Barnet expects to borrow £73.3m this year to pay for day-to-day services, £6m less than approved. The NHS owes it £7.7m and council tax collection has slipped.

Barnet Council expects to need £73.3 million of government permission to borrow this year, just to pay for day-to-day services. That is £6 million less than the £79.3 million it was allowed when the budget was set in March.

The figure is in the council’s half-year budget report, published for Cabinet on Tuesday 17 November. Councillors on the Finance and Growth scrutiny committee will question it first, on Thursday 12 November. (Barnet Council, Chief Finance Officer Report 2026/27 Q2)

The money is called Exceptional Financial Support. It lets a council cover running costs from borrowing or from selling property, which normally it cannot do. The report says £5 million of the improvement came from a better result for 2025/26 and £1 million from extra parking income this year.

The key figures

The report’s own summary table sets out where the council stands at the end of September:

Measure Forecast for 2026/27
Day-to-day services £0.703m over budget
Exceptional Financial Support £73.298m, down from £79.298m approved
Savings delivered £10.123m, against a £9.419m target
Earmarked reserves by 31 March 2027 £53.605m, down from £55.823m
Council housing account £2.109m deficit, £0.456m better than budget
Schools funding (Dedicated Schools Grant) £17.176m overspend
Council tax collected by end of September 51.90%, down 0.64 points on a year earlier

The schools overspend is almost all support for children with special educational needs. We reported the detail when the Schools Forum papers came out.

Which departments are over budget

The £0.703 million overspend is the net of some departments over and others under. The council says it can be met from its contingency budget, if nothing else calls on it.

  • Growth: £2.076m over. The report says this is mainly the cost of repairs at the council’s Colindale offices, which “are subject to a potential future legal claim”. We covered the fire safety defects found in that building in October.
  • Children’s and family services: £0.746m over. Agency staff in children’s homes and demand for short breaks and respite for disabled children are the main pressures.
  • Resources: £1.039m under. That includes £0.6m from a claim against a contractor.
  • Strategy and Innovation: £0.936m under, mostly £0.8m saved after the end of the council’s old outsourcing contract.

The NHS owes Barnet £7.7m

The council lists its ten largest unpaid invoices. Together they total £8.8 million, and £7.685 million of that is owed by NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board, which buys health services for the area.

The council says the board has paid £3.3 million since the end of June. Of what is still more than 90 days overdue, £5.2 million is two invoices from February 2026. The report says they “remain under discussion” and payment is expected this financial year.

Separately, people who receive adult social care owed £26.164 million in contributions to their care at the end of September. Of that, £22.007 million was more than 90 days old. The council says much of it is tied up in probate and deferred payment agreements, and that its debt recovery team was short-staffed over the summer but is now fully staffed.

Council tax and business rates

By the end of September the council had collected 51.90% of this year’s council tax. That is 0.64 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Business rates collection was 55.22%, down 1.16 points.

The contractor Liberata took over council tax and business rates administration on 1 October. The report says the council will monitor “the impact of service improvements” through the contract.

The council charged £2.012 million in court costs to people and businesses it took to court over unpaid council tax and business rates by the end of September. It expects £2.5 million for the year.

Debts being written off

Cabinet is asked to write off £440,348 owed by former tenants of the council’s temporary accommodation. Each of these debts is over £5,000 and dates from 2020/21 to 2022/23. Almost all, £427,706, is marked as unsuccessful after being passed to a debt agency.

Cabinet is also asked to note a further £503,248 of smaller debts under £5,000, written off by officers, going back to 2017/18.

The land sales gap

The council plans to spend £857.9 million on buildings, roads and other capital projects over five years. It is counting on £61.3 million from selling council land and property to help pay for it.

It holds £11.7 million of those receipts now and plans £11.6 million of sales this year. That leaves a possible gap of £38 million. The report says that unless more sales are found, the gap “would need to be met by borrowing”, which adds interest costs to the day-to-day budget.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes to your council tax bill this year. This report is about how the 2026/27 budget is going, not next year’s.
  • Next year’s bill is a separate decision. The council’s £200m savings plan relies on a council tax rise above the usual 5% cap, which needs government agreement. Check your band on our Barnet council tax bands page.
  • If you are struggling to pay, the report shows the council has spent £0.265m on discretionary council tax discounts so far this year and expects £0.302m by March. Its Resident Support Fund has paid out £0.199m, with £0.4m forecast.
  • You can watch the scrutiny meeting on Thursday 12 November at 7pm. The agenda and papers are on the council’s committee site.