Agenda item

Motion E

Housing Repairs

Proposer: Councillor Dawn Barnes

Seconder: Councillor Scott Emery

.Council Notes:

-       To meet the decent homes standard, homes must meet the following criteria:

o   meet the current statutory minimum standard for housing

o   be in a reasonable state of repair

o   have reasonably modern facilities and services

o   provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort

-       The 2021/22 English Housing Survey found that 10% of social homes do not meet the decent homes standard;

-       The report to the Housing Scrutiny Committee in December 2022 which stated that 31% of council homes in Haringey do not meet the decent homes standard;

-       Haringey’s housing stock has never met the government’s decent homes standard, with the best performance coming in 2019/20 when 17% of homes did not meet the standard;

-       The Regulator of Social Housing concluded in March 2023 Haringey breached the Home Standard, failed to meet statutory health and safety requirements in many homes, and caused “serious detriment” to tenants; 

-       In the 2021 Haringey Residents’ Survey just 67% of social renters said they were happy with the home they live in;

-       In 2020/21 the council failed to meet its target for emergency repairs completed within timescale, and performance has worsened in 2021/22 (up to March);

-       In 2020/21 the council failed to meet its target for resident satisfaction with their last repair, and performance has worsened in 2021/22 (up to March);

-       In 2021/22 (up to March) almost 10% of urgent repairs were not completed within the government timescale;

-       The Housing Ombudsman has launched an investigation into Haringey over persistent poor performance over damp and mould complaints, to assess whether this is indicative of wider failings in the organisation.

Council believes that:

-       The Regulator for Social Housing’s judgement in March was an indictment of Haringey’s housing services;

-       The council’s acknowledgement in December 2022 that a significant level of improvement is still needed in the housing repairs service was a necessary first step to improving the service;

-       The administration’s welcome focus on building new council homes must not come at the cost of maintaining the current stock;

-       The administration must make sufficient provision for the maintenance of new and existing council homes, to ensure longevity of these properties and satisfied tenants;

-       The council’s current performance when it comes to repairs is not good enough, and greater investment in both repairs and staffing levels is needed;

-       Properly maintained council stock and improving the repairs service must be a top priority for the council;

-       Bringing the housing service in-house has brought more political control to the service, but will not improve services for residents in and of itself - and public performance indicators have not improved since the service was taken in-house;

-       The Housing Online service is a useful way for residents to be able to check on progress of repairs;

Council resolves to:

-       Formally apologise to all tenants who were put at risk by the council’s failure to maintain homes to proper health and safety standards;

-       Write to all council tenant households confirming any outstanding repairs the council is aware of in their property and confirmation of when they will be addressed, and inviting tenants to report any needed repairs should the council not have a record of particular outstanding issues at the property;

-       Introduce a Service Level Agreement which includes an automatic compensation scheme to tenants and leaseholders for late and poor repairs on both council and council leasehold properties;

-       Request the relevant cabinet member and / or officer to formally express the council’s interest in participating in an LGA Peer Challenge focused on Social Housing Management by writing to the LGA Principal Adviser for London;

-       Fully replicate the reporting procedures of Homes for Haringey, with public reports being sent to the Housing Scrutiny Committee or the Corporate Committee as appropriate, in addition to the work of the recently convened Housing Services Improvement Board.

Motion F

Standing up for Responsible Tax Conduct

Proposer: Councillor Alex Worrell

Seconder: Councillor Sarah Williams

Full Council notes that:

1.         The pressure on organisations to pay their fair share of tax has never been stronger.

2.         Polling from the Institute for Business Ethics finds that “corporate tax avoidance” has, since 2013, been the clear number one concern of the British public when it comes to business conduct .

3.         Two thirds of people (66%) believe the Government and local councils should at least consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax, as well as value for money and quality of service provided, when awarding contracts to companies .

4.         Around 17.5% of public contracts in the UK have been won by companies with links to tax havens .

5.         It has been conservatively estimated that losses from multinational profit-shifting (just one form of tax avoidance) could be costing the UK some £17bn per annum in lost corporation tax revenues.

6.         The Fair Tax Mark offers a means for business to demonstrate good tax conduct, and has been secured by a wide range of businesses across the UK, including FTSE-listed PLCs, co-operatives, social enterprises and large private businesses.

Full Council believes that:

1.         Paying tax is often presented as a burden, but it shouldn’t be.

2.         Tax enables us to provide services from education, health and social care, to flood defence, roads, policing and defence. It also helps to counter financial inequalities and rebalance distorted economies.

3.         As recipients of significant public funding, local authorities should as far as they are legally able to, play their part in the promotion of exemplary tax conduct; including  that contractors pay their proper share of tax..

4.         Where councils hold stakes in private enterprises, appropriate influence should be wielded to ensure that such businesses are exemplars of tax transparency.

5.         More action is needed, however, as current and proposed new UK procurement law significantly restricts councils’ ability to either penalise poor tax conduct (as exclusion grounds are rarely triggered) or reward good tax conduct, when buying goods or services.

6.         UK cities, counties and towns can and should stand up for responsible tax conduct.

Full Council resolves to:

1.         Approve the “Councils for Fair Tax Declaration” which is attached to this motion.

2.         Lead by example and demonstrate good practice in our tax conduct, right across our activities.

3.         Ensure IR35 is implemented robustly and contract workers pay a fair share of employment taxes.

4.         As far as we can, the Council will not make use of offshore vehicles for the purchase of land and property for tax avoidance purposes. 

5.         As far as we are legally and practically able to, undertake reasonable due diligence to ensure that not-for-profit structures are not being used by parent companies, holding companies or similar, as a device for tax evasion purposes or to unlawfully avoid the payment of business rates. 

6.         The Council, when undertaking procurement (exceeding the thresholds prescribed in the legislative framework), will as far we are reasonably able to, require tendering organisations to state whether they have met all their obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions, both in the UK and in the country in which the organisation is established (if outside the UK).

7.         Promote Fair Tax Mark certification especially for any business in which we have a significant stake and where corporation tax is due.

8.         Support Fair Tax Week events in the area and celebrate the tax contribution made by responsible businesses are proud to promote responsible tax conduct and pay their fair share of corporation tax.

9.         Support calls for reform of UK procurement law to enable local authorities to revise their procurement policies and discourage poor tax conduct and reward good tax conduct amongst suppliers.