Havering Vows To Retain Additional Police Officers Despite Rising Met Costs

21st September 202620th September 2026 The Havering Daily Metropolitan Police, Section 92 Officers min read

Havering Council intends to retain its additional council-funded police officers despite concern about the rising cost charged by the Metropolitan Police.

The commitment was made during Cabinet’s discussion of the Havering 2040 strategy on Wednesday 16 September.

Section 92 agreements allow local authorities and other organisations to pay for additional policing services beyond the core resources normally provided by the Metropolitan Police.

Leader of the Council Councillor Keith Prince said the arrangement had become progressively more expensive.

He said councils were previously able to fund one officer and receive an additional officer through a matched arrangement. That was later removed, leaving the council to meet the direct cost of the officers it retained.

Councillor Prince told Cabinet that the Metropolitan Police now wanted to charge the council the full cost of the officers, including associated back-office expenses.

“Nonetheless, we’re going to swallow that because we think that our Section 92 officers do a great job,” he said.

The Leader also claimed Havering’s additional officers were the best-performing Section 92 team in London.

Councillor Barry Mugglestone praised the team but warned that continued increases in Metropolitan Police charges could eventually force the council to reconsider the arrangement.

Councillor Prince responded that this would not happen “on my watch”.

The officers form part of the council’s wider approach to community safety, which the new Havering 2040 strategy identifies as one of the administration’s central priorities.

However, the precise future cost of the agreement, the number of officers covered and the size of the proposed increase were not stated during the meeting.

Those figures will be important when the council sets its next budget and decides how much it can continue to spend on services that are not among its core statutory responsibilities.

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