The Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel met to discuss the upcoming budget and medium term financial strategy, a review of communications with residents, and updates to their work programme. Councillor Pippa Connor, Chair of the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel, was scheduled to chair the meeting. Councillors were expected to review revenue and capital proposals relating to the 2026/27 draft budget, as well as the five-year medium term financial strategy.

Here's a breakdown of the key items on the agenda:

2026/27 Draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy

The panel was scheduled to scrutinise the revenue and capital proposals for the 2026/27 draft budget and the medium term financial strategy (MTFS) for 2026/27 to 2030/31. The Public reports pack included several documents for consideration:

• Main report to the Cabinet on the 2026/27 Budget and 2026-2031 MTFS.
• Directorate Appendices summarising proposed savings, budget pressures, and changes to the capital programme for each directorate.
• Adults, Housing & Health Appendices providing details on specific savings proposals.
• An explanatory note on the Scrutiny Role in the budget setting process.

The 2026/27 Budget and 2026-2031 MTFS report noted that Haringey Council, like many other London boroughs, faced a very challenging financial position. A decade of government underfunding had left the council with approximately £143 million less in core government funding each year in real terms than in 2010/11, while demand for services had increased. The report stated that in 2025/26, the council was only able to set a balanced budget with £37 million of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from the government, which would need to be repaid with interest.

The report stated that new savings and efficiencies of £7.0 million had been identified for 2026/27, but that it was increasingly difficult to identify further reductions. The report also noted that the draft budget for 2026/27 forecast a shortfall of at least £57 million.

The Directorate Appendices provided a breakdown of the proposed new savings, pressures, and capital programme changes for 2026/27 – 2030/31 for each directorate: Children & Young People, Adults, Housing and Health, Environment & Resident Experience, Culture, Strategy & Communities, Finance and Resources, and Corporate Budgets.

The AHH Appendices provided further detail on the savings proposals for the Adults, Housing and Health Directorate. These included a review of the adult social care charging policy, and a reduction in contracts in the floating support contract.

Scrutiny Review - Communications with Residents

The panel was also scheduled to amend or approve the draft scope and terms of reference for a scrutiny review on communications with residents regarding adult social care. According to the Communications project scoping draft, the aims of the project are to review current communication arrangements between residents and Adult Social Care services, and to examine the accessibility of information about adult care and support services on the council website and the online Haricare directory.

Work Programme Update

The panel was expected to review and update its work programme for 2025-26. According to the AH Scrutiny Panel - Work Planning 25_26 Oct 2025, potential additional items for the work programme included communications with residents, the impact of housing conditions on health and wellbeing and the Autism Strategy 2021-2031.

Other Business

The agenda also included standard items such as apologies for absence, declarations of interest, approval of the minutes from the previous meeting, and any items of urgent business.