Overspending of £16m last year and forecasts of further difficulty in balancing this year’s budget, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

George Meehan House and (inset) Dana Carlin — George Meehan House and (inset) cabinet member for finance Dana Carlin

Haringey Council faces an “extremely challenging year ahead” as it looks to shore up its finances against soaring costs.

The council spent over £16million more than it budgeted for last year, according to provisional figures, largely because of higher-than-expected spending on adults’ and children’s social care.

Required by law to balance their budgets, local authorities have been hit by sharp rises in inflation and interest rates that have pushed up the costs of delivering services.

Although Haringey was able to use “one-off” measures to offset the overspend in 2022/23, the pressures are set to continue “at a greater level than assumed” – and its financial reserve levels are lower than those of most other London boroughs. The council was also unable to deliver £9.9m of agreed savings.

The deteriorating financial picture is set out in a report that was presented to a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Tuesday (11th). Cabinet member for finance Dana Carlin told the meeting that last year the authority spent 43% of its budget on adult social care and 25% on children’s social care.

Cllr Carlin added: “These are huge areas of spend for our authority and for all local authorities, and it is simply unacceptable that this government has not been able to get a grip on funding adult social care and is leaving it to local authorities to pick up the tab.”

The report reveals that the increased demand for social care caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has not abated, and this was “difficult to accurately forecast when budgets were set”. Debt arrears are also expected to grow as residents and businesses continue to face a cost-of-living crisis.

It adds: “In summary, we face an extremely challenging year ahead, and we must show leadership and continue to work closely with officers to take the appropriate action to mitigate the budgetary pressures as far as possible.”

Speaking during the cabinet meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor Nick da Costa said the report made for “concerning reading” and asked if “crisis talks” were taking place to ensure the budget is balanced this year.

With higher borrowing costs set to have an impact on the council’s capital programme, Cllr da Costa asked which projects would be scrapped or pushed back to future years.

Cllr Carlin said officers had already started working on areas where the council could make savings. She added that capital projects would be tested against viability and the council’s priorities, with discussions yet to take place.

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