Haringey Council leader Peray Ahmet says she has “taken action” after several Labour councillors failed to show up to a scrutiny meeting on child poverty.

Cllr Ahmet said she expects the “highest standards” from all Labour councillors and pledged to ensure there is no repeat of the no-show after an opposition member raised concerns over the issue.

The children and young people’s scrutiny panel reviews the council’s performance on issues such as schools and education, safeguarding children and youth offending.

Four Labour and two Liberal Democrat councillors sit on the panel, along with an independent member and other representatives from the community. But chair Makbule Gunes was the only Labour councillor to attend the informal meeting of the panel on January 31, which was not open to the public to attend.

Liberal Democrat panel member Josh Dixon voiced his concerns on Twitter, posting: “Another Haringey scrutiny meeting where no Labour councillors, other than the chair, have bothered to turn up. And we’re meant to be conducting a review on child poverty.”

Cllr Dixon said it was “disappointing” that the councillors had failed to show up to a meeting that was considering such a “crucial issue”.

He said: “In-between formal panel meetings there will be informal meetings where we as a committee will be conducting a review. The latest is a review of child poverty, and there will be a number of recommendations made to cabinet.

“That is where we will have officers come to meetings to give evidence. We had officers from Tower Hamlets at one of the meetings. We get presentations, ask questions and do research on the back of that to inform our review.”

Cllr Dixon claimed it had become “quite a common thing” for Labour members not to attend meetings during the past six months. He added: “Members of the public and other groups are there pretty much without fail, and in the past, Labour councillors have been very good at attending the informal meetings.”

Responding to the concerns, Cllr Ahmet said: “I expect the highest standards from all Haringey Labour councillors, and this includes maintaining a good attendance record at council meetings.

“I have been made aware of this instance of poor attendance and have taken action to ensure that it is not repeated.”