Here is a summary of the scheduled discussions for the Full Council meeting of Haringey Council on 21 July 2025. The meeting was scheduled to cover a range of topics, including a motion to officially recognise the Latin American community in Haringey, and a motion expressing no confidence in Thames Water¹. Councillors were also expected to discuss questions relating to council investment in housing, free school meals, fly-tipping, and urban greening.

Motion to recognise the Latin American community in Haringey

Councillor Ruth Gordon, Cabinet Member for Placemaking, and Local Economy, proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Ajda Ovat, Cabinet Member for Communities, to officially recognise the Latin American community in Haringey.

The motion noted that the Latin American community is one of London's fastest growing, with Haringey being the third-highest borough in London for Latin American residents in 2021, after Lambeth and Southwark. The motion also highlighted that Latin Americans are not recognised as an official ethnic category in the UK Census, leading to statistical invisibility .

The council was asked to note that Latin Americans face low pay and workplace exploitation, with 70% earning less than the London Living Wage², and that they were excluded from national monitoring during Covid-19.

The motion stated that the council believes that:

Residents from across Latin America have made Haringey their home in increasing numbers and play a valuable and welcome role in the borough.

The council was asked to resolve to:

• Officially recognise the Latin American community in Haringey.
• Add a Latin American category to internal and external monitoring forms across council services.
• Engage with Haringey residents from a range of Latin American backgrounds to understand how to best represent them in categorisations.
• Develop a programme of work with staff across the organisation to promote the use of equalities monitoring forms and robust data collection for all residents.
• Work with London Councils³ and the GLA ⁴ to implement a consistent London-wide approach.
• Support the inclusion of an official Latin American category in the next UK Census.
• Share data on the local Latin American population with community groups in accordance with the principles of GDPR ⁵.
• Work with other communities that are or feel excluded from council and wider categorisations to better reflect their identity.

Motion regarding Thames Water

Councillor Dawn Barnes proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Pippa Connor, Chair of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, declaring that the council has no confidence in Thames Water.

The motion noted that Thames Water is the worst performing water company according to the Consumer Council for Water, and that the company had been hit with £123 million in fines from Ofwat⁶ in May 2025.

The council was asked to note that Thames Water has been allowed dispensation to increase customer bills by 35% by 2030, despite its poor performance, and that the company currently loses around one quarter of its drinking water through leaks in its own system.

The council was asked to resolve to:

• Write to the government outlining the impact Thames Water's low performance and high bills are having on Haringey residents, and requesting that Thames Water is put into Special Administration in order to write down its unsustainable debts and protect billpayers.
• Request that government scraps the private ownership model with a single operator per area for water companies, replacing it with either public or mutual companies, and including customers, employees and environmental experts on boards.

Questions from councillors

Councillors submitted questions to Cabinet Members on a range of local issues.

• Councillor Pippa Connor asked Councillor Dana Carlin, Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services, to confirm the level of exceptional financial support Haringey was forced to draw down at the end of the last financial year, and how any support was composed in terms of loans and capital receipts.
• Councillor George Dunstall, Chair of Pensions Committee, asked Councillor Sarah Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning (Deputy Leader), to share more about the council's £570m investment in refurbishing council homes.
• Councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison, Leader of the Opposition, asked Councillor Emily Arkell, Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure, about work being done to improve relations and communication with users of Park Road Leisure Centre, and on plans for extending the lido provision.
• Councillor Makbule Gunes, Chair of the Children and Young People's Scrutiny Panel, asked Councillor Ajda Ovat how the council, through its Community Networks, is supporting and listening to Haringey's diverse communities.
• Councillor Nick da Costa asked Councillor Seema Chandwani, Cabinet Member for Resident Services & Tackling Inequality, whether Haringey will take sustained enforcement action to catch the perpetrators of fly tipping in Queen's Wood, and commit to bringing in CCTV.
• Councillor Cathy Brennan asked Councillor Zena Brabazon, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools & Families, how the council is supporting schools and children to access Free School Meals.
• Councillor Mary Mason asked Councillor Lucia das Neves, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Wellbeing, to identify which wards have accessible free space which can be used to develop community and early intervention activities.
• Councillor Adam Small asked Councillor Seema Chandwani for an update on how the council is progressing on its corporate delivery plan commitment to make all roads in Haringey a maximum of 20mph.
• Councillor Kaushika Amin asked Councillor Mike Hakata, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment, and Transport, to outline what the council has done to deliver urban greening in Haringey.

Standards Committee Report

The council was scheduled to receive a report from the Standards Committee. The supplementary papers included a Standards Report July 2025, along with several documents relating to the Pension Fund Panel and Board, including the Pension Governance Report 2025 and the Pension Committee Board Terms of Reference.