In the good-old-days voters knew where they stood. Conservatives were heartless; Labour were warm-hearted; Resident Associations (RA) loved pavements. Happy days!
Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, set Havering’s Council Tax at 3%. He imposed the principal budget item, Adult Social Care, without funding it. This budget is demand led so no-one knows how much it will eventually cost. Councillors do know Havering has the oldest population in London and dozens of Care Homes. Central government has imposed Stealth Taxes on Havering for 12 years.
A £150 million budget1 was nodded through with passionate debate about £70,000 ‘savings’ from Councillors Allowances. This would be allocated to street cleaning. An RA policy!
The 3% Council Tax increase is inadequate. Inflation is 7% rising to 10% by December. The in-coming Administration will have to make some grim decisions in October.
Council officers wrote an analysis of ‘risk’ factors for the budget.2 Item C4 refers to business rates losses, “it is hoped that the Government will fully recognise this in future settlements”. Interest rates have increased twice in three months. C8 says, “An increase in interest rates will have a direct impact on the Council’s treasury strategy.” Each 1% increase equals £1 million of additional expenditure. C19 notes a potential loss of “several million pounds” and C22 says government alteration in charging for ‘Green Waste’ will cost £800,000.
The Administration’s 400 job losses will save £7 million.3 They are, “Staffing Reductions Through Efficiency”. Achieved by removing, “activities that do not benefit residents.” Technology [has] “moved on significantly… [and] efficiencies through modernising work processes and improving service offers to our customers and partners.” A budget based on a ‘wish and prayer’.
Jeff Tucker declared he hadn’t read the budget before speaking for 25 minutes. But it was Rishi Sunak’s Stealth Taxes which needed discussing and he wasn’t present.4 So perhaps Jeff got it right.
Notes
2 Microsoft Word – Appendix D – Risk Register (003) (havering.gov.uk)
3 Appendix A Budget Savings.pdf (havering.gov.uk)
4 Havering Council Tax Meeting, 2nd March 2022 – Politics in Havering
Politics in Havering 
The R.A. love potholes!!! The Hornchurch RA Focus magazine is full of such reports.
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If they gain power they’ll find that potholes are the easy bit. Adult and Children’s Services are a nightmare., There are no quick fix solutions and some really unpleasant decisions have to be made. RAs are quick to point the finger but when it’s their turn to make substantive decisions we’ll see what they are really made of. Havering is a fascinating place ‘politics-wise’.
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