A report revealed Haringey Council overspent by almost £20m last year and less than 80% of the council’s planned savings were achieved, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

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

Haringey Council has predicted an approximate £5million “unforecast spend” on its budget due to its struggle with rising adult and children’s social care costs as well as temporary accommodation pressures.

Despite the new financial year beginning just three months ago, years of “unsustainable rises” in costs, particularly around children’s placement costs and temporary accommodation, mean the council faces an “extremely challenging year ahead”.

Dana Carlin, cabinet member for finance and investment, said “considerable additional funding” had been put into the adult services budget given the year-on-year overspend.

She told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (16th): “In terms of children and the increased cost of placement, that overspend will need to be catered for in this year’s financial budget, we will be looking to close that gap.

“In terms of temporary accommodation it’s very difficult. We know that this is something all boroughs, especially London boroughs, are facing. Our services are working hard on measures to mitigate that.”

Councils “across the country” are said to be suffering with the same three budget pressures and “without sustainable funding it makes it very, very difficult,” said Cllr Carlin.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting yesterday (Tuesday 16th) Cllr Carlin added the council used a “substantial amount of reserves” to close last year’s budget gap, and it intended to both balance this year’s budget and “replenish” its reserves.

A report revealed that the council had overspent by almost £20m last year and less than 80% of the council’s planned savings were achieved. This means £19.2m will have to be taken from reserves.

Despite pressures, the national outlook was “stablising” with inflation rates close to target and interest rates predicted to fall.

However, an added strain on council services has been predicted given the large number of Haringey residents on jobseekers allowance and employment and support allowance.

The number of claimants in the borough exceeds the London average, and Haringey has the fourth largest proportion of residents earning “below the London Living Wage” across all boroughs.

Opposition leader Scott Emery asked why Haringey had done worse than “other London councils” when it came to agency staff spend.

Cllr Carlin said the council was “pushing down” on agency staff numbers, that staff were “appreciated” and the council wanted workers to join as “permanent staff”.

She said: “This has been quite an intensive process taking place across the council and across the senior leadership team. I’m keen to say we are above the London average when it comes to reducing and continuing to reduce the number of agency workers.”

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