Barnet Council is seeking savings of £9.9 million for the 2026/27 budget, as revealed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday, 11 December 2025.

The council faces increasing demand for services, particularly in social care and temporary accommodation. These pressures, coupled with rising costs driven by higher inflation and interest rates, have created a significant financial challenge. Councillor Barry Rawlings, Leader of the Council, noted that despite these challenges, the council has kept within the balanced budget this financial year through strict spending controls, transformation and prevention work, holding vacancies and savings delivery.

Specifically, Councillor Rawlings stated that the council achieved a balanced budget through strict spending controls, transformation and prevention work, holding vacancies and non-essential roles being frozen, savings delivery, income generation and EFS funding.

Councillor Rawlings stated:

In collaboration with a partner, we're working together to have, if you like, some fresh eyes on what we do, some ideas from other counsellors and so on, and that's working its way through and we'll create more savings.

However, the rise in demands for statutory services and social care, and especially temporary accommodation, as well as the capital financing cost, means the council faces a budget gap of about £88 million for 2026/27. Failure to achieve the targeted £9.9 million in savings could lead to significant financial strain, with Councillor Zinken warning that by 2030, the annual cost of minimum revenue provision and interest associated with the forecast borrowing could reach £63 million a year.

Councillor Simon Radford, Cabinet Member for Financial Sustainability, explained that the council has engaged an independent improvement partner, People2, to identify further opportunities for reducing service demand, making savings, improving efficiency, and increasing income generation. The savings of £9.919m have been identified in collaboration with People2. People2 is working with the council to identify opportunities for reducing service demand, improving efficiency and increasing income generation. The Business Planning 2026-2031 Medium Term Financial Strategy and 2025-26 Budget Management report details the savings of £9.919m that departments have identified to help plug the gap for 2026/27.

According to the Business Planning 2026-2031 Medium Term Financial Strategy and 2025-26 Budget Management report, modelling undertaken by London Councils indicates that Barnet could lose nearly £9 million of funding over the next three years if the government's funding formula isn't addressed. The report noted that modelling undertaken by London Councils showed that, under the original proposals, after transition, Barnet could lose nearly £9m of funding over the next 3 years (£400k next year).

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is tasked with scrutinising the proposals and identifying areas of concern. Any recommendations made by the committee will be considered in the report presented to the Cabinet in February 2026.

The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (PLGFS) is expected the week commencing 15 December 2025, and any changes resulting from the PLGFS impacting the council's budgets will be incorporated into the MTFS presented to the Cabinet in February 2026.