I’d like to wish everyone across Haringey a Happy New Year.
2025 is going to be another testing and challenging year for our borough but rest assured we will continue to fight for our residents and implement even more positive change.
Despite the financial challenges that we are facing, we have made it a priority to protect our front-line services and the most vulnerable.
The Council has been working hard to manage rising costs in this financial year alongside developing a balanced budget for 2025/26.
Efforts to reduce costs and identify additional savings continue. Haringey is currently consulting on more than £18m of savings to be implemented next year as part of tackling a budget gap which has grown to more than £50m.
We welcome the additional £16million funding that the government will provide Haringey next year including extra money to tackle homelessness – one of the biggest financial challenges.
But the government was never going to be able to reverse a decade of austerity in one Budget and this new money still leaves us with a mountain to climb.
Year on year we have worked hard to be efficient and find savings. All the time continuing to deliver the services that matter to our residents. However rising costs and demand in adult and children’s social care, and the impact of the housing crisis, are becoming overwhelming.
We will continue to work hard to balance our budget. We will work with the government to do this as part of responsible budget planning in order to ensure we can maintain vital services for our residents.
Haringey urgently needs a fair funding system for the long-term which recognises the needs of local populations and provides adequate resources to meet all the responsibilities that we have.
We warmly welcome the government’s commitment to bringing forward a new funding system that does that and we stand ready to work with them on developing this.
As always we will put the needs of our residents at the heart of everything we do and we’ll continue to work with our communities in 2025.
Haringey Council celebrates turning 60 this year and we mark 40 years since the Broadwater Farm riots. We are proud of the transformation that is taking place on the estate with new council homes set to benefit hundreds of families.
This milestone is only the start and our housing delivery programme will continue to expand across the borough as we remain well on track to deliver our target of 3000 affordable new council homes at council rent by 2031.
