Havering London Borough Council

Havering London Borough 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 the United Kingdom capital of London. Havering is divided into 18 wards, each electing three councillors. Since May 2018, Havering London Borough Council has been in no overall control. It comprises 25 Conservative Party members, 23 Havering Residents Association members, 5 Labour Party members and 1 Independent member.[1] The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced two local authorities: Hornchurch Urban District Council and Romford Borough Council.

Havering London Borough Council
Council logo
Type
Type	London borough council
History
Founded	1 April 1965
Preceded by	Hornchurch Urban District Council Romford Borough Council
Leadership
Mayor of Havering	Cllr Michael Deon Burton since 16 May 2019
Leader of the Council	Cllr Damian White, Conservative since 3 May 2018
Chief executive	Andrew Blake-Herbert since 31 March 2016
Structure
Seats	54 Councillors
Political groups	Administration (31)   Conservative (25)   Independent Residents Group (6) Opposition (23)   Havering Residents Association (16)   Labour (5)   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	3 May 2018
Next election	2022
Motto
Liberty
Meeting place
Havering Town Hall, Romford
Website
www.havering.gov.uk
Constitution
Constitution

History

There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Havering area. The current local authority was first elected in 1964, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the London Borough of Havering on 1 April 1965. Havering replaced Hornchurch Urban District Council and Romford Borough Council. Romford was governed by Romford Urban District Council from 1894 to 1937 and it replaced Noak Hill Parish Council, Havering-atte-Bower Parish Council and Romford Rural District Council in 1934 when the urban district was expanded. Hornchurch Urban District Council was formed in 1926 and replaced Hornchurch Parish Council and Romford Rural District Council in the parish of Hornchurch. In 1934 the urban district was expanded and the council replaced Romford Rural District Council, Cranham Parish Council, Great Warley Parish Council, Rainham Parish Council, Upminster Parish Council and Wennington Parish Council.[2]

It was envisaged, in accordance with the London Government Act 1963, that Havering as a London local authority would share power with 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 local authorities responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council it has been an education authority since 1965. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when Havering London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal. From 1986 to 2000, the London Planning Advisory Committee was run from within the council. 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.[3]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation. Havering has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, it processes local planning applications, and it is responsible for housing, waste collection and environmental health. It is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal. The council shares responsibility with the Greater London Authority for strategic policies including housing, planning and the environment.[4]

Finances

Havering London Borough Council is the billing authority for Council Tax, and collects precepts on behalf of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority the Greater London Authority and Transport for London.[5]

Elections

Electoral arrangements

A map showing the wards of Havering since 2002

Wards were established for Havering when it came into existence on 1 April 1965. The first elections of ward councillors took place in 1964.[6] These boundaries were also used for the 1968, 1971 and 1974 elections. For the 1978 elections the ward boundaries were revised.[7] These boundaries were then also used at the 1982, 1986 and 1990 elections.

For the May 1994 elections there were minor adjustments to London borough boundaries, which affected the area and population of some Havering wards.[8][9] These boundaries were also used at the 1998 elections. The current ward boundaries came into effect at the May 2002 elections.[10] They were also used at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 elections.

Summary results of elections

Since 1964 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:[11]

Party in control	Years
No overall control	1964–1968
Conservative	1968–1971
Labour	1971–1974
No overall control	1974–1978
Conservative	1978–1986
No overall control	1986–2006
Conservative	2006–2014
No overall control	2014–2018
No overall control	2018–present

Leadership

The London Borough of Havering is led by the Leader of the Council and an appointed cabinet formed from the party with majority control of the council. The leader is elected by fellow councillors once every four years following local elections (since 2010, previously annually, with the cabinet being directly appointed by the leader). The current leader is Roger Ramsey who has held the position since 2014. The leadership of the council - once elected - can only subsequently be changed by a vote in favour of such change supported by two thirds of councillors.[12]

Cabinet

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

Party key		Conservative
		East Havering Residents

Post	Councillor		Ward
Mayor and Deputy Mayor
Mayor of Havering		Cllr. Michael Deon Burton	South Hornchurch
Deputy Mayor of Havering		Cllr. John Mylod	Saint Andrews
Cabinet members
Leader of the Council		Cllr. Damian White	Squirrels Heath
Deputy Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for Education, Children & Families		Cllr. Robert Benham	Brooklands
Cabinet Member for Housing		Cllr. Joshua Chapman	Romford Town
Cabinet Member for Environment		Cllr. Osman Dervish	Pettits
Cabinet Member for Health & Adult Care Services		Cllr. Jason Frost	Mawney
Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Safety		Cllr. Viddy Persaud	Brooklands
Cabinet Member for Finance and Property		Cllr. Roger Ramsey	Emerson Park

Mayor

The mayor for 2019/2020 municipal year is Michael Deon Burton.

List of leaders

Term	Party	Leader	Image
1967-1971	Conservative	Cllr. Jack Moultrie
1971-1974	Labour	Cllr. Michael Ward
1974-1977	Conservative	Cllr. Jack Moultrie
1977-1978	Conservative	Cllr. William Sibley
1978-1984	Conservative	Cllr. Jack Moultrie
1984-1990	Conservative	Cllr. Roger Ramsey
1990-1996	Labour	Cllr. Arthur Latham
1996-1997	Residents' Association	Cllr. Louise Sinclair
1997-1998	Labour	Cllr. Wilf Mills
1998-2002	Labour	Cllr. Ray Harris
2002-2004	Conservative	Cllr. Eric Munday
2004-2014	Conservative	Cllr. Michael White
2014-2018	Conservative	Cllr. Roger Ramsey

Controversies

The council's leader, Cllr Damian White, was secretly recorded outlining plans to modify ward boundaries intended to give political advantage to the Conservative party, reported Private Eye in July 2020. The recording was attributed to a "disgruntled" Tory councillor, Bob Perry, who quit shortly after, citing the group's "dictatorial behaviour". The scheme was reported to involve splitting areas unlikely to vote Conservative into wards with large populations, while merging areas with Conservative support into wards with few residents. Where unpopular development projects were located, new boundaries would be drawn intending to divide anti-Tory vote into multiple wards to minimise its overall impact.[13]

In the recording, Cllr White reportedly claimed council chief executive, Andrew Blake-Herbert, had supported White's "influence" of the newly defined boundaries, and had selected a Tory-controlled committee to review all boundary change options put forward by council officers and to select their preferred one to take to a full council meeting. White reportedly went on to say the 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.". The council's press office denied "any suggestion the chief executive was influenced in any way". Despite this denial, after a complaint by Labour MP John Cruddas, the council's monitoring officer agreed to an investigation by a "senior figure from another council".[13]

References

1. "Election results". Havering London Borough Council.
2. Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. I: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
3. Leach, Steve (1998). Local Government Reorganisation: The Review and its Aftermath. Routledge. p. 107. ISBN 978-0714648590.
4. "Local Plan Responses – within and outside London". Mayor of London. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
5. "Council Tax and Business Rates Billing Authorities". Council Tax Rates. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
6. London Borough Council Elections (1964) Archived 2013-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
7. London Borough Council Elections (1978) Archived 2012-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
8. Alteration of Status of Local Authorities 1993-1994 Archived 2014-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
9. London Borough Council Elections (1994) Archived 2013-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
10. London Borough Council Elections (2002) Archived 2013-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
11. "Local elections: Havering". BBC News Online. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
12. "Council and democracy". Havering London Borough Council.
13. Private Eye, Issue 1527, p.21