Cabinet member Ammar Naqvi says there will be “no stone left unturned” in a close the local authority’s budget gap

Barnet Council is considering an approach to the government for an emergency loan to deal with its growing financial challenges, a cabinet member has revealed.

Speaking to Barnet Post earlier this week ahead of a cabinet meeting this evening, cabinet member for finance Ammar Naqvi said there will be “no stone left unturned” as the local authority bids to plug a £29million gap in its budget for the 2025-26 financial year.

In the interview on Tuesday, Cllr Naqvi cited the example of London Borough of Havering which was granted a ‘capitalisation direction’ to use a loan from the government and proceeds from asset sales to cover £54million of spending over two years.

He said: “other local authorities, such as Havering, have already requested this, and I understand there are a few more, even in London, that are looking to make a similar request.”

Asked whether Barnet had already made a request for a loan Cllr Naqvi said: “Not yet. We are considering it as an option, increasing the number of options we have to meet that projected overspend.”

The £29million gap in the council’s budget for next year to be discussed tonight is in addition to the overspend in the current financial year (2024-25), which had grown from £20million to £25million based on the latest estimates.

The administration blames this situation primarily on what council leader Barry Rawlings has called a “perfect storm” of rising costs from services that the local authority is legally obliged to provide: in particular, temporary accommodation for homeless people and adult social care services.

Asked by Barnet Post whether he was sure that this gap wouldn’t grow again before the financial year ends in March 2025, Cllr Naqvi said he was confident that current estimates are now accurate explaining that “I’ve been assured by finance colleagues that the end of quarter two’s forecasting is now more or less what our position will look like by year end”.

The cabinet member also pledged that planned cuts to administrative staff next year will have “no impact of quality of service provision” to local residents.

He said: “The way in which we approach staff savings is to reprioritise the way in which the organisation works, so that it becomes more efficient in delivering the same level of service outcomes as we’re currently expecting.”

Responding to the overspend on the current year’s budget, Conservative opposition leader Peter Zinkin previously described the current situation as: “the culmination of Labour’s breathtaking financial mismanagement since coming into power.”

The full interview along with a report of the upcoming cabinet discussions and subsequent developments and reaction will be published next week and in the January print issue of Barnet Post.

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