Maximum hike allowed without referendum proposed by Enfield Council leadership, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

A bundle of £5 notes — credit Philip Veater via Unsplash

Senior Labour councillors have agreed to increase Enfield residents’ council tax bills by almost 5% from April this year.

The 4.99% hike is made up of a 2.99% increase in core council tax and a 2% rise in the levy used to fund adult social care.

Together with an expected 9.74% increase in the Greater London Authority’s own council tax precept, the hike will push up bills for band D homes by £114.40 for the 2023/24 financial year.

Last year, Enfield Council’s Labour administration froze core council tax in a move it said was designed to help residents cope with the cost-of-living crisis. Bills still rose, however, after it increased the council tax precept used to fund adult social care by 1%.

The planned increase this year, signed off by cabinet members during a meeting on Wednesday, comes after the Conservative government gave local authorities new powers to raise council tax by 4.99% without holding a referendum. Previously, councils had to ballot residents if they wanted to hike bills by more than 2.99%.

Tim Leaver, the council’s cabinet member for finance and procurement, acknowledged it was “very difficult” because of the cost-of-living crisis, the impact of austerity and rising interest rates – which he blamed on the government – but said the council had “tried hard to limit the budget to be balanced and sustainable”.

Cllr Leaver added that the budget had been designed to protect the borough’s most vulnerable residents.

Even though the council will receive an extra £8.1m in government grant funding for 2023/24 in addition to the increases in council tax and business rates revenue, this will still not be enough to cover forecast spending. Inflation alone is expected to cost the council an extra £21.9m, which comes on top of £6.8m extra spending needed to cope with growing demographic pressures.

To bridge the gap between income and spending, £15.9million of savings are proposed in the budget. The majority of cuts, some £5.3m, will be made to the adult social care department. This move sparked concerns during a scrutiny meeting last month, when officers revealed some staff reductions are being planned and at least one day care centre could close.

Despite drawing down £2m from its reserves in 2022/23, the council does not plan to use reserves to balance the 2023/24 budget.

Meanwhile, investment plans in the budget include £600,000 to create a community law enforcement team to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour and £1m to fund the recruitment of extra children’s social care workers.

In her comment on the report, chief finance officer Fay Hammond describes the 2023/24 budget as “robust” but notes that “difficult decisions” will need to be made in future budget rounds “to remain within the resources available”.

The budget must be approved by the full council before the plans can take effect. It is set to be debated by councillors from all parties during a meeting on Thursday, 23rd February.

Although the 2023/24 budget will be balanced, the council is still facing a major dilemma over how to plug a £65m budget hole that will appear over the next five years unless action is taken.

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