How much is the allowance to be Chair of Area Assembly? Go on have a guess...

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on August 19, 2009 at 9:39

.....and the following came from an application Haringey made for Beacon status under the theme Getting Closer to the Community. (Beacon status means they consider themselves best in class and are setting themselves up as a role model for other councils).

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Area Assemblies are a key feature of Haringey’s consultation programme. Chaired by local ward Councillors, they are official bodies within the Council’s formal structure, enabling Councillors and residents to discuss key local issues together to inform decision-making. With the motto ‘You Talk, We Listen’, the Assemblies bring often controversial topics to public debate, encouraging local people to speak. New initiatives such as the wheelie bin rollout, green box schemes, Operation Cubit and the Better Haringey campaign were all discussed at assemblies to gauge local opinion and seek comments. Over the last three years the assemblies have evolved, with creative and imaginative ways of encouraging local participation. Although formal Council meetings, they are organised in a manner which encourages involvement - through seating arrangements, using local venues, using small group discussions, and by ensuring that any officer presentations are in clear language, using photos, illustrations, maps, etc - not formal ‘officer style’. Our seven area assemblies each meet quarterly, with information packs distributed at every meeting, followed up with newsletters giving feedback on how the Council is responding to issues raised. Assemblies have been so successful that they are now preceded by ‘Streetscene Surgeries’, freeing the main agenda to focus on other issues alongside the environment. The Council has extended its commitment to Area Assemblies by allocating a £50,000 budget for each area, to be spent on local projects proposed by residents. Our flyers inviting ideas are in key community languages as well as English.

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You can see the whole application form here.

And, click on the link below to read an excerpt from an IDeA report on best practice on how to engage citizens in local democracy:

hgy aa idea.jpg

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Permalink Reply by Liz on August 19, 2009 at 10:03

You know, after reading that I feel like doing a McMullan: ha, ha, ha *pause to wipe tears of mirth from eyes*

This is a perfect text on which to play localgov bullshit bingo, my favourite line being "creative and imaginative ways of encouraging local participation", followed by 'You talk, we listen"

You know I reported something at the 'Streetscene surgery', I was one of only 2 that used it, still haven't had my update phonecall as promised.

Where does it say "and then we will appoint a closed 'uber-group' called the Green Lanes Strategy Group to actually make all the decisions...".

Still doesn't explain what the chair does to warrant 7,000 English pounds.

You're digging these up on purpose, Hugh, to try and send me into orbit, but I'm too busy laughing at the sheer comic fiction of it.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on August 19, 2009 at 16:30

Gosh, it's a long time since I saw this Beacon bid - around 4½ years ago I think.

So please bear in mind that it gives a description at that time. Perhaps slightly through a rose-tinted lens; but not entirely. There were many genuine and positive changes then underway. But crucially, there was a far more open organisational culture. Driven by David Warwick, our then Chief Executive, who unfortunately left us - I think in July 2005.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on August 19, 2009 at 10:24

For me this all raises the issue that we probably don't have clarity on what the AAs are for. From what I've read this morning my impression is that they're designed to:

• Keep residents informed
• Listen to residents to gauge views/opinions to influence decision-making

I don't get much of a sense that they're designed fro much more than that. I think we need to ask for clarity to tailor our expectations. As far as my understanding goes, the epithet "Area Assemblies" is misleading. It infers a far greater degree of participatory decision-making than I think is intended. So, perhaps we need a little intelligence gathering. (Believe it or not that's what I was attempting this morning - I was searching on "Area Assemblies Best Practice")

Following something I heard on Radio 4 this morning, I'd like to link this with getting a better understanding of what we should expect from neighbourhood policing arrangements. What as said this morning related to the role of the police (in the context of a discussion about shortages of detectives). The police representative mentioned Neighbourhood policing and explained that their role was to support localities in making their neighbourhood safer - apparently a clear case of rights and responsibilities. But non one's ever explained the contract to me.

So, let's find out the following:

1. What is the role of Area Assemblies?
2. What do we have a right to expect in terms of:
a. The degree to which we are able to influence decision-making.
b. The degree to which we can influence the agenda and the mechanism for that.
c. Communication about follow-up / decisions.
d. The way meetings are managed.
3. What is the role of the chair?
4. To what extent can we be included in reshaping the ways the AAs work.
5. What is the deal with Neighbourhood policing? An outline of how it's intended to work / rights and responsibilities etc. (ON a quick whirl, here's some links on neighbourhood policing - much easier to find stuff on that than on area assemblies - neighbourhoodpolicing.co.uk and Community Engagement in Policing Website.

OK, that's my quick stab. Anyone else any additions / amendments?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on August 19, 2009 at 10:41

How about submitting this to the Area Assembly itself as a main agenda item?

The councillor whose responsibility it is could be invited as can the head of department who oversees this. We could ask for the feedback on the June 2009 review of the role and operation of the AAs, in particular our own in Harringay and St A's.

It seems that we are being asked to simply give our opinion on intiatives drafted by others.

I guess we should get back to the original point of the charter campaign.(your point 2b) What role is given to residents by the Area Assembly in actually shaping policy and developing intiatives that improve the area. Less 'here's what we've come up with, what do you think'? More 'what ideas do you have and how can we make those happen?'

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Permalink Reply by Liz on August 19, 2009 at 11:23

Okay after reading Hugh's second post linking to the Action plan, I have discovered two more 'responsibilities' for the Chair:
1. Neighbourhood Managers currently develop annual work programmes in conjunction with the Area Assembly Chair (I cannot find what the annual work programme is, anyone know?)

2. With the development of the area profiles these can be used alongside more localised community intelligence provided by the Area Assembly Chair, Councillors and various groups and networks to demonstrate a systematic way of developing the neighbourhood management work programmes. Back to that work programme. The Chair as a sort of paid informer?

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on August 19, 2009 at 11:30

I like your list Hugh. The problem is the council has trouble in responding in ways that are specific, non-vague and unambiguous. Because if they do, someone might have to take responsibility for what they say, if it is possible to detect meaning!

The council will want to keep Agenda control. There must be ways of getting onto Agendas subjects that locals want to talk about. Although AAs are not perfect, I do think they have improved over the last five years and we should try to build on that – they are roughly the right structure.

I also listened to the R4 item on policing. Visible Neighbourhood policing (the safer neighbourhood teams) is a popular (populist?) measure but I for one am not sure if it is the best possible use of the scarce resources available for policing overall. I have the impression that the policy is more about reassurance than detecting and prosecuting crime (and hence the complaints about a shortage of detectives).


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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on August 19, 2009 at 13:08

I like the neighbourhood policing strategy. I think it is working.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on August 19, 2009 at 18:49

Liz and Hugh, I'm delighted to see in this thread the makings of a challenge to our AA institution. I wish I could say like Cassius: 'I'm glad to see my weak words have struck but this much fire from Brutus.' But no, I don't really believe that just turning up at AAs every quarter does any real good. The opposite, perhaps.
Hugh's list deserves to be publicly thrashed (or is it threshed, certainly not trashed) out. A public demand, courteous and reasoned, for that clarity you both seek - followed by cogently argued ideas for reform and reshaping.

On a slightly personal note: while I have always found the current AA chair friendly, approachable and 'doing her best in the circumstances of the role', I just wonder whether there isn't an element of "All shall have prizes (ie. allowances)" about the allocation of that £7K+ to the 'one in four' who doesn't have a Cabinet post allowance. I wonder how chairing pans out in the other six AA areas where Cabinet allowances are thinner on the ground. Is it a swivel chair, so to speak, revolving among the Labour councillors over the four-year term?

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on August 20, 2009 at 1:35

There are many other Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs) in addition to Cabinet posts and Assembly chairs. All these are listed and easily available online.

There are also less well known allowances for dozens of committees, bodies and Boards elsewhere which some councillors sit on by virtue of their council membership or responsibility post. There ought to be an up-to-date, accurate and easily accessible list of these. There isn't.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on August 20, 2009 at 8:36

Alan, I would dispute the word easily
Neither a search on the Haringey site or via Google threw up a link to a list of responsibilites for those allowances (I found how much they earn but not what they have to do).

I have no doubt that when the Area Assembly system was devised, a role was envisaged for the chair that would involve local leadership and driving neighbourhood based improvement. I would just like to know exactly what is expected for, what appears to me, to be a substantial allowance. The size of it implies a greater role than chairing a meeting 4x a year, letting the Neighbourhood team know what people think (surely a councillors job anyway) and rubberstamping a work programme.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on August 28, 2009 at 18:37

Ok, following the earlier discussion and fmw's recent post, I've sent the following email to Gina Adamou, the Chair of our Area Assembly:

Dear Gina,

A recent post on Harringay Online has raised a number of questions about the Area Assembly. I wonder if you could answer the following questions please:

1. What is the role of Area Assemblies? Is it explained somewhere?
2. What do we have a right to expect in terms of:
a. The degree to which we are able to influence decision-making.
b. The degree to which we can influence the agenda and the mechanism for that.
c. Communication about follow-up / decisions.
d. The way meetings are managed.
3. What is the role of the chair?
4. How is the chair appointed and how long is the appointment made for?
5. To what extent can we be included in reshaping the way the AAs work.

If you feel that I should address my questions to another person, please do let me know and I’ll be happy to do so.

Please be aware that this is an open email which has also been published on Harringay Online.

Best regards,


Hugh

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