The council is projecting a £20million overspend on its budget for 2024/25 reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

A full front view image of Hendon Town Hall — Hendon Town Hall

The Labour administration has defended the state of Barnet Council’s finances amid criticism from Conservative opposition councillors over a projected £20million budget overspend.

A council report published this week summarises Barnet’s financial forecast for 2024/25 following the first quarter of the year and has projected a £20.2m overspend, after £18.3m of planned reserve drawdowns and £7.5m of savings via “in-year recovery actions plans”.

Conservative leader Peter Zinkin described the Labour group’s use of reserves as “reckless”and said it had left the council in a “precarious position”.

Hitting back, Ammar Naqvi, the council’s cabinet member for finance, said the overspend was a result of the “Conservative mess”, in reference to the party’s previous leadership “locally and nationally”.

The Labour group won outright control of the council for the first time in 2022.

Cllr Naqvi said: “Nationally the Conservatives have left us with a £20billion black hole, and sky-rocketing costs.

“High inflation and interest rates have had a devastating impact locally on the cost of social care and temporary accommodation – services we have a legal duty to provide.

“Demand for these services has also rocketed as residents themselves face the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.”

Cllr Zinkin said the borough now faced “deteriorating services and cuts” and when the budget for 2024/25 was set he had pointed out “the extreme weaknesses in the cost reduction plan”.

The report has highlighted the increasing demand on statutory services.

In the ‘communities, adults and health’ service area there was a forecasted overspend of £4.4m on adult social care, based on an eight-month rolling average.

A £2.2m recovery plan has brought the total service’s overspend down to £2.98m.

The demand for temporary accommodation, rising rental costs, and the reduced levels of grants from central government “effectively halved the council’s budget” the council claims, and has led to a “greater reliance” on “volatile” locally-generated income.

Temporary accommodation made up £5.5m of the total £5.9m projected overspend on housing, economy and place services, however only a £0.6m recovery plan is in place to tackle this.

Cllr Zinkin said the weaknesses he had pointed out had “now materialised”.

He said: “Budget setting by this administration has no credibility. As Barnet residents grapple with the implications of these financial failings, the council must now consider difficult decisions that could have long-term impacts on the community.”

Cllr Naqvi said failures that had been ongoing for a long time could not be fixed “overnight”. He assured residents the council had the issue in hand but “difficult decisions” lay ahead.

He said: “Locally, we have unearthed so many problems left by the Conservatives, from a complete lack of strategic oversight during the Capita years, to a failure to fix the roof when the sun was shining.”

He added: “Local people should feel reassured that a responsible Labour administration is in charge of their council finances at a time when sensible financial management is needed most.

“It will mean difficult decisions, but Barnet’s residents are depending on us, and we take this responsibility seriously.”

The finance report is set to be discussed on Tuesday (17th) at a council cabinet meeting.

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.