Cllr Barry Rawlings says Tories are to blame for the borough’s financial woes

Barry Rawlings pictured outside Hendon Town Hall (credit Barnet Council)

Years of listless and directionless Conservative rule has left Barnet Council with crushing financial pressures, but I want to reassure residents that Labour is working to fix the council’s foundations.

We are leaving no stone unturned to solve the problems left us by 19 years of poor Conservative decision-making and to put the council on a financially sustainable footing.

It will mean making difficult decisions, I need to be honest about that, but residents are relying on us, and we take this responsibility seriously.

We face a forecast £20million shortfall in our budget this year, driven mainly by huge increases in demand for services we have a legal duty to provide, like social care and housing for homeless families.

But it has been made so much worse because the cost of delivering these services has sky-rocketed due to high inflation and interest rates.

This is the legacy of the disastrous Liz Truss mini-budget that took place just after we won the council in 2022.

Locally, the Conservatives failed to fix the roof when the sun was shining.

They chose to use the council’s available cash to pay for infrastructure projects instead of borrowing when interest rates were historically low.

That cash is now gone, leaving the council with few choices.

Either borrow at historically high interest rates to meet the council’s obligations or cut services.

We will probably have to do a bit of both.

The Conservatives complain about our climate change citizens’ assemblies that have mobilised the borough on this vital issue.

Let me be clear – our work on net zero to help residents and the council keep fuel bills down and future-proof Barnet is a long-term necessity, not a short-term political project.

And the cost is less than one tenth of 1% of the money Barnet Conservatives showered on global company Capita to run the council for them.

Cutting our work on sustainability wouldn’t put a dent in our current overspend.

But maths and managing finances have never been the Barnet Conservatives’ strong suit.

They gave the steering wheel to Capita, handing over more than half a billion pounds so they could shirk responsibility.

They indulged in reverting to an old-fashioned committee system that got in the way of seeing the overall financial picture. They hit the governance snooze button.

Opportunities to invest in the future were missed. They failed to build the affordable and council homes the borough needs, which would have helped us with the current rise in homelessness.

Labour has been running Barnet for two years, and in that time we have unearthed so many problems. It will take us some time to fix them.

But we are getting on with the job.

Budget recovery plans have been developed. Spending control panels have been put in place. Every new significant expense is being reviewed.

We are working to get the council onto a financially sustainable footing, and we will continue to keep our promised pledges, including our pledge to keep council tax below the legal maximum.

We are also investing in the future: 1,000 new council homes to reduce our temporary accommodation bill, bringing care facilities in house so we are not held at the mercy of for-profit fat cat care companies.

The best time to have gripped the council financially and made these investments was ten years ago when the Conservatives had the chance. However, it falls to us to do it now.

After the fecklessness of Boris Johnson, the recklessness of Liz Truss and the paralysis of Rishi Sunak, Labour is providing responsible and honest leadership – nationally and in Barnet.

Barry Rawlings is leader of Barnet Council

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