Last week, Haringey’s Labour Cabinet made steps to insource some of our most important public services – housing and Travel Buddies for SEND young people.

We are clear that residents not only deserve the best service, they deserve to have control over the public services they own.

Insourcing council services allows residents to have their voices heard, as the council will be directly accountable for service delivery and directly accountable to residents. This is an exciting step towards realising our co-production agenda, which aims to deliver public services more democratically, and give residents much more control over the day-to-day decisions which affect their lives.

Homes for Haringey

We are committed to building 3000 new council homes by 2032, and to ensure this happens we need to remove the artificial barriers which exist between the council and its ALMO. Last week Cabinet agreed to consult Homes for Haringey residents on bringing our housing services back in-house, the first step to a seamless and effective service.

This is an opportunity to strengthen the voice of residents in our housing delivery and services, make the service more accountable to residents and more democratic. There are other benefits too.  We will be able to join up housing with other front line Council services to provide a simpler and more responsive service.

Travel Buddies for SEND young people

The Travel Buddies service is an integral part of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Transport Service. The team supports young people with special needs through escorting them to and from school, with the aim of enabling students to travel independently.

The service is highly valued by children and young people, parents, and schools. We have used the break in delivery caused by Covid-19, to review and improve the service.

Now we will directly employ our SEND Travel Buddies, ensuring their jobs are secure and they enjoy local government terms and conditions and receive the London Living Wage.

This is part of our Community Wealth Building agenda, which seeks to build the prosperity of local people and communities. We will do this through becoming a major local employer, working where we can to lift people out of low paid jobs.

Rather than paying expensive management costs to an external provider, we are investing in locally based staff who will benefit from our excellent terms and conditions. Insourcing almost always costs less than outsourcing.