Overview
Barnet Council plays a big part in people’s lives. Every year, we spend over £400million providing public services that you, your family and friends use every day.
As well as supporting our communities we are committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. We are a well-run council and have a tight control on our spending. However, like many local authorities across the country, we are facing unprecedented financial challenges beyond our control across all areas of our work.
Against this backdrop we must ensure our budget for the future is balanced. All local authorities are legally requiredContinue reading
Overview
Barnet Council plays a big part in people’s lives. Every year, we spend over £400million providing public services that you, your family and friends use every day.
As well as supporting our communities we are committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. We are a well-run council and have a tight control on our spending. However, like many local authorities across the country, we are facing unprecedented financial challenges beyond our control across all areas of our work.
Against this backdrop we must ensure our budget for the future is balanced. All local authorities are legally required to set a balanced budget every year and ensure they have enough money to deliver services to their residents and businesses.
Our financial challenge
To balance our budget for next year the council needs to find £74.2million for 2025-26 due to the ongoing financial challenges. These challenges include increased levels of demand in areas out of the council’s control, such as rising demand for complex and expensive services in children’s and adults’ services, as well as the huge cost of placing more people into temporary accommodation. The council has also had to deal with rising costs, combined with a legacy of decades of austerity as a result of government funding cuts.
How we are responding to the financial challenge
We have always taken a long term and proactive approach to financial planning in difficult circumstances. We have saved over £260million between 2010 and 2024 and protected frontline services as far as possible. However, looking forward we face another very challenging anticipated budget gap of just over £124million to 2029/30. This includes the £74.2million budget gap for the next financial year 2025/26.
Over the last six months we have been working hard to identify savings and income generation proposals across the council to help meet this budget gap, while still being able to deliver quality services, meet all our demand pressures, and invest in our priorities included in our Plan for Barnet 2023-26.
Council services from across our seven directorates have put forward savings and income generation proposals of £22 million which we would like your views on.
For more information on how we plan to meet the financial challenge, please read our summary consultation document. You can also read the Cabinet Business Planning Report which sets out in full the council’s proposed budget for 2025/26.
What we are seeking your views on
We would like your views on the savings and income proposals we have developed to help balance our budget for next year (2025/26). In particular, we are seeking your views on:
- the overall budget, and our savings and income generation proposals for 2025/26
- our proposal to increase general Council Tax by 2.98%
- our proposal to also apply an Adult Social Care Precept on Council Tax of 2% to help pay for adult social care.
We welcome views from all our residents, as well as people who study, work or have a business in the borough. We also welcome feedback from local organisations and community groups.
How to give us your views
Please take the time to read our summary consultation document before completing our online questionnaire.
If you require a paper copy of the consultation document and questionnaire or another format, please email: budgetconsultation@barnet.gov.uk or telephone the Consultation and Engagement Team on 020 8359 7016.
What happens with the remaining budget gap and future engagement
The remaining budget gap will not be confirmed until after the financial settlement is received in late December from central government, and at this stage we are assuming a budget gap of £52million if the £22million of our proposed savings are approved. However, the budget gap will be reduced if the council achieves the maximum uplift from the government's financial settlement in late December.
In the coming year we will also be developing and delivering further proposals to reduce costs and generate more income to lower the budget gap. As part of this we will be undertaking further consultation and engagement to find out what your priorities are, and where needed we will consult on the specific details of these proposals, so you have the opportunity to provide your feedback.
How we will use the consultation findings
The findings from this consultation will be reported to Cabinet on 5 February 2025 and will then be considered by Council on 25 February 2025 before deciding if the 2025/26 budget proposals should be approved.