‘What a damning indictment of 13 years of Tory Government’-114 councils face financial collapse.

Margaret Mullane, Labour PPC for Dagenham and Rainham, has responded to the report that 114 councils across England are facing financial collapse together with a further report released this week from the prestigious Institute for Government. The latter report carried an analysis of the state of public services from the NHS, Social Care, Policing and Neighbourhood Services, comparing these with 2009/10, the last year of Labour Government. The objective performance rating across all of these services was either “much worse” or “worse” in October 2023 than 13 years before.

Margaret told the Havering Daily: “What a damning indictment of 13 years of Tory Government. Councils across England are struggling under financial pressure caused by Tory Government cuts and inaction. Cuts and unfairness in allocating funding is bringing councils including Havering to the brink of collapse. Inaction from Government on funding solutions for social care and homelessness compounds the problem.

Havering’s and many others’ situation is desperate. No doubt they will be forced into more unpalatable cuts in services. I applaud the measures that Havering Council is looking to introduce to ease homelessness temporary accommodation pressures that should save Council Tax payers significant sums and produce better, safer and more local housing solutions for families who are caught up in the housing crisis through no fault of their own. 

However, I want to speak out against proposed cuts and changes to school transport for children with special educational needs. Havering has three specialist schools, soon to be four which educate the children in the borough who have specialist educational needs. Transport is essential for a high percentage to safely get to and from school. 

I recognise that the Council is looking to find alternative solutions such as “Carpooling” and “Travel Training” but I believe that these will not be realistic solutions for many children. I am under no illusion about how difficult this is, but I ask that the Council looks elsewhere for savings and protect the most vulnerable children in our communities.”

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