Agenda item

To receive an update on the 27 recommendations.

Harriet Potemkin (Head of Strategy and Policy) provided an update on Enfield’s Poverty and Inequality Commission (EPIC) one year on.

EPIC was set up to understand the causes of poverty and inequality in Enfield and to find local solutions.  The independent commission was chaired by Baroness Tyler of Enfield with a panel of 12 commissioners. Their final report was published in January 2020 and contained 27 recommendations.

The update given highlighted progress against a number of the 27 recommendations, noting that a summary in relation to all 27 is contained in the Update circulated in the reports pack.

Living:

Recommendation 3: The Council should work with partners to reform the private rented sector so that it works for all residents.  Additional licensing scheme went live 2020 and selective licensing being phased in following government approval in May 2021.  A new Housing Advisory Service has been introduced to focus on homelessness prevention. 18 more homes have been secured through Housing Gateway.

Recommendation 7:  The voluntary and community sector, supported by the Council, should create a Food Action Plan for Enfield, to ensure all families have access to healthy food.  This is being done through school holiday schemes, small grants for community food projects provided, four food pantries established through the Food Alliance and over 79K food/essential item parcels delivered to isolated people across the Borough.

Recommendation 11:  The Council should revitalise youth services in the Borough. Prioritise investment in universal youth services and targeted outreach youth workers.

Learning:

Recommendation 12: The Council, education providers and the voluntary and community sector should work together to ensure that all Enfield’s Children are “school-ready”.  This is being done with an additional £150K investment to enhance speech, language and communication services to focus on prevention and early intervention and encouraging take up of free early years places for 2 to 3-year olds.

Recommendation 15:  The Council should work with schools to set a target to reduce the use of fixed-term and permanent exclusions. With the help of workshops, training and mentoring programmes, supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing have shown a reduction of 23% of permanent exclusions compared to last year.

Earning:

Recommendation 18: Poverty reduction should be at the heart of the Council’s new economic development strategy, which should set a target to reduce low pay within the Borough.  Much work is being undertaken with the Living Wage Foundation to assist in establishing Meridian Water as a Living Wage Zone. 176 employees have now benefited from the London Living Wage now that services for housing repairs, cleaning and grounds maintenance for cemeteries have been brought back “in-house”.

Recommendation 24: The Council should help free the poorest residents from the burden of problem debts by extending access to benefits advice, support around debt and good credit. In 2020-2021 over 3,100 residents were supported with advice from new Council team in partnership with Citizens Advice Bureau.

The following comments and questions were received:

1.         Tim Fellows noted that the recommendations relate to other organisations as well as the Council, in particular the police, and questioned whether there was a named lead within the Metropolitan police leading on their response.

            Harriet Potemkin responded that the council was working in partnership to respond to the recommendations, including with the police. In particular, this included partnership with the police to deliver the ‘Safer Schools’ programme.in regards to the Safer Schools Team.

Peter Nathan (Director of Education) further advised that the Education Department and Schools were working proactively with police in the ’Safer Schools’ programme, and also noted the importance of engagement at senior levels within the police, as well as with school safety officers working longer hours on school sites.

Shaun Rogan (Head of Corporate Strategy) advised that many voluntary and community sector organisations were instrumental in informing the recommendations – both as panel members and through participation on the engagement process with the Commission. He noted the ongoing commitment of these local organisations to working in partnership to respond to the recommendations.  - 

2.         Cllr Ergin Erbil (Chair) asked for further information on our work to actively support the use of the London Living Wage across the borough.

            Harriet Potemkin advised that the Council is working with the London Living Wage Foundation to assist in establishing Meridian Water as a ‘Living Wage Zone’ and is also developing a new Sustainable and Ethical Procurement Policy to help to accelerate the use of London Living Wage amongst our suppliers, noting that further information on this will be given as part of item 4 on the agenda today.

3.         Cllr Achilleas Georgiou asked how the Council is working with partners to roll out the London Living Wage and requested further detail on what’s being done within Meridian Water to become a Living Wage Zone.

Harriet Potemkin will ask the Meridian Water team to provide a briefing for the Board. ACTION: Harriet Potemkin

4.         Cllr Huseyin Akpinar asked how the Meridian Water approach can be rolled out across the borough to other local businesses, and what proportion of Enfield businesses currently pay the London Living Wage.

            Harriet Potemkin will ask the Economic Development Team to provide a briefing for the Board. ACTION: Harriet Potemkin