the first lockdown and the amount of hidden poverty and food poverty which was being addressed as part of anti-poverty strategy. It was important to ensure prevention of people slipping into poverty by understanding how they can access benefits when needed and helping to improve their life opportunities to get to better jobs.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the Recovery and Renewal report which is attached as Appendix 1.

2.    To agree that the context and principles set out in the report be used as the basis for the refresh of the Borough Plan 2019 – 2023.

3.    That stakeholders including residents, businesses, partner organisations and voluntary sector be consulted on the refreshed Borough Plan; and

4.    That officers prepare a report on the outcome of the consultation and the refreshed Borough Plan for a decision by Cabinet.

Reasons for decision

The Borough Plan is the overarching strategic plan for the Council and partners. It sets out the partnership vision for the borough and how it will be delivered, including what will be prioritised and why, and how the Council will deliver the political priorities of the administration.

The Borough Plan for 2019 – 2023 was published in October 2018. At the time of publication, the Council proposed that the Plan should be treated as a living document, and it was anticipated that the plan would be refreshed during the time period covered, including to respond to the recommendations of the Haringey Fairness Commission.

The impact of Covid-19 is such that it is especially important to refresh the Borough Plan so that it reflects a number of different things including: the impact of the pandemic on our residents, communities and businesses; the changed context in which we are operating; and, the impact on the Council and its finances.

The Council led a programme of Recovery and Renewal work between April and October 2020 which sought to support a process of reflection on the part of the Council and partners about what has changed for our residents, what had changed for the Council and its partners and what this means for priorities and ways of working going forward.

The Recovery and Renewal work has included a strong emphasis on hearing from residents about their experiences and about the impact the pandemic has had on them, and the outcomes of these conversations are reflected in the appended report. Going forward, the Council is committed to ensuring that resident participation and co-production is central to the next phase of this work.

The Council has a statutory duty to publish equalities objectives. The Borough

Plan is the core document through which the Council identifies and agrees

where to tackle inequality in the borough, and this is reflected in the prominence given to equality issues in this document.

The report in Appendix A sets out some of the key learning from Recovery and Renewal process and provides the context for the Borough Plan refresh, including the principles and approach for how we will undertake the work to ensure that we are being consistent in reviewing our priority areas (Housing; People; Place; Economy; Your Council).

Alternative options considered

Two alternative options were considered, which is:

a) Do not use the outcomes of the Recovery and Renewal process to refresh the Borough Plan for the period 2019-23; and,

b) Do not refresh the Borough Plan for the period 2019-23.

It is not considered desirable to pursue option A if we are going to refresh the Borough Plan. The outcomes of the Recovery and Renewal process are informed by a robust process of data analysis, resident insight and engagement, partner conversation and reflection within the Council.

It is not considered either desirable or feasible to pursue option B. This is not just because a reviewing and refreshing the Borough Plan, as our key strategic document, represents good practice, but also because it is assessed that the scale and nature of the impact of the pandemic on our residents and organisation is such that it is important to critically assess the impact on our priorities and how they should be delivered within the new operating context (including a significantly reduced budget envelope and a reduced income stream).