Under the previous Labour administration the civic centre racked up £1.29billion in debts, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter
Enfield Council is “on a journey to sound finances and fiscal discipline” following years of mismanagement, its new Conservative administration has claimed.
The statement was made during a tense cross-party debate surrounding a report of the local authority’s finances at a full council meeting yesterday (Wednesday 1st).
Tory councillors used the occasion to highlight the measures already taken to get to grips with the authority’s finances since gaining minority control following the local election on 7th May.
Labour councillors, meanwhile, hit back at the frequently scathing criticism of their fiscal record.
The debate, which was watched by members of the public making use of the new administration’s decision to stream full council meetings on YouTube, set out the ideological stalls of both parties for the next four years.
Although important in its own right, the most tangible result of the discussion came at its conclusion, when councillors voted through proposals to reclassify £1.7million of debt from council-owned heat network Energetik, moving it from the revenue budget into the capital account.
Conservative councillor James Hockney, the new cabinet member for finance, said the move was one of several signs that showed his party is already shepherding the council “on a journey to sound finances and fiscal discipline”.
Cllr Hockney argued that the Tory administration had already found “significant savings and wasteful spending” at the local authority after “inheriting £1.29billionn of debt that the previous administration left us”.
Labour had been in charge at the civic centre during the 2025/26 financial year, which ended on 5th April, shortly before the election. This was the period that was the focus of the treasury management report being discussed on Wednesday evening.
Tim Leaver, who was cabinet member for finance under the previous Labour administration, quipped that he had “a bit of an outer body experience” reading the report.
The financial strategy his Conservative opposition had spent much of the evening patting themselves on the back for was, in his eyes, thanks largely to the previous administration.
Cllr Leaver defended the council’s financial strategy under his party’s leadership, arguing the administration had been “proactive and forward-looking in their borrowing and investment” and had maintained a sustainable level of debt.
Meanwhile Sarah Jons, in one of her first council meetings as leader of the new Green group at the civic, warned that financial compliance today “doesn’t necessarily mean sustainability tomorrow”.
Cllr Jons argued that aspects of the council’s finances were potentially baking in trouble for the future, not least for in-debt schools in the borough, which may have to make cuts to balance their books.
“This is not just a financial issue: it’s a question of social justice,” the newly-elected Green councillor argued.
At the meeting, Cllr Leaver also expressed dismay at the potentially negative impacts of the Conservative’s administration’s approach to council spending.
“Heaven help you if you’re a resident of Enfield who’s poor or disadvantaged,” Cllr Leaver said.
The former cabinet member for finance predicted that “the Tories’ record of what matters will be laid bare” over the course of their administration.
Cllr Hockney summarised much of the Conservative response to this argument when referring to the £26.5m spent on general fund borrowing in 2025/26.
The money, he said, was part of a “huge debt bubble” that, left unaddressed, would negatively impact the council’s frontline services in the long run.
“This Conservative administration will follow the auditor’s advice that we must get debt down,” Cllr Hockney promised.
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