The Standards Committee of Haringey Council was scheduled to meet on 13 November 2025, to discuss changes to the council's planning protocol, financial regulations and contract standing orders. The committee was also expected to review its work programme. Councillor Ibrahim Ali, Chair of Standards Committee was scheduled to chair the meeting.

Changes to Contract Standing Orders

The committee was scheduled to consider proposed revisions to Part Four, Section J of the council's constitution, concerning contract standing orders (CSOs). According to the report pack, the previous update to the CSOs was in March 2025, to align with the new Procurement Act 2023 and the centralisation of procurements above £25,000.

The proposed amendments to the CSOs were intended to address minor omissions from the March 2025 revision and to implement audit recommendations. The key amendments that the Standards Committee was asked to note were:

• Directors may approve extensions and variations of contracts with an aggregated value of less than £500,000.
• Letters of Intent are restricted to 50% of the contract value, where the contract value is £100,000 or less.
• Directors are to record decisions to novate¹ contracts and notify the Chief Procurement Officer of such decisions.

The report pack stated that without amending the CSO to state that Directors are able to vary and extend contracts would conflict with other delegated provisions within the constitution. It also stated that Officers would be able to issue Letters of Intent to cover the entire contract value up to £100,000 without having any contractual arrangements in place, and that this exposes both parties to risks around the service delivery, liabilities and commercial arrangements. The report pack also noted that an audit in respect of Managing Contracts within Housing in 2025 recommended that CSO's were updated to require documentary evidence of decisions relating to novation of contracts and the Chief Procurement Officer is sent copies of these decisions to ensure compliance with the Procurement Act.

Changes to the Planning Protocol

The committee was scheduled to consider proposed changes to the Planning Protocol, Part Five Section E of the council's constitution. The Planning Protocol was last updated in 2017, and the proposed changes were put forward after discussion at the Constitution Working Group.

The report pack stated that the proposed changes to the Planning Protocol would ensure good practice is followed when members determine planning applications, processes followed are transparent and assist resident involvement in those determinations.

The report pack referenced several good practice guidance documents that were considered when proposing the changes to the Planning Protocol, including:

• Local Government Association (LGA) Planning Advisory Service (PAS) – Probity in Planning: Advice for councillors and officers making planning decisions (December 2019)
• Royal Town Planning Institute Probity and the Professional Planner: Practice Advice (January 2020)
• Lawyers in Local Government The Members Planning Code of Good Practice (January 2024)

The report pack also noted that in 2023, the council invited LGA/PAS to undertake an independent Planning Service Peer Challenge.

The key changes in the proposed new Planning Protocol included:

• Clarifying the running order for determining planning applications at relevant Committee meetings
• Clarifying officers' ability to refer applications to Planning Sub Committee
• Clarifying that planning decisions cannot be made on a party-political basis
• Introducing a new 'Strategic Planning Briefing' as part of Member engagement at early stages of pre-application advice to improve the quality of applications, as encouraged by government and best practice guidance, with associated transparency measures
• Renaming 'Development Management Forum' to 'Planning Forum'
• Clarifying the process for petitions
• Clarifying a step-by-step process for motions, including those contrary to officer recommendation
• Clarifying the approach for deferrals

Changes to the Financial Regulations

The committee was scheduled to consider proposed changes to the Financial Regulations, Part Four Section I of the council's constitution. The last substantive update was in March 2021, although minor administrative amendments were made in May 2023.

The report pack stated that the proposed changes were needed to ensure that the Financial Regulations are up to date, easily understandable, concise and accountability for financial control and budget management is clear.

The report pack noted that the current version does not include a requirement for budget holders to remain within budget or for Corporate Directors to notify the Section 151 Officer of all underspends, over-recovery of income or windfall benefits arising within their revenue and capital budgets.

Committee Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to discuss its work programme and identify topics for future meetings. The report pack suggested the following items for the meeting on 3 February 2026:

• Code of Conduct Complaints Monitoring Officer Annual Report
• Members Allowance Scheme 2026/2027
• Changes to the Council Constitution