This was a bizarre cabinet meeting.
Terry Brown (20 minutes)1 did a very good and workmanlike job in presenting the Havering Local Plan. He clearly understands the ramifications of the plan and the correlation with the London Plan. Unlike Keith Prince (42) he doesn’t pass derogatory remarks about Lord Khan, which is welcome.
Martin Goode (40) highlighted the Mayor’s 21,712 housing requirement by 2037. There were important points made about infrastructure, which are crucial.
Martin Lardner (48) spoke movingly about homelessness and his commitment to ending the scourge of despair. He has a very solid understanding and works hard.
Sue Benjamins (1:10) had the principal item on the agenda. Trevor McKeever (1:29) asked about the impact of interest rate increases. Sue didn’t understand. This set the tone of the presentation. The rest of the item was dominated by a discussion of car parking charges in Havering’s parks orchestrated by Keith Prince (1:27, 1:31 1:34, 1:38, 1:40, 1:42, 1:44, 1:46…..ad nauseum) I have two thoughts. 1) it was a Machiavellian tactic preventing scrutiny and debate or, 2) it was the worst chairing I have seen – self-indulgent and self-absorbed. Let those who know him best chose which option fits best.
Needless to relate the £300m+ accumulated debt to the government was undebated. The report highlights,
“….proposed savings being considered for 2027/28 in order to close the budget gap. There is still a budget gap of £55m for 2027/28 at present and the Council will engage with MHCLG to explore further EFS funding to bridge this gap.” (my emphasis).2
And questions could have been asked like: what is the total amount of interest which is compounding and what is the current global amount of government debt?
If I were a senior officer I’d weep.
Best speech: Martin Lardner
Notes
1 Annotator Player All times relate to this webcast
2 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 11/11/2026 19:00 p106 para 8:2
