The Leader of Havering Council has welcomed additional Government funding.
It comes after the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced extra money for Councils in England already receiving Exceptional Financial Support, to help transform high-cost services and reduce pressure on local finances.
Councillor Keith Prince AM, said:
“We welcome this additional Government funding, which is recognition of the extreme pressure Councils like Havering are facing from high-cost statutory services. This will help accelerate and enable us trial new innovate ways of transforming how we deliver some of our services.
“This announcement has not happened by chance. This has come from extensive work and conversations between officers and MHCLH. However, we will continue to lobby ministers and officials for adequate funding to solve our budget gap and managing our social care and Temporary Accommodation (TA) pressures. So, we will continue make Havering’s case clearly and robustly on behalf of our residents.
“For some time, we have warned Government that Havering’s financial position is largely not the result of bad financial management, waste or reckless investments. It is being driven by year-on-year chronic underfunding, rising costs and rapidly increasing demand for the services we are legally required to provide — particularly adult social care, children’s social care and housing, in particular homelessness and temporary accommodation.
“However, we also know that the previous HRA Administration delayed or did not make the right financial decisions in some circumstances – which we are now addressing.
“Havering has the second oldest population in London and has seen the biggest increase in the children’s population in the capital, as well as one of the largest increases in 0 to 4-year-olds in the country. That changing population brings growing and more complex need, but the funding system has not kept pace with the reality of what Councils are being asked to deliver.
“While any extra money is welcome, this announcement does not go far enough. It will not, on its own, fix the structural funding gap facing Havering or remove the unsustainable pressure placed on local taxpayers and frontline services.
“Even with rigorous financial management this year, Havering remains in a deeply challenging position, with rising demand and costs continuing to outstrip the funding available to us. To set a legally balanced budget, we have had to rely on Exceptional Financial Support from Government, effectively a loan, to bridge the gap.
“But this is not a sustainable solution. Borrowing may allow the budget to balance on paper, but Havering residents should not be forced to carry the long-term burden of repaying loans, with interest, that are needed because the national funding system has failed to keep pace with local need.
“That is why our lobbying does not stop here. We are calling on Government to scrap the requirement for Havering to repay this borrowing, or at the very least remove the interest charges attached to it, so we have a fair chance to balance the books and protect the services residents rely on.
“Government must also urgently look again at how social care is funded nationally. Councils cannot continue to be expected to absorb unrealistic and growing financial burdens for statutory services without a funding structure that properly reflects demand, complexity and cost.
“We will keep standing up for Havering, making our case to ministers and pushing for the fair deal our Borough deserves.”