Conservative opposition plan to freeze tax by cutting staff branded “financially illiterate” by Labour and compared to Liz Truss mini-budget, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Hendon Town Hall with (inset right, Labour council leader Barry Rawlings) and (inset left, Tory group leader Dan Thomas)

Conservatives in Barnet urged the Labour administration to scrap a council tax hike and oppose the Ulez expansion – but were branded a “second-rate Liz Truss tribute band” by Labour.

The opposition Tories called on the administration to make a range of cuts – including staff redundancies – which they claimed would allow it to freeze council tax, repair roads, and join a legal challenge against City Hall’s expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to cover outer London boroughs.

Conservative group leader Dan Thomas argued that a “swift, root-and-branch review” of the council’s “non-frontline payroll” was the “only way we can afford to keep taxes low during this difficult time”.

But Labour rejected the Tory proposals, which the council’s chief finance officer warned would have a “significant impact” on services. Further Conservative plans to end financial assistance for trade unions would risk a “significant industrial relations dispute”, the finance chief added.

The row came during a meeting of the full council on Tuesday. Presenting the administration’s budget, which includes a 1.8% hike in core council tax and a 2% increase in the adult social care precept, council leader Barry Rawlings claimed it would deliver on Labour’s manifesto pledges and create a “cleaner, greener and safer” Barnet.

Cllr Rawlings said that “in recognition of the Conservative-caused cost-of-living crisis”, council tax would not rise by the legal maximum of 4.99%, adding that the proposals included a 1% discount to refund last year’s increase in the adult social care precept. He said Barnet would see one of the lowest council tax increases in London this year.

The leader said his administration was investing in the borough, including 1,000 new council homes, a £1.8m CCTV upgrade and community safety hubs. He branded the Conservative budget “a work of fiction” and “financially illiterate”, arguing it would lead to 100 workers being made redundant – including library staff and environmental health workers – while still increasing council tax by 2%.

The Conservative budget proposed saving £6.8m through a range of measures, including £5.3m on “staff efficiencies”, £400,000 by cutting the council’s communications budget in half and £128,000 by ending financial assistance for trade unions.

The Tories also wanted to scrap the citizens’ assembly on climate change, saving £133,000.

According to the Tories, these measures would offset a £3.7m reduction in income from freezing council tax, while freeing up £2m to spend on road and pavement repairs and £100,000 to support a legal challenge to the Ulez expansion.

Tory leader Dan Thomas said his group’s budget would “help address the most pressing local concern, the cost-of-living crisis, and the state of our roads and pavements” and “send a signal to residents that the council is truly on their side during difficult times”.

Cllr Thomas added that 4.8% council tax rises penciled in for future years were now “much higher” than under the previous Conservative administration and were set to go ahead despite projected falls in inflation. He branded Labour’s council tax promises a “sham”.

The Tory leader acknowledged the finance chief’s warnings over his group’s proposals but said he believed the savings were “low risk”, although he added that staff cuts would have to be “carefully planned”. Claiming the Ulez expansion would “not make any significant improvement to air quality”, he called on Barnet to join the cross-borough legal challenge to the proposals being led by four of London’s remaining Conservative-controlled councils.

Fellow Conservatives backed their group’s alternative budget and attacked Labour’s spending plans. Deputy group leader David Longstaff said there were overspends on current departmental budgets but claimed street cleansing was not happening in all areas and fly-tipping was still a problem.

He added: “To sum up this year, it has been a typical Labour year: spend, spend, spend. You are spending your way into bankruptcy, and it will be fascinating to see if Labour can balance the budget next year without plundering the reserves like you did this year.”

Tory Peter Zinkin, giving his first speech to full council following his victory in February’s Golders Green by-election, accused the Labour administration of spending on “vanity projects” while planning “modest cost-cutting in the wrong places” and “excessive council tax rises”.

He added: “The Labour administration will therefore achieve almost nothing, as the critical first two years are now set and effectively wasted.”

But Labour councillors defended their plans and repeatedly drew parallels between the local Tory budget proposals and Liz Truss’s short-lived Conservative administration in Westminster.

Deputy leader Ross Houston accused the Conservatives of failing to take climate change seriously and said: “Sadly, the Tory budget shows that they have morphed into a second-rate Liz Truss tribute band.”

The Labour budget, Cllr Houstion argued, was focused on “financial prudence” and on tackling both the cost-of-living crisis and climate change while delivering “one of the lowest council-tax increases in London”.

Labour’s Zahra Beg added: “The Tory budget says we are going to come up with a tax policy we want, but we will come up with the spending plans later. This is either bringing the failed Liz Truss budget practice to Barnet, or it is a proposal from a group who are no longer interested in governing at all.

“The Labour budget is a responsible budget to help our borough to grow and prosper. We will be prudent in our manner of spending and deliver on our manifesto.”

Following the debate, Labour councillors voted against the Conservative amendment, with the Tories voting in favour. Labour members voted in favour of their administration’s budget, which the Conservatives voted against.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.