Havering Council Leader Hits Out at Nigel Farage Accusing Him of “Misleading Public and Making False Promises”.
Havering’s council leader has launched a sharp attack on Nigel Farage, accusing the Reform UK leader of misleading residents about the borough’s financial crisis.
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, hit back after Mr Farage claimed his party would attempt not to take out another loan to keep the council running.
Speaking at a budget meeting yesterday, Councillor Morgon said Mr Farage “is misleading the public and clearly has no idea of Havering’s financial position.”
The meeting heard that Havering will need to take out another loan to keep the borough going, marking the third consecutive year the council has required a capitalisation direction. Councillor Morgon was joined by Finance Director Kathy Freeman, Chief Executive Andrew Blake Herbert and Cabinet Member Chris Wilkes as officials laid bare the scale of the financial pressures.
Councillor Morgon said Mr Farage was making false promises and dismissed claims that Havering could simply break away from the Greater London Authority.
He said such a move would require an Act of Government and could not be done unilaterally. He also stressed that 78 percent of the council’s spending must legally go towards essential services.
Council officers revealed that more than 70 percent of Havering’s budget is spent on adult and children’s social care, leaving less than 30 percent for services such as rubbish collection, street cleaning and maintaining parks.
The rapidly growing number of residents could also be placing further strain on finances, with rising demand increasing costs year on year. Officials also warned that repeated borrowing brings interest payments that intensify pressure on the council’s budget.
Despite significant cost cutting and savings, council leaders say Havering faces severe financial challenges with few options remaining as they attempt to maintain vital services for residents.
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There is always room for savings and so it’s easy to blame waste for high council tax and poor services, but you can be a highly efficient council and still struggle financially due to poor government grant funding. And you can be a wasteful council and still have low taxes if you get very generous/biased grant funding.
I recall Cllr Morgon blaming waste for Havering’s woes, but now in office blames poor funding, but refuses to take the legal action needed to change things, instead just encourages residents to sign another petition.
If Reform promise to take legal action they are an alternative, but if they don’t (bearing in mind the biased formulas were introduced by Thatcher) then they are no more an alternative than the HRA, who have just followed the policies of the former conservative administration, or more accurately just sat back and let the officers run the council.