Tag: MetPolice

Keith Prince: His Rendezvous With Reality

May 7th was exhilarating for Keith. Victory made him the darling of the media. He appeared on TV and in most national newspapers. He even appeared on the front page of a prominent French newspaper. Nigal Farage and Robert Jenrick came to share the limelight. Keith proudly said that Havering was under ‘New Management’.

That was May.

Keith is a veteran politician and knows a thing or two. But he was amazed to be mugged by the MetPolice. Havering hires five officers as additional local police. In early June the cost increased to £600,000 a year. That’s a stonking £120,000 per officer per year. Keith ‘tackled’ the Mayor about it and was brushed off. He didn’t even demand evidence from the MetPolice as to how £600,000 was reached.1

On the 3rd July Keith met executives from the Essex and Suffolk Water Company, the ‘baddies’ in the Gallows Corner saga. He emerged defeated. He was helpless in the face of their shifty and evasive ‘explanations’. (see Addendum)

“Sadly, they are still unable to provide a firm completion date, and based on their updates, it looks unlikely that the junction will be fully reopened before October.”2

A gallant effort at populism was a damp squib. Keith banned the flying of the Gay Pride flag. He did it with a flourish via a video podcast outside the Town Hall. Keith was obeying a Farage edict to ban the Gay Pride flag as opposed to doing it because it was suitable for Havering. Farage is using stereotypes to drive policy. Obviously, this is ridiculous for a populist political party with gay members. The policy has failed as can be seen from successive by-elections defeats.

Amazingly there was a reaction. Havering’s Gay Pride Activists were provoked as they were meant to be. What was unexpected was that they broke into the Town Hall and erected the flag anyway.3 Gay Pride forced a score draw.

Thus far Keith has faced relative trivia. But what happens when brutal events occur and he has to upset LOTS of people? Adult and Children’s social services, homelessness, the £100m+ of government debt are menacingly going to spring into action and wreck his policies. Needless to relate Farage has nothing to say about substantive local government issues.

Addendum: Prince’s meeting with the Essex and Suffolk Water Company

“As Leader of the Council and Assembly Member for Havering and Redbridge, I have continued to pile on the pressure. Today [3rd July 2026], I met with Transport for London and Essex and Suffolk Water (ESW) to demand a clear completion date, proper answers, and firm accountability from ESW for the ongoing delays. Residents should not be left in limbo, and businesses should not be expected to keep absorbing the impact without clarity or action.

Sadly, they are still unable to provide a firm completion date, and based on their updates, it looks unlikely that the junction will be fully reopened before October. As both Council Leader and London Assembly Member for the area – I will continue to raise this directly with the Mayor of London, demand regular progress updates from both TfL and ESW, and press for stronger accountability and further compensation and support for those most affected.”

Source Living in Havering – Friday 3 July – 12hedonic@gmail.com – Gmail

Notes

  1. London Assembly (Mayor’s Question Time) from 12/06/2026 This is the clip of the Q&A Keith had with the Mayor. It’s about three minutes long. It’s hard to understand the £120,000 when you examine police pay scales Pay and benefits | Police staff | Careers | Metropolitan Police
  2. Gallows Corner is a hub junction and has been closed since June 2025. Prince continued his bombastic approach on the 7th July 2026. “Councillor Prince has given TfL until the end of October to complete the works….” Notwithstanding his utter failure at the face-to-face meeting (see above) ‘Enough Is Enough’: Havering’s Leader Councillor Keith Prince Gives TfL End Of October Deadline As Gallows Corner Delays Drag On – The Havering Daily
  3. Havering bans the Gay Pride Flag – Politics in Havering

Havering’s Cabinet ‘debates’ CCTV: 8th March, 2023

The estimated cost of this Upgrade and CCTV Relocation Proposal is £2.423m, to be funded from Capital and CIL monies.1

As a minimum, a ‘debate’ about spending £5 million capital and £500,000+ revenue should include a discussion of effectiveness. Councillors were unaware there were questions to ask. They seemed equally unaware that officers had noted CCTV isn’t a legal obligation. The decision was made without considering the economics and effectiveness of CCTV.

HRA are obsessed with street care, so would £500,000 revenue help enhance meeting residents’ desire for clean and smooth pavements? What about £5M capital?2 The three minute ‘debate’3 that was devoted to this critical issue is less than a new bike shed would get. But then they understand bike sheds. Don’t they? None of the economic points relating to an efficient use of council funds were mentioned. It was rubber stamped.

The Summary statement says CCTV makes, “Havering a safer place.”4 The question is whether it will  improve the current situation. Is there evidence CCTV makes a difference to levels of crime? Item 7, points 2-8,5 is silent on whether CCTV successfully fights crime.

The CCTV programme is very expensive.6,7 It is additional to £300,000+ pa for Havering’s five funded police officers.

Summary point 7 says, “…an effective and reliable CCTV system plays an essential part in assisting the Council to fulfil its duties under the Crime & Disorder Act 1998, which requires local authorities to work with the police and other partners to prevent and reduce crime and disorder”.4 (my emphasis)

The police don’t think CCTV is that great.

“Overall, use of CCTV makes for a small, but statistically significant, reduction in crime, but this generalisation needs to be tempered by careful attention to (a) the type of crime being addressed and (b) the setting of the CCTV intervention. CCTV is more effective when directed at reducing theft of and from vehicles, while it has no impact on levels of violent crime.”8 (my emphasis)

Havering’s CCTV has been superseded by 1,000s of private CCTV systems and 10s of 1,000s of smart phones. This cabinet ‘debate’ was abysmal.

Notes

1 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Cabinet, 08/03/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) Item 5

2 The 2023 Capital programme is interesting and demonstrates that £5M is significant Appendix 1 – Existing Capital Programme Detail.pdf (havering.gov.uk) The £5M just about doubles the road resurfacing budget from £6M to £11M. This would reduce the costs to residents paying for damaged vehicles.

3 Go to minutes 1-4 for the ‘debate’ Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) See also Report detail p21 para 9:1

3 p14

4 pp14-5

5  p17 para 2:7 main report £500,000 revenue

6 p18 para 6:3 main report £5,000,000 capital

7 p15 See Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (legislation.gov.uk) There is no obligation to fund surveillance equipment. This is noted at p20 para 8:1 There is, however, a duty to have a Crime and Disorder committee which Havering doesn’t have. Para 5:1c (a)

8 http://library.college.police.uk/docs/what-works/What-works-briefing-effects-of-CCTV-2013.pdf p2

Havering’s Million Pound Mistake, 2019-22

Damian White, Havering’s Council Leader in 2019, signed a contract with the MetPolice1 costing a million pounds over three years. He did this for bragging rights in the ‘fighting’ crime Conservative agenda. The contract paid for Havering to have five additional police officers who clearly couldn’t make a difference. The contract wasn’t just about policing, it was also a PR stunt.

Havering is,

“….among the top 10 safest cities, and the 1,978th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.”2

The Conservatives’ fantasy is that only they can be trusted to fight crime. Their posturing will cost taxpayers an additional million pounds to the MetPolice GLA precept.3 Havering’s only significant crime area relates to cars. The five police officers can’t make a difference because they don’t have cars. (Police cars were an optional extra in Damian’s contract.)

The RM13 postcode area had 267 offences for every 10,000 vehicles – more than double the national average of 121. 4(my emphasis)

The MetPolice contract is flaky and should wither away. Unfortunately, if it isn’t renewed, Ray Morgon’s HRA/Labour administration will be vilified as ‘Soft on crime.’

Notes

1 FINAL Cabinet report MET s92 Police FINAL.pdf (havering.gov.uk) p5 See also my critique Posts ‹ Politics in Havering — WordPress.com
2 Havering Crime and Safety Statistics | CrimeRate
3 md2954_appendices.pdf (london.gov.uk) item2
4 Havering car crime hotspots revealed – Rainham and South Hornchurch ‘worst’ | Romford Recorder Andrew’s constituency, “Romford was next with a rate of 227 in RM1.” This is almost double the national average.