EXCLUSIVE: “Havering Had A Very Toxic Council,We Have Reversed That’-Councillor Ray Morgon.

On 5 May last year, residents across Havering took to the polls and after a long night of vote counting, the results began to show that Havering wanted a new leadership. Now, just under a year on, a new administration has been in power under the leadership of Havering Residents Association Councillor Ray Morgon.

The Havering Daily spoke exclusively to the Leader of Havering Council about their first year as the new administration across the borough.

“It has been a tough year with a lot of unexpected events such as the Wennington fires and the passing of HM Queen. With the fires we hit the headlines almost immediately.

“Also we did not know the financial background of the council and we weren’t aware that it was quite as bad as it was. We knew that finances were very challenging, but we did not have the full details of how bad it was and how it was operating.

“The previous administration should have made many decisions but they didn’t. They were only interested in power and money. It seems that very little work was done. However, I’m glad to say that the council is now in a better position and it is a lot less toxic now. Havering really was a very toxic council and I hope that we have reversed that. Havering had a bad reputation as a council and struggled to attract candidates for jobs due to the poor reputation it had. I’m happy to say that it has changed now and we actually had 28 applicants for a recent vacancy.

“We really have been firefighting for a long period of time, but are now starting to plan and restructure as we wanted to.”

After a year of a new leadership, Councillor Morgon is able to begin the initiatives he and his councillors had planned.

“Our restructure plan is focused on three key elements-People,Places and Resources. Alongside three key aspects Customer Service, Digitalistion, Communication.

“We are concentrating on how we engage with residents as that is very important for us.”

The new administration has had to focus on the financial background of the borough before they could begin their plans.

“We are continuously making savings the best way we can, it has been very challenging for us but we have been very open with residents and let them know the position the borough is in.”

Another huge challenge has been housing and the lack of available space.

Councillor Morgon continued: “Housing is one of our biggest challenges, we have an increase in demands for property, but a reduction in the supply.

“We have had to place residents into hotels as temporary accommodation, but all the hotels are now full due to the Home Office. The shortage of hotels meant that we had to place one resident in Rayleigh as were are no nearby hotels that were free.

“This is a major problem for us as we have no accessibility to nearby hotels and really are struggling to find accomodation for people. It is putting a real strain on councils.”

Despite the never ending challenges the new administration faces, councillors are committed turning Havering around and have started the work to do this.

“There are many positives and we have started now to implement plans that we wanted to. We are very open about the work we are doing and pleased that this is not a toxic council now.”

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