The Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel in Haringey was scheduled to meet on 22 September 2025, to discuss the council's financial position, a review of the Joint Partnership Board, and the integration of the Connected Communities service within Adult Social Care. The panel, led by Councillor Pippa Connor, Chair of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, was also expected to review and update its work programme for the coming months.

Finance Update - Q1 2025/26

The panel was set to review the council's financial position at the end of Quarter 1 of 2025/26, focusing on areas within their remit such as Adult Social Care and Public Health. The report, previously presented to the Cabinet on 16 September 2025, showed a forecast overspend of £34.1 million for the General Fund, which could be partially offset by using the remaining corporate contingency.

The report also noted a £3.0 million overspend in the Dedicated Schools Grant¹ (DSG), and a £600,000 overspend in the Housing Revenue Account² (HRA). It included a response to the government's consultation on Fair Funding Review 2.0.

The report highlighted that the council's financial position remained extremely challenging, with a forecast spend of £348.5m on day-to-day services against a budget of £314.4m. A significant portion of this spend was allocated to supporting vulnerable individuals through adult services, children's services and temporary accommodation.

The report also noted that the Council was working with an external organisation called 31ten which was helping with forecasting, including comparisons to statistically similar Boroughs.

Joint Partnership Board

The panel was scheduled to consider the findings and recommendations of a review of the Haringey Joint Partnership Board (JPB). The JPB was formed in 2017 to bring together the Adults Partnership Board, the Learning Disabilities Partnership Board and The Autism Working Group. The review, facilitated by Community Catalysts, aimed to assess the JPB's effectiveness in ensuring that people with care and support needs in Haringey are heard and can contribute meaningfully to decisions that affect them.

The review identified several key areas for improvement, including:

• Maximising representation from Haringey communities and residents
• Strengthening the governance structure
• Improving the presence of council and NHS representatives

The review process involved gathering insights from JPB members, council staff, NHS staff, and other stakeholders. Two workshops were then held to agree on priorities and develop an action plan.

The JPB Report Summary noted that the JPB had an important role in facilitating coproduction, so that discussions on current and future provision are centred on the experiences of local people who draw on support in the borough, and result in better policy making and decisions that improve peoples experiences, and ensure services are responsive to peoples needs.

The report recommended that a Task and Finish Planning Group be established to oversee the implementation of the action plan, and that a senior council lead be assigned as a sponsor to ensure appropriate resources and priority are allocated.

Connected Communities

The panel was set to receive an overview of the integration of the Connected Communities service within Adult Social Care. The Connected Communities service has been part of the Partnerships & Communities Service since 2022, when the Adults Commissioning Service was devolved.

According to a document included in the report pack, the restructure of Connected Communities was intended to strengthen the early help and prevention offer and reduce the statutory demand on the Adult Social Care functions.

As part of the integration:

• The Connected Communities service was to be integrated into Adult Social Care to become the new Independence & Early Intervention Team (IEI).
• The Resettlement, Migration & Inequalities service was scheduled to move to the Culture and Communities service within the Culture, Strategy and Communities directorate.
• Financial Support Officers were to move to Revenues & Benefits.

The new structure was intended to deliver MTFS savings of £700,000 to the general fund, achieved through increased grant funding and staffing reductions.

The Connected Communities Scrutiny Update stated that the vision of the Independence & Early Intervention Team was to provide proactive and preventative support, promote independence, and reduce demand on crisis services.

The update included a number of questions for the panel, including:

• How do we best communicate the changes to the service to residents and stakeholders and do the panel have any ideas for how local ward councillors could support with this?
• Where do you see the greatest opportunity for this model to improve outcomes for residents?
• What risks do we need to be most mindful of when implementing the new service?

Work Programme Update

The panel was expected to review and update its work programme for 2025-26. According to a document included in the report pack, possible additional items for the work plan included:

• Communications with residents
• Impact of Housing Conditions on Health and Wellbeing
• Autism Strategy 2021-2031
• Maternity Services (North Middlesex University Hospital)
• CQC Inspection
• Aids & Adaptations
• Self-neglect and hoarding
• Weight Management
• Adult social care: New ways of working
• Care homes
• Leisure Services
• Budget
• Osborne Grove Nursing Home
• Health & Wellbeing Strategy
• Gambling harms
• Dementia services
• Smoke-free Strategy
• Continuing Healthcare
• Modern Slavery (including training for Police)
• LGA Peer Review
• Workforce reform agenda
• Integrated Care System (ICS)
• Direct Payments
• Grant Review (BCF-S75)
• Supported Living Review