Next council budget first in decade to avoid new cuts

Haringey residents can have their say on a council budget that pledges “no new spending reductions for the first time in a decade”.

The civic centre has launched a consultation on the 2022/23 budget before senior councillors meet to finalise the plans in February next year.

Included among the proposals is a 2.99% increase in council tax. This breaks down into a 1.99% hike in core council tax, which will bring in an extra £3.4million to spend on local services, and a 1% rise in a levy that can only be used to fund adult social care.

The council plans to invest £2.4m in adult social services, including £582,000 on a scheme to prevent violence against women and girls, who have faced an increased risk to their wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some £4.8m has been earmarked for children’s services, with an initial £500,000 set aside to create an in-borough residential care facility for looked-after children to avoid placing them outside of Haringey. This project is set to benefit from further spending of £5.7m over the following two years.

The £10m place budget includes investment to replace sporting, play and fitness resources within parks. There are plans to spend £420,000 – rising to £2.4m over the next four years – on upgrading New River Sport and Fitness centre in White Hart Lane, which was brought under the council’s control earlier this year.

Also included within the budget plans is an extra £30m over five years on upgrading the civic centre and building an annex to provide more workspace for the council. The scheme, now set to cost £54m in total but part of a strategy that is designed to be self-financing, has previously been criticised by the Liberal Democrat opposition, which argues some of the money should be spent on revitalising high streets.

The council plans to maintain support schemes rolled out during previous years, including the expanded free school meals entitlement and council tax reduction scheme.

Although the local authority has committed to avoid spending cuts, it is forecasting a five-year budget gap of £25m, and a cabinet report published this month admitted closing this gap would be “very challenging for the council”.

In the introduction to the consultation, council leader Peray Ahmet writes: “Over the last ten years, continual cuts in central government funding have meant our budget process has demanded that we make substantial savings year on year.

“I am proud that my first budget as leader of the council proposes no new spending reductions for the first time in a decade. Instead, this is a budget that invests more in services our residents rely upon and invests in the environment in line with our values.”

The consultation, which was launched earlier this month, will run until 12th January. More details are available here: https://www.haringey.gov.uk/local-democracy/policies-and-strategies/your-haringey-your-future