Labour Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Barry Rawlings, has written an open letter to the Prime Minister urging the Government to re-think last week’s ‘mini-budget’ and provide immediate support for families struggling now with the cost-of-living crisis.

Council data shows that around 9,500 Barnet households in debt to the Council have multiple debts of over £1,000. There will also be families with non-council debt unknown to the Council, taking the total number of households in need of support within the borough much higher.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Cllr Rawlings sets out measures that the Council is taking locally to help people in crisis, and calls on the Government to step-up by providing:

• Immediate additional funding to help those in need now,
• Additional funding to drive domestic retrofit to help those in fuel poverty long-term,
• Immediate emergency funding for adult social care to support the NHS through the winter,
• Funding certainty to help local councils better plan support for their communities.

Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Barry Rawlings said:

“There are 9,500 Barnet families with debts over £1,000 who need immediate help, and these are just the ones we know about. While we’re doing everything we can locally to support those impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, the Government have utterly failed to prioritise those in need.

“Instead, they have given £45bn in tax cuts to the super-rich and bonanza bonuses to bankers, maxing out the national credit card and leaving future generations to pay the bill. This is completely at odds with the Bank of England’s efforts to control rampant inflation, and it’s now likely that interest rates will have to go up in November which will hit people’s mortgages, making a bad situation much, much worse.

“There was virtually nothing in the mini-budget to rebuild public services following the pandemic, nothing to combat inflationary pressures and little to help with rising demand in adults’ social care.

“There was no investment for insulation and retro-fitting homes to help people in fuel poverty with their energy bills, or for green innovation to spur us to Net Zero and generate sustainable growth.

“This is a budget that gambles with people’s livelihoods, and that will deepen inequality. I urge the Government to think again.”

Ends.

Notes: A copy of the letter to the Prime Minister can be found below:

Dear Prime Minister,

Firstly, congratulations on your appointment. I am also new to my position as Leader of Barnet Council having won the local elections in May this year.

Behind its leafy façade, Barnet is a north London borough with pockets of significant deprivation. We are already seeing the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on our communities and this is being amplified across the country.

Around 9,500 households in Barnet already have multiple debts which exceed £1,000 and these are just the households known to be in debt to the Council. The number of families with other debt will be much higher, and we expect this to get worse as the crisis continues.

What we needed from the Government’s mini-budget was a set of measures to provide immediate relief for families struggling to cope with rising costs, investment in our public services at a local level to lift our communities, and an economic plan with measures to get us to Net Zero at its heart.

Instead, we got tax cuts for the very rich, a boost to bankers’ bonuses and a package of fiscal measures at odds with the Bank of England’s efforts to keep rampant inflation under control. The markets have responded accordingly.

Trickle-down economics doesn’t work and only enhances the inequalities in society, creating further drag on the economy. I would urge you to look at investing more in local public services and in job creation opportunities which will lead to better long term economic outcomes for this country.

Locally, we are doing all we can to support residents and businesses. For example, we have:

• Launched a cost-of-living hub and a public awareness campaign to support residents by giving them quick access to advice, information and financial support
• Set up a £2m Residents’ Support Fund to provide financial support to residents in crisis (equivalent to 1% of council tax)
• Pledged to refund this year’s 1% Council Tax increase in 2023/24 to keep bills lower next year
• Provided additional funding to the cross-sector partnership, Barnet Together Alliance, who are doing so much good work to support our communities
• Provided other targeted interventions to mitigate food and fuel poverty challenges to our residents.

However, our ability to respond to this crisis is limited. As an outer London borough, Barnet is amongst some of the lowest funded council areas in the country, and we have very few levers to alleviate these growing pressures.

Without immediate action from the Government to assist us with more funding and flexibilities, and in meeting ever rising demand pressures (particularly on SEND budgets, children’s social care, homelessness and adult social care), we fear more people will fall into debt this winter.

While we welcome the Government’s announcement last week that additional funding for social care will be maintained at the same level, this does not nearly go far enough – we need a more comprehensive package to be able to help our residents, businesses and communities.

We support London Councils’ Key Priorities for the budget and the detailed ‘asks’ they contain including:

• Immediate additional funding to help those in crisis now by doubling the Household Support Fund (HSF) from £500m to £1bn between October and March to enable councils to support individuals not eligible for the existing Cost of Living payment or Energy Bill Support Scheme.
• Additional funding to drive domestic retrofit by increasing the average investment per property across all programmes, regardless of tenure to help those in fuel poverty into the long-term and help tackle climate change.
• Immediate emergency funding for adult social care to support the NHS through the winter.
• Confirmation of details for a 2-year local government finance settlement as soon as possible to provide councils with funding certainty so we can better plan our ongoing support for residents and our communities.

Barnet cares for its people, places and planet. We are doing everything we can to help families immediately and throughout the ongoing cost-of-living crisis but we need more targeted support from Government.

This is a national crisis and without immediate Government action, our ability to respond is severely constrained. My concern is that last week’s mini-budget will deepen inequality rather than help us reduce it, making an already challenging situation, much, much worse.

I urge you to act now.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Barry Rawlings

Leader of Barnet Council