A public consultation on cuts needed to balance the 2025/26 budget ends on Wednesday, January 29.
A financial report discussed at a cabinet meeting stated the proposals would bring the budget gap for 2025/26 from £30 million to £10.8 million.
The need for savings was blamed on the “pressures” arising from greater demand for adult and children’s social care and special needs education.
Out of the total £18.7 million of proposed cuts, around £8.8m comes from raising fees and charges on most council services by 10% in the year from April, with new charges on licences for “breeding dogs, dangerous wild animals, animals for exhibition and riding establishments”.
The remaining £9.9 million comes from “service redesign” and “service efficiencies”.
One of the biggest cuts already proposed is of up to £630,000, by from closing eight libraries. A final decision is expected next month.
The council had also proposed a cut of £500,000 to sexual health spending. The borough’s only sexual health clinic was under threat of closure, but the council announced last week that it would be retained.
New proposals would see £380,000 saved by reducing street cleaning shifts and £37,000 by leaving parks open overnight, with the council no longer paying caretakers to lock the gates.
Opposition councillors and residents have already expressed alarm.
Winchmore Hill resident Neil Littman thought the money saved “could cost the council more to fix”.
He said there were “already issues” such as muggings, vandalism, drug dealing, and mobile phone theft in parks and police “rarely” patrolled them.
Conservative councillor Maria Alexandrou said: “Labour’s financial woes will impact the environment in Enfield. Parks will be kept open 24/7 – this will attract drug dealing and more littering.
“Street cleaning cuts will create a hazardous environment with filthy streets.”
Conservative councillor James Hockney said residents would be “shocked” at the changes amid rising fees and service charges, as well as increasing council tax.
Cllr Hockney said: “One of the top local issues is street scene litter and fly tipping; the Labour council actually plans to cut back the street cleansing budget by £380,000, with other cuts even going as far as taking £37,000 from spending on locking parks. On top of this it will be hiking many fees and charges across the board.
“This is a consequence of the council having to spend £28 million out of the frontline services budget on debt interest, further compounded by a disappointing settlement from the Labour government.”
An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Like many local authorities, we face financial challenges as a result of years of underfunding from central government, rising costs, and increased demands for our services from residents who have been impacted by the cost-of-living.
“However, we remain financially resilient, and we will set a balanced budget this year. To do this, we must introduce further efficiencies and savings and identify income generation opportunities, so that we can continue to deliver high-quality, good value services.
“Changes to our parks and street scene service have been identified to lower out-of-hours and evening costs. We will still have a robust schedule to keep our open spaces and streets clean, clear and safe.
“We continue to have a free bulky waste service and residents now have the use of two recycling facilities in the borough at Barrowell Green and Edmonton Eco Park, with the latter open every day from 8am to 8pm with no need for an appointment. We will also continue to work closely with policing partners to monitor and deal with instances of antisocial behaviour and we have a zero tolerance to the vandalism or abuse of our facilities.”
