Liberal Democrat councillors have expressed renewed concern over Haringey Council’s Social Services Department’s plan set to institute a freeze on all non-care expenditure this year in order to curb its runaway social services overspend.

The plans are being put to the Labour Executive following a further deterioration of the Council’s £5.1 million overspend on Social Services, with a further projected overspend of £0.5 million for this year.

The plans, which will be mentioned in Executive’s Finance and Performance Brief for January, have shocked the Opposition Lib Dems who in previous months have been shouted down by members of the Executive for questioning the planning behind, and the sustainability of, such a huge budgetary overspend.

Liberal Democrat Social Service Spokesperson Ron Aitken, although aware that action must be taken to halt spiralling costs, fears that a freeze on non-care expenditure will result in a demoralised workforce, frustrated that every expenditure has to be sanctioned by management. He wants to know why poor planning by senior management and Executive members has pushed the Council into a situation where costs are being frozen.

Cllr Ron Aitken comments:

“Haringey Council appears to lurch from crisis to crisis. We have expressed concerns over the sustainability of such huge overspending in the Chamber. Sadly the Labour Council seem so out of touch that the realities of budgetary planning and management that they don’t seem to hit home until the damage has been done.”