A newly published report reveals the now Green-led council will likely need to seek £19m of government support in 2027/28, followed by £24m in 2028/29
By Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
Waltham Forest Council is expected to seek two more bailouts from the government, a report reveals.
The former Labour administration was given a £19m bailout in February, referred to as ‘exceptional financial support’.
Then-top councillors said it would “help us protect our services that matter most to people” while “balancing the budget in the short term”.
However, a newly published report reveals the now Green-led council will likely need to seek further financial support: another £19m in 2027/28, and £24m in 2028/29.
That would bring the total amount borrowed from Westminster to £62m.
Ursula Gamble, the council’s finance director, said: “Local government finances have been under sustained pressure for more than sixteen years due to constraints in national funding and increasing demand for services.
“Councils are increasingly required to deliver more services with proportionately fewer resources.”
She described the current financial position as “very challenging” and said “actions are being taken now” to outline cuts over the next three years.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Waltham Forest has faced “significant and sustained pressures,” despite making millions in cuts.
The combined impact of “high inflation, increased interest rates and growing demand for services” has knocked “financial resilience” and increased council spending across all services.
Earlier this month, council documents showed Waltham Forest was facing a £19m budget gap for 2026/27, the current financial year.
It is set to go over budget on temporary accommodation – for homeless residents – by £11m, and by a further £7.5m on social care.
Around 75% of the council’s total budget is spent on these two areas, which limits the council’s spending elsewhere.
This year, the town hall hopes to make £18.6m in cuts. In a bid to raise £22m to fund various schemes that will bring in savings down the line, it is looking at selling off land and buildings it owns.
The new report, due before the budget scrutiny committee next week, has also warned that the budget gap could rise to £47m over the next three years, if no further cuts are made.
An “optimistic” projection puts the figure at £31.7m, while the worst-case scenario would be closer to £60m.
Waltham Forest is facing such a dire forecast despite making £157m in cuts over the past decade, which includes £25m in the past two years alone.
It has also reduced the number of children in care by 10%, and seen the volume of households in temporary accommodation fall from a peak of 1,710 in September 2025 to 1,527 in April.
Councillor Em Dean, cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “There has been no change in the council’s approach to EFS.
“We are not seeking more funding than was previously arranged. When the council applied for EFS in February 2026, the medium term financial strategy predicted a need for £19m in financial years 2026/27 and 2027/28, as well as £23m in 2028/29.
“We are focused on ensuring the council is operating on sound financial foundations. Of the £19m of EFS funding agreed by the government for this financial year, our current analysis suggests we will use approximately £6m of it.
“We are committed to not just maintaining but improving council services in a financially responsible way. We will ensure the borough is financially resilient over the years to come.”
Councillor Emma Best, leader of the Waltham Forest Conservatives, said the situation was the result of “mismanagement” by the former Labour administration and warned against pursuing “pet projects”.
She said: “We understand that all councils are under financial pressures due to the latest cuts of the Labour government.
“But to be considering taking out these eye watering loans really shows the financial mismanagement of the last Labour administration.
“There was too much unnecessary spending on projects that brought little or no benefit to our residents.
“It worries us that the new Green administration appears to want to continue with pet projects which ignore the reality of the authority’s financial position. We hope they learn fast that this is a mistake.
“As a council we need to look after taxpayers’ money by getting back to the council basics: collect the bins, sweep the streets and look after our children and vulnerable residents.”
Waltham Forest Labour said: “14 years of Conservative austerity slashed council funding, including ours, to bare bones. We worked extremely hard to protect our residents from the worst consequences and did so by taking difficult decisions.
“Waltham Forest Labour applied for EFS with a plan: to use funding specifically to redesign our services and fix structural issues. This work would ensure that every pound of resident’s council tax is spent well.
“If the new Green administration feels the need to borrow more money, they clearly aren’t delivering the plan we produced to put the council’s finances on a firm footing but are governing without a plan. It is the residents who will pay.
“We fought for better funding in administration to help rectify Conservative austerity and received almost a quarter more funding from the national government last year.”
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