Reporting on recent developments, Cllr das
Neves said that thought was being given
to the alignment between national and local policy, such as with
the prevention work that had been discussed earlier in the meeting,
and including through partnership working at London-wide
level.
Cllr das Neves responded
to questions from the Panel:
- Asked by Helena
Kania for her view on the future of the
JPB, Cllr das Neves said that this was
a very important body and that it was also important that it worked
well and brought together as many different and shared voices that
could participate, including ‘hard to reach’ groups.
This meant examining what could be done better including that the
right training and support was in place. Beverley Tarka, Director of Adults, Health and Communities,
also highlighted the importance of the Board and noted that a
review had been conducted and that she was now the lead for taking
the next steps in terms of conversations with the co-Chairs and
investment in external facilitation as recommended in the review.
She added that a meeting was scheduled to discuss working together
on next steps for the Board and to reflect on the review. Cllr das
Neves commented that she was passionate
about participation but that it was not always easy and so external
facilitators could bring in skills to help with this.
- Helena Kania queried how the future of the North Middlesex
and Royal Free hospitals would be monitored by the Council
following the proposed merger of the two Trusts. Cllr das
Neves observed that, while the Council
could monitor impact on residents, this was not an area that the
Council could control. Sara Sutton added that there was some
oversight through the Borough Partnership executive including a
commitment that colleagues from partnership organisations that they
would report back on this in the autumn. Cllr Connor noted that a
paper on the proposed merger would be discussed at the next meeting
of the NCL Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC)
in September. The JHOSC would also be receiving briefings/reports
on the partnership between the mental health trusts and on the
collaboration between the Whittington Health Trust and the
University College London Hospital Trust.
- Cllr O’Donovan
raised the issue of safety for women and girls and asked about
action the role of youth hubs and whether there ought to be single
sex spaces. Cllr das Neves explained
that there were two Youth Hubs in the Borough and that the views of
young people would be needed in any discussion about single sex
spaces. She added that the Council funded work in schools on
various aspects of VAWG (Violence Against Women & Girls)
prevention such as healthy relationship and women’s safety.
There was also work funded with perpetrators of VAWG to prevent
harmful behaviour. The new government had made a commitment on
mental health in schools and more resources within schools to
support young people.
- Cllr Connor referred
to the Haringey Opportunities Project for people with learning
disabilities and complex needs, run by Centre 404, and understood
that concerns had been raised in a recent review that the centre
was not being well utilised. Cllr das Neves emphasised that it was important to listen to
the service users and to adapt the service to meet their needs if
necessary. Vicky Murphy added that the review had come from the JPB
and that, while there was a low number of users, they were also
some of the most complex and vulnerable users with intensive care
packages, including activities at weekends. She would be following
up on the review in due course. (ACTION)
- Cllr Connor requested
further information about the ongoing challenges with the
Department’s finances, including the savings that would be
required for next year’s budget, and the proportion of the
current year’s savings requirements which had not been
achieved. Vicky Murphy said that the Adult Social Care team had
actually overachieved on the savings required. After further
discussion, it was clarified that unachieved savings may have
related to the wider Adults, Health & Communities Department
rather than the Adult Social Care team. Cllr das Neves commented that there was a very challenging
financial environment that was also being experienced by other
local authorities in London. Haringey was making changes including
a new structure on project management and inroads on CHC costs.
While there was confidence that unit costs were not higher than
other comparable local authorities, the demand for services
remained high which highlighted the importance of prevention and
intervention for future years.
- Cllr O’Donovan
highlighted the importance of multi-year settlements from the
government and the advantage of social return on investment in the
longer-term as opposed to year-by-year budgeting. Cllr das
Neves agreed that multi-year
settlements would be beneficial and looked forward to the next
Government Spending Review which she hoped would address
this.
- Asked by Cllr
Iyngkaran for an update on Canning
Crescent, Cllr das Neves said that the
aim was to open by January 2025 and regretted the delay which had
been the result of complications with suppliers.