Romford Labour Councillor Jane Keane writes

I was so proud to be elected a Labour Councillor for Romford in 2022. It has been a great pleasure getting to know local residents in St Albans Ward and in wards in Romford.

One of the most important annual duties that a Councillor in administration, like me, is required to do is set a “balanced budget”. A balanced budget essentially means that the money we have coming in covers our outgoings and debts. Unlike the NHS we are not allowed to set a negative budget. Every year this is a challenge as grants from central government have been cut.

Despite the Government cuts, Havering Council provides relatively cheap and reliable services. Officially we are a well run Council. We have the lowest unit costs of the outer London Boroughs. We are in the top quartile across London for collecting our Council Tax and Business Rates.

This week our Council has been in the news. The Leader has signalled that the Section 151 Officer may have to serve a section 114 notice.

Here are some more details that help explain why our Council, like many other Councils, is in trouble.

Government Grant

We have had over a decade of underfunding from Central Government. We receive the third lowest central government grant in London. Over 80% of our income comes from Council Tax.

People

We are required to provide some services by law. Over 70% of our budget is spent on Adults and Children’s Social Care and support to homeless individuals and families.

Funding Formula

The funding formula used by Central Government has not changed since 2013 and uses census data from 2011. And yet, Havering has seen the 4th biggest percentage increase in 0-7 years nationally. Our funding has not kept pace with our population.

Talking to Government

For three consecutive years officers have been talking to the Government Department (Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities also known as DLUHC) about our funding challenges and the inequalities of our funding formula.

Cost of Living and Inflation

The Council has been impacted by central government policy and changes such as the housing benefit cap and fair cost of care in adult social care which alongside the cost of living crisis has impacted our costs.

Housing

The local Housing Allowance has not kept pace with market rents in Havering. This has meant an unprecedented number of homelessness approaches and having insufficient homes to place people in, meaning we are using hotel accommodation which is expensive and falls on Council Tax payers.

Broken Markets

The market in children’s social care is broken. Residential placements keep vulnerable children safe. The competition and market’s authority published a report on this last year but typically there has been no action from Government. Placements for children can cost tens of thousands per week.

Building Regulations

Policy changes on building regulations and high inflation meant that we had to pause building affordable homes.

Havering has the second lowest level of reserves in London and our forecast budget gap exceeds our level of reserves which is why our Section 151 Officer has said we are 6 to 12 months away from issuing a section 114 notice if we do not receive additional financial support.

As you can see this a Perfect Storm.

Councillors in administration have said they will do all they can do to protect essential services and keep the Commissioners away.

This means tight controls on non essential spending.

One of the first things to be dropped in my ward is the replanting of the beds in Wheatsheaf Road. I will do what I can to work with other volunteers to get this replanted for the spring. But there will be other decisions that your councillors will have to take that cannot be fixed.

Please write to your local MP, as I will be, to ask them to fix Local Government funding. Only national government can fix this.

Jane Keane is a Havering Labour Councillor for St Albans ward