Enfield Council's Cabinet has approved a £7.3 million budget realignment, primarily directing funds towards Adult Social Care and other key services. The decision, made during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, will see the funds reallocated from corporate underspends to address structural budget changes.
This realignment is necessary due to significant pressures in areas such as Adult Social Care, SEN Transport, and Homelessness services. The Q1 forecast variance highlights these pressures, with ongoing demand growth, increasing care complexity, and inflationary pressures contributing to the financial strain. For instance, Adult Social Care faced a £7.7m overspend attributed to continued demand for services within Older People services and increasingly complex cases transitioning from Children's services, alongside increased demand and higher unit costs in the residential and nursing market, and inflationary pressures on care packages. Similarly, SEN Transport saw a £2.3m overspend due to increased demand, and Homelessness (Temporary Accommodation) experienced a £2.2m overspend driven by continued demand, particularly for the social care caseload.
Adult Social Care will receive a significant portion of the realignment, alongside allocations for the Housing General Fund, Environment & Communities, and Education departments. The specific breakdown of the £7.3 million realignment, as detailed in the 2026/27 Q1 Revenue and Capital Monitoring Report, includes £3.020m for ASC Nursing & Residential Care purchasing, £0.100m for NCIL funding in Adult Social Care, £0.066m for Community Support Officer, £0.067m for DSG Recharge Progression & Pathway, and £1.055m for Temporary Accommodation for social care users. Other allocations include £0.500m for a reduction in meanwhile tenant related income, £0.477m for DSG Recharge from SEN Transport, £0.388m for SEN Policy Change, and £0.300m for Additional & Selective Licensing. Savings and adjustments include £0.232m for LED Lighting Saving, a £1.000m one-off increase in corporate savings deliverability, a £1.805m adjustment for Pay Award & Inflation, a £0.750m ongoing and £1.000m one-off for Grant Substitution, and a £3.000m reduction in Capital Financing, alongside a £0.700m reduction in Housing Benefit Subsidy. The total ongoing virements amount to £6.255m, with a total one-off virement of £1.000m, resulting in a net realignment of £7.255m.
Service departments are actively implementing strategies to manage these pressures and mitigate risks. In Adult Social Care, measures include demand management, cost control panels, contract reviews, regional collaboration, and workforce planning. The National Placement Policy and Temporary Accommodation strategy are also being employed. For the Housing and Regeneration department, prevention and early intervention activities are underway to contain increasing demand for temporary accommodation. The National Placement Policy with a single offer aims to expedite the take-up of move-on accommodation. The long lease programme is intended to reduce property costs, though its uptake is currently below budget due to lender approval issues, prompting lobbying efforts to change this approach.
Despite these efforts, risks remain, particularly in Adult Social Care and Homelessness. Adult Social Care faces a potential further risk of £3m, stemming from sustained demand growth, increasing care complexity, and inflationary pressures within the provider market. For Homelessness, a potential further risk of £2m is linked to the reduced delivery of long lease accommodation within Temporary Accommodation, leading to increased reliance on higher-cost accommodation and greater Housing Benefit subsidy loss. Mitigation for homelessness includes lobbying the Government to lift the temporary accommodation subsidy cap and raise Local Housing Allowance rates.
For Environment & Communities, strategies involve capital investment to replace high-cost vehicles and a review of fleet repairs and maintenance. The General Fund is limiting further allocations to the in-year investment budget to create capacity for statutory services and pausing further allocations to capital projects.
The projected outcomes of these strategies are to mitigate budget overspends, balance the forecast position, and protect reserves. The council continues to lobby the government on key issues affecting housing affordability and subsidy. Further details on the budget realignment can be found in the 2026/27 Q1 Revenue and Capital Monitoring Report.
