Havering’s People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 5th December 2023

Jason Frost¹ made a convincing speech in December’s council meeting when requesting that his committee be sub-divided because of its overwhelming responsibilities. He was brushed off by Ray Morgon. This 27 minutes meeting² proved Ray correct. Jason’s absence added further substance to Ray’s opinion.³

Frankie Walker chaired the meeting with aplomb.

There was an excellent discussion about the ‘hub’ for autistic adults. It’s in Romford Mall, the lease of which is very expensive and consumes most of its grant. Bryan Vincent (@17)²said only 3.1% of adult autism sufferers use the facility, which means it fails 96.9%. Officers said this challenge will be met by the hub becoming ‘mobile’, using council facilities. Matt Stanton (@22)⁴ made the critical point that autism sufferers had an unemployment rate of 78%. He speculated this was due to poor support from DWP and the council. His insight was confirmed by the director who said that strategies were in place to correct this systemic failure. Matt built on a comment by Darren Wise (@15) about financing and forward visibility so proper planning could take place. The director supported them, describing multi-year contracts.

Gillian Ford (@9) attended the meeting. Neither she nor the chair understood her constitutional role. She entered the scrutiny debate, which is inappropriate. Cabinet members can only answer policy questions at scrutiny committees. The best mechanism for this is an unambiguous Q&A session. There haven’t been Q&A sessions in any Overview and Scrutiny committee and they ought to be introduced.

Notes

1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Jason Frost (1:40) Time refers to the webcast See Havering Council Meeting, 22nd November, 2023 (part two) – Politics in Havering

2 Agenda for People Overview & Scrutiny Sub Committee on Tuesday, 5th December, 2023, 7.00 pm | The London Borough Of Havering Times refer to the YouTube webcast available here

3 Along with cllrs Benham and Wilks.

4 Cllr Stanton isn’t on the committee but attended for the scrutiny discussion

Havering’s Half Baked Budget Consultation, 2024-5

“Even with the difficult proposals put forward in this consultation, the Council still has a budget deficit of £12 million.”¹ (my emphasis)

Only half of the savings/revenue increases are available for consultation. Another £12m is floating about. The consultation is farcical. Voters are expected to see half a budget and take the other half on ‘trust’. In other words, agree half a budget and get £12m of cuts sight unseen.

The £12 million deficit demands an 8% council tax increase ABOVE what’s proposed.

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Huge deficits need bold, imaginative transformative options. Avoiding bankruptcy in February 2024, requires brave leadership.²

Instead, the Administration has lost hope.³ The majority of the £11.93m cuts and savings programme is contained within five items, none of which are sufficient for the task in hand.⁴ Financial juggling and increased parking charges, for example, are 49% of the £11.93m. Toxic options, which would solve the challenge, are avoided. Havering waits for government Commissioners to do the unpopular dirty work.⁵

Keith Darvill⁶ said borrowing £12m from the government is “massive.” Massive means: £12m at 7.1% (RPI + 1%) for 20 years = £17m interest.⁷Mortgaging future generations for a year’s deficit. The elephant in the room? 2025-6, 2026-7 and so on.

A genuine consultation should offer a 13% increase in council tax OR brutal cuts in services. Undemocratic play-acting is absolutely unacceptable in a mature democracy.

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This is a government inspired *perfect storm* for local authorities, not just Havering.

“I don’t believe that there is a conspiracy to destroy local government. But I think we are sleepwalking towards a position where councils just won’t be viable.”

He said that while assets could be sold off in the short term, it would lead to a big transfer of wealth of public assets into private hands.”⁸

I think there is a conspiracy to privatise local authorities and loot their assets.

Notes

1 Havering Budget Consultation 2024 – London Borough of Havering Council – Citizen Space

2 Romford Recorder² headline was: ‘Council could declare bankruptcy in 3 months’. 24^th November 2023 p3 Reporter Josh Mellor

3 The consultation document is here Budget Leaflet.pdf (havering.gov.uk) The summary statement is here 1 APPENDIX A SUMMARY SAVINGS PROPOSALS.pdf (havering.gov.uk)

4 Ibid (Appendix A) The top 5 account for 49% (£5.85m) the other 51% is 35 items the smallest of which is £23K

5 Reducing the library service to two libraries, closing Romford market and ending the 30 minutes free period for parking are obvious starting places.

6 Romford Recorder 24^th November 2023 p3

7 United Kingdom Retail Price Index YoY (tradingeconomics.com) RPI = Retail prices index

8 Jeremy Hunt’s budget cuts spark fears of ‘existential threat’ to English councils (msn.com)

Havering Council Meeting, 22nd November, 2023 (part two)

The principal debate wasn’t about Havering’s impending bankruptcy. Conservatives chose, instead, to discuss Romford Market. This illustrates why Havering is in a mess after 20 years of Conservative rule.

In the 1990s Arthur Latham listened to the traders and spent £1,000s on cobble stones and £1,000s removing them because shoppers hated them. Traders spoke, Latham listened: it was an expensive mistake.

David Taylor (@1:06)¹discussed the survival of the market. Adopting a conspiracy theory, he accused HRA of attacking Romford itself. Graham Williamson (@1:11) pointed out the market was very costly.

Romford Market is in a death spiral. The,

“….number of traders was in long-term decline with 339 traders in 1985, 266 traders in 1995 and 170 traders in 2005. By 2015 the number of regular traders had declined to 90.”² Reducing once more to 60 in 2023 according to Williamson.

Veteran councillor Michael White (@1:29) said blaming Conservatives for doing nothing after 20 years in power was unfair. Timothy Ryan (@1:32) recounted stories about his childhood. Ray Morgon (@1:35) was surprisingly enthusiastic.

Conservatives demanding subsidies for lame ducks is strange. The Administration refused to say that subsidising Romford Market was throwing good money after bad. This is despite the fact that Romford Market has been on life-support for 30 years.

What would Margaret Thatcher do?

Addendum: Margaret Thatcher on lame duck industries

“…her policies had consigned out-dated, lame-duck industries to the nostalgia books…”³Ironically she’s revered by Romford’s Conservatives, especially their MP.

Notes

1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Times in brackets indicate when speeches begin and relate to this webcast

2 Romford Market – Wikipedia

3 An economic dawn in the wastelands | The Northern Echo

Havering Council Meeting, 22nd November, 2023 (part one)

This meeting was amazing. It pivoted round councillor behaviour, slacker councillors and the failure of Overview and Scrutiny.

Councillor Behaviour

The Mayor (@18)¹ was displeased by David Taylor’s off-hand manner towards her. This was quickly followed by her rebuking the chamber for chatter whilst she was speaking. (@21)

The Leader was surrounded by councillors treating the chamber like a canteen. Brian Vincent ate throughout the meeting, Gerry O’Sullivan brought a mug into the chamber and Oscar Ford had a flask, from which he drank repeatedly. An appalling example to impressionable children watching.

Slacker Councillors

Jason Frost (@1:40) made the important point that his committee should scrutinise 70% of the budget but it can’t do it effectively. His committee is allocated about 20 hours per year which is far too little time for the workload. He proposed that his committee should become two scrutiny committees to cope. Ray Morgon (@1:44) denied Frost’s task was impossible. A case of defending the indefensible.

Then things turned nasty. Keith Darvill (@1:51) launched a blistering attack on slacker councillors.² He said another Overview and Scrutiny committee wouldn’t happen because of unwilling councillors. The sad fact is that some councillors are semi- detached in their commitment to their democratic responsibilities. They want the honour of being a councillor and £200 a week, without fulfilling their duties. Frankie Walker (@1:54) gave forceful support to Darvill. Keith Prince (@1:59) noted that inadequate scrutiny was a common theme amongst failing councils. Ray denigrated the sincerity of Jason Frost’s proposal.

Notes

1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All times (@ 18) in brackets relate to this webcast

2 For councillor attendance see Councillors attendance summary, 2 June 2023 – 25 November 2023 | The London Borough Of Havering The current leader in the competition for the Slacker of the Year Cup is Sue Ospreay, with 33% attendance

Havering’s Budget Proposal for 30 Minutes Free Parking

Havering council is facing bankruptcy¹ and has a reckless budget proposal. The maintenance of 30 minutes free parking in Hornchurch and Upminster is expensive² and untenable. Worse, there’s no evidence that it helps shopkeepers, which is, allegedly, the justification for the policy.

Havering council’s free car parking policy is gesture politics. It’s claimed that shoppers demand free parking or shopkeepers will suffer along with the borough. The evidence is that the cost of car parking is less important than access to good quality parking. This is especially the case where shopping centres are pedestrianised or where cars have restrictions placed on them,

“Studies from the UK found an increase in trading of up to 40% across a number of pedestrianised sites.”³

Additionally, the other car parking proposals make the policy quixotic. The council intends to create £3 million of additional revenue. There will be charges for Sunday car parking, and increases for on and off-street parking, parking permits and in parks.⁴ Car parking charges in parks is a blow to the principal leisure activity for residents. (It could be halved if the 30 minutes charge was abandoned.)

Does anyone believe this policy will survive the bankruptcy solutions of Government Commissioners?

Notes

1 Havering’s Impending Bankruptcy: The Road to Disaster (part one) – Politics in Havering

2 Council passes Havering budget for 2023/24 | The London Borough Of Havering It cost £650K in lost revenue in 2023-4. This will increase to about £750K in 2024-5.

3 Reclaiming the streets: the increasing trend of pedestrianisation around the world | Rapid Transition Alliance

4 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 08/11/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk)

Havering Cabinet Meeting: 8th November, 2023

Havering is facing bankruptcy because of Conservative government policies. It has off-loaded statutory duties onto Havering without funding them.¹ Consequently, the council taxpayer meets the costs of social care for adults and children. The direction of travel is that the entire budget will be consumed by these items.

Ray Morgon (@2)² led a blistering attack on the incompetence of the Conservative government. He scorned the Austerity programme, 2010-23. Chris Wilkins (@6), denounced the government’s use of the 2011 Census for Havering’s funding formula.

Gillian Ford (@11) said a 102-year-old woman could be evicted to save money. This might suit Boris Johnson but Gillian was outraged. Oscar Ford (@14) identified *hedge funds* as profiteers from children’s services. He prefers the Scottish no-profit system. Keith Darvill (@15) quoted woeful statistics about homelessness, which made him despair.

Paul Middleton (@22) confirmed libraries would be affected. Graham Williamson (@23) said the decline in the planning services continued. Barry Mugglestone (@27) defended his untenable 30 minutes free parking policy. The current financial situation makes this a luxury and there’s no evidence it works.

Keith Prince (@29) got Williamson to admit Havering’s police funding would be paid by ‘someone or other’. Mysterious! Martin Goode (@40) jog-trotted through the proposals. A feral cabinet³ attacked him. They didn’t like his pithy “scrambling in the dark” summary of their efforts.

The CEO (@58) reiterated his passion for lobbying. This is a triumph of hope over experience.

The Conservatives have thrown down the gauntlet to local government.⁴ Local councils should exploit the fact that 2024 is an election year and go into battle!

Notes

1 No solution to ‘broken’ children’s services that are crippling council budgets, MPs warned (msn.com)

2 All times relate to the webcast Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) @2 means 2 minutes into the webcast.

3 Mugglestone, Middleton, G. Ford and Darvill

4 Surrey Council tax rise of 15% scrapped – BBC News As there are 4 cabinet ministers in Surrey it’s widely believed a back stairs deal was done with the government. See also Havering Council Tax: Is It Too Low? – Politics in Havering

Havering Councillor: Reg Whitney (Hacton)

Reg is a veteran councillor.¹ He was first elected 37 years ago when he represented South Hornchurch as a Resident Association (RA) member. In 1986 being an RA meant something. South Hornchurch was an RA fiefdom and councillors identified absolutely with their ward. Reg lived there in the heart of the community.

In 2006 he lost and retired from politics for eight years. Reg was ‘recruited’ by St. Andrew’s RAs in 2014. It didn’t matter that Reg lived in Rainham. He solved a problem. They needed someone to stand so that they had a full slate for the election. Reg was a *name* without any local connexions at all. RAs were beginning their transition into a political party, where what matters is the brand.

Reg’s tour of Havering continued in 2018. The RA seat of Hacton needed a candidate. Reg stepped forward and was elected in his third RA ward. Once more he had no local connexions. It didn’t matter. Reg was elected in 2018 and again in 2022.

Reg epitomises the change in the RAs. Resident Associations began with people like Barbara Matthews, his illustrious predecessor. The RAs have transformed into Havering’s ruling party. The HRA Administration² is the natural outcome of RAs accepting their position as the dominant political party in Havering. It’s taken 37 years.

Notes

1 Councillor details – Councillor Reg Whitney | The London Borough Of Havering

2 HRA is the Havering Residents’ Association, which formed the Administration in 2022 with the Labour Party as their junior partner.

Havering’s Impending Bankruptcy: The Road to Disaster (part one)

Havering’s Strategy Director Kathy Freeman stated: “We are very close to issuing a section 114, [bankruptcy] even six months away from this happening. Our average resources cannot meet the financial requirements.¹

In 2010 Conservative chancellor, George Osborne,² (see addendum) began his attack on local government. Without profiling the financial needs of local government, he capped Council Tax increases to zero%.

Instantly, he demonstrated he didn’t understand two fundamental fiscal principles;

The corrosive impact of inflation
The corrosive impact of the compounding of inflation.

Osborne’s decision was based on ‘something for nothing’.⁴ He talked of ‘waste’ and ‘inefficiencies’ to confuse the electorate. Simultaneously, additional duties and responsibilities were imposed on councils.

Since 2010, British inflation has been 46.88%.⁵Havering’s stand still council tax should have increased at the same pace. In 2010-11 a band D was £1,505. This year, 2023-4, it’s £2,088.13. Inflation linked council tax would have brought the figure to £2,210.56. Havering is minus £122.43 per band D house. There are 107,798 houses in Havering and band D is the average. Osborne’s misunderstanding about inflation has cost Havering approximately £14 million annually.

But the Conservative chancellors weren’t finished with their attack on local government. They reduced government funding. In 2010, Havering received £70 million. In 2023-4, it was £2.9 million. A real reduction of £100 million per year.

The cost of Conservative policies, 2010-23, for Havering is £119 million per year. This is why Havering will probably go bankrupt.

Addendum: Conservative chancellors 2010-23 (their university degree in brackets)

George Osborne (History)
Philip Hammond (Philosophy, politics and economics)
Sajid Javid (Economics and politics)
Rishi Sunak (Philosophy, politics and economics)
Nadhim Zahawi (Chemical engineering)
Kwasi Kwartang (Classics and history)
Jeremy Hunt (Philosophy, politics and economics)

Notes

1 Havering Council balancing on the brink of bankruptcy-A ‘114’ could be issued within months. – The Havering Daily

2 Osborne was educated at private schools: George Osborne – Wikipedia

3 Council funding for taxi trips for Havering school children with special needs to cease (taxi-point.co.uk) “….reimbursement for fuel or a trip via ride-hailing service Uber would cost approximately £30 per day….disabled children will experience changes, ‘appropriate measures’ will be taken to ensure their needs are appropriately addressed.” The human cost of bankruptcy. The weakest and most vulnerable suffer first

4 The 2016 Brexit referendum ‘battle-bus’ is identical with the false claim that leaving the EU would ‘free up’ £350m a week for the NHS.

5 Inflation calculator | Bank of England

Havering’s Places Overview and Scrutiny committee, 14th September 2023

Two very contrasting items dominated this meeting. The first was a presentation by an enthusiastic officer who had a good story to tell. Ray Morgon has emphasised good communications with the public and so will be delighted to know that the call centre is putting in a stellar performance with a mere 30 second wait for response.

The perennial problem for councils is the management of voids. Here was a very good report where the housing stock has not been allowed to rot in extended periods of neglect. Mandy Anderson (32 minutes)¹ said that she’d noticed the improvement in housing maintenance in her casework.

The Green Flag Award recognises parks of a high standard. There is a great deal of civic pride involved in having 16 of Havering’s parks acknowledged in this way. The officer said 16 was the limit because of resource constraints. A spokesman for Friends of Raphaels and Lodge Park gave a presentation (51-4 mins). What was said was probably unwelcome. He felt Raphaels Park was unworthy of the honour and they’d nearly written to the Green Flag organisers to say so. For example, the grass had only been cut twice this year in June and September.²

Every councillor who contributed to this meeting spoke well.

Notes

1 Webcast Agenda for Places Overview & Scrutiny Sub Committee on Thursday, 14th September, 2023, 7.00 pm | The London Borough Of Havering All times relate to this webcast

2 David Taylor should find out what the contract for grass-cutting Raphaels park demands and see if this is a management problem or a designed failure.

Absences

Sue Ospreay, Kath Tumilty and Brian Vincent

Contenders for the coveted Damian White ‘Slacker of the Year’ Cup are four Councillors at 50% Philippa Crowder, Sarah Edwards, Robbie Misir and Christine Vickery. Current leaders for the cup are Councillors Robert Benham and Damian White at 43% attendance over six months.

Source Councillors attendance summary, 6 April 2023 – 29 September 2023 | The London Borough Of Havering

Havering’s Council Tax: The Government’s Exemption Policies

Ray Morgon uses apocalyptic language when discussing government funding. In 2010, before the Conservatives’ Age of Austerity, Havering received £70m. This was reduced to £2.9m in 2023. A £100m per year reduction when corrected for inflation.¹Religious buildings are zero rated for business rates and charity shops pay only 20%. Havering’s finances are damaged by these exemptions.

Uncosted exemptions reflect prejudices of by-gone eras.² The government imposes exemptions for religious buildings without compensation for the council.³ Voters haven’t a say as to whether they want to subsidise religions.⁴

“….belief in ‘a god’ in the UK is low. Only a quarter of Britons (27%) say they actually believe in ‘a god’. A further one in six (16%) believe in the existence of ‘a higher spiritual power’, but not ‘a god’.”⁵

As 73% of people aren’t religious, why do tax exemptions exist? It isn’t obvious why churches should get financial support from Havering.

Charities are different. Local charities command general support. St Francis Hospice is a well-loved charity in Havering. Their shops provide funds beyond normal charitable giving. Their accounts don’t acknowledge the value of the 80% business rate reduction. However, their reserves of £19.44m are helped by those reductions.⁶

Havering has had massive reductions in annual funding but can’t maximise its tax base. Government decisions about religion and charities are paid for by Havering’s taxpayers.

Notes

1 Inflation calculator | Bank of England

2 There are 110 Christian buildings in Havering which don’t pay business rates. Havering’s flagship church is St Edward’s, Romford. Its financial statement reveals the building is worth £16.24m and they have reserves of £318,000 de5291_4413260d7c764342a5681c27d3be80a8.pdf (stedwardsromford.com)

3 There are 7 charity shops on Hornchurch High Street charity shops in hornchurch – Search (bing.com) They don’t pay VAT and so have further commercial advantages. See VAT for charities: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

4 See Havering Council and Religious Diversity – Politics in Havering

5 How religious are British people? | YouGov

6 388190336.pdf (sfh.org.uk) See also do charities pay business rates uk – Search (bing.com)