The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Haringey Council met on Thursday 17 September 2026. The meeting's agenda included a review of the Council's financial position at the end of the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year and an update on the Committee's work programme.

Finance Update - Q1 2026/27

The Committee was scheduled to consider the Council's financial position at the end of Quarter 1 of the 2026/27 financial year. The report, which was also presented to the Cabinet on 15 September 2026, detailed variances against the budget set in March 2026. It highlighted that the Council was forecasting a spend of £374.8m, an overspend of £21.7m against the budgeted £353.02m. A significant portion of this overspend was attributed to the non-delivery of agreed savings, a matter previously raised by the Council's external auditors. The report indicated that 80% of service spend was directed towards supporting vulnerable residents through adult services, children's services, education, and housing demand, particularly temporary accommodation.

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was forecasting an £8.4m overspend, primarily within the High Needs Block, due to increasing demand and costs for commissioned placements for children with special educational needs. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was also forecasting a deficit of £3.478m, largely due to a higher-than-budgeted level of void properties.

The report also detailed the capital programmes for both the General Fund and the HRA, indicating underspends against the budgeted figures. It noted that the Council's financial resilience plan, which includes enhanced spending controls and stringent governance on capital programmes and commissioning, would be reported on from Quarter 2. The report also outlined the Council's debt write-offs for Quarter 1, totalling £2.1m, with parking services accounting for 46% of this amount.

Work Programme Update

The Committee was also scheduled to review its current 2026/27 work programme. This included noting the existing items and proposing any necessary amendments. The work programme indicated that future meetings would address topics such as procurement and contracts, and the group-based sexual exploitation of children. The report also highlighted upcoming training sessions and events for scrutiny members.

The agenda frontsheet for the meeting can be found here: Agenda frontsheet 17th-Sep-2026 19.00 Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The full public reports pack is available here: Public reports pack 17th-Sep-2026 19.00 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.