The Full Council of Haringey Council is scheduled to consider a motion responding to a critical report from the Regulator of Social Housing and to receive a report on the proposed submission version of the Haringey Local Plan 2028-2043. The meeting will also consider a petition regarding road safety outside schools.

Response to Regulator of Social Housing's C4 Judgement

A significant item scheduled for discussion is a motion proposed by Councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison and seconded by Councillor Scott Bentham-Emery, addressing the C4 consumer grade judgement issued by the Regulator of Social Housing. This judgement signifies very serious failings in the council's delivery of consumer standards. The report pack indicates that the motion will note identified failings in areas including health and safety, repairs and maintenance, adaptations, tackling anti-social behaviour, treating tenants with fairness and respect, handling complaints, and communication with the regulator.

The motion is expected to highlight concerns raised by previous investigations, including a 2023 Housing Ombudsman investigation into persistent poor performance over damp and mould complaints, which found a culture of apathy and acceptance of poor practice. It will also reference a 2023 finding by the Regulator of Social Housing that Haringey had caused serious detriment to tenants due to failures in remedial fire safety actions. Furthermore, the motion is set to detail a year-long investigation by Liberal Democrat councillors that uncovered instances of the council failing to follow legislation for charging leaseholders for major works, leading to refunds. Recent comparative statistics on Tenant Satisfaction Measures are also noted, showing Haringey as the worst council nationally for satisfaction with repairs. The motion will also refer to data indicating Haringey as the most complained-about Local Authority for damp and mould in 2025 and 2026, and the housing department's rolling strike in October 2024 due to issues including the repairs service.

The council is expected to consider a belief that opportunities to address housing service failures have been missed, and that a defensive and adversarial culture has hindered improvement. Concerns are also scheduled to be raised about the council potentially misleading the Regulator of Social Housing regarding fire safety remedial actions, and a lack of accountability from previous self-referrals. The structural reorganisation combining adult social care and housing services into a single directorate is also flagged as a point for consideration. The motion will also address concerns that the Housing Improvement Board has not provided sufficient protection against further governance failures, and that the council may not have shared all relevant information with the Regulator and other governance processes. The need for fundamental reform of performance-based incentives and consequences for council staff is also anticipated to be discussed.

The council is expected to resolve that the following executive actions be strongly considered and taken forward: a formal written apology to tenants and leaseholders, an immediate root and branch investigation into the housing department, a request for a temporary uplift in funding from central government for remedial works, commissioning an independent expert organisation to run an emergency improvement programme, and reforming the Housing Improvement Board to include tenant and leaseholder representatives and external specialists. Other proposed actions include reviewing and reforming structures for Resident Voice and Empowerment, independently verifying safety assurance data, producing open-book monthly reporting on compliance and fire safety, formally investigating the failure to provide full information to the Regulator, undertaking an independent governance review, introducing strict KPIs and oversight mechanisms for housing service staff, undertaking an expedited complete stock survey, commencing action to clear compliance backlogs, initiating a repairs backlog review, introducing an automatic compensation scheme for poorly done or late repairs, and implementing independent post-completion spot-checks of repair works and complaints handling. The motion also outlines plans for a new complaints learning and action delivery process, a department-wide culture change process, altering the formal repairs sign-off process to resident-determined sign-off, and introducing pro-leaseholder reforms including tripling the notice period for major works, creating an optional sinking fund, and granting leaseholders the right to find their own tradespeople for works.

Proposed Submission Version of Haringey Local Plan 2028-2043

The meeting is scheduled to receive a Cabinet report concerning the Regulation 19 consultation on the proposed submission version of the Haringey Local Plan 2028-2043 and its submission to the Secretary of State. This report, detailed across pages 23 to 2210 of the provided documents, will outline the council's proposed long-term planning strategy for the borough.

E Petition: Make North Road (N6) Safe for Children

A further item on the agenda is the consideration of an e-petition titled Make North Road (N6) Safe for Children: Urgent Road Safety Measures Outside Our Schools. The report indicates that deputations will only be received if their purpose is related to an item of business on the summons, and that CSO 11 will apply to extraordinary meetings.