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)

Havering Council Meeting, 6th September 2023

On a hot night eleven councillors, 20%, were absent (see Addendum).

What did they miss? Not a lot. There were no motions, which shows a tragic lack of ambition by the Conservatives. David Taylor, a Conservative, wrote in the Havering Daily,¹ that spending £300,000 on the ULEZ High Court case was a good idea. This might have drawn a crowd especially as it involved slashing councillor allowances.

Question Time was the only event.

Martin Goode (54 minutes)² probed the Leader about agency staff. His answer possibly gave a hostage to fortune. Christine Smith (1:13) asked an important question about measles. Gillian Ford said Havering was better than London but worse than England, which sounds pretty bad. David Taylor (49) promoted *Faith* groups who provide services to the community. He asked for a meeting. Perhaps the Leader will chat with other volunteer groups who patch up LBH’s social services, at no cost to the borough.

Dilip Patel (1:07) stood in for Jason Frost and posed a killer supplementary question to Oscar Ford. Cabinet members read prepared answers but do they understand what they’re reading? The critical question about how many child-carers there are was fundamental to Ford’s answer. He didn’t know. He hadn’t done his homework.

I take a jaundiced view of eulogies but Stephanie Nunn was a warrior. She overcame her distress (5 minutes 45 seconds) announcing the death of Barbara Matthews. She carried on orchestrating speeches – not all of which were of the highest quality.

Addendum: Absent councillors

Joshua Chapman, John Crowder, Philippa Crowder, Sarah Edwards, Brian Eagling Jason Frost, David Godwin, Robby Misir, Sue Ospreay, Philip Rock and Natasha Summers

Notes

1 ‘Our council has failed to prepare for ULEZ’-Havering’s missed chance to support residents. – The Havering Daily

2 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All times are in brackets and refer to this webcast

Extraordinary Council Meeting, 30th August 2023

Keith Prince is a Havering and GLA councillor. He chairs the GLA Transport committee, holding Mayor Khan to account. He’s in a powerful and unique position but what does Havering gain?

Havering is the GLA’s Ugly Duckling. We’ve been left out of SuperLoop, didn’t get a station at Beam Park, don’t have good north-south bus routes, electronic bus signs are rarely to seen, and Gallows Corner is a national joke. Keith might be lobbying but he annoys the Mayor. This meeting could have been Keith’s showcase. It was a disaster. His speech (1:33)¹ was ill-prepared, badly delivered and showed why Havering gets a raw deal from the GLA.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Virtually every councillor thinks Havering’s air is of unimprovable. Gerry O’Sullivan (1:06) blamed air pollution deaths, in part, on the 1953 Great Smog. Mandy Anderson ((1:09) quoted Boris Johnson bragging ULEZ would make London, “The greatest city on earth.” Dilip Patel (34) got technical with a critique of the Imperial College report. He made important points about tyres and brakes generating air pollution. Reg Whitney (52) said £12.50 was a permit to pollute. He said pollution could stop by 2028 if non-compliant cars were banned altogether, which is an excellent point.

Ray Best’s (1:18) family have 10 non-compliant vehicles.² Other councillors had personal horror stories but he won. The debate featured hand-wringing about the plight of poor people. Nisiha Patel (53) said her daughter, a doctor, would suffer. Perhaps a generous gift at her next birthday will soften the ULEZ blow.

Frankie Walker (1:25) said London was unfairly treated in comparison to Manchester and Bristol. Trevor McKeevor (1:30)³ quoted a Grant Shapps letter virtually ordering the Mayor to extend ULEZ.

It turns out that pay-per-mile will probably come in after 2030 to replace the money lost from people converting to electric vehicles which don’t pay Fuel Duty.

Stephanie Nunn, Havering’s Mayor, kept the debate moving by being ‘Firm but Fair’.

Addendum: Absent councillors

Robert Benham, Joshua Chapman, Osman Dervish, Jason Frost, Jane Keane, Robbie Misir, Matt Stanton, Christine Vickery, Damian White and Chris Wilkins. 10 out of 55

Notes

1 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 30/08/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) This is the wording of the single motion for debate. The debate webcast is here Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Times indicate when a speaker began their speech. Prince = 1 hour 33 into the debate.

2 Perhaps he was inspired by the famous Four Yorkshire sketch? Four Yorkshiremen- Monty Python – YouTube

3 He also put a tetchy Chief Executive right (1:21) about councillors waiting to speak and so everyone got their turn even though the meeting was extended twice.

‘Living in Havering’ Magazine, 23rd August 2023

In 2018 Damian White made the taxpayer funded Living in Havering a Conservative Party newsletter. The latest HRA edited magazine is going the same way.¹

Ray Morgon, or is it Gillian Ford?² has written an article on the introduction of ULEZ in Havering. It’s a biased political statement.

They begin their rant, “The expansion of the zone has been incredibly unpopular in outer-London boroughs.” Morgon-Ford depend on the ravings of Twitter and Conservative propaganda for their opinions. Redbridge Council, an outer-London borough, in their version of Living In Havering,³ place ULEZ as their 8^th item in a single sentence, “The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be Londonwide from Tuesday, 29 August 2023.” Redbridge inform residents about matters of direct concern to them, not party-politics at the taxpayers’ expense.

Morgon-Ford keep on digging, “Unfortunately, the scheme is only available to those that live in London, so people and businesses outside of the borough that need to drive in for work, are not eligible for any support.”

They want Londoners to pay for the upgrading of Brentwood residents’ cars.⁴ HRA want to increase the GLA precept to subsidise Conservative county councils. If they think ULEZ is unpopular, they want to try that one.

HRA’s Living In Havering is taxpayer funded and shouldn’t be a party-political propaganda sheet. If they want to know what a proper Council magazine looks they should read Redbridge Update.

Notes

1 ULEZ rolls out to Havering, knife arrests in Romford, fly-tipper caught and fined (govdelivery.com)

2 Gillian Ford has emerged as the PR face of the administration with numerous TV and media appearances.

3 Latest news and updates from Redbridge Council – 12hedonic@gmail.com – Gmail (google.com) The lead item is GCSE results

4 Brentwood council tax bands & costs 2023/24 They pay £120 p.a. less than Havering for a band D property

Andrew Rosindell: Romford’s Absentee MP

Background

Andrew was arrested in May, 2022 for various alleged offences.¹ His police bail has been extended five times from then until August, 2023.

When bailed he made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the Conservative Chief Whip to distance himself from parliament. Neither expected police bail to last 15 months.

Politics

Non-attendance from parliament for 15 months is unique. It begs the question whether Romford is represented as it should be. A pragmatic solution, to what was hoped to be a temporary embarrassment, has become a nightmare. Andrew’s absence means the Chief Whip and he have denied Romford their democratic rights.
Worse, Romford Conservative party members were deceived during Andrew’s reselection process. They didn’t know he was persona non grata ²in the parliamentary Conservative party. As a long-standing MP with an excellent track record he could have been reselected anyway.

Police Bail

Is 15 months of police bail an abuse of the system?

“The officers making the decision to extend police bail must be satisfied that the investigation by police has been conducted diligently and expeditiously, and that keeping the person on bail whilst the investigation is conducted is both necessary and proportionate.”³ (my emphasis)

Five extensions are shocking.

Conclusion

Andrew deserves better than this and so do the people of Romford.

Notes

1 Tory MP Andrew Rosindell has not attended parliament for more than a year since arrest (thetimes.co.uk)

2 persona non grata meaning – Search (bing.com)

3 How long can I be kept on police bail? – TV Edwards Solicitors see also The Perplexing Reality of Extended Police Bail | London’s Defence Lawyers (stuartmillersolicitors.co.uk)