Havering’s Cabinet, 10th April, 2024

The Climate Change debate, Item 7,¹ is critical for Havering but was trivialised. It’s difficult to believe cabinet members had read the agenda. The council intends to make cross-department responses through nine ‘petals’, whatever they are. Apart from Keith Darvill and Ray Morgon, none of the cabinet offered any comments. The report updated the 2021 position.

The ‘debate’ was surreal. Rainfall is increasing by 3.5% a year and Keith Prince (18 mins) decided the solution to the overwhelmed drainage system is water butts. (A 3.5% increase doubles Havering’s rainfall in 20 years.) Keith loves water butts and wouldn’t give it a rest. Martin Goode (29 mins) winged it and offered a rerun of his numerous ‘Golden Oldie’ speeches. Unusually he hadn’t done his homework.

A consequence of greater rainfall is flooding. The management of flooding is expensive both in capital and revenue. Less obvious are significant increases in insurance costs for the council, businesses and householders. Some flooding is due to driveways and forecourts not having drainage points, which are an obligation. The council have insufficient enforcement officers so the obligation is ignored. Blocked drainage grates are a perennial problem in water management. The contract needs better management.

Interestingly there are a considerable number of grants available. Havering has received £3.5m in grants (see 30 minutes).²

Keith Darvill (25 mins) summed up by saying flood alleviation is very expensive. He appears to mean the existential crisis that is Climate Change is too expensive to solve. Humanity should take in on the chin! And disappear.

Absent Oscar Ford, Gillian Ford and Barry Mugglestone

Notes

1 Public reports pack 10th-Apr-2024 19.30 Cabinet.pdf (havering.gov.uk) Item 7 p85ff

2 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Times relate to this webcast.

Havering Cabinet Meeting, 14th June 2023

Keith Prince’s inaugural meeting as Conservative leader began immediately (@4minutes)¹ with a complaint about exempt items. Strangely, he was quasi-apologetic, which contrasts with his usual combative style. Martin Goode continues to star in this committee and he should be a mentor to Keith. Martin does his homework diligently.

Martin’s comments (8 mins) were perceptive and helpful. He built on this later when commenting on the Climate Change report (24mins). Keith Darvill² discussed the use of heat pumps and Martin asked whether Havering was on the hook for conversion costs for the houses which are to be leased for the homeless. (LBH is leasing them for 10 years.)³ The question was asked but the answer? This problem clearly hadn’t been considered showing Havering’s failed understanding of a cross-cutting approach.

Gillian Ford made five contributions (12 mins) (19 mins) (27 mins) (29 mins) (35 mins) without offering insights. Keith Darvill’s (20 mins) cross-cutting Climate Change item was a golden opportunity for cabinet members to make departmental responses. Oscar Ford should have commented on the environmental impact of route design for school transport but didn’t. Paul Middleton’s new Leisure Centre is a huge energy user and a comment on that would have been helpful in a review of Havering’s Climate Change aspirations.

Climate Change is critically important and to passively ‘receive’ a report is a reckless dereliction of duty.

Notes

1 Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All timings relate to this webcast

2 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 14/06/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) Item 7 is very interesting

3 See item 5 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 14/06/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) Summary statement 1

Havering Council Meeting: 17th November, 2021

Havering’s councillors love eulogies. Nothing deters them. David Amess, the murdered Southend MP, brought Ron Ower to his feet. Ron lived near Amess in Forest Gate as a boy and councillors were pleased to hear about that. Eulogies are supposed to celebrate the deceased, not provide a platform for ego massage.¹ They should be given a maximum of 10 minutes to stop time-wasting.

The Climate Change Emergency was the principal item of business. The Council’s plan is huge and lacks detail. It emerged on 10^th November and Ray Morgon and Keith Darvill said it needed scrutiny. It didn’t get it and was brought to Council seven days later. Thirteen minutes of argy-bargy ensued. Bizarrely, this means scrutiny will happen after agreement.

Councillors in speaking order:²

Joshua Chapman (44 mins) remarked Climate Change meant “an organisational and cultural change” for the entire Council.

Jeff Tucker (50) said the plan was basically a directive from Boris Johnson, aka ‘The Big Boss’.

Keith Darvill (56) reviewed his previous objections in a telling way.

Viddy Persaud (59) likes the way officers work hard.

Robert Benham (1:01) sold his Jaguar so the Emergency is virtually over.

Ray Morgon (1:03) described the Plan as a ‘massive wish list’, uncosted and ‘all talk’.

Stephanie Nunn (1:07) was scathing, describing it as ‘uncosted’ and ‘rubbish’.

Roger Ramsey (1:08) claimed ‘existing budgets’ would take the strain. He had a straight face proving what an old pro he is.

Michael Deon Burton (1:11) said opposition members were petty for objecting.

Dilip Patel (1:14) wants to spend a lot of money for the future of children.

Barry Mugglestone (1:16) said they hadn’t got the basics right

Chris Wilkins (1:17) said the 2019 report had been ignored.

Jeff Tucker (1:18) spoke movingly about out-of-order lights in Rainham churchyard.

Damian White (1:23) was in combative mode. He claimed councillors hadn’t read the report and the oft quoted £500,000 cost didn’t exist. Surprisingly he added it might cost £10 million. He said Overview and Scrutiny committees were hopeless and never produced anything for the Cabinet to discuss. He’s becoming a class act.

Keith Darvill, Ray Morgon and Damian White should have a round table discussion and get on with substantive decision-making. The drivel that punctuated this debate demonstrates that leadership is called for. Amazingly, Michael Deon Burton was quite right. There is too much pettiness and this matter is too important for that.

Notes

1 The finest recent example of a eulogy was by Roger Ramsey about Del Smith. Havering’s Council Meeting: 1st September, 2021 (part one) – Politics in Havering

2 For the webcast go to Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) All the times relate to this source