Transcript

Transcript

Welcome to this council, thank you for attending this evening. Please note that the meeting will be recorded and broadcast. By attending you may be picked up on a recording. Council recordings are covered by privacy policy which can be found online. Recorded meetings may be retained and made available online as well. Please note that we are currently in a pre-election period in advance of the Finchley Church End by-election on the 6th of March 2025. During this time, ordinary council business can continue but members are reminded not to refer to candidates in relation to the upcoming election. Thank you for your support in ensuring that these principles are respected. at all times councillors. The council will be celebrating National Women's Day with a week of activities from Monday the 3rd of March to Saturday the 8th of March with our inspirational all awards event taking place at Hendon Town Hall on the 6th of March. Various events are taking place through the week and members are encouraged to attend where possible. so try your best. members are invited to attend where possible. members are invited to mark the COVID-19 Day of Reflection on Sunday the 9th of March from 1pm to 3pm taking place in the Committee Room 2, Hendon Town Hall with a selection of speakers. The event will commemorate those who lost their lives to COVID-19 and those who have been impacted by it as well as paying tribute to the work of health and social care staff, frontline workers, volunteers and others. volunteers and others. Refreshments will be provided. That could be an incentive. Group Secretaries, are there any apologies for absence? Mr. Mayor, we have apologies from Councillor Cook, Councillor Rich, Councillor Ambe and Councillor Woodcock-Bellerman. Councillor Stock. Thank you. I should like to invite Father Damien, my chaplain, to say prayers please. Lord of our lives, do not give us spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk, but grant upon us rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. Yes, Lord, grant us to see our own transgressions and not to judge our sister or brother, for you are the source of wisdom and blessings unto the ages of ages. I wish you a fruitful meeting. Thank you Father Damien. Thank you for starting this very important meeting with those prayers. And I'd like you, I'll excuse you, I know you have another commitment. So thank you very much for taking the time. May we wish you a good journey home. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As this is the budget setting meeting, I wish to remind members of some requirements under the Local Government Finance Act 1992. Section 106 of that Act provides that any member who has undischarged arrears of at least two months in respect to their council tax liability is precluded from participating in the vote on the setting of the council tax. If any member is in that situation, they need to declare that and they may not vote on any question in relation to the council tax. Members should note that it is a criminal offence if they fail to disclose and remain in the meeting and vote on that matter. Okay. If members have any interest that declares, please could you advise and also declare which agenda items the interest relates to. Oh, I couldn't see you, Councillor Cornelius. Oh, there's a first not to see me. Mr. Mayor, I have a pecuniary interest to declare in that I repair regularly the mayoral regalia and sometimes charge for it. Thank you. And I thank you very much for that as you handed one of them to me this evening on your way in. Thank you. I've got an interest to declare on item 12.3 due to my employment. I shan't be participating in the vote on that item. Thank you, Councillor Wardle. Anybody else? No. Okay. Does the council agree the accuracy of the minutes of the council meeting which we held on the 28th of January 2025? Agreed. There is no business from the last meeting. There are no public questions this evening. I would now like to inform members that we have received a deputation on the issue detailed in the agenda. Councillor, the deputation has been submitted and the supporting statement is enclosed at Appendix A. Thank you. I now invite the deputation leader, Anuta Sack, to address Council. You may have up to three minutes after which councillors will ask questions on the deputations. After councillors have asked questions on the deputations, council will debate what action to take. Good evening and welcome. Mayor, councillors, tonight Barnet Council seems set on adopting site 28 into the local plan. A decision that threatens Edgeware's future. Site 28 includes Edgeware underground station, bus station, bus garage and Deansbrook nature reserve. Two thirds of the site can't be built on, and the remaining third, the bus station and the garage, shouldn't be built on either. Insisting on housing units here necessitates an underground electric bus garage. Despite London fire brigade's warnings, there are no building regulations for such a structure. Electric vehicle fires can exceed 1,000 degrees, far beyond the 300 degrees at which concrete fails, posing a disaster risk under high-rise homes. Deansbrook nature reserve is home to protected species like bats, slow worms and badgers, yet no proper ecological assessments have been done. Building here could breach UK and EU conservation laws. Site 28 is flood threat zone 3, directly above Deansbrook, a tributary to the Brent Reservoir, a site of special scientific interest. There are no flood modelling. An underground electric bus garage could leak hazardous materials. An EV bus fire could contaminate watercourses with toxic chemicals, endangering public health and wildlife. Edgeware bus station is one of London's busiest, with around 3,500 daily bus movements on Station Road, and projected to rise to 5,000. About 90% of buses rely on the bus station for passenger access. The current garage houses 190 buses overnight, critical to London's transport network. 70% of the fleet is already hybrid or electric. Turning this hub into simple bus stops will cause severe congestion locally and on the A5, stalling growth. No transport assessment has been done. Public opposition is unprecedented. Hundreds of residents submitted objections to the local plan, and the connected planning application has received over 6,000 objections, a Barnet record. This strong response shows the site allocation doesn't align with Edgeware's residents' needs or wishes. In view of these serious issues, selecting site 28 without proper transport or environmental assessment raises significant concerns about the soundness of the process. Following the law technically doesn't make this decision right or sensible. We urge you, do not support site, adopt site 28 tonight. You have the power to prevent fire risks, environmental destruction and harm to Edgeware. Many of you campaigned to fight tower block blight and protect green spaces. This is your chance to keep your word. The people of Edgeware will not stand by while their town is endangered. If Barnet's council proceeds, you will give us no choice but to take this battle to the courts. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are allowing seven minutes for councillors to speak. The first speaker is Councillor Clarke. Thank you. We have seven minutes in total, everybody who wants to speak. Seven minutes yourself, Councillor Clarke. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wasn't going to spend seven minutes questioning, but thank you. I'd like to thank the residents who – am I meant to stand? Okay, sorry. But thank you all for coming and thank you for all your enthusiastic campaigns. What improvements would you like to see to Edgeware Town Centre? I'd very much definitely like investment and I'd very much like some more homes because, you know, I have children. One's a renter. One's a boomerang. I'm as committed as the next person to wanting to get rid of my children. But it has to suit Edgeware and the residents for the future and the current residents. And it has to be able to function. My concern is deeply that Edgeware won't function with what's planned for it. So, investment in Station Road. Investment in actually more bus services. The first question I ever asked in relation to the development, because I actually went in pro development, was what are you giving us hop and drop buses? What are you bringing to Edgeware to make it better? And they said, no, you're not getting any hop and drops. That's not in the plan. So, Edgeware has quite a good – the shopping centre is fully let. Station Road is doing better than many high streets. I want more. I don't want less than what we've already got. It's not that everybody – nobody in Edgeware doesn't want investment in Edgeware. You know, it's an older demographic. Most of us like children. Most of us want their children, their grandchildren to have a future. But the doubts about this development are that that's not what it's bringing. It's a different model. And Site 28 is the transport infrastructure. That's London. That's not just Edgeware. It needs to work. And how does it work? Station Road doesn't – can't take all the buses. It's already stationary a lot of the time. To make it take all of these bus movements, it won't work. It's not wide enough to have that sort of level of extension. So, if you're taking out the buses, you're going to have to reroute them. Then the reason to give it such a dense allocation is no longer valid, because you don't have the transport hub. If the garage is an experiment – I'm not against electric buses, I'm not against – but the technology currently doesn't work. The two examples we were given by the developers both had fires in Europe. One was in Stuttgart, one was in Paris. This isn't about wanting to block the future. It's wanting to make sure it's a good future. So, you know, I would love forum side. In Edgeware, we have a jewel, the Railway Hotel. It's one of the finest examples of its – in the country. It's been decaying. Behind it is a perfect brownfield site that you considered ready for development over 10 years ago. Why hasn't that been developed? People should be in the homes that should have been built a decade ago. There is scope for development, but it has to be the development that works and improves. Edgeware is supposed to be your only major town centre. It shouldn't be that it has less than everywhere else. It should be that it has more. It already has a green deficit. You will make its deficit even worse. You know, it doesn't help me. Mrs Zack, not that I want to interrupt, but there's only two minutes left to make questions. I'm trying to get another question in for you. Yeah? Councillor, wait. Can you – okay. Whoever's up, can you stand? Yeah, of course. Councillor. Councillor Peter Zinkin noted last month at Cabinet that over 5,000 objections were made by our neighbours and your neighbours and stressed – and Peter, Councillor Zinkin stressed – that residents' voices must be heard. What's your experience been ensuring that your voices are heard both by the Council and also the GLA and Mayor of London? Well, being heard is an interesting one. I mean, we put in 6,000 objections. There's only a couple of thousand on the site – on the website. But even worse is there are three paid lobbyist companies that are collecting support out of area, not the residents. You know, we are a residence group. We're unpaid. We're working for our neighbours for nothing. So, teenager – you know, students by paid lobbyist companies working for Ballimore and TFL, gaining signatures from people who live in Enfield or Hampstead Garden Suburb or any other area that isn't edgeware are having – are being collected. I very much doubt they're being given the facts. And for their voices to be considered equivalent to the person who's going to be living and dealing with everything, doesn't seem reasonable. And also, if it was a local resident who was collecting support, then I'd be proud of them. But for paid lobbyists to be campaigning against residents, that doesn't seem a level playing field. Thank you. Councillor Shooter. Thank you very much. I didn't think I'd get time. So, how much of this Site 28 land is actually legally allowed to be built on? And also, I assume that – I think there's a sewage problem as well in the edgeware. Isn't there a structural sewage problem? And would this cause problems with development? The last two years had raw sewage coming down Station Road at irregular intervals. They sort of pump it out regularly. There's a major structural issue, it seems to me, with sewages across the borough. But edgeware's got a real problem. Of the site that's been allocated, despite the fact that it's operational land, watercourse, everything else, every inch, they allocated housing for. And then, obviously, they want to squeeze it into the third that is still operational land, but that they want to build on. So, you know, to me, that doesn't even seem rational, that you can allocate on the underground rail tracks, that you can allocate on everything, and then sort of say, well, actually you can't, so we'll just pile it on top of each other. And, by the way, you're losing your bus station, 68-seater, covered, manned, and actually really well utilised. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. We have a total of ten minutes in total allocated for the next section. I believe the first speaker is Councillor Houston. Yeah. Thank you very much. And I think, you know, I do thank you for coming to speak to us. There are a number of issues that you have raised. And I think the first thing I would say is I think a lot of the issues you have raised are the proper place for those to be looked at is the planning committee after the submission has been through our planning department. And I think to then sort of retrofit the local plan by removing a site at this stage isn't actually practicable. It isn't practicable because the local plan basically has had the final modifications agreed by the inspector. We either have to reject it as a whole local plan and throw it out. What we are not able to do is amend it by removing site allocations. Now, the site selection background report dated from 2018. This has been to, under the previous administration, three policy and resource committees for a sign-off. There was a members advisory panel which met 13 times, which was cross-party. And the site allocations have been in there all the way through that. In fact, as you will know, the Handsworth Airshower and the Community Association did make representations in the final public hearings on this to the inspector. And they were considered and addressed by the inspector in the comments. Maybe not to your satisfaction, but they were raised with the inspector and addressed as part of the final modifications made to the local plan. There are genuine concerns, and I think it's important that the planning committee hear those. But that is the right forum for this debate, in my view. We are far too far down the line to basically tearing up nine years of work in a local plan. I mean, you mentioned the environmental considerations. We would be going back to environmental considerations from our local plan dated 2012. That would not be good across the borough to not have all the changes that we have made in terms of environment, in terms of some of the modifications that have been put into the latest version of the local plan. When we entered administration, we had very little that we could change with the final version, because it had already been through various amounts of consultation. Almost all the consultation done to this local plan and about edgware has happened before our administration, basically. Including the edgware growth area, a supplementary planning document, which is a major planning document, which actually we didn't support, but it went through under the previous administration. It didn't have any height restrictions, which is one of the things that we thought it should have had. So I really do think that it is important for you to raise these issues to the planning committee, but for us to not adopt the local plan would mean that we would be basically expecting that, well, the Secretary of State is almost certain to impose a local plan. And if we don't, we will have no framework to oppose bad development in the borough. We will be relying on the Mayor of London, government, the inspectors, but also speculative development, because we won't have sites that we've identified, because all the sites would be thrown out if we don't adopt this local plan, which means the site allocation protects sites that are, and I know this doesn't help you in relation to edgware, it protects sites that are not in the local plan site allocation from being developed, overdeveloped. So, you know, it would be disastrous for the borough. One of the concerns which, you know, I know you've raised scrutiny was around the bus station. And I did give a commitment at the scrutiny committee to write to the Deputy Mayor, responsible, and I've done that. And basically what I've said is to confirm that the local plan makes clear bus operations and the function of the bus station must be protected or re-provided as part of any redevelopment. Secondly, that the Council would hold TFL to its own standards when considering any re-provision of a bus station in edgware. And thirdly, the request that TFL has clearly set out its specification for a bus station. The problem with putting an operational specification for a bus station in the local plan is it really, a local plan will last for a decade plus. Time moves on and actually you can't be making a, what is in effect, a condition about a type of building into what is a planning document. It's not, it would be out of date very quickly. It's down to TFL to use their own and be held to account over any, any proposals they have in relation to the bus station. And I can assure you that I'm sure members across the Chamber will want to make sure that that any, any bus, any proposals, that we're comfortable with proposals in terms of health and safety and the provision of, of, of transport. I, but I do thank you for coming forward. And I do realize that it's a, as I say, it's a, it can be a very frustrating process to try and, I come to, you know, you know, get involved in the planning process. It's very bureaucratic. It can seem very, it can, it can seem very in approachable. You've been very, you know, you've, you've, you've come to and raise this issue again and again. And I think we have heard, but it is subject to, as I say, the planning committee. And they will have to weigh up the fact that, as we've said previously, whenever we've met, that edgeware has been identified as a growth area for decades by, by previous mayors of London, by this mayor of London. And it has been identified as a suitable brownfield site for growth. I think getting the plan and the proposal right is important. But what we can't do is stop development happening in edgeware. That, I'm afraid that, that, that ship sailed many years ago. And I think you would acknowledge that some development needs to happen in edgeware in terms of the residential you'd reference it. The important thing... Councillor Houston, can you wrap up? Thank you. Yeah. Councillor Wakeley. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I thought I might not have a chance to speak. I want to say thank you to Save Our Edgeware for bringing this deputation to council. I know how much time and effort you all put into this, and it is really fantastic to see the residents. I'm grateful we've been able to work so closely together as we fight for the right development for edgeware. The Labour Administration must ensure the residents in edgeware are able to be a part of this process by taking their concerns seriously. I was disappointed they took no action despite the over 500 emails that were sent to them regarding the local plan. I will continue to urge my colleagues across this chamber to listen to the views of those in edgeware, and also the surrounding wards that will be impacted. I will work hard to ensure that the 6,000 objections that were received are properly considered, and that they will take all appropriate steps to ensure the best possible outcome for edgeware. Tonight, we will be voting on option 3, as the administration must acknowledge the concerns of our residents in Edgeware and Burnt Oak and Edgebury and the surrounding wards that will no doubt be impacted by these plans. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Schueter. Thank you very much. I find it a little bit of a weak excuse that if we don't adopt the plan, then it will be forced on us. I think that's a bit of a cop-out. And let's not forget, we're building 3,000 units here in this very small area, and we should have the right to be able to control our own destiny. Obviously, we've got the sewage problem, you know, with the streets being full of crap, just like the politicians, but I'd just like to note the Labour Party manifesto, our contract with the borough, 2022. I'm actually amazed this is still online, I was just like, I couldn't believe it, what I was seeing. I mean, the first one, freeze council tax, obviously, it says in 2022, very, very clever wording. Then, obviously, you've got your climate emergency, so your next stupid zero policy is coming, we're going to have lots of food recycling on the 29th floor of this block. I don't know how that's going to smell out the whole block anyway. But the fifth one was stand up to developers against tower block blight. Now, that's one of your main manifesto policies, right? So, did you not mean to say, stand up with developers? And, I can't actually understand, I mean, you've just had a council elected in Burnt Oak, that is now sandwiched, Burnt Oak's sandwiched between two huge scale developments. I'm just interested, I mean, she must have campaigned presumably on this manifesto, partly. So, perhaps, she might even... Obviously, Reform UK is against this development quite strongly. But, all I want to say is, what is this Burnt Oak Councillor going to do now? Because she's campaigned, like, and a week later she's actually voting for the developers. So, all I would say is, well done on supporting Singapore investors and lighting edgeware. Thank you. Can I ask... Quiet, please. Can I ask Councillor Gordon, please? Thank you, Mr Mayor. The Conservative group moved the adoption of option three of the recommendation to ask officers to provide a written response to the deputation. Anuta, we've heard your concerns loud and clear. Over 5,000 objections cannot be ignored. That's why we as councillors in Edgeware demanded an urgent review to the 2021 Edgeware SPD at the local plan adoption last month. It's also why, as a group, we have endeavoured to respond to every single email residents have sent in relation to the concerns. We have also worked to represent your views wherever we are able and continue to support you in making your voices heard. We have urged the council to sit down with TfL and redesign the bus station to reflect your needs. We will help you in lobbying the GLA and the Harrow GLA member, with the Harrow GLA member, Krupash Hirani, as well as Bob Blackman MP. Yes, we back the need for new homes, but not at the cost of the town's character or safety. As your local councillors, we will continue to support you throughout. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councillor Gordon. OK, I understand that the Administration are to propose a course of action in relation to the deputation. Councillor Houston, would you like to propose the course of action? Where? Yes. OK. All right. Just one minute, Councillor. Who is proposing? We just need to be seconded. Option three. Who can second that proposal? Councillor Richard Cornelius. OK. Sorry. Sorry. We have to propose no action because we are a vote. One minute, Councillor. One minute, Councillor. One minute, Councillor. Who is proposing? We just need to be seconded. Option three. Who can second that proposal? Councillor Richard Cornelius. OK. All right. Sorry. Councillor Houston. Councillor Houston. Sorry. We have to propose no action because we are about to discuss the local plan. So, the vote on the local plan is about to happen and the Council has to make a decision about that. So, I'm proposing no action. All right. Is that seconded? Yeah. Councillor. Yeah. Councillor. Cohen. Mr. Mayor, we will now proceed to vote on Councillor Shuey Gordon's proposed course of action. All those in favour? That's 18, Mr. Mayor. We will now proceed to vote on Councillor Houston's course of action. All those in favour? That's 33, Mr. Mayor. So, that's carried to take no action in relation to the deputation. So, option number one is carried. All right. We've got this bit here, Mr. Mayor. Oh yeah. Where is it? It's not on mine. It's here. So, I'm recording the agenda. We will take item 12.3, Local Plan, Adoption Barnet's New Local Development Scheme. Next on the agenda. Next on the agenda. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 19, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Mayor. It's not on mine. It's here. That's a bit as a matter. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And, there you have any questions? Yes. Thank you. So, I'm recording the agenda. We will take item 12.3, Local Plan, Adoption Barnet's New Local Development Scheme. next on the agenda Councillor Ross to approve the local plan Barnett's new local development scheme thank you Mr Mayor I now call on Councillor Houston to move reception and adoption of the item along with other speakers Councillor Houston you have three minutes thank you Mr Mayor I'm pleased to propose the adoption of Barnett's new local plan this is the final stage on a nine year long journey production of a cross-party local plan started in 2016 and there has been extensive engagement across the borough as part of our regulatory process the end of which once approved by the planning inspector is adoption the inspector's report is binding on the council insofar as it can only adopt the plan with the main modifications recommended the council cannot remove any part of the plan which with the main and additional modifications has become the adopted version before us today the local plan for almost stages of approval were agreed at policy resources committee on set three committee meetings on the 6th of January 2020 on the 16th of June 2021 and on the 30th of September 2021 final version of the inspector approved plan has been discussed by the overview and scrutiny committee on both 5th March 24 and 30th January 25 and at cabinet on 12th March 24 and 5th February 25 engagement with members started in autumn 2017 the cross-party local plan members advisory group met 13 times in all and signed off the local plan prior to formal approval by policy and resources committee in June 2021 under the previous administration substantially the document with the site allocations before you now members will of course be aware of the concerns raised about the current Ballymore TFL edgware planning application this application is being considered by our planning department our planning committee will have to consider the application in the usual way and will of course consider all the concerns and comments raised it is not appropriate for me to comment on those proposals here the issue we are considering this evening is the local plan in June 2022 the new administration sought changes before the examination and public hearings on the approach to tall buildings to better reflect character constraints a clear message was delivered that tall buildings are not the only way to deliver higher densities a design led approach to optimising site capacity as required and the council will carefully assess to adopt the local plan in the likely event that the Secretary of State does not intervene we would lose credibility as a planning authority all 51 policies and 57 site proposals will cease to be material considerations we'd have the ridicule and public scrutiny over the costs of the nine year process greater intervention by the Secretary of State and Mayor in our planning decisions we will be reliant on the London plan the National Planning Policy Framework and the 2012 local plan no more up-to-date local dimension and decision making more decisions likely to be allowed on appeal this will encourage speculative development our Greenbelt and Metropolitan Thank you Councillor Huston will be weakened please adopt the local plan for the reasons that I've outlined thank you very much Mr Mayor Thank you Councillor Wakeley you have up to three minutes Thank you Mr Mayor the Conservatives will be voting against the local plan this evening the reason we are voting against the local plan is that the Labour Administration has done nothing to address the concerns raised by residents over 500 residents emailed all councillors to raise their concerns about this plan as councillor it is our job to represent the views of our residents so we cannot in good faith vote for this plan whilst our residents are still being ignored Labour was elected to run this council on a manifesto commitment that they would stop the Tower Block plight and they said that they would put listening to residents at the heart of how they run the council at the cabinet meeting where the local plan was considered my colleagues and I made several detailed suggestions by the cabinet as to how they could respond to residents all these have been ignored by voting for this plan tonight the Labour councillors in this chamber are not just ignoring hundreds of residents but are breaking one of their fundamental manifesto commitments we will be voting against this local plan Thank you Councillor Young you have up to three minutes Thank you Mr Mayor First I would like to commend the work of officers in preparing this plan This 15 year vision sets out how we propose to encourage and control the growth of our borough Government policy has always required local authorities to have up to date plans ideally no more than five years old The Conservatives let this slip The current plan is 13 years out of date The National Planning Policy Framework requires in paragraphs 10 and 11 that when planning committees make decisions there is a presumption in favour of sustainable development Where there is no up to date plan as in Barnet that presumption is stronger and applications must be granted unless harm caused would significantly and demonstratively outweigh the benefits particularly in sustainable locations Simply put not having a plan or leaving out sustainable locations from that plan increases the chance of uncontrolled development happening throughout our borough and particularly in accessible locations it does not stop it or reduce it The plan before us confirms with National and London policy and provides a complex interwoven suite of policies that will encourage and control employment and housing growth that meets our needs and 35 to 50% of which is affordable promote high quality sustainable development maintain the vibrancy of our town centres and the quality of our environment support sustainable transport and vitally support social and community infrastructure Without this plan we condemn Barnet to uncontrolled overdevelopment in town centres and growth areas and inappropriate development on green spaces and in our suburbs without vital social and physical infrastructure provision With this plan we can preserve much of our suburban character protect our cherished green spaces and focus development into town centres and growth areas with the necessary funding to support community health and education provision I commend it to you Thank you Council are asked to agree the recommendations on page 720 of the agenda councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands those in favour of recommendations please show That's 33 Mr. Mayor Those against the recommendation please show That's 18 Mr. Mayor Recommendation has been agreed We'll now revert back to the original order of the agenda councillors I now call upon Councillor Naranthira to read out the resolution of appreciation At the meeting of the council held at Hendon Town Hall on Tuesday 4th March 2025 it was resolved that we the members of the council of the London Borough of Barnet hereby expressed to the Worshipful the Mayor Councillor Tony Worrell our appreciation of the excellent service he has rendered to the London Borough of Barnet as its Mayor during the period May 2024 to May 2025 and for the friendly and conscientious way in which he has performed the duties of that office we offer him our sincere gratitude for the concern that he has shown at all times in promoting the welfare of the Borough and its residents particularly for his willingness to support the many organisations and individuals who called on his time and services during his Mayoralty we congratulate him on the success of his appeals for his charities Macmillan Cancer Support Age UK Barnet and the Royal Free Charity in Aid of Cardiac Equipment at Barnet Hospital I appreciate that Councillor Naranthira and I'd like to thank all the councillors in the chamber for all the assistance you've all given me during this period it's been much appreciated so in saying that we have a new leaf to turn over in the book can I please have the nominations for Mayor designate for the municipal year 2025 2026 I would like to invite Councillor Houston to put forward the labour nomination for the Mayor designate which will be seconded by Councillor McCurk Thank you Mr Mayor it's a privilege to be able to support the nomination of my fellow West Finchley Councillor and friend Councillor Danny Rich to be Mayor of Barnet for the municipal year 2025 to 2026 Of course Mr Mayor Danny has had excellent training for this role serving as your deputy mayor This follows a lifetime of public service as a rabbi as magistrate and through his involvement in many organisations and causes Danny was a South London boy and his life growing up in a liberal Jewish family was also shaped by his time at his grammar school where he became head boy and by the South London Liberal Synagogue and the Liberal Synagogue in St. John's Wood A degree in politics and modern history at Manchester University was followed by rabbinic training at Leobet College in Finchley He was ordained The chairing skills he learnt there will be put to full use when he has to chair full council Danny was also a national convener of progressive Jewish students Danny served for two decades as a rabbi in Kingston before serving in a national role for 15 years as senior rabbi and chief executive of Liberal Judaism I first got to know Danny in 2014 when he served as an independent member of Barnet Labour Group's Housing Commission our report Home Truths for Barnet helped influence housing policy both in Barnet and wider field in London and so shapes this administration's thinking on housing Danny has served many congregations across the country and is now senior rabbi at Southgate Progressive Synagogue He continues to serve as a hospital prison and special hospital chaplain and is in his 26th year as a justice of the whose vacation led him to become a rabbi Danny is a people person and someone with a strong pastoral side he is generous kind and principled as some of you will know I was badly injured a few years ago Danny was a great sport with offers of lifts and food I know that many others have been grateful for his kindness and support it is who he is Danny gift for public as colleagues from all sides of the chamber will know he will make a firm but fair chair Danny and his wife Laura have eight children for each and eight grandchildren I know they will be a great support to Danny in his mayoral year it is a worthy successor to the many excellent mayors who have served this borough thank you Thank you Councillor McGill I'm very happy to second the nomination reach rich as which I believe is the first rabbi to actually be mayor in the London borough of Barney which itself is a recognition I think across this whole room today actually everyone would welcome obviously Ross has already spoken about the achievements he has made the one thing about Danny is he got the biggest heart I have ever known he even shuts me up when I substitute on Oversu scrutiny chairing this town in the town hall you know and I know that Danny will be fair he will pull you up if you say things that are wrong very very strict but very very fair his massive achievement is actually bringing communities together the Muslim community the Christian community and the Jewish community and I think in a borough of Barnet that should be the someone who should be our first person the person who should be representing him I'd also like to say I think between Tony and Danny in this mayoral year I have enjoyed it so much it has been fun it has been inclusive Danny is not here but I am going to challenge him to how many schools he can visit in the borough in his mayoral year the last council meeting respected to former mayors who did so much of this borough and I think in Danny we are actually moving this on he has he had a reputation before he became a councillor my ward colleague and Ross's ward colleague and I think he's someone who will represent Barnett in the best way policy not just within the borough not just in London not just in the UK but I think he will actually promote us as a fair respected multicultural borough across the whole of the nations thank you we have not received any nominations for Mayor for the municipal year 2025-26 from the Conservative Group correct yeah thank you Mr Mayor that's correct thank you a vote will now be taken on the Labour nomination of Mayor Designate all those in favour that's all Mr Mayor okay Councillor Danner Richie's truly approved as the Mayor Designate for the municipal year 2025-26 as the Mayor Designate is unfortunately absent it wasn't his fault he booked it before this was changed I have been asked to inform council of his intention to nominate Councillor Edith David as his deputy mayor council are asked to note the nomination of the deputy mayor designated okay we move on agenda item 12.1 is a report from the executive business planning 2025 to 2030 I I now move to suspend the council procedure rules under article 1 section 1.8 which allows the usual rules to be suspended to allow the initial speeches on the budget to be up to the following lengths 10 minutes for the leader 8 minutes for the conservative group 5 minutes for right of reply for the leader is that all agreed and I call on council of Rawlings to move reception and adoption of item 12.1 on the agenda order Mr. Mayor are we really only getting 8 minutes for the conservative group or for our leader it's for the leader but then the subsequent speakers will get 3 minutes my apologies at least I know you're awake councillor Cornelius thank you yeah so councillor Rawlings you have up to 10 minutes thank you mr. mayor and many congratulations on your successful mayoral year and to our mayor and deputy mayor designate on their nomination now mr. mayor I am recommending the administration's budget report before us this evening and would like to thank all the officers involved in the budget process including our lead finance officers both current and past and nisa darge driotica devassia kevin barter and dean langston and i'd also like to thank my cabinet colleagues for their collective work in helping steward and put together the budget before us and also the scrutiny members for their input last last year last year i said it was a difficult year this year has been harder yet we have before us a balanced budget that continues to deliver on our commitments to residents our budget also includes measures to try and address the structural problems local government faces following decades of funding cuts from successive conservative governments and it also includes measures to deal with some of the internal problems we inherited from the previous conservative administration i note at this point there's no alternative budget before us tonight from the conservative opposition they governed with no vision or control in the past they left a mess and now they have no vision or plan for the future but i'm pleased to say we do have a plan and our plan to put the council on a more sustainable footing is starting to show some positive signs of working from quarter two our gross overspend has improved by almost two million we expect year-end reserves would have improved by two million our spending controls have reduced agency spend by 18% and aged debt is down 15 millions it's early days and although demand for services continues to increase our financial position is stabilising and we are also achieving so much of our vision in our plan for Barnet think of the extra things the 97 million to fix our roads and pavements more investment than ever before more potholes being fixed and being fixed faster more residents satisfied with waste and recycling services more residents satisfied with street cleanliness this more this more is in comparison with the last administration free community skips embedded at weekends CCTV increased fixed and upgraded our control room launched community hubs and walled walks ongoing fewer people concerned with crime 779 more afforded these are printed figures these are published public figures you don't like facts tough 779 more affordable homes delivered 1,000 council homes on truck investment in our parks and green spaces over 41,000 people attending cultural events at libraries last year double the year before hundreds more electric charge points barnet white carbon emissions down adults and children services both rated good under us our key promises kept including council tax below the legal maximum lots so we have done lots but there is still lots to do and although the financial pressures remain and there will be tough decisions to make for some time we will continue to deliver but what do the but what do the conservatives have to offer the people of barnet when it comes to the budget a blank sheet of paper no plan no ideas no future they recklessly run down the reserves and built up future unfunded commitments I will bring that when they should have built up reserves before making commitments their reserve position we inherited from them was a fiction in reality the conservatives have already spent it we've now reviewed the capital programme to get it onto a more sustainable footing and we started to improve reserves with a plan to build them back up over time and while we have been helped by the new Labour government with additional funding assistance in the form of exceptional support and the future review to make council funding fairer just remember what the last Conservative government did they gave us loose trust now to be fair even the Barnet Tories could not have predicted the damaging fiasco of the fiscal event under trust but they are unable to produce a budget to deal with the fallout from that because they have no vision no plan no idea what to do under the Barnet Tories Barnet residents will be offered no hope they are definitely the hopeless party over 14 years the Conservatives slash Barnet's funding crushed the economy and trust our reserves and now it's down to us to turn the page on Tory chaos our budget is a positive budget that helps deliver on our manifesto commitments and works to address the financial challenges we inherited from the Conservatives we are investing now to save in the future fixing the roads and pavements to keep down the cost of maintaining them building a thousand new council homes to reduce the cost of temporary accommodation bringing children's care facilities in house so we don't pay huge profits to private companies promoting independence in old age we're helping people stay healthy in their own homes which also keeps the cost of social care down and by investing in net zero we improve our air quality health and reduce our energy costs Mr Mayor compare this to the Tories record in power we all remember it deteriorating roads bin collection chaos no investment in social housing the graph of doom and they made that a reality services outsourced costing more and performing badly no plan to tackle climate change and a legacy of financial problems I'm sure there'll be some constructive criticism when councillor Zincon speaks and it always helps you have a sense of humour when they give advice but they still have to explain why they have no ideas no plan and no alternative budget what I say to him is we've got a partner in the new Labour government we've made a difference in people's lives we're the people with a plan and it's working Mr Mayor I move the budget report in my name and urge everyone to vote for it thank you can I invite councillor Zincon you have up to eight minutes sir Mr Mayor we'll soon be celebrating the Jewish festival of Passover at the Passover Seder the children ask a well known question why is this night different from all other nights I have to ask the same question about the budget that's before us why is this budget different from all other budgets yes it is a balanced budget but only because the government has allowed Barnet to borrow up to 55 million to balance this budget it is not a bailout borrowings have to be repaid our budgeted spending is 55 million more than our budgeted income a massive budget hole which this Labour administration has no plan to fix the hole is on top of all the cost savings fee increases and the 5% increase in council tax to fill the labour hole would require a £500 increase in bandy council tax the statement in the budget that the budget gap over the next five years is only around 100 million is utter nonsense the budget gap over the next five years is in excess of 325 million how do we calculate that unfortunately if you don't fill a hole it keeps on being there so the 55 million excess expenditure carries on into next year and beyond over the rest of the MTFS period the hole adds up to another 225 million which is not in the budget papers which together with the 100 million gap which is included makes the 325 I put this to the leader and cabinet at the cabinet meeting to recommend the budget to council they are all in denial there is no plan to fill the hole so the full scale of the problem we face should be in the papers it is not I have to question from that meeting whether this cabinet even understand the scale of the task that faces us now we have to hope that this financially incompetent administration is able to find some additional cost savings to start to reduce that hole otherwise the fate of Barnett as with many other labour run authorities is going to be financial ruin reduction of services and misery for our residents what else can you expect from a labour administration a labour mayor of London and a labour government three years ago this labour administration inherited over a hundred million of reserves these have been squandered at 200,000 pounds every single day to bring us to today councillors last year we did an analysis of the budget which showed that many of the savings were just fantasy we sent a copy to all administration members before the vote last year inevitably much of those fantasy savings turned out to be exactly that fantasy that is one of the reasons why they've used all our remaining reserves in the 24-25 year we proposed a budget which included reducing cabinet posts but including a cabinet member for finance eliminating the town centre scheme staff reductions and losing Barnett first our budget proposal was rejected and mocked by the leader and yet each one of these and many more minor proposals have now been adopted by this administration even when they adopted our suggestion they messed it up after our pressure and our representations to the peer review team the administration did finally two years late create a finance post but look who their first appointee was over the last year this administration pensioners repeatedly blamed their difficulties on the large hike in long term interest rates they just don't understand local government finance the biggest liability this council has is its pension fund and the fund is a huge beneficiary of the increase in interest rates the increase has also underpinned the cross party decision to reduce the extra deficit contributions to the fund this budget is a punishment on the poorest and most vulnerable in the borough one of the biggest cost savings in the budget is a transfer of money from a grant to support families in need to pay administration costs this was hidden in the budget papers and it took months and months to get an explanation of what is really planned our vulnerable adults our vulnerable children families in need these are the groups this administration has chosen to bear the burden of the cost cuts again I asked the cabinet for an analysis of where the burden of the cost savings lay and was told that that would not be a good use of officer time what are you ashamed of do the labor members of this council really understand what it is they're being asked to support when this budget comes to a vote do they really support the attack this budget is on the most vulnerable in the borough even the alternative unison budget seems to agree with us the labor government takes money from those most in need and so does this labor council so as well as this administration letting down those in our community who are most dependent on the services the council provide they've also taken the easy route of cuts that will make the borough a worse place to live cuts to street cleaning reducing the much vaunted community skip service planning less weed sprays and reducing grass cutting never mind the changes to the library service so the services that matter to most of our residents will be reduced and that's of course as well as the outrageous increases in many of the fees and charges the council level levy particularly around parking and green bins which are already implemented as we read in the news every day labor hate cars and labor hate car drivers barm it faces a financial crisis there are no answers to that crisis in these budget papers this administration has no answers we have to believe that this administration will pay the price for this utter financial elect an aptitude in may 26 thank you councillor zinkin so now we have a maiden speech incorporated can we councillor dyes you have four minutes and welcome thank you thank you it is an honor to be making my maiden speech today as burnt oaks newly elected labor councillor i am i am proud to be representing my local community my daughter went to one of burnt oaks excellent schools i drink coffee in montrose park and shop on whatling avenue i promise to continue the great work our labor councillors councillor garun and councillor conway have achieved today since labor took power in barnet in 2022 we've witnessed a 45 percent reduction in anti-social behavior and nowhere is this evident more than in burnt oak upgraded cctv now covers key hot spots to help with deterrence and enforcement and 24 7 monitoring which was not happening under the tories a public space protection order has made it easier to report crime anti-social behavior and littering road users have safer crossings on montrose avenue and upgraded paving in key areas such as orange hill road burnt oak benefits from beautiful green spaces excellent schools great independent shops transport links and hard-working community groups such as friends of whatland park and the nepalese community who i've litter picked alongside and have been humbled by their dedication to the ward i look forward to working with them and all residents to build on our progress in building a burnt oak where everyone feels safe and valued there are some very difficult decisions in this budget this is what a responsible labor administration does we're in this mess because the conservatives refuse to make decisions preferring preferring capita to make them for them but we can still preserve much of the work undertaken to transfer form the borough from burnt oak to barnet vale from east finchley to east barnet we are building a thousand new council homes to reduce the exorbitant cost of temporary accommodation we will bring children's care facilities in house so we're not having to pay huge profits to private companies and their shareholders for the care of our children and we will promote independence and old age by helping people stay healthy in their own homes we will continue our work to become a net zero boa by 2042 we are decarbonizing the council fleet and buildings planting a thousand trees annually and providing thousands of new electric vehicle charging points to improve air quality and to reduce energy costs and we will deliver this while charging lower council tax than our neighbors including conservative harrow thank you may i just remind all councillors in the chamber this is a debating chamber and we allow we should allow all councillors that are speaking the respect of them putting their views forward and then we can put our views forward in our own time that way we'll get through this agenda much quicker you can so the next person i want to invite is councillor wakely thank you mr mayor the conservative group on this council have been highlighting labour's financial mismanagement since they took over in 2022 we warn them that spending money at the rate they have done so would lead to a very difficult financial position down the road labour wasted money on giving out free air fryers on a climate assembly run by an expensive events company and on various expensive vanity projects the reserves we built up whilst we were running the council have been spent and now the vulnerable in barnet are having to suffer the consequences this budget will have serious impacts on those who need support just four of the increased charges are one pair arrangement costs will be hyped from a three hundred pound one-off charge to a nineteen hundred pound annual charge two they will take three hundred and three hundred seventy five pounds every year for the first time ever in barnet from our pensioners who need assistance but have three thousand pounds in savings three two hundred and sixty pounds a year will be charged to use much needed technology by the most vulnerable four respite care fees will almost double from just over six and a half thousand to thirteen thousand pounds a year what is perhaps most scandalous is what they're doing to the household support fund this fund is from the government and is meant to help families who are struggling with the cost of living labour are using this fund for running costs rather than passing it to those who are in need they should be ashamed barnet's pensioners have already been robbed of the winter fuel payment by the labour government and now their labour council are charging them through the roof in their hour of need labour's financial mismanagement and incompetency will impact those who are most vulnerable in barnet this is what they've done in just three years they have showed us all that they cannot be trusted to run this council labour are bad for barnet and barnet deserve better thank you councillor houston you have up to three minutes thank you thank you mr mayor normally when i speak on the budget debate i refer to the conservative budget amendment this year astonishing the conservatives are missing in action something that can be said of them over the past decade indeed we have known that this crisis has been coming since the 2011 a graph of doom which showed that where the council had its own projections showing that ever increasing adult social care costs and less government funding were going to be real problems for this borough the conservative response was to lurch into an ideologically motivated outsourcing program which preserved a service delivery model tied to a 10-year contract and did not deliver the promised savings instead of reform we got petrification they refused to make the investments needed to make the council fit to face the challenges that have now hit us top businesses would never outsource strategically important functions but the barnet tories knew better we had the shocking two million pounds for case which led to a damning grant thornton report the worst audit report i've ever read as the report said the key pillars of sound financial management were simply not in place the council had to rush to bring strategic planning strategic finance back in-house one reason we have been so badly hit by london's temporary accommodation budget crisis hitting all boroughs as children's services and adult social care pressures hitting all boroughs after over a decade of tory government cuts we have the sixth lowest council housing stock in london despite being the second biggest borough in london decades of tory failure to invest in housing barnet labour are investing to save with our commitment to deliver a thousand council homes another example is the capital budget where the barnet tories committed us to projects with no plan to pay for them we've had to use our reserves and take out almost 98 million out of the program you cannot spend money that you don't have it's a simple rule of basic finance and and we had stuff in that program that we hadn't financed the administration has radically overhauled governance and financial oversight reintroduced the cabinet and scrutiny system to stop silo working radically changed the oversight of the council's finance and budgeting brought core services back in house with the control and flexibility that brings brought an external review this isn't a serious opposition you cannot support your own local plan proposals written under your watch you cannot come up with an alternative budget it's pathetic it really is I support this budget it's a sensible and grown-up response to making our finances fit for the future and and and fixing the mess left to us by a Tory government and a Tory council Councillor Longstaff you have up to three minutes saying thank you mr mayor and this really is a budget for the borough of fun family-friendly cuts and service reductions for everyone across the borough last year the 10 transport budget was cut by 800,000 pounds so the children had to move from taxis to personal budgets this time around it's 300,000 pounds and next year after it's a hundred thousand more but you always get the same assurances that it's legal but what you really need to know is that the children have longer journey times they have to share their journeys in smaller spaces and that increases stress and tension before they start school inhibiting their ability to learn there are a lot of difficult decisions in this budget looking at the reorganization and restructure savings we can see that libraries are cutting 250,000 pounds which means reduced hours but not a peep from labor the commissioning service 405,000 but will ever be as effective and this is a really important one the help and protection team the title tells you an extremely important part of the children's service a 1.1 million pound reduction and lastly corporate parenting of which we are all corporate parents it's a big important service and an extremely important one and 800,000 pounds will be a big hit there is also an item in the budget for 600,000 pounds saving that I can't even understand when you read it and this is the wording in your own budget additional education funding to offset costs against within defined criteria for spend and that's a 600,000 pound reduction I can only think of one person who might have written it but I think he's now left the council I have severe concerns about reducing the time it takes for social workers to do assessments just to save 100,000 pounds rushing leads to mistakes which leads to higher costs and can easily wipe out that 100,000 pounds and we've had the decimation of the senior management team but if you ask questions you get told it's fine nothing to worry about we're all confident the early years help team has been culled there were six posts five have been made redundant and we're down to an early years help person the labour manifesto wanted outstanding from family services but none of these cuts will enhance the council's prospects of reaching outstanding and just one last point Mr Mayor one million pounds appeared in the budget from the dedicated schools grant and was removed shortly after Labour's manifesto talks about a sustainable future for all our schools and then Labour tried to take a million pounds from cash-strapped schools none of this budget adds up in any way Mr Mayor thank you thank you can I have Councillor Chakrabarti please you have up to three minutes thank you Mr Mayor I think amidst the cut and thrust of the budget debate that we enjoy once a year we should never forget what residents actually brought us here to do in the first place which is govern in the residents interest and not at Capita's behest that is possibly the biggest difference that we have made under a very difficult set of financial circumstances that we were bequeathed when I speak to residents and when all of us speak to residents I think residents are firmly aware that local government funding was cut 50% since 2010 but we now have a proper budget setting process spend review panels line-by-line scrutiny and what has that resulted in it has resulted in stabilisation of deficit projections under very very difficult circumstances that's something that residents will thank us for in the long term nobody likes to see an increase in council tax but when they speak to their friends and family in other parts of London they will look at their council tax bills and they will see that it's lower than Camden it's lower than Brent it's lower than Enfield it's lower than Haringey and it's absolutely and certainly lower than conservative run harrow that is the difference that we have made in this council okay now the budget reflects a sobriety that has come back to government a seriousness in the approach that we take to stewarding the public finances under very difficult circumstances and when we are judged and we will be judged residents will pontificate over how we tackle the greatest problems that we faced in our time and what we did under a very difficult inheritance was ensure that the care quality commission came over to Barnet and rated our adult social care as good that we spent 97 million pounds over five years to fix the number one problem that residents complain about which is broken pavements and potholes 17 million pounds in the budget next year for fixing for continuing that important work at a time when the conservatives told us that building a thousand social homes would not be possible and the peak spend on that initiative was 16 million pounds a year we stepped up and we provided the thousand council homes by 2026 this is the type of long-term thinking and investment that residents will reward and recognize while of course they will expect more once the financial situation improves and stabilizes we are still preserving much of the work in transforming the borough and a really important consideration is we shouldn't forget about net zero decarbonizing the council fleet buildings planting a thousand trees a year because we are thinking long-term while also addressing the short-term financial inheritance that we have dealt with all while charging lower council tax than any of our neighbors and all this while the opposite party failed to use the opportunity of low interest rates so i urge you all to vote for this budget and not ignore the alternative budget the absence of which is evidence because capita couldn't provide it for them okay can i invite councillor richard cornelius you have up to three minutes thank you mr mayor now councillor zinkin made a religious uh a point about passover but actually this budget is really more about lent this is sackcloth and ashes throughout this is absolute misery and what a disappointment it must be to labor they've come to power and they presided over a disaster they couldn't stick to a budget and this budget they're now setting is the worst budget barnet have ever faced and it looks as if the next one will be even worse you won't be able to borrow more money and expect the taxpayer to pay it back labor came to power on a lie promising a council tax rebate and you didn't deliver it you promised all kinds of goodies to residents and then reality struck you can't do it it's really difficult to be in charge of the council i don't understand how you get your budget through group it's so bad but then you don't stick it you don't stick to it and as the previous chief executive did warn you at cabinet that you can set a budget but you have to stick to it but you've manifestly failed to do that now we've joined up labor government god what a misery that is we've got rachel from accounts killing business confidence a mayor of london with a well-deserved inferiority complex there's no one else to blame you make the previous conservative administrations look like a golden era now your difficulties are well reported in the papers the reserves are gone a disgraceful and embarrassing grovel to the government to sell assets or commit council the council taxpayers to pay it back and there's also in the accounts clear evidence of a cash flow crisis as well during last year where you had to borrow a short-term loan now the borrowing this current year that you're talking about is going up 100 million but having written the accounts looked at the accounts page 365 shows borrowings going up to 1.6 billion by 2728 this is a true disaster they always have to be paid back now my area of responsibility is watching the housing department and what's going on and you know the hra we see debt going up from 50 000 pounds per dwelling to 56 600 pounds per dwelling over the five years we can see that you misused rents you've kept fairly quiet about that the rents you've collected from council tenants and you've been caught and you're going to have to pay the 700k back after your knuckles have been wrapped any resignations for this or can you blame knackby for it now we live in interesting times but old adages are true the trouble is with socialism you've run out of other people's money now we didn't do a draft budget this year there was no point you would have voted against it but i have a constructive sensible for you you always hurt them down i have a concern i have a constructive suggestion and that is you let us take charge for the next year thank you councillor cornelius can i invite councillor naranthiri you have up to three minutes mr mayor i'd like to congratulate the leader of the council cabinet member for finance and the rest of the cabinet for this budget where residents interests have been placed as priority among the difficult decisions you have to make we acquired a council where finances were in a terrible state from the tories in 2022 we warned the tories of this crisis from 2011 when the council projection showed ever increasing social care costs and less government funding provided by tory government year on year tory's administration ignored our concerns and went their own way labor administration brought back the cabinet system have a proper budget setting process and spending review panels all of which showed that the proper financial control is in place unlike the past tory administration who decided to invest 27 million in failed icelandic banks breaching the treasury management strategy at that time barnet residents were lucky that they did not lose that money only by sheer fluke such was their financial planning even worse they committed the council to capital projects with no certainty as to how they would be would pay for them we have now had to pay for their reckless promises with our reserves our reserves have gone because the conservatives ran this council on the snooze button if the tories are boasting about leaving reserves when they lost that's a lie it did not stop there there was a failure to invest our own children's services meaning that we depend depended on expensive outside provider worked to make profit for themselves however the labor council provided the children's facility in west town and made the facility in hendon permanent we are weaning ourselves of expensive contractors which is better for our vulnerable children and better value for money for barnet taxpayers so i urge the members sitting on the opposite benches on to vote with us to approve this budget thank you and mr mayor um miss a or councillor edith david is supposed to speak as well on the budget i don't know whether you missed her out thank you we'll uh we'll look at it yes thank you councillor naranthera can i ask councillor dean cohen you have up to three minutes thank you uh mr mayor what we have in front of us from this labor administration is a budget of increased taxes and reduced services council tax up car parking charges up green waste charges up crossover charges up mr mayor cars are a vital part of a family life in barnet barnet's labor administration barnet's labor administration want to kill that with massive increases in an on and off street parking costs continued increase in cpz park permit charges almost 100 increase in visitor permit charges removal of the dual loading 15 minute free drop-off spots in our high streets and now on top of it that a massive increase by mayor khan on pcn costs if this is not about bashing and using the motorist as a cash out then i don't know what is miss mr mayor it is now over three it is now over three years since the conservative administration approved a program to expand the cpz in barnet the 1.5 million pound pressure has remained in the budget year after year and the labor administration have failed to roll out the program every time the question is asked we are told the program is being reviewed residents are now forced to pay to have a crossover due to the heavy parked road guess what mr mayor resins are being priced out of that option as well in addition the labor administration continue to increase the cost of green waste not only are charges going up but services are being reduced mr mayor the labor administration say they are reducing your residential street cleaning from four times a year to twice a year the number of times weed spraying is done is going to be reduced this together with a reduced street cleansing will have a massive negative impact on the street scene mr mayor the labor administration claim that they introduce community scat skips to reduce fly tipping however the figures of flight to fly tipping instances show the opposite fly tipping is rife in labor control barnet however now they have slashed the community skips to get a budget another reduction in services street cleansing slashed weed spraying slashed community skips slashed town keepers slashed mr mayor labor is bad for barnet we reject this budget thank you councillor dean coen can i uh now invite councillor coakley webb you have up to three minutes thank you mr mayor there seems to be a bit of a sort of um memory loss on the other side the fact that the whole people in the whole country and all the people in barnet decided that they had had enough of the tories which is why we have got the administration and why we are in government but that seems to be by the by that you just don't remember and as has been said already the glaring omission for the papers in this item is just no attempt by you to even submit an alternative budget to say what you would do devoid of ideas any sense of financial competence you left the administration with the task of bringing some sense a reality to the budget process not what happened on your watch when huge areas were outsourced with little or no oversight as to how money was spent you just let them get on with it you didn't have to worry what they did because they were the ones that were scrutinizing themselves we didn't get to do it here you rated the reserves for pet projects and you left the council at the mercy of the markets with higher interest rates following the trust mini budget what a disaster that was interest which is now payable on the borrowing that you took out and then for children services we suffered as people have said from the excess of profits of some private providers something which your government could have tackled but no not a word luckily labour government is trying to tackle that and address that issue and meanwhile we're trying to make sure there's more provision in house with what we provided both in whetstone and hending in addition to what we already had because that's the way that we make sure we get best value and keep our vulnerable children as close as possible to home and our young people now have a better voice when it comes to matters that both concern and affect them we're investing properly we're building a resilient council one fit for purpose where we have a far better approach to finances with a close watch on how every penny is spent week on week day on day everything is looked at all the time and there will be and there has been more difficult decisions but we're not leaving this to an outsourced company to make those decisions with little or no oversight because that's what used to happen before and we're still committed to improving highways and building more council homes the steep rise in temporary accommodation costs could have been eased if the then government had pushed ahead with building more council homes but i can certainly remember a previous tory lead one of your members was noted as not wanting such tenants in our borough that was an absolute disgrace and in spite of these challenges we are still keeping the council tax lower than any of our neighbours and we will continue to serve our residents with a fiscally competent and efficient council council we are here to serve not to be asleep on the job thank you councillor you can i now invite uh councillor david uh you have up to three minutes thank you mr mayor this is a responsible labor budget making difficult decisions where we must but still caring for our borough making it safe clean and supporting our vulnerables due to labor providing leadership to the council the situation we inherited is being turned around the situation is now stabilizing because labor wants to run the council unlike the conservatives who paid millions of pounds to get someone else to run it it started in opposition with the labor campaigning to ensure it was councillors who could run this council and not capital we have brought in the cabinet and scrutiny system which means it is now clear where decisions are made and those decisions are understood in terms of how it can affect the whole council we now have a proper budget budget setting process with star chambers every summer of every summer leading members and officers going through next year's proposed budget line budget line by line a contrast to the conservative years when they when they are waiting on an email from capita spend review panels are meeting many times a week to review spending and make sure that every penny of taxpayers money is getting value for money that is what proper financial control looks like that is why this budget shows we are starting to turn around this situation after the low cost years the conservative led us open to the crisis i commend this budget thank you councillor davis councillor rudford you have up to three minutes thank you mr mayor um councillor zincon talks about passover but it seems like maybe that lots of people over there are also in denial anyway um let's let's there's three main things which i i think it's important for the other side to be credible on matters of the budget first of all we've heard tale that they they presided over a golden age um but as councillor coakley webb said the voters very much disagreed um with that notion so maybe they should stop showing contempt for the voters of barnet if they wanted to show contrition here's an example i think of what they could do i'm a big fan of the barnet post and in a recent column someone wrote people are waking up to the past portrayals particularly the economic mismanagement in barnet for example the conservatives disastrous outsourcing program cost taxpayers tens of millions leaving us with a financial mess we're still paying for today and with poorer services their 2022 budget predicted a staggering 55 million pound shortfall by 2025 a burden they handed over to labor and that was from one of your own at the time one councillor m shooter although while normally at least in the church that i go to when you confess you're meant to be forgiven there's also normally a penance and his current party i think is probably um dealing with people you wouldn't buy a secondhand car from is probably his penance um yeah if he's actually they've let him in um the second thing is critical engagement so we've heard lots of speeches over there every single saving they're against every single revenue proposal they're against but yet they somehow think if they were in charge they'd be able to balance the budget this is fantasy this is like me claiming i'm six foot four and look like ryan gosling it's just not credible it's absolutely mental um so the third where is the constructive alternative it's very rare that i agree with a barnet conservative but there's one i'd like to agree with now it's margaret thatcher she said tina there is no alternative in this case she might be pointing over this way and saying it very clearly to her colleagues you have no alternative unless you can come up with something more constructive row in behind and start to do some work because that's what we're having to do digging out the mess that we inherited when you decided to light all the reserves on flames leaving us to clear it up thank you thank you uh councillor prager thank you mr mayor well what more can i say um many councillors on the other side of the chamber many councillors on the other side of the chamber spent years some of them decades fighting to win control of barnet council they wanted a place at the table they wanted to be in the room where it happens unfortunately now that they're there they've shown themselves to be to be the most fiscally irresponsible administration that this borough has ever seen those in positions of leadership need to listen but labour aren't listening to their residents as we've seen tonight they're not listening to officers and they're not listening to us no accountability no oversight and no control as our group leaders already mentioned to their credit labour did listen to the conservative group about creating the position of a finance cabinet member their selection left much much to be desired they also listened to us and brought back reports on the reserves position to committees however these papers showed us in black and white just how bad the position and the situation really is at last year's budget council i referenced the council's forecast which showed that during labour's four-year administration they'd be drawing down over 15 million pounds of reserves every single year just a few months later a garms report showed that this labour administration had burnt through 50 million pounds of reserves every year for years the conservative administration round the ran the council in a financially mature manner the leader might want to try and change history and we've just heard from from councillor radford about how we burnt through the reserves but actually in the last three years of our administration we grew the reserves by over 20 million pounds per annum it's irrefutable look at the numbers that's what they show you yet in typical fashion labour took control of the council and went ahead raiding our savings despite warnings from all sides the fiscally irresponsible administration ran the council at a huge deficit for the past three years and are continuing to do so my last two speeches in the chamber were pleased to the labour councillors to reconsider the disastrous policies that they were implementing sending the council's finances into free fall but you didn't listen so i'm now standing here to ask you do you have confidence in your leadership do you genuinely believe that these fiscally irresponsible actions that pushed barnet back decades are what you stood for is it what you want are you proud of those decisions you made and are continuing to make i wasn't going to reference the graph of doom that was created by it's been mentioned a couple of times i was created to show that by 25 20 25 things would be getting really bad to combat that we acted proactively we actively saved money put 20 million a year into reserves labour's fallen asleep at the wheel and are doing the opposite so as you've heard tonight the labour budget is once again poorly thought out contains a concerning number of unobtainable savings and will continue to take barnet down a path that risks our borough going bust we have to make we have a fiduciary duty to make financially sensible decisions and this budget does not do so is there any other councillors representing anybody else that wish to make a speech i'm just no i just uh well i would like to say a few things actually i i am making a point of order as a personal explanation and allowing 16.7.1 that i'm allowed to respond to councillor radford up to three minutes and his promotion of my article thank you very much councillor radford but um one thing that has been mentioned as we're on religious ideas tonight but it is actually pancake day today and you know i i just feel it's called shrove tuesday not councillor shooter please get your facts right councillors will get through this much quicker just thank you well it's pretty appropriate anyway but the fact is that the the budget's all flat as a pancake really no one's got any new ideas no one's got anything different you're all still going down the same old lines wasting everyone else's money on net zero policies on all of the nonsense that comes with it all this socialist stuff it's just not as you can see it's not going to last too long i'm not going to make my budget i'm next year i'll make a budget for sure when we're in power thank you very much thank you right can we have councillor zink in please you have up to three minutes councillor before the um various budget speeches this evening i wrote a rebuttal speech and i started by saying that we've heard seven speakers from labour and all of them have blamed everyone else except themselves even though they've been in power for three years because i guessed what you were going to say and the truth is the council faces a crisis we're not saying that everything you've done is wrong that would be stupid but what we are saying is the council is spending more than 50 million pounds a year than it's bringing in despite all the efforts you've gone through with your mythical star chambers which unfortunately all the evidences don't actually work despite all of that there's a 50 million pound hole we've never had a 50 million pound hole before what's the point of producing an alternative budget when there's a 50 million pound hole that hasn't been filled it's completely meaningless and i really don't believe that you guys understand it this budget is a disgrace it's ill thought out the cuts are in the wrong places and the problems are all stored up for next year you've had to go to the government for help and you're going to have to go again because there's no plan to deal with it and every time you do that you store up problems for the future this is not good for the residents of barnet it's not good for the officers it's not good for the other members of staff in the council all of whom have uncertainty and anxiety about what the future is going to bring you have to grow up you have to recognize that after three years some of this is actually your responsibility responsibility all game playing apart we as a council have a real problem that real problem was not acknowledged in the papers or in a single administration speech tonight that is not responsible i don't need to say anymore that is not responsible thank you councillor zincin so last speaker of the evening right reply from councillor rawlings you have up to five minutes thank you no i can be a lot shorter than that in a way you've got no alternative you've got no plan that that is clear on responsibility yes we are responsible for some things we're responsible for being the most family friendly borough in london we're we're we're we're we're responsible for a good with outstanding bits of a children's service we're responsible for a good adult service but yes finances are difficult they're difficult they're difficult for three or four reasons one the way the interest rate shot up i won't give you the chance to do your pantomime booing but it was somebody who came well there's a good there's a good guess that that's put up at the capital board it is about demand demand for housing because for the last 15 years not enough houses have been built demand from adult services because people thankfully are living longer longer with disabilities longer and therefore are more of a burden but also because of the conservative belief in the market solving anything they tried it in children's services and are ripping off every council in the country but then i do have to deal with a bit of the fantasies from councillor prager and thinking reserves right agenda for council tuesday first of march 2022 your last budget does say it does say reserves for getting the capital or 101 million and you talk about 100 million you never mentioned that 31 million of that was covered money that you would have had to give back if you didn't spend your actual reserves were 69 million 213 000 of which earmarked for service specific were 29 million 789 000 leaving reserves usable 39 million 433 000 which two years two years later under labor our reserves were 39 million we've actually put it up since you so the idea we were using reserves is ridiculous we have to deal with this big big demand and and so on if you can come up with no alternatives you are telling the people of barney you are not fit to govern you can moan you can complain but you've got no ideas you've got no plan you've got no future you're hopeless and the people of barnet know it the local authorities standing orders england amendment regulations 2014 and council procedural 18.4.1 requires that voting decisions relating to the budget and council tax be recorded i will now call a recorded vote on the administration's budget proposals as set out in the report and apprentices when i call the votes if members can indicate if for or against um councillor ambe is absent councillor barnes four four four four baker hey councillor baker councillor beg four councillor bill bow councillor chakraborty four councillor clark councillor coakley web four councillor dean cohen councillor phil cohen four councillor josh conway against councillor sarah conway four councillor cook is absent councillor allison cornelius councillor richard cornelius councillor dous four councillor dous four councillor david four councillor councillor dushinsky councillor edwards councillor farrier councillor gordon against net zero councillor councillor growcock councillor grokock okay councillor grover councillor kamal gurung four councillor lachar gurung councillor houston four councillor hutton four councillor inoscenti councillor councillor councillor councillor ianidis four councillor jarjay is absent councillor calick four councillor councillor lemon four councillor longstaff again councillor le singgu is absent councillor mcgurk four and in favour of public transport on the grab great thing we've got in barnet councillor councillor let intoanne show is easy opposed councillor councillor mayor against councillor mitra four councillor monasterio four councillor moore four councillor naranthira four councillor purlberg councillor prager councillor radford councillor raulings councillor roberts councillor rose four councillor sargent four councillor schneiderman

1. Tackling climate change. Councillor Schuter. Again. Councillor Simberg. Again. Councillor Stock. Again. Councillor Thomas is absent. Councillor Woodcock-Bellerman is absent. Councillor Wakeley. Councillor Wardle. Councillor Weissel. 4. Councillor Young. 4. Councillor Zinken. Yes. Councillor Zuberi. 4. Councillor Rich is absent. And Mr. Mayor Councillor Baru. 4. That's 36.4 and 18 against, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Councillors. Agenda Item 12.2 is the report from the Executives Council Tax Support Scheme 2025-2026. Councilor asked to agree the proposed Council Tax Support Scheme in Appendix A. Councilor asked to agree the continuation of the Discretionary Support Scheme subject to agreeing the budget for the Discretionary Fund and agreeing the Council Tax Support. Councilor asked to agree a proposed budget of 0.115 million for additional staffing resource. And Councilor asked to note and agree an additional recommendation as follows. That Council delegates authority to the Executive Director of Resources to make minor typographical amendments prior to publication of the scheme. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Can I call upon Councillor Rawlings to move reception and adoption of this item, please? I move reception and adoption of this item. Thank you for using up the time, Councillor Rawlings. Councilor asked to agree the recommendations on page 428 of the agenda. Councilors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. That's 35, Mr. Mayor. Those against the recommendation, please show. That's none, Mr. Mayor. Recommendation has been agreed. Agenda Item 12.4 is the report from the Executive Our Plan for Barnet Corporate Plan Review 2025-2026. Councilor asked to approve the refined Our Plan priorities as stated in Appendix A, Our Plan for Barnet Review 2025-26. Councilor also asked to approve refocusing our activity and delivery to align with the priorities as listed in Appendix A. And finally, Councilor asked to delegate authority to the Interim Chief Executive to work with the Council's management team to deliver the actions needed to deliver this plan and report progress through the Delivery and Outcomes Framework. Thank you. Okay. I'll move reception and adoption of this item. Okay. I'll move reception and adoption of this item. Councilor asked to agree the recommendation on page 2057 of the agenda. Councilors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. That's 35, Mr. Mayor. Those against recommendations, please show. Apologies, Mr. Mayor. That was 36 in favour. Okay. 36. Those against the recommendation, please show. That's 17, Mr. Mayor. The recommendation has been agreed. Right. Now we move on to Agenda Item 12.5 is a report from the Employment Subcommittee Pay Policy Statement 2725-26. Councilor asked to approve the Pay Policy Statement 2526 as outlined in Appendix A. Thank you. Thank you. I now call upon Councilor Wiesel to move reception and adoption on this item. Councilor, you have up to three minutes. I move acceptance and adoption of the report. Hmm. Not very good timekeeping on the side. Councilors asked to agree the recommendations on page 2087 of the agenda. Councilors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendation, please show. Those against, just for opening. So the recommendation has been agreed. Agenda Item 13.1 is the appointment of the Chief Executive Head of Paid Services. Councilor asked to appoint Cathshaw as Chief Executive Head of Paid Service on the recommendation of the Employment Subcommittee. Subject to the acceptance of the offer, note that the Employment Subcommittee have agreed to the permanent deletion of the Deputy Chief Executive post, the substantive post of the current Interim Chief Executive, which have been held vacant from 22 June 2024, and agree that any decisions previously delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive will now be taken by the relevant Executive Director. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. I now call upon Councillor Rawlings and Councillor Sinken to speak on this item. Councillor Rawlings, you have up to three minutes. Let's see how your time is. Sorry, could I ask that Councillor Wiesel, who was the Chair of the Committee, should speak on this? On your behalf, yes? Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Wiesel. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will be brief. I'd like to congratulate Cath on an excellent interview, and I hope she is accepting the offer of the post. I'd also like to thank the other candidates who took part, all the councillors who were involved in what was a very long day of interviews, and as well as all the council staff who inputted into this process. It was a very well-run process, and Cath was by far the most outstanding candidate that interviewed that day, so congratulations, and I'm sure we all look forward to continuing to work with you in your new capacity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, также. Thank you, so much, Chair. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Absolutely. last... I just like to echo much of what Councillor Wiesel said, which is, we congratulate Acad Mr R As has already been said, she was the outstanding candidate on the day, and we're very lucky to have her. And so, again, we very much hope that she will be accepting the post and that we will be working with her for many years to come. So, council are asked to agree the recommendation on page 9 of the supplementary agenda. Councillors will be asked to vote by a show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendation, please show. For the record, those against, the recommendation has been agreed. Further item 13.2 is the approval of the salary package for the new post. It is recommended to council that the salary for the post of assistant director for education, strategy and business improvement be approved. The salary is currently in the range of 101.818 to 122824. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I now call upon Councillor Rowling to move reception and adoption of this item. Again, I move reception and adoption of this item. I would like to point out that there is a deletion of two other posts. So, this is actually a saving. Thank you, Councillor Rowling. We will now move to votes on the recommendation of page 213 of the report pack. Those in favour of the recommendation, please show. Those against, please show. The recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 13.3 is the report of the monitoring officer constitution review. Councillor asked to approve the constitution amendments as set out in the appendices and Councillor also asked to authorise a head of governance to implement these revisions and publish a revised constitution. Thank you. Thank you. I now call upon Councillor Naranthira to move reception and adoption of this item. Councillor Naranthira, you have up to three minutes. I move the reception and adoption of this item, Mr Mayor. We will now move to the vote on the recommendation of page 2140 of the report pack. Those in favour of the recommendation, please show. Is that all? That's all, Mr Mayor. Again, just for clarity, those against anybody? No. The recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 13.4 is the report of the monitoring officer waiver due to illness. Councillor asked to agree a waiver for Councillor Cook for six months should he be able to unable to attend a meeting of the authority due to illness. Thank you. I now call upon Councillor Wiesel to move reception and adoption of this item. I move reception and adoption of this item. Thank you, Catherine. We will now move to the vote on the recommendation on page 2287 of the agenda pack. Those in favour of the recommendation, please show. Or those against? Nobody. The recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 13.5 is a report from the Head of Governance Members Allowance Scheme 2025-26. Yes. Council are recommended to have regard to the recommendations of the independent remuneration panel on the remuneration of councillors in London as attached at Appendix A to the report. The councillor asked to approve the Members Allowance Scheme 2025-26 as attached at Appendix B with effect from the 1st of April 2025. The councillor also asked to note that the following approval of the scheme, a notice will be advertised pursuant to Regulation 16 of the local authorities' members' allowances England Regulations 2003 as amended. Thank you. I now call upon Councillor Rawlings to move reception and adoption of this item. Councillor Rawlings, you have up to three minutes. Sorry to disappoint you, I am just going to move reception and adoption of this paper. We are now moved to the vote on the recommendation on page 2285 for the agenda pack. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. And those against, please show. The recommendations have been agreed. Agenda item 13.6 is a report of the results of the burnt oak by-election on the 13th of February 2025. Through you, Mr Mayor. The councillor asked to note a couple of corrections in the report that referred to the Barnet Vale by-election, should obviously refer to the burnt oak by-election. And councillor also asked to note the councillor elected at the burnt oak by-election held on 13th of February as set out in Appendix A. Thank you. The councillor asked to note the recommendations on page 2331 of the agenda. Is it noted? Yes. Agenda item 13.7 is a report of the Head of Governance political proportionality. The councillor asked to note the political balance of the council is 40 members of the Labour group, 19 members of the Conservative group, 3 independent members, 1 vacancy. And councillor asked to agree the allocation of seats set out in the tables in Appendix A in order to comply with the political balance regulations, requiring seats to be allocated proportionately to the political groups on the council. And councillor also asked to note that a further recalculation of political balance will be required following the by-election in Finchley Church End Ward taking place on the 6th of March. Thank you Mr Mayor. We will now move to the vote on the recommendations on page 2287 of the agenda pack. Those in favour of the recommendations please show. And is there anybody against? Please show. The recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 13.8 is a report of the Head of Governance Administrative Matters. The councillor asked to note and approve the changes to the membership of the Constitution Review Working Group as detailed in Appendix A. Thank you. We will now move to the vote on the recommendation on page 3 of the agenda supplementary pack. Those in favour of the recommendation please show. And those against? The recommendation has been agreed. I now move a motion to exclude the press and public on the basis that the exempt items will involve the discussion of confidential information. Can somebody second this please? Who's going to put their name to it? Here we go. We just need to pause the recording. Yeah. No, no. No, no. It's not going to be noted again pretty ago. Which covers in here is a small piece of the forecast, which is a small piece of my object in. It has made it easy to see only which I just like you��이 through.