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Havering London Borough Council
Coat of arms
Council logo
Type
Type	London borough
History
Founded	1 April 1965
Leadership
Mayor	Gerry O'Sullivan, Havering Residents Association since 22 May 2024
Leader	Ray Morgon, Havering Residents Association since 25 May 2022
Chief Executive	Andrew Blake-Herbert since 31 March 2016
Structure
Seats	55 Councillors
Political groups	Administration (26)   Havering RA (26) Other parties (29)   Conservative (16)   Labour (8)   East Havering RG (3)   Independent (2)
Committees	7 Adjudication and Review Audit Governance Highways Advisory Licensing Pensions Regulatory Services
Joint committees	Thames Chase Joint Committee Thames Gateway London Partnership East London Waste Authority London Councils
Length of term	Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	7 May 2026
Motto
Liberty
Meeting place
Havering Town Hall, Main Road, Romford, RM1 3BB
Website
www.havering.gov.uk
Constitution
Constitution

Havering London Borough Council, also known as Havering Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under no overall control since 2014; after the 2022 election, it was run by a coalition of the Havering Residents Association and Labour; since 2024, it has been run solely by the HRA. The council is based at Havering Town Hall in Romford.

History

The London Borough of Havering and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's two outgoing authorities, being the borough council of Romford and the urban district council of Hornchurch. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old districts and their councils were abolished. The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Havering".

From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater London Council. The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Havering) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council Havering has been a local education authority since 1965. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees.

Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions.

In September 2023, the leader of the council warned the authority could be six months away from triggering a Section 114 notice because of the increasing cost of social care and housing. The council managed to set a budget in 2024, but only through relying on an exceptional £54 million loan from the government.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions plus levies on behalf of the East London Waste Authority, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and others. It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2014.

The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:

Leadership

The role of mayor in Havering is largely ceremonial, usually being held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1965 have been:

Councillor	Image	Party		From	To
Jack Moultrie			Conservative	1965	1971
Michael Ward			Labour	1971	1974
Jack Moultrie			Conservative	1974	1977
William Sibley			Conservative	1977	1978
Jack Moultrie			Conservative	1978	1984
Roger Ramsey			Conservative	1984	1990
Arthur Latham			Labour	1990	1996
Louise Sinclair			Residents' Association	1996	1997
Wilf Mills			Labour	1997	1998
Ray Harris			Labour	1998	2002
Eric Munday			Conservative	2002	2004
Michael White			Conservative	2004	29 Jan 2014
Steven Kelly			Conservative	29 Jan 2004	11 Jun 2014
Roger Ramsey			Conservative	11 Jun 2014	23 May 2018
Damian White			Conservative	23 May 2018	25 May 2022
Ray Morgon			Havering Residents Association	25 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2022 election, a subsequent by-election and changes of allegiance up to June 2024, the composition of the council is:

* The HRA is a group of residents' associations and some HRA candidates run under local residents association labels. The HRA members of the council include Graham Williamson who is also a member of the National Liberal Party.

** John Tyler was elected under the Cranham and Upminster Residents Association label and never sat with the Havering Residents Association group in the council. When Philip Ruck left the HRA in February 2024, the two formed the Residents Association Independent Group.

Following the 2022 election, the council remained under no overall control with the Conservatives remaining the largest party but still shy of a majority. After weeks of negotiations, and following Labour's rejection of a confidence and supply arrangement, a coalition arrangement was reached between the HRA and Labour which saw Ray Morgon appointed Leader of the Council with a majority HRA cabinet and a minority of Labour members. John Tyler, residents association councillor for Cranham, announced he would not join HRA Group in the weeks after the coalition was formed, stating that bringing national party politics into local governemnt was "fundamentally against principles".

In September 2022, three Conservative councillors jointly announced they were joining the HRA due to a lack of support from their party after the July wildfires in Wennington. The death of HRA councillor Linda Hawthorn in May 2023 saw a by-election in Upminster where the group kept their seat. In January 2024, Conservative councillor Robby Misir joined the HRA having criticised his former party's local leader Keith Prince over a debate about school transport. Three more Conservative councillors defected to the HRA in late April.

On 22 May 2024, at the annual meeting of the full council, the HRA elected their own councillor Gerry O'Sullivan to be the ceremonial Mayor of Havering. This came as a shock to the Labour Group which expected their outgoing Deputy Mayor Patricia Brown to be elected mayor as is tradition. Labour councillor Trevor McKeever described it as breaking the coalition agreement and local Labour leader Keith Darvill described it as a breach of trust. Patricia Brown herself said that "HRA members have demonstrated time and again over the past two years that self-service comes before working together for the benefit of residents". For its part, the HRA disagreed and stated that there was nothing on the mayoralty included in their agreement. During the meeting, Labour councillor Paul McGeary abstained on voting for Labour's candidates for the mayoralty and for the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, with him defecting to the HRA just over a week later. With only Labour leader Keith Darvill left representing his party in the cabinet, the HRA decided on 3 June 2024 to end the agreement and govern as a minority administration. Darvill criticised the HRA for "populism and empty gesture petty politics". Council leader Ray Morgon told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the end was "inevitable" but had "expected there’d be a rift next year" and Darvill similarly stated that he had "expected it".

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 55 councillors representing 20 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

As part of the process of reviewing the boundaries leading up to the 2022 changes, there were accusations that the Conservative administration was attempting to gerrymander the new boundaries. The council's then leader, Damian White, was secretly recorded outlining plans to modify ward boundaries to the advantage of the party. White reportedly said the Local Government Boundary Commission had so few staff it was "highly unlikely they'll put in the effort" to scrutinise the changes and that "they only look at what was discussed... at the full council meeting. So there will be only one option." Following the emergence of the recording there was a local outcry. The Local Government Boundary Commission consequently revised its proposals for the new wards and carried out further public consultation, which led to notable changes in the final boundaries from the earlier draft proposals.

Premises

The council is based at Havering Town Hall on Main Road in Romford, which was completed in 1937 as 'Romford Town Hall' for the old Romford Urban District Council. It was formally opened on 16 September 1937, on which day Romford was also presented with its charter of incorporation turning the urban district into a borough. The building was subsequently extended in 1960 and 1988. In May 2024, the town hall experienced an arson attack, damaging the property but not leading to any injuries or loss of data.

Cabinet

The current composition of Havering Council's Cabinet is as follows.

References

1. "Havering's new Mayor appointed at Full Council meeting in shock move by HRA". The Havering Daily. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
2. "Council minutes, 30 March 2016". Havering Council. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
3. "London Government Act 1963", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1978 c. 33, retrieved 16 May 2024
4. Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Vol. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
5. "Inter Authority Agreement for the Local London Partnership Programme" (PDF). Havering Council. 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
6. "Local Government Act 1985", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1985 c. 51, retrieved 5 April 2024
7. Leach, Steve (1998). Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0714648590.
8. Rudgewick, Oliver (28 September 2023). "London borough at risk of S114 this year". Public Finance. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
9. Mellor, Josh (28 September 2023). "Havering could be 'six months' away from 'bankruptcy' notice". Romford Recorder. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
10. Mendonca, Susana (29 February 2024). "Havering Council secures £54m government help to avoid going bust". BBC News. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
11. "Council Tax Booklet 2022-2023". Havering London Borough Council. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
12. "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
13. "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
14. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
15. "Council minutes". Havering Council. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
16. "London Boroughs Political Almanac". London Councils. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
17. ^ Newsdesk (27 May 2022). "Labour team up with Havering Residents Association to elect independent council leader". North East Londoner. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
18. ^ "Ex-Conservative councillors defend defection: 'Not for money or positions, solely for principle'". Romford Recorder. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
19. "Upminster councillor dies after serving community for more than 30 years". Romford Recorder. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
20. ^ Babidge, Darren. "Upminster By-Election 2023: Havering Council live results". www.havering.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
21. ^ Dailiy, The Havering (30 January 2024). "Former Conservative Councillor joins Residents Association stating-'I can see no future for that Conservative group in the running of Havering Council.'". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
22. "Open Council Data UK - compositions councillors parties wards elections emails". opencouncildata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
23. ^ Mann, Sebastian (29 April 2024). "Three Tory councillors defect to Havering Residents Association as group nears majority". Yellow Advertiser. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
24. ^ Daily, The Havering (31 May 2024). "Harold Hill Labour Councillor joins HRA-'I want to work in the best interests of Harold Hill and the Borough as a whole."". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
25. ^ Daily, The Havering (3 June 2024). "BREAKING: Havering Residents Association Cuts Ties with Labour". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
26. "'Impasse': Deadline looms over Havering parties struggling to agree to coalition after election". Romford Recorder. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
27. "Councillor leaves HRA group on council over Labour agreement". Romford Recorder. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
28. "Council officer fears 'Jackie Weaver moment' in school transport cuts debate row". Romford Recorder. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
29. Dailiy, The Havering (23 May 2024). "Havering's new Mayor appointed at Full Council meeting in shock move by HRA". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
30. Dailiy, The Havering (23 May 2024). "A breach of trust-Havering Residents Association fail to keep their word". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
31. Daily, The Havering (23 May 2024). "'It's disappointing to see game playing by Labour colleagues over the Havering Mayoralty'-HRA". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
32. Dailiy, The Havering (5 June 2024). "'A direction we cannot follow'-Havering political split". The Havering Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
33. "Council coalition collapses after weeks of uncertainty". Romford Recorder. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
34. "The London Borough of Havering (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/1053, retrieved 14 April 2024
35. Private Eye, Issue 1527, p.21
36. Thomson, Charles (13 May 2021). "Havering electoral wards face axe as borough is split into 20 areas". Romford Recorder. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
37. "The Lord Mayor of London, Sir George Broadbridge inspecting a guard of honour at Romford". Alamy. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
38. Historic England. "Havering Town Hall (Grade II) (1245551)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
39. Taylor, William. "Havering Council statement: Arson attack at the Town Hall". www.havering.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2024.

• Local authorities in London
• London borough councils
• Politics of the London Borough of Havering
• Leader and cabinet executives
• Local education authorities in England
• Billing authorities in England