Barnet Council is reeling as it faces an unprecedented financial crisis, launching a consultation on slashing its own workforce simply to meet its legal requirements for a balanced budget. To put it plainly, we’re talking about a potential “decimation” of staff – cutting one in every ten employees. This isn’t an isolated issue. It’s the culmination of Labour’s breathtaking financial mismanagement since coming into power.
The first thing Labour did upon taking control was to abolish the finance scrutiny committee, handing full financial responsibility to the Council Leader on top of all his other duties. Let’s be clear: financial oversight is essential in any council, and Barnet’s Labour administration threw it out the window at the first opportunity.
No financial lead. No accountability. It took them two years, despite our identification of the issue and two peer review reports from fellow Labour Council Leaders to do anything about it. Yet even then, they appointed someone with minimal financial experience. In those two wasted years, they’ve burned through £100 million of reserves, the financial buffer left by Barnet Conservatives. They have, in effect, burnt £200,000 of reserves, residents’ money, every single day since they took power in 2022.
This level of recklessness is unforgivable. Labour’s disregard for basic financial management has brought Barnet to the edge of financial collapse, and now it’s residents’, essential services and hardworking council staff who will pay the price. The looming redundancies mean real people will lose their jobs and residents will see their services stripped to the bone. Many devoted staff will leave for more stable councils, taking with them valuable expertise and experience, all thanks to Labour’s financial mismanagement.
For the last two years, we warned Labour that efficiencies such as a reduction of the council’s comms budget, reducing the number of cabinet members and a 4.7% reduction in staff was the only way to maintain a balanced budget. Labour laughed and ridiculed the proposal but now they’re having to plan to let go of 10% of staff in a panic to fix the mess they have made.
The reality is stark and the pain unavoidable. With our reserves squandered, Labour’s careless spending spree has put Barnet in an untenable position. Services will suffer. Morale is already shattered. As the Council limps towards this budget, residents should ask themselves: can Barnet survive another round of financial “management” Labour style?