Havering’s ten cabinet members receive allowances amounting to £371,120 p.a. The ten include two who work part-time, three who are retired and five full-time workers.
Their fundamental role is setting policy for the Council. They aren’t managers. Keith Prince stated, 9th May 2026, that Havering was under *New Management*. By which he meant Reform UK had distinctive policies. Those policies are implemented unless they’re illegal or conflict with professional advice. Cabinet Members can order principal officers to implement policies after being instructed in writing. Officers need this to demonstrate that they acted against their professional judgment.
So, how good is Keith’s cabinet?
Sue Benjamins – Finance and Deputy Leader
Retired. Sue1 can fulfil the challenging role of finance because she can be more-or-less full-time if she wishes. Havering has massive government debts, which will increase by a possible £54.2m 2026-7. Setting the 2027-8 budget will be brutal.
Terry Brown – Planning and Public protection
Retired. Terry can work full-time as a cabinet member if he wants. The major policy areas are the housing agendas of need, density, and inward investment. The Green Belt and Grey Belt land complete the agony. Terry is critical to Keith’s *Super Suburb* ambitions. He has to navigate national and regional planning aspirations.
Martynas Cekavicius – Public Realm
Full-time employment. I’ve no idea what his brief is but he has commented on the forthcoming strike and so that might be his role. His employment is shrouded in mystery being labeled *Sensitive* in his Register of Interests entry. (I doubt that he’s a Russian diplomat spying on Havering.)
Graham Day – Adults and Health Care
Full-time employment. This role is fundamental to Havering. The borough is heading for bankruptcy because of demand-led costs. Graham2 has to provide a statutory service and reduce costs.
Kevin Gill – Children Services
Part-time employment. This role is fundamental to Havering. The borough is heading for bankruptcy because of demand-led costs. Kevin has to provide a statutory service and reduce costs.
Graham and Kevin will need broad shoulders as they work to reduce costs because they will be lobbied by pressure group protests. Officers might be reluctant but they must lead.
Key areas are the alteration, or imposition, of eligibility criteria for access to services.
Martin Lardner – Housing Allocation
Full-time employment. Martin is not in a problem council position. His decision-making room for action is tiny. 40 years after Thatcher, Havering has little flexibility in housing. He might have vigorous discussions with Terry about Social Housing. Will he battle for social housing?
Sean McMahon – Customer Services
Retired. Sean praised AI and all things ‘Tech’ at a recent cabinet meeting. Given pie-in-the-sky promises about the magic of IT, scepticism is invaluable. He must introduce robust performance indicators. Tragically Sean seemed to go ‘native’ at the cabinet meeting. Sean will discover IT is a bottomless pit of costs with under-performance.
Alex Sibley – Highways
Full-time employment. Alex’s budget is constrained. Regional government is a major player as we saw in the Gallows Corner fiasco. Infrastructure is often a soft target for budget setters who are in a tight position. He’s going to have to defend the ‘pothole’ budget.
Robert Whitton – Regeneration
Full-time employment. Robert looks like a ‘horses-for-courses’ appointment by Keith. The best, quickest and most reliable way of paying off debts is to grow your income. Robert’s job is as an investor. Can he wave the magic wand? Sue certainly hopes so as does everyone else on the Council.
Conclusion
The 2027-8 budget will demonstrate if Keith has done well. If the cabinet is flaky in the face of external pressures, then he’ll have failed.
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