Barnet residents could face another council tax rise this year amid growing demand for social services.

A 1.99 per cent rise in core council tax and a 2 per cent increase in a levy designed to support adult social care – known as a precept – are included in the authority’s latest budget plans.

On top of that, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning to increase his council tax precept by 1.99 per cent to fund the police and fire service.

The planned tax rise comes as the borough faces a budget gap of £71.8 million between 2020 and 2025.

Barnet Council has already earmarked savings of £35.1 million for the five-year period – but that still leaves an extra £36.7 million of cuts or income generation needed to plug the gap.

Core council tax was frozen for nine years from 2010 in Barnet, even as the authority’s funding from central government was significantly reduced – but last year saw a 2.99 per cent increase in bills.

The current proposals, set to be discussed at a meeting of the policy and resources committee on Monday (January 6), will help to balance the council’s budget for the 2020-21 financial year.

According to the budget report, social care costs are growing year-on-year due to an increase in the number of new individuals receiving care, reduced numbers of people leaving or stopping care, rising complexity of care needs, inflation and “market constraints”.

Demand for children’s services is also growing, with Barnet set to have the largest number of children of any London borough by 2020.

A public consultation on the council’s budget plans is due to run from January 7 to February 3.

The final budget is set to be approved at a meeting of the full council on March 3.

The policy and resources committee will meet at 7pm on January 6 at Hendon Town Hall to discuss the proposals.

The MTFS and budget plans are available here: https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s56941/Business%20Planning%20-%20Medium%20Term%20Financial%20Strategy%202020-25%20Budget%20Management%20201920%20and%20Draft%20Bud.pdf