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The London Borough of Barnet has welcomed over 1,000 Ukrainian refugees since the Homes for Ukraine scheme was launched exactly one year ago on 14 March 2022. Around 710 Barnet households have opened their doors to those fleeing the war in Ukraine in what is one of the fastest and largest visa programmes in UK history, and over 1,000 households in the borough have registered an interest in becoming sponsors.

Barnet Councillors voted to approve the Tree Planting policy, which includes a commitment to plant 5,000 trees by 2028 at yesterday’s (14 March) Environment and Climate Change Committee. The policy is part of the council's ambitious plan to become one of London's most sustainable boroughs, and to achieve its target of being a net zero borough by 2042.

Barnet Council has banned the use of live animals as prizes for all events held on council-owned land. Councillors unanimously agreed to back the ban, raising concerns over animal welfare. The decision also supports the RSPCA's 'Pets as Prizes' campaign, which urges local authorities to ban outright the giving of live animals as prizes on their land.

The money, awarded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as part of the national Open Digital Planning project, will be invested in pioneering new software that will automate and reduce the current amount of paperwork of planning applications. Barnet is just one of a handful of councils to have received the funding, meaning the borough’s residents will be among the first in the country to benefit from the new digital system.

Barnet Council is one step closer to beginning work on the £18.8million transformation of one of its largest parks after appointing a design team to lead the project. Ove Arup & Partners Ltd was chosen to head up the regeneration of West Hendon Playing Field after winning a prestigious design contest by the London Borough of Barnet in partnership with the Landscape Institute.

Barnet Council backed employment service BOOST has helped 770 local residents find employment in 2022/23, according to the latest figures published. Of the 770 people supported into jobs, 405 were helped through the JETS project*. 21% were tenants in Barnet Homes, with 1 person designated as ‘a rough sleeper’ placed into work.

Barnet councillors agreed to change the council’s constitution and formally move from a committee system of governance to a cabinet and scrutiny system at an extraordinary council meeting last week. The move is integral to the Council administration’s commitment to ensure decision-making is more transparent, efficient, and accountable. It is also part of a package of new constitutional measures to help increase public participation in local democracy.

Councillor Nagus Narenthira has become the 58th Mayor of Barnet, after being officially sworn in during the Annual Council Meeting held on Tuesday 23 May at Hendon town Hall. Councillor Narenthira takes over from the borough’s previous Mayor, Councillor Alison Moore.

Newly published Key Stage 4 (KS4) data from the Department for Education (DfE), shows that Barnet is second in the country for Progress 8, which measures the progress that students have made between the end of primary school and the end of Key Stage 4 (16 year olds). The Barnet Progress 8 score for the 28 schools in the Borough was only beaten by the Isles of Scilly Local Authority, which has only one school in it. 

Barnet Council’s new Colindale CCTV control room has officially launched with updated new state-of-the-art technology and capabilities – alongside improved 24/7, 365-day-a-year monitoring. The launch of the control room is a key milestone in Barnet’s Strategic CCTV improvement programme and is part of the council’s wider community safety strategy, which sees the council working closely with Police and other organisations to tackle crime, violence against women and girls, and anti-social behaviour.