Agenda and draft minutes

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. 

By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein’.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Sheila Peacock and Helena Kania.

Apologies for lateness were received from Cllr Felicia Opoku.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business (late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with as noted below).

None.

A Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest

becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interest are

defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Cllr Pippa Connor declared an interest by virtue of her membership of the Royal College of Nursing.

Cllr Pippa Connor declared an interest by virtue of her sister working as a GP in Tottenham.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as an accurate record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd September 2025 be approved as an accurate record.

To scrutinise the revenue and capital proposals relating to the 2026/27 Draft Budget and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2026/27 to 2030/31.

At the outset of this item, Cllr Connor noted that some additional information had been provided to the Panel as a printed spreadsheet which set out details of savings which had been agreed in previous years but would be implemented during the forthcoming Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) period.

Details on the Budget for 2026/27 and the MTFS for 2026/27-2030/31 were provided by Neil Sinclair, Head of Finance (People), Jo Baty, Service Director for Adult Social Services and Cllr Lucia das Neves, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care & Wellbeing.

Neil Sinclair introduced the report commenting that the Council faced an extremely challenging financial situation driven by continuing trends of increased demand and increased costs of services. A range of future pressures had been considered and it was forecast that at least an additional £30m would be required in 2026/27, mainly in adult social care and also temporary accommodation. £7.0m of new savings proposals for 2026/27 were included in the report, adding to the £14.9m of previously agreed savings proposals, which meant that a total of £21.9m of savings were planned for implementation in 2026/27. Brought together with the corporate assumptions about likely inflation and interest rates, it was estimated that the Council would need to apply for £57m of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from the Government in 2026/27. It was also estimated that a total of £71m of EFS would be required in 2025/26 – this comprised of the £37m of EFS that was originally forecast plus £34m of in-year overspend. The EFS received in 2024/25 was £10m. Chart 2 on page 43 of the agenda pack showed the forecast cumulative increases in the EFS over the MTFS period which was clearly not sustainable. Table 6 on page 45 of the agenda pack illustrated the breakdown of the budget gap.

Neil Sinclair commented that getting the EFS figures right was a complex process with a number of moving parts and that the final figures would not be confirmed until the accounts were closed for that financial year. The Council was doing everything it could to reduce expenditure, implementing spending controls and improving income collection. The Council would also continue to lobby the Government on the current funding system as it was not currently sustainable to meet the Council’s requirements.

Neil Sinclair, Jo Baty and Cllr das Neves then responded to questions from the Panel:

• Cllr Connor asked about the figures in Chart 3 on page 43 of the agenda pack which set out the forecast annual EFS interest charge. Neil Sinclair confirmed that the £6.1m of interest charges forecast for 2026/27 were already included in the overall budget forecast and EFS requirement for 2026/27 and also for future years. The EFS was repayable over a period of 20 years.
• Cllr Connor referred to the forecast in-year overspend of £34m for 2025/26, noting that £7.6m of this overspend related to adult social care. Asked whether the adult social care figure could be reduced, Neil Sinclair said that the direction of travel was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Report to follow.

Dominic O’Brien, Scrutiny Officer, provided an update on the Panel’s action tracker:

• Action Point 3a related to a request for details on the number of adult social care packages in the 50-64 age group. The Department had explained that the current reporting systems only tracked the number of younger adults by using a 18-64 age bracket and so this data was not available. However, the Panel could consider carrying out a more detailed financial deep dive in this area at a later date.
• Action Point 7 related to a request for details on the future model for reablement services. Jo Baty had replied to explain that the external consultancy 31Ten had recently carried out a review in this area and that she had suggested bringing a full update on this to the Panel’s meeting in February 2026. (ACTION)
• Action Point 8 concerned the Q1 finance update. The Panel had noted that the graphs on service users and costs did not cover all age cohorts. It had been explained that the report only covered the most relevant areas but that the Panel could request additional data if required. Cllr Opoku said that a particular concern was that details of different age cohorts were included for different areas which made it difficult to make direct comparisons. She requested that clearer information be provided in the finance updates in future. (ACTION)
• Action Point 9 concerned the request from the Panel for information about the progress of savings proposals that had been agreed in previous years but were still in the process of being implemented to be included in future finance updates. This request had been passed to the Finance team.
• Action Points 10 and 11 were requests for information to be passed on following the discussion with the Joint Partnership Board (specifically on the Tottenham Pensioners Group and the Transport Inclusion Group). These actions had been carried out.

Cllr O’Donovan requested that Attachment A (the procedure for the appointment of co-optees to vacant positions on the Scrutiny Panels) be recirculated. (ACTION) Dominic O'Brien explained that the intention was for the co-optee recruitment process to take place once per year at the beginning of the municipal year. Cllr O’Donovan requested that information about this should be provided to local stakeholders at an early stage so that new co-opted members were ready to start at the first meeting of the new Scrutiny Panels in 2026/27. (ACTION)

Asked about the progress of the Scrutiny Review on Hospital Discharge, Dominic O’Brien reported that further evidence had been collected from the Council, the Mental Health Trust and the Integrated Care Board. This would be written up and circulated with a draft report expected to be provided to the Panel at its next meeting on 16^th December.

Cllr Connor noted that there were currently too many items pencilled in for the Panel’s meeting in February 2026 and so this would need to be reduced. Councillors were reminded to contact the Chair or Scrutiny Officer if they had any preferences on items to be prioritised. Dominic O’Brien also noted that another item on reablement services had also been suggested by Jo Baty.

Cllr Opoku asked whether an update could be provided to the Panel on the proposed merger of the North Central London Integrated Care Board and the North West London Integrated Care Board as this could be implemented by April 2026. Cllr Connor reported that this was due to be discussed at the next meeting of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) and so she could provide an update to the Panel at the next meeting after this. (ACTION)

To amend/approve the draft scope and terms of reference for a Scrutiny Review on Communications with Residents (Adult Social Care).

The scoping document and terms of reference for the proposed Scrutiny Review on Communications with Residents (Adult Social Care) was considered by the Panel. Dominic O'Brien reported that the draft version of this document had previously been circulated to the Panel and that two suggested amendments had been included in the version in the agenda papers.

Dominic O'Brien explained that the final version of the document would be included in the agenda papers for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 27^th November 2025. Evidence sessions would then be set with the stakeholders referred to in the document to take place in December 2025 and January 2026 with a view to the completed report being provided to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 11^th March 2026.

RESOLVED – That the scoping document for the proposed Scrutiny Review on Communications with Residents (Adult Social Care) be approved by the Panel for submission to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

-       16^th December 2025 (6.30pm)

-       9^th February 2026 (6.30pm)

• 16^th December 2025 (6.30pm)
• 9^th February 2026 (6.30pm)