Operation Ed-Looking At Havering’s Finances And Why No Party Should Be Making Spending Promises Right Now.

Conservative Candidate For Marshalls and Rise Park-Bailey Nash-Gardner today writes in the Havering Daily.

Last week, we saw one of Havering’s Councillors imply that local Politicians are distracting residents and that no party is talking about what they will do with Havering’s finances from May 2026. Let’s be clear, May 2026 is in eight months’ time. Any Party or campaign making spending commitments in the current financial climate that Havering finds itself in is not just irresponsible, it is misleading.

The hard truth is that Havering is financially on a knife edge. The council currently faces a projected near £70 Million shortfall by next year. Emergency government support has prevented a Section 114 notice, essentially a declaration of bankruptcy, but this certainly isn’t a long-term solution.

The fact is majority of the council’s budget is consumed by two statutory services: adult and child social care. Everything else that our communities care about such as street cleaning, libraries, roads and parks, is squeezed into the margins of what is left.

No local party whether that be Reform UK, Havering Resident’s Association or otherwise can honestly say what they would do with Havering’s cash next year. For all we know, in two months’ time inflation could rise or we see a massive increase of demand in child social care which can sometimes cost half a million per child.

We cannot offer the illusion of investment without admitting the costs and consequences. That said, every party did have a chance to put forward how they would have budgeted for the current financial year back in March. The Conservative Party put forward a budget that not only was £562,000 of extra savings for capitalisation found but also money for new planning officers to tackle the Planning Department backlog as well as £500,000 was found to lock all viable local parks at night and fund some new CCTV cameras for them after 0 CCTV cameras had been installed since the Residents Association and Labour took control if the Town hall back in 2022. This all came from a total budget saving of £1.540 million.

Now, I cannot say that the Conservative Party can 100% commit to any of these promises in May 2026 as we are still a way off from that point. We are committed to honest and practical solutions to all these problems, not promises made with no guarantee of being able to afford them.

It is easy to write an election leaflet that is full of pledges, but the residents in the Ward I wish to represent, ‘Marshalls and Rise Park’ deserve better than pre-election fantasy.

The three things to bear in mind are:
1) The budget for 2026/2027 isn’t finalised

2) No party knows what additional government support will be available–we are still waiting to hear on the Funding Formula review.

3) Inflation and care demand etc.are unpredictable

How could any party honestly commit to anything before these facts are known? That is not political leadership, it is opportunism. I certainly will not be pushing for hollow promises. I want to run a campaign where realism is at the heart of it and residents feel heard.

In May 2026 the new administration whatever form that takes must scrutinise the council’s financial planning line-by-line to ensure there are no hidden waste projects like we have seen in other local councils.

They must prioritise core local services over gimmicks. For my residents in Marshalls and Rise Park that means safer parks and cleaner streets. We want to see pride in our communities.

Proper consultation of plans before decisions are made that means no cuts behind closed doors or regressive tax schemes without local people having a say. And simply, being honest. If something cannot be funded, we need to say so. If trade-offs ate required, lets involve residents properly.In the financial situation Havering is in, we don’t need a shopping list of election promises that aren’t deliverable.

Over the next eight months, residents should ask candidates in their doors: “How are you paying for that?” and “What will be cut so you can afford that?”.

We need a set of Councillors in 2026 who will be responsible with the budget and councillors who are serious about protecting our borough.

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