Tonight’s meeting was called in response to the deaths of three young people who had been in Barnet Council’s care reports David Floyd

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

Green Party activists will hold a vigil outside the town hall tonight ahead of a meeting called in response to the deaths of three young people who had been in Barnet Council’s care.

The extraordinary council meeting was called after a Sky News documentary aired last month focusing on the death of 18-year-old Nonita Grabovskyte in December 2023.

At the inquest into Nonita’s death, the coroner said the council’s failures had been contributing factors. Opposition councillors, who requested the meeting, had not been aware of the incident until shortly before the documentary became available. It subsequently emerged that two other care experienced young people have died in the past two years shortly after leaving council care.

In a briefing with Barnet Post last week, council leader Barry Rawlings and Pauline Coakley Webb, cabinet member for family friendly Barnet, both made clear that they would not be resigning but were committed to ensuring lessons were learned from what happened.

Ahead of the meeting, Charli Thompson, a spokesperson for Barnet Greens and a disability and social care campaigner, said: “Barnet is facing a profound crisis in social care. The deaths of care-experienced children demand the fullest transparency, accountability, and urgent action from the council. We welcome scrutiny, but what we cannot accept is this tragedy being used as a political football.”

The Greens blamed both the current Labour and former Conservative administrations for the state of care in the borough, calling out Labour for current “under-resourcing, unsafe workloads, and deteriorating mental health provision” while criticising the Conservatives for the closure of Apthorp Care Centre in 2021.

Charli added: “Our services are collapsing because they are run on a model that hides unmet need, cuts preventative care, and leaves vulnerable residents exposed. This is a structural failure, and unless we address it head-on, more lives will be put at risk. Highly paid senior officers must be scrutinised better by our democratically elected representatives and the experiences of those who draw on social care must be listened to.”

Explaining the reason for the vigil, she said: ““We will be standing side by side to honour those who have died, and to demand that councillors of all parties take this seriously. Barnet must build a system that protects people and prioritises transparency at all times.”

The vigil will take place tonight from 5.45pm outside Hendon Town Hall.

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