Battle over council magazine

2021 -22 Haringey People Covers (Image Collage: Harringay Online)

Haringey Lib Dem leader Luke Cawley-Harrison has claimed that Haringey Council is breaking government rules by publishing a magazine more than four times per year.

Rules say council publications should go out no more than quarterly – but “Haringey People” has published five or six editions per year since 2011.

Figures released by the council last year said each edition cost almost £21,000 to produce and distribute.

Haringey said it had “a duty to ensure that residents are adequately informed” about council decisions and services and the magazine was “crucial” for residents who could not access the internet, especially during the pandemic.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Minister Lord Greenhalgh said: “The publicity code is statutory guidance that local authorities must have regard to when producing publicity, defined as ‘any communication in whatever form, addressed to the public at large or a section of the public’.

“The Secretary of State has the power to direct local authorities to comply with the code if needed.

“My officials are looking into concerns regarding Haringey Council’s magazine publications, and a senior official will take up the matter directly with the council’s chief executive in the first instance.

“We will keep this matter under review.”

The council claimed that the magazine is popular and that  the latest survey found that “nearly 70%” of people said it was their “preferred source of council information”.

The Ham & High newspaper reported that In December last year, the council held a Twitter poll asking how often residents would like to see the magazine published. The most popular choice, the paper said, was “once a year”, with 41% of the vote. The majority of written replies apparently said residents would prefer it was stopped altogether.

You can access the magazine and "Tell us What You Think about Haringey People" on Haringey's website. Magazine archive here.