We asked, you said, we did

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We asked

The Government are extending childcare to support more parents returning to work after their parental leave ends. By September 2025, working parents of all children from 9 months - 5 years-old will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare. In addition, the Government's ambition is to provide primary school childcare provision for every family between 8am and 6pm by September 2026.

Here is a timeline for the proposed early years changes:

• from April 2024, all eligible working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access funding for 15 hours per week of education and care
• from September 2024, all eligible working parents of children aged nine months up to three-years-old will be able to access funding for 15 hours per week of education and care
• from September 2025, all eligible working parents of children aged nine months up to three-years-old will be able to access funding for 30 hours per week of education and care.

To find out more about the changes, you can visit the Government’s Childcare Choices website.

To help us plan and ensure that we have sufficient childcare provision, we asked Barnet parents, carers and families, plus early years providers and schools, for their views on the upcoming changes. Their responses are helping us to ensure we can meet the future needs of our Barnet families.

You said

A total of 304 questionnaires were completed. 212 completed the parents and carers questionnaire, 63 completed the childcare provider questionnaire and 24 completed the schools questionnaire.

Summary of provider questionnaire findings:

• 70% of providers (38 out of 54) said they currently offer FEE2 and 91% (49 out of 54) said they offer FEE3&4
• 73% of providers (24 out of 33) are planning to offer the 30 hours for under 5’s entitlement in Sept 2025
• over half (55%) of the providers we asked said they were not at full capacity and 38% (20 out of 52) said they had the potential to extend/increase their capacity
• 38% (20 out of 53) of providers reported that they will be considering adjusting their 2-year-old ratios to 1:5, while 62% (33 out of 53) reported that they will not be considering this.

Summary of parent/carer questionnaire findings:

• the parent/carer questionnaire revealed that 19% of children (59/317) do not access a childcare provider; 6% of children (18/317) access a childminder; 37% of children (119/317) access an early years setting and 38% of children (121/317) access a school setting for childcare provision
• of the parent/carers who responded, 41% of children accessed some kind of childcare funding
• 56% of those who responded reported accessing at least 15 hours of childcare per week
• 82% of parent/carers reported that they were aware of the new scheme and 59% (104/177) said that they were planning to access the newly announced scheme.

Summary of schools’ questionnaire findings:

• 87% (20 out of 23) of the Barnet schools who responded reported currently offering a breakfast club and 86% (19 out of 22) currently offer after school provision
• following the Government’s announcement regarding wraparound provision, over 40% of schools anticipate that the demand for breakfast club and after school provision will increase
• 4 out of 19 schools said they will be considering introducing/extending their breakfast club provision and 3 schools said that they will be considering introducing/extending their after-school provision in the next 12-24 months.

You can read more detail in the full consultation results.

We did

We have reviewed the findings from the questionnaires and the insights have helped shape our Early Years Expansion and Wraparound Action Plans. The findings have also informed our Childcare Sufficiency Assessment and childcare supply and demand analyses for Barnet. Additionally, we will be contacting and working closely with those providers who have reported that they have capacity to expand to explore how we can support the expansion of their provision.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the implementation of parking controls, including the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in East Finchley, to address local parking concerns and demand.

You said

A total of 434 responses were received.

The analysis indicated that whilst 316 (72%) of the 434 total respondents did not provide a positive response to supporting a CPZ, 93 (29%) of the 316 confirmed that they suffer from parking issues in their roads.

Overall, 22%, of respondents specifically confirmed their support, and it is felt that the further 29% who are experiencing issues would benefit from parking controls. Taking this into account would mean that a total of 51% of respondents’ concerns would be resolved with the implementation of a CPZ.

Residents consulted had stated that commuter/non-residential parking was the biggest factor to the issues they were facing. The other main issues mentioned includes dangerous and obstructive parking reported on junctions and other requests for parking restrictions to improve road safety.

We did

Following the informal consultation feedback, we are developing proposals that would help to improve parking situation in East Finchley and the surrounding area.

The proposals will be discussed and agreed with your Ward Members and, subject to funding availability, will be progressed to statutory consultation and implementation.

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We asked

We asked for your views on our proposed Friary Park Flood Alleviation Scheme.

The scheme proposes to:

• construct a wetland / flood storage basin in the upper section of the Blackett’s Brook in the north-western corner of the park.
• carry out river restoration works including removal of artificial banks, constructing two stage channel (river widening) and a series of small ponds, and introducing leaky woody dams (natural barriers) to hold back flow along the middle reach of Blackett's Brook as it further flows down the park.

You said

We received 20 responses to our online questionnaire. Below is a summary of the results:

• overall, 94.74 of respondents supported the proposed Friary Park Alleviation Scheme
• 78.95% of respondents strongly agreed that the scheme would deliver flood risk benefits / reduce flood risk to properties and infrastructure.
• 89.47%% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the scheme would improve water quality.
• 84.21% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the scheme would deliver benefits beyond flood risk (social, environmental, amenity benefits)
• 100% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the scheme would improve habitats and local wildlife
• 68.43% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the scheme would increase awareness and involvement from local communities
• 75% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the scheme would encourage people to spend more time in the park

Concerns were raised in the comments section over the potential removal of trees and shrubberies around the scheme.

Alongside the online questionnaire, the council in partnership with Thames21, organised two events:

• an online meeting on 9 October 2023
• a consultation event in Friary Park on 21 October 2023. Approximately 62 people attended the consultation event in Friary Park, with 27 completing a feedback form.

Feedback at the events was positive, with 23 of the survey respondents choosing, ‘I love them!’, in response to the question: “What are your first impressions of the proposal?”

We did

We have considered all the feedback received and final designs are now being developed ahead of progressing with a tender process for construction. The scheme is expected to go out to tender in spring / summer 2024.

The concerns raised about the potential removal of trees have been passed on to the council’s tree officers who oversee this area.

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We asked

We asked for your views on our proposal to introduce a second phase of selective licensing scheme for all privately rented properties that are not covered by licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), in a total of ten wards in Barnet.

You said

We received 369 online responses to the questionnaire and seven written responses via email.

• overall, the majority (70%) of respondents opposed the introduction of the selective licensing scheme for privately rented properties in Barnet
• opposition, however, was stronger amongst managing or letting agents and private landlords (100% and 94% opposing respectively) and support was stronger amongst owner occupiers and those renting from private landlords (63% and 43% support respectively)
• the majority (45%) of respondents were private landlords, with 8% stating they were a managing or letting agent or work for a managing or letting agent. Only 20% of respondents said they rented their home from a private landlord. A further 14% of respondents were owner occupiers.

There were also several comments made by respondents completing the questionnaire and in written responses in relation to the proposals.

Those who opposed the proposed scheme gave reasons which included:

• landlords would exit the market
• the number of rental properties would reduce and so increase homelessness
• rents would increase as the cost of the licence would be passed on to tenants
• it is just a money-making exercise for the council
• it penalises good landlords, whilst bad landlords will not get a licence
• unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy
• concern that the council would not be able to adequately resource the scheme
• fees are too high.

Respondents who supported the scheme gave reasons including;

• too many poor properties
• poor conditions affecting tenants’ health
• landlords need to be better regulated
• to make landlords maintain their properties
• landlords making short-term profit at the expense of tenants
• to identify more rented properties
• reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
• to protect tenants .

A large number of people objecting to the proposals did not give reasons for their objection other than indicating their disagreement with licensing. Other comments related to issues that were already explained in the consultation documents.

More information is available in the full consultation report.

We did

Comments objecting to the scheme were primarily from landlords. The extent of the objections from respondents has been carefully considered and it is deemed that the data and reasons established that led to the proposal in the consultation remain sound and, although there are strong representations from one category of respondent, these do not undermine the original intentions to introduce the scheme. Whilst the council acknowledge the specific responses received from the consultation, the evidence held by the council highlights the issues in the condition and management of private sector accommodation in the ten wards in the borough, and therefore a selective licensing scheme to address poor property conditions in those wards remains a justifiable approach.

Amendments have been made in response to comments received:

• although not strictly an amendment to the proposals, we have clarified that the council intend to inspect the majority, if not all licenced properties during the life of the scheme
• we have removed the proposed additional fee if the second element of the fee isn’t paid in a timely manner
• we have undertaken that the operation of the fee structure in Phase one of selective licensing, due to be implemented in early 2024, will be carefully monitored and propose that alternative models of fees and discounts given by other authorities will be closely examined with the potential for an alternative fee structure, whilst still covering costs of the scheme
• we took on board various comments relating to the licence conditions and have amended them accordingly, where we thought this was appropriate.

The final proposals were considered by the council’s Cabinet on 12 December 2023 and the amended proposals described above were agreed. The designation will not be made until the council is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate strong outcomes, efficient delivery, robust enforcement and adequate resourcing for the existing mandatory and additional licensing schemes and the proposed phase one selective licensing scheme. Once these safeguards are deemed to be met, which is anticipated to be early 2025 at the earliest, then the designation will be signed. After signing, the designation must be confirmed by the Secretary of State for The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities before it can be implemented.

You can view the final report on the consultation and the summary of comments and the council’s response to them, as well as the final licensing designation (once signed) on the council’s website,

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We asked

We asked for your views on proposals to introduce a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in Neeld Crescent, Rundell Crescent and Edgeworth Close.

You said

We sent letters to 236 properties on all three roads as part of the statutory consultation. We received 10 responses which included objections, comments and suggestions as summarised below:

• Neeld Crescent - we received three responses from Neeld Crescent. Two respondents objected to the CPZ proposals and two respondents requested an introduction of double yellow lines at the junction of Neeld Crescent with Vivian Avenue. We also received a petition requesting longer times of the proposed CPZ of operation.
• Rundell Crescent - we received one response in support of the proposed CPZ in Rundell Crescent.
• Edgeworth Close - we received six responses from Edgeworth Close. Five respondents were in support of the proposed CPZ while one was an objection.

We did

We will now consider the response to the statutory consultation and decide on whether to proceed with the proposals. We will write again to the previously consulted residents and respondents to inform them about the outcome once a decision has been made.

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We asked

As part of Barnet Council’s campaign to become London’s 2027 Borough of Culture, a ‘cultural canvas movement’ was launched in the summer of 2023, inviting residents, students, artists, community groups, businesses and anyone with a current or past interest and connection with Barnet to share their ideas on transforming Barnet into a Borough of Culture.

The ’Our Barnet Canvas’ consultation was carried out from August to October 2023, comprising two major surveys and a number of events and workshops.

You said

We received 689 responses to the online questionnaires which ran for eight weeks from August to October. Almost 80% of responses were from Barnet residents.

We received 732 responses to the schools questionnaire, aimed at pupils aged 14 and above and teaching staff, which was open from 18 September to 3 October. 579 responses were from students and 153 from members of staff.

We held eight engagement workshops between July and September with the Arts&Culture Network, and with wider arts, culture, heritage, community and faith groups in the borough, hosted at artsdepot, Middlesex University and the RAF Museum.

We ran pop-up workshops at Barnet Pride in the Park and Urban Gamez, Grahame Park Estate Colindale.

We set up A Borough of Culture Bid working group, made up of around 20 arts, culture, heritage and community partners across the borough. Individual sessions were also run with specific groups and forums such as the Barnet Youth Board, Barnet & Culture for Youth Steering Group, Youth Advocates and students at Middlesex University.

Overall, support for the bid was high, with 82% saying they support Barnet’s bid to be the London Borough of Culture 2027.

We did

The key themes that emerged from the engagement programme were summarised into six sets of challenges and opportunities, to be addressed within the Borough of Culture bid and throughout the borough’s wider cultural strategy:

Cultural Infrastructure, Provision & High-Profile Events: Barnet needs a more ambitious cultural offer for its communities, to create an exciting culture-led place identity, and to build a cultural visitor economy.

Sleeping in Barnet, Living in London: residents leave the borough to seek cultural experience and / or careers in the creative industries, for example: 68% of respondents had been to the theatre outside Barnet but just 19% within; 60% had seen live music elsewhere, but only 23% here.

Place Perceptions & Pride: local people likely identify with their local town/neighbourhood rather than with London Borough of Barnet area.

Growing Grassroots Culture: grassroots providers need support to grow their ambitions and skills, strengthening partnerships, networks and capacity to support arts and culture in the community.

Connecting Communities & Towns: Barnet’s tradition of sanctuary and interfaith tolerance was celebrated throughout engagement. However, participants spoke of a lack of cultural activities celebrating and promoting Barnet’s diversity.

Underused Assets & Unknown Histories: Barnet has a rich history; the home of flying heritage, early film, and London’s oldest tree alongside an archives service with collections dating from 1600. Respondents spoke of the opportunity to celebrate more and uncover heritage and history of the borough.

In November 2023 we submitted our bid for London Borough of Culture 2027 and the winners will be announced in March 2024.

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We asked

As part of Barnet’s ambition to be a net zero borough by 2042, we asked for your views on introducing a Library of Things to East Finchley. A Library of Things is just like a normal library except instead of books you can borrow things like lawnmowers, carpet cleaners, air fryers and games consoles – for a small daily fee.

You said

A total of 372 questionnaires were completed. Most responses were from residents, and approval for a Library of Things (LoT) was overwhelmingly positive: 365 out of 372 (98%) selected that they would borrow at least one item. Out of the seven who would not use it, four said they didn’t need the items available, and three would buy them directly.

From a selected of all LoT items, the top five most popular that people would like to borrow were carpet cleaner (288), pressure washer (239), gazebo (180), extendable Ladder (171) and hedge trimmer (148). 38% said they would use a LoT every two to three months. 20% said monthly and 19% every four to six months. 13% said as and when needed.

Respondents are mobile and happy to travel short distances. A LoT doesn’t have to be on their doorstep but must be accessible from a car as well as walking and cycling. Almost 50% would be happy to drive up to 5 miles to get to a LoT. Over 40% would prefer only to walk or cycle.

Tarling Road Community Hub in East Finchley is an option for the first LoT location. Although not an ideal location, comments are mostly positive and identify the strengths of that site. 62% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that this was a good location. Based on comments many respondents live near to Tarling Road Community Hub or felt that the location was highly accessible by car or bicycle. Only 9% disagreed that it was a good location and felt that it was out of the way, and not near a town centre. Other popular locations mentioned were Colindale, Edgware, Finchley Central, High Barnet and North Finchley.

You can read more information in the full consultation report.

We did

We have listened to feedback and will work to bring a Library of Things to the borough.

Although not a site under consideration when the consultation opened, Barnet Council will first pursue Edgware as a priority site. The site (a vacant Argos Unit on the high street), managed by partners TfL and Ballymore, is in a better location with higher footfall and greater public transport accessibility. A library of Things will initially be installed and run for approximately three years (in lieu of the site’s long-term reconstruction as part of proposals for Edgware’s regeneration).

This will help to test the usage of a Library of Things in Barnet and will also benefit Edgware adding a new amenity to the town centre that could become permanent. The Library of Thing’s performance will be monitored, and the council will revisit the Tarling Road Community Hub site pending the Edgware site’s success.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the implementation of a controlled pedestrian and cycling zone during school pick up and drop off hours, or ‘School Street’, on Great Strand (between Lower Strand and Everglade Strand). The proposed times are 8.15-9.15am and 2.45-3.45pm, Monday to Friday, term time only.

You said

We received 77 responses to this engagement. 19.48% of respondents supported the scheme. 79.22% of respondents opposed the scheme. 1.3% of respondents neither supported nor opposed the scheme.

10% of respondents thought the scheme would improve safety. 7.7% of respondents thought the scheme would reduce traffic. 4% of respondents thought the scheme would encourage people to walk, bike or scoot to school.

27% of respondents were concerned that the School Street would affect access to services on the road such as churches, nurseries, and businesses. 12% of respondents expressed concern that the scheme would impact working parents’ ability to get to work after dropping their children at school. 20% of respondents expressed concern that it would affect access to the road for people who needed it, like residents, carers, teachers, taxi/trade/delivery vehicles, friends and family.

8% of respondents did not give reasons for their opinions.

We did

We have considered the feedback and will be proceeding with the School Street scheme, alongside measures to mitigate the highlighted concerns.

We asked

We asked for your views on making the pavement wider on Great Strand.

You said

We received 59 responses to this engagement.

8% of respondents thought the footway widening would improve safety. 8% of respondents thought the footway widening would reduce traffic. 5% of respondents thought the footway widening would encourage people to walk, bike or scoot to school.

24% of respondents were concerned about the reduction in parking as a result of the footway widening. 7% of respondents were concerned about the impact the footway widening would have on driving on the Great Strand. 5% thought there would be no improvement from the measures.

24% of respondents did not give reasons for their opinions.

We did

We have considered the feedback and will not be proceeding with the footway widening in Great Strand.

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We asked

In October we facilitated a range of engagement sessions with children and young people to gather their experiences and perceptions of violence and exploitation that may have affected them in Barnet. The sessions were designed to engage young people, residents, professionals and businesses working and living in Barnet and to understand the following:

• perceptions of violence and exploitation in Barnet
• factors that support feeling safer or more at risk
• areas and priorities that people feel the council should implement / drive to improve, safety, and response to violence and exploitation.

You said

We had over 50 young people who engaged in the focus groups, and over 200 people participated in our interactive online surveys. We were able to engage a range of residents and businesses in ‘walkaround surveys’.

We did

From the sessions, we have incorporated the key themes that emerged into two priority area:

• Tackling Serious Violence Strategy 2024 - 27
• Tackling Exploitation Strategy 2024 - 27

Both of these strategies will be published in March 2024, and will outline our collective approaches to how we are working together to support the safety of residents and young people living in Barnet.

From January 2024 we will be holding a range of further consultation sessions to support the release of our Tackling Serious Violence Strategy, and further sessions to support the co-production of our Tackling Exploitation Strategy.

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We asked

We asked for your views on the proposed schedule of fees and charges, to be implemented from January 2024.

You said

We received 14 responses to the online questionnaire. 12 of the respondents made a comment and the comments were:

• Fees and charges, specifically service charges should be scraped for freeholders. We have lost amenities like parking and parks, land from the estate has been sold to Notting Hill Gensis, yet free holders are asked to pay service charges when you want to turn the estate from public to private. Not to mention the office is now on the estate! Please do not increase parking charges.
• Council tax is high enough already. Don't agree with charges automatically being increased each year.
• Families are struggling enough without you increasing prices. I will have to move out of Barnet if you increase yet again as I won't be able to afford to stay in the Borough.
• The document is too long you need to summarise key changes.
• This will be an extra burden on the people of Barnet.
• They should definitely not be increased - why should people have to pay more at this time when the cost of living is so high.
• I would not like it to rise, as I believe my council tax is already high enough; despite this, potholes on roads in my area remain not fixed.
• I understand that prices are being raised but I think it's really expensive to have a green bin and think it should be less.
• I think that charges should be as low as possible. i don't think they should be increased due to cost of living crisis. i think some fees should be scrapped.
• They are driving out local businesses - need time to recover from Covid and Brexit - hold back on increases.
• In such a hard time financially for people, when they are struggling to purchase food for their children to survive I do not think it is the right time to increase charges for basic things.
• I do not think the fees and charges are proportionate to the services they provide, particularly with service charges and parking. Also planning authority management staffer charging hourly for their advice.

We did

We reviewed the responses, and they were reported to the Council meeting on 17 October 2023. Council approved the proposed non-executive fees and charges. The executive fees and charges were authorised under the delegated authority of the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Resources and Effective Council. The responses were also reviewed in this Cabinet Member Delegated Decision report.