Enfield Council says there is no evidence it will go bust

A north London council said its budget was in a "robust position" despite fears of bankruptcy being raised.

The opposition leader at Labour-run Enfield Council had warned a Section 114 notice "will come at some point".

But the council said there was "no evidence" it was close to issuing the notice, which effectively declares bankruptcy.

The council has £1.12bn of debt, the tenth highest of England's local authorities, government figures show.

Speaking at a council meeting last week, Conservative opposition leader Alessandro Georgiou said the notice was "inevitable" due to the council's "extreme" levels of borrowing.

"I see no way out for the council. There is a £39m spending gap, and ultimately what that means is they are cutting the council tax support grant," he said.

"We can play the blame game or we can take the decisions today to mitigate that and to ensure that our residents in the future will not be carrying a significant council tax burden."

Responding to the speculation, a council spokesperson said: "Like all local authorities, Enfield Council is having to make difficult decisions due to budget challenges caused by inflation and government cuts.

"A recent Local Government Association peer review found our budget was in a robust position and we have always been prudent."

The council recently proposed a number of cuts to reduce the £39m budget gap, including a significant reduction to a scheme set up to help the most vulnerable residents with their council tax payments.

This month, Havering Council, in east London, announced it was six to 12 months away from having to issue a Section 114 notice.

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