The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Barnet Council met on 13 November 2025, to discuss several key issues including a new Parks and Open Spaces Strategy, temporary accommodation pressures, and the council's financial forecast. The committee made recommendations to the cabinet regarding the consultation period for the Parks and Open Spaces Strategy, and requested more detailed information on the action plan. The committee also stressed the need for increased lobbying of central government to address temporary accommodation costs, and requested a review of the council's approach to recovering debt.

Here's a more detailed look at the topics discussed:

Parks and Open Spaces Strategy

The committee reviewed the draft Parks and Open Spaces Strategy, which sets out the vision and strategic aims for the next 10 years. Councillor Alan Schneiderman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, introduced the strategy, emphasising the importance of parks for residents' health, well-being, and environmental protection.

A member of the public requested an extension to the consultation period, which runs over Christmas. Councillor Schneiderman said that the consultation period was short because the council was keen to get the strategy adopted, and that there had already been engagement through workshops.

Other issues raised included:

• Park facilities: Councillor Charlotte Daus asked about improving accessibility to facilities like toilets, given vandalism and maintenance costs. Councillor Schneiderman responded that the council wants to see more cafes in parks, and that new cafe leases should include making toilet facilities available to the public.
• Commercial ventures: Councillor Daus asked if commercial ventures in parks should be included in the action plan. Councillor Schneiderman said that it was, and that the council was keen to optimise income-generating opportunities through events in parks.
• Consultation limitations: Councillor Paul Lemon raised concerns about the extent to which the strategy could be changed following the consultation.
• Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs): Councillor Lemon asked about further communications to promote awareness and increase the use of parks. Councillor Schneiderman said that the parks and open spaces strategy is an important tool to promote and enforce safety within parks, and that the council wants to look at how it can promote that more widely.
• Private sports clubs: Councillor Nagus Narenthira asked about working with private sports clubs to open up to the wider public.
• Expansion of green spaces: Councillor Ella Rose asked about analysis of where parks are needed, as opposed to the overall quantity. Councillor Schneiderman said that the northern part of the borough has the most green space, and that the east and west of the borough are more densely populated.
• Changes to the strategy: Councillor Peter Zinkin, Leader of the Conservative Group, questioned what would change as a result of adopting the strategy, and how much money had been spent on producing it. Councillor Schneiderman responded that the last strategy was written in 2015, and that the new strategy includes a more tightly defined action plan.
• Consultation timing: Councillor Jennifer Grocock suggested that the consultation period be extended, and asked how many parks Councillor Schneiderman had visited himself. She also asked about dog walkers being consulted, and about safety in parks.

The committee made the following recommendations to the cabinet:

• Extend the consultation period by an extra month.
• Send ward councillors a link to where information is available to check that their areas are all complete and there's nothing missing.
• Circulate the detail behind the points that have been set out in the year one action plan to the committee.
• Assess, based on the current consultation that's taken place, if there are any gaps in particular wards and maybe engage with ward councillors of those wards to encourage responses from groups they might have connections with.

Allotment Governance and Management Task and Finish Group Report

Councillor Jill Sargeant introduced the Allotment Governance and Management Task and Finish Group Report, highlighting the problems at the Colindale Allotment and Garden Association (CAGA) site. She paid tribute to her fellow ward councillors, Councillor Nagus Narenthira and Councillor Humayune Khalick, for pointing out the problems at the site.

Councillor Narenthira asked about eviction and disputes, and what the recommendation would be about those. Councillor Sargeant responded that the council does need to be involved in cases where plot holders are not prepared to leave.

Councillor Zinkin asked what the committee was doing, given that the cabinet had already given a detailed response to the report.

The committee approved the final report for it to go to cabinet.

Temporary Accommodation

Councillor Ross Houston introduced the report on temporary accommodation, explaining that the plan is a response to rising demand and supply challenges. He noted that the number of households in temporary accommodation has increased by over 32% in two years, and that the net cost of temporary accommodation to Barnet is projected at £15.55 million for the current year.

Councillor Shimon Ryde asked how the council would encourage the private renter sector to increase the supply of temporary accommodation. Councillor Houston responded that the council wants to establish long-term relationships with key people in the private renter sector. Carol Lucas, Head of Housing Options for Barnet Homes, added that the council offers financial incentives to private sector landlords.

Councillor Kath McGuirk raised concerns about families being moved from pillar to post, and asked how the council is working with health services and education.

Councillor Zinkin said that if the council really has a £200 million problem, it should be investing some money to lobby the government. Councillor Houston responded that the council has been lobbying the government, and that the point is valid that things need to be funded adequately.

The committee agreed to recommend more lobbying of government, and specifically ensuring that the resources put into the lobbying match the scale of the problem.

Chief Finance Officer Report

Councillor Simon Radford introduced the Chief Finance Officer Report, congratulating Councillor Ryde on his election. He noted that the council is currently within the budget envelope, partly because it has taken on board the advice from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Rose asked about artificial intelligence and digital transformation, and what more the council is doing. Councillor Radford responded that the council is looking at how it can use data to do better prediction, and that he had put the team who worked on the Ask Geraldine project in Peterborough in touch with the council's internal strategy team.

Councillor Zinkin said that despite the cost savings that have been made, the forecast deficit is still the same as it was at the beginning of the year. He added that he estimated the underlying truth of the scale of the deficit to be somewhere north of £70 million. Councillor Radford responded that he was grateful that Councillor Zinkin didn't think it was his fault, and that he agreed that the council has a revenue problem and not a spending problem.

The committee agreed to recommend that the council look at the NHS debt, and that a priority is made of focusing on recovering it. The committee also requested that the delivery time with the reports to this committee be improved.

Task and Finish Group Updates

The committee noted the updates to the Task and Finish Groups. It was agreed that the task and finish group on sustainable travel would be better to do in the next term, given that it's not long before the local elections.

Cabinet Forward Plan

It was agreed that the chair and the vice chair would liaise with the scrutiny manager about whether there's any other items that need to be brought forward.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

It was agreed that the vice chair and the chair would liaise with the scrutiny manager about anything that needs to be added to the work program.

Councillor Emma Whysall, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, closed the meeting.