Increasing demand for adult social care is just one of the huge financial pressures that London boroughs including Barnet are facing.
Children’s social care and the cost of providing temporary accommodation to homeless residents are all pushing boroughs across the capital to the edge, according to London Councils, external, which is the umbrella group that represents London’s local authorities.
It warned that they collectively faced a deficit of £500m this year.
Barnet is one of seven London boroughs, along with Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Havering, Newham and Lambeth, to have asked the government earlier this year for exceptional financial support (EFS) – where they can borrow more money – and they have done that to the tune of more than £400m collectively.
Just outside London, the local authorities of Slough, Thurrock, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Woking have also been give EFS this year.
