The money is needed both to address overspending on the current council budget and to plug a large gap in the next

The government has granted £65million in ‘exceptional financial support’ to Haringey Council.

The money will be used by the civic centre to both plug an overspend during the current 2024/25 financial year, with £28m now available for this, as well as £37m for closing the gap in the 2025/26 budget, which will be voted on by councillors next week.

Haringey is one 30 local authorities across the UK and six in London to be bailed out this week by the government under its ‘exceptional financial support‘ (EFS) mechanism, which was created in 2020 by the previous Conservative government as a way to help struggling councils avoid effective bankruptcy via a Section 114 notice.

However, EFS has been used by more councils this year than ever before, pointing to a wider crisis in local authority funding which the new Labour government claims it will fix in time for 2026/27.

Speaking earlier this week, council leader Peray Ahmet said that “ever-growing demands, increased population, rising costs and more than a decade of government austerity” had put “untold pressure” on councils across the country, including Haringey.   

The opposition Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, have called the financial situation a “humiliation” for Haringey and questioned Labour’s management of the council.

Cllr Ahmet added: “We are a borough with outer London levels of funding but inner London levels of need.  In recent years the reality has been that we have less money to serve more people who require more services which have become more expensive to provide. As a result of this we are facing a funding emergency. ”

The council has yet to issue any public statement in response to the news about EFS, which was confirmed late yesterday (Thursday 20th).

Haringey had originally made its EFS request in December, although at that time it was only reported that £37m would be needed, for the upcoming year, rather than £65m across two financial years as has now been revealed.

In its own statement announcing EFS funding for 30 local councils this week, the government said: “The government is under no illusions about the scale of financial issues facing councils and is committed to restoring stability and bringing forward reform to ensure local government is fit, legal and decent and can play its critical role in providing the services communities rely on.

“Reform will take time however and there is potential for continued instability as we work to fix the foundations of local government. That is why we confirmed in November 2024 that there will continue to be a framework in place to support councils in the most difficult positions.

“The government has been clear that while we will continue to expect councils to make sure they are doing all they can locally to deliver for residents, this process will be collaborative and supportive of councils.”

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