Labour MP says government to thank for Tory-run council's spending plans

Ex-minister Feryal Clark says it’s only because of the Labour government’s funding boost that the new Conservative administration has any money to spend

Feryal Clark is a junior minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (credit DSIT) — Feryal Clark spent 14 months as a minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s government (credit DSIT)

A local MP has said that the Labour government she used to work for should be given all the credit for the new Conservative-led council’s spending plans for the borough.

Enfield North MP Feryal Clark issued a statement on Thursday (28th) shortly after the new minority Tory administration took power at Enfield Civic Centre, claiming it was only thanks to the government that there was any money to spend in the borough.

The council’s new spending plans under the Conservatives include the reintroduction of weekly bin collections, recruiting 25 new antisocial behaviour officers, expanding the council’s trading standards team, creating an additional 200 special educational needs places for local children, launching a recruitment campaign for new foster carers, giving £1,000 a year to all of Enfield’s ‘friends of parks’ groups, bringing back lollipop road crossing patrols for schoolchildren, and “significantly” expanding fly-tipping enforcement.

But Clark said the Labour government should be given credit for all of it, following the huge £203million financial boost the council was handed as part of the ‘Fair Funding Review’ announced last December.

The review sought to rebalance central government funding for local councils, diverting more money to areas based on key indicators such as housing costs and deprivation. Enfield benefited from the review more than any other council in London, with a 58% rise to ‘core spending power’ over three years, starting in 2026/27.

In response to the Tories winning power at Enfield Civic Centre, Labour MP Clark said: “The Labour government has just given Enfield a huge increase in funding – one of the biggest increases anywhere in the country. Every pound being spent over the next four years comes from a Labour government determined to rebuild public services after years of Tory cuts.”

Clark served as a junior minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology between July 2024 and September 2025.

She continued: “I will be holding the Conservatives to account every step of the way to ensure this funding is used to deliver real improvements for residents across Enfield North, and that it is spent in a way that genuinely benefits local communities facing real pressures.”

Like former Labour leader Ergin Erbil, Clark has also criticised Enfield Greens for abstaining on the vote which made Alessandro Georgiou the new leader of the council.

She said: “If you voted Green in Enfield, I do not believe you voted to put the Conservatives into power at Enfield Council; the same party whose 14 years of austerity placed huge pressure on local services and on many of the residents I fight for day in, day out across Enfield North.”

The new Green group on the council say that they intend to “speak for the residents who trusted us with their vote” and scrutinise the new Tory administration. However, on issues like stopping Tottenham Hotspur taking over Whitewebbs Park and protecting the Green Belt, the left-wing party remains likely to back the Conservative-led council’s plans.

Clark added: “Of course, I will work constructively with the new administration where it is in the interests of residents across Enfield North. But I will also scrutinise closely how this Conservative administration uses the increased funding now coming into Enfield.”

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