The Conservatives have their third leader since 2022. Michael White is a veteran from when the electorate elected Conservatives.
Barry Mugglestone (one minute)1 introduced the borough’s ‘Food Disposal’ policy.2 He had a blizzard of statistics and costings, which were meant to ‘shock and awe’. David Taylor (4minutes) had prepared searching questions. He relished asking them and created a classy debate.
Food Disposal is government policy and Havering is new to it. David wondered if officers had done comparative research to avoid reinventing the wheel. The answer: not much.
Havering’s two year contract for non-obligatory caddy bin liners is £1million. Havering is bankrupt. Barry (9 minutes) wanted to withdraw his proposal but was ignored. Gillian Ford (17 minutes) said bin liners should be provided and stopped later on. Good luck with that!
Natasha Summers (48 minutes) wants to reduce homelessness costs.3 The policy will save £1.8m over ten years. Meanwhile bin liners will cost £1m over two years. Converting a Basildon office building will provide 34 units. Havering residents will be shipped out to Basildon for their housing needs.
Michael White (50 minutes) showed political Leadership. He pursued the implications of the policy for residents and Basildon. He said homeless people are shuffled around and Havering was a victim of inner-London disposal policies. The savings are negligible and it is papering over the cracks.
These discussions implied cabinet members don’t critique their papers. They should be more than spokespersons for officers.
Notes
1 Annotator Player All timings refer to this webcast
Politics in Havering 
They didn’t consider hot composting for those that compost. The hot compost bins are relatively expensive, but at least they could have shown they knew about them, but couldn’t afford a subsidy.
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Thank you for your comment.
I’ve never heard of *hot composting* and I’m grateful to you for introducing me. The Council is bankrupt and are more-or-less obliged to take the cheapest option. The point of the blog was that they are proposing to spend a £1m on bin liners. I’ve had a caddy for years and have never even considered bin liners.
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