Following discussions held at two meetings between Margaret Mullane, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, and the Government’s Local Government Minister, Jim McMahon, an emergency loan facility has been extended to Havering to ensure that the Council will be in a position to set a budget for 2025/26 .
Havering Council suffered over the past 14 years from wholly inadequate funding settlements from the previous Conservative Government. That, together with dramatic changes to the borough’s population led in the last two years to the Council facing a budget crisis. Margaret also met with the senior leadership of Havering to discuss the Council’s financial situation and was asked to intervene with the Labour Government to provide support.
Margaret said “The situation facing Havering and so many other councils around England is a direct consequence of the failure of the last government to match funding resources to the needs of areas.
Labour came into power saying the formula for funding local councils has to be completely rewritten to produce a Fair Funding method, this is currently being worked on and will be announced later this Spring. That will give a 3 year settlement for Havering and all other councils so that they can plan, instead of a yearly lottery that has been in place under the Tories.
In the meantime, so that Havering can be in a position to be able to set a budget for the coming year, the Government has agreed in principle to the request for an £88 million capitalization facility for the Council. Beyond that, and before the Fair Funding system comes into effect, the Government’s financial settlement for 2025/26 has provided Havering with a £13.5 million increase in its Core Spending Power with an extra total Government grant of £10.6 million.
I can assure Havering and Barking & Dagenham Councils that I will always go into battle to look after the interests of residents of Dagenham and Rainham.”
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