Havering has a £70m budget deficit over the next five years-£19m this year alone.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Gillian Ford today writes in the Havering Daily:

The Local Government Association who support local authorities across the UK have said “Councils facing additional cost pressure of £2.4 billion in 2022/23 since they started their budgets in April” 

Just to contextualise the situation, Havering has a £70m budget deficit over the next five years, £19m this year alone.

The government has failed to fund new burdens and provide us with grants that are fit for purpose. Our grants are much lower than many London authorities, and we will be challenging and lobbying government.

Due to the minimal grants the borough receives, 70% of our Council Tax payments have to go towards Adults and Children’s social care for statutory services. The precept we can raise on top of our Council Tax, does not cover the cost of the social care demand.

As you can imagine this leaves only 30% of the budget available for all other directorates and services.

On top of this, the level of need is increasing, with more children and adults with complex needs, needing social care support. This results in overspends on statutory services that have to be paid for out of the 30%. 

Some incredibly tough decisions are going to have to be made over the coming weeks and months, in trying to find ways to provide important services to residents, provide value for money and to return a balanced budget as we are legally required to do.

The impact on Havering is an impact on all of us.