Budget consultation 2026/27

Background

Barnet Council plays a big part in people’s lives. Every year, we spend over £500 million providing public services that you, your family and friends use every day. 

As well as supporting our communities we are committed to the responsible management of the council’s finances. We are a well-run council and have a tight control on our spending. However, like many local authorities across the country, we are facing unprecedented financial challenges beyond our control across all areas of our work. 

Against this backdrop we must ensure our budget for the future is balanced. All local authorities are legally required to set a balanced budget every year and ensure they have enough money to deliver services to their residents and businesses. 

Our financial challenge 

To balance our budget for next year, the council needs to find up to £88 million due to the ongoing financial challenges. These challenges include increased levels of demand in areas out of the council’s control, such as rising demand for complex and expensive services in children’s and adults’ services, as well as the huge cost of placing more people into temporary accommodation. The council has also had to deal with rising costs, combined with a decade of austerity as a result of yearly government funding cuts. 

How we are responding to the financial challenge 

We have taken a long-term approach to financial planning. We have saved over £280 million between 2010 and 2025, and protected frontline services as far as possible. However, looking forward we face another very challenging anticipated budget gap of just over £247 million to 2030/31. 

Earlier this year, the council applied to government for a £55.7 million loan called Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to bridge last year’s budget gap. Over the last six months, we have worked hard to identify savings and income generation proposals across the council to help meet this budget gap, while still being able to deliver quality services, meet all our demand pressures, and invest in our priorities included in our Our Plan for Barnet 2023-26. 

Council services from across our seven directorates have put forward additional savings and income generation proposals of £10 million. However, despite finding £10 million in savings for next year's budget, the council estimates that it will still have a gap in its budget of up to £88 million. This means the council will have to apply to government for another large EFS loan in 2026/27.

For more information on how we plan to meet the financial challenge, please read our consultation document (PDF, 375 KB).

You can also read the Cabinet Business Planning Report which sets out in full the council’s proposed budget for 2026/27. 

What we are seeking your views on 

We would like your views on the savings and income proposals we have developed to help balance our budget for next year (2026/27). In particular, we are seeking your views on: 

• the overall budget, and our savings and income generation proposals for 2026/27 
• our proposal to increase general Council Tax by 2.98% 
• our proposal to also apply an Adult Social Care Precept on Council Tax of 2% to help pay for adult social care
• your priorities for future years in terms of our limited resources.

We welcome views from all our residents, as well as people who study, work or have a business in the borough. We also welcome feedback from local organisations and community groups.

How to give us your views

Please

Please take the time to read our summary consultation document (PDF, 375 KB) then complete our online questionnaire below.

 Submit questionnaire

If you require a paper copy of the consultation document and questionnaire or another format, please email: budgetconsultation@barnet.gov.uk or telephone the Consultation and Research Team on 020 8359 7016. 

How we will use the consultation findings

The findings from this consultation will be reported to Cabinet on 24 February 2026 and will then be considered by Council on 5 March 2026 before deciding if the 2026/27 budget proposals should be approved. 

Document library

Budget consultation document (PDF, 375 KB)

Contact

Jyotika Dabasia, Assistant Director of Finance – Resources 

Email: budgetconsultation@barnet.gov.uk