A switch from weekly to fortnightly bin collections is one of the options as Barnet Council struggles to reduce a £200 million deficit

Barnet Council’s dire financial position has led to a warning that “very painful” decisions will have to made within weeks to find ways to reduce a predicted shortfall of £200 million.

A five per cent increase in council tax and a switch from weekly to fortnightly bin collections are two of the most likely options.

In an official statement the council says it needs to have a “brutally honest conversation with residents” about how to balance the books to find £200 million of savings.

The warning follows release of a government commissioned review which says the Borough of Barnet is in “a highly fragile financial position” and its deficit is projected to increase to £243.5 million by 2030-31.

By next year Barnet will have the largest budget gap of any London borough and it is one of nine councils relying on exceptional financial support from the Treasury.

East Barnet councillor Simon Radford, who is Barnet’s cabinet member for financial sustainability, says their budget for next year assumes there will be a council tax increase close to the legal maximum of 5 per cent and the council will review its waste collection service.

A failure to save costs by switching bin collections from weekly to fortnightly – a measure already introduced by many other councils – was a “missed opportunity” according to analysis conducted for the government by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability.

Cost savings were not being implemented by Barnet Council at the “pace of scale required” because of “cautious decision making” and being slower to implement difficult reforms.

Recommendations about a switch to alternate weekly bin collections, as well reforms to the provision of temporary accommodation, children’s services and adult social care, needed to be in place by the end of September ready for a meeting of the council cabinet on Monday 12 October.

When the possibility of switching Barnet’s bin collections from weekly to fortnightly was last considered in 2019 under the previous Conservative administration, moving the waste collection to an alternate weekly service would have saved an estimated £400,000 a year.

At the time three quarters of English local authorities had already moved to fortnightly collections, and the CIPFA report says this was “a missed short-term opportunity.”

Barnet’s productivity and recycling performance in its waste services was weaker than in other comparable London boroughs.

The report also identified what it said was evidence of “savings fatigue” and the deferral of difficult decisions.

Another significant factor had been the council’s previous approach to council tax increases.

“Due to historic decisions to increase council tax by less than the maximum permissible, the council’s low tax base further constrains income flexibility.”

Previous Conservative administrations had taken pride in their policy of keeping Barnet’s council tax as low as possible – but the CIPFA analysis suggests this failed to acknowledge that Barnet faced “materially higher demand and cost pressures” than other comparable boroughs for adult social care, temporary accommodation and children’s social care.

In his response to the CIPFA findings, Councillor Simon Radford said reaching financial sustainability was Barnet’s top priority and the council welcomed recognition of the “scale and pace of change” required to solve our £200 million structural deficit by March 2029.

The need for services which the council had to provide was growing twice as fast as its income and far outstripped government funding.

“We have brought council spending under control, maintained high standards of adult social care while reducing the cost below national average, stabilised in-year spend on temporary accommodation and reduced our call on exceptional financial support by £10 million.

“The reality is that none of the levers in our control can tackle the scale of future demand without national policy intervention.

“Even if we were to cut all non-statutory spend, the short-term impact would be an £18 million budget reduction compared to the £200 million forecast gap.

“The report recommends reviewing council tax levels and waste collection, which we will do.

“Our budget assumes a council tax increase close to the maximum of 5 per cent. Anything further would need permission from government or a referendum in favour.”

Residents can have their say on moves to put Barnet’s finances on a sustainable footing at the next Barnet Question Times on Monday 26 October.

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