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Council cost of living crisis sees ‘toughest budget ever’ proposed

Published: Friday, 14 October 2022

Havering Council has today (14 October 2022) launched what council leader Cllr Ray Morgon calls “our toughest budget ever” as the cost of living crisis bites for council services.

With the Council facing a £70m budget gap over the next four years, councillors have published a range of proposals.

This includes services closing, significant changes in other services and a Council Tax increase of 60p per week for a Band D property in the borough.

The budget proposals also include bringing in wheelie bins and collecting household waste and recyclable waste in alternate weeks, saving £650,000 a year.

Other proposals include delivering services for children and families with young children in different ways using community locations.

Cllr Ray Morgon said: “I came in to this role promising honesty to residents who need to know not only how serious our financial challenge is but also what we propose to do about it.

“We face a triple whammy problem of rising demand for statutory services, a government funding formula that is just plain unfair for Havering and inflation adding £10m to the cost of services next year alone.

"Ten years ago we got £70m from government to fund those services and that’s collapsed to just £1.5m today.

“I hope residents understand why we have to publish proposals that I don’t want to make but need to so we meet the massive challenge we face.

"I need people to tell us how the proposals could impact them during this consultation.

But I also need their help to get Havering’s message heard loud and clear in government: it’s unfair for Council Tax payers in Havering to shoulder the burden of paying for social care when residents in other parts of the country don’t.

“I hope that the government will listen before we set our final budget next spring, so we can minimise or delete some of these proposals.”

The consultation is open until 30 December 2022. Residents can view the proposals and take part in the budget consultation online (now closed).

Alternatively, visit our libraries for a paper copy of the consultation. 

Public meetings will also be held at council venues across the borough.