‘I Can Confirm That The HRA Does Not Make Rash Decisions, We Listen To Our Residents .’

Havering Council Deputy Leader-Councillor Gillian Ford responds to the controversial debate on the removal of prayers and national anthem before full council meetings each month.

It is unfortunate that a Romford Councillor has created such a story out of nothing and has once again spun a story into scaremongering the public which is shameful.

The cross-party Governance meeting took place to consider Council governance.

The meeting was at its close and it was mentioned that the formate of Full Council meetings needed to be reviewed to allow time for debate. It was agreed that the Cross Party Constitution Working Group, would come up with some ideas to present back to the Governance Committee, which would consider the whole meeting from start to finish including prayers and the National Anthem.

The Constitution Working Party has not yet met to discuss Full Council meetings which will include question time, Council motions, start and finish time and the order of the meeting to allow the maximum amount of time to debate motions.

It is a sad state of affairs that informal discussions where all topics and subjects are considered in the best interest for residents, are taken to the press without the complete story and context of discussions. I can confirm that the HRA does not make rash decisions, we listen to our residents and members and recognise the need for identity and place. There are no proposals to change that and I am sure cross-party Councillors share my concerns that this has been made a news story. It begs the question can Councillors speak about anything within a meeting without it being spun into a proposal and decision being made when in fact they were merely an informal discussion about all parts of a process”.

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