Council considers £12m of cuts to avoid bankruptcy
The council needs to save £12m in the next financial year
At a glance
Havering London Borough Council needs to make savings of £12m
The cuts include reducing the number of libraries in the council area, less spending on roads and putting up car park charges
The leader of the council has already said the authority could go bankrupt in six months' time
- Published
A London council has unveiled measures to address a £31m budget gap in the coming year to prevent bankruptcy.
Some of the actions will directly impact residents such as parking charges and reducing the number of libraries in the area.
Other more complex financial decisions could impact the council’s financial resilience, council documents show.
Leader of Havering London Borough Council Ray Morgon has previously said Havering Council could go bankrupt in as soon as six months.
The council has vowed to do "everything it can" to avoid issuing a Section 114 notice, commonly known as bankruptcy for a local authority.
The plans include:
Cutting the number of libraries to save £300,000 by focusing on areas of "greatest need"
Stop funding Christmas events by seeking sponsorship for festivities to save £133,000
Paying families money to help house their relatives if they are at risk of homelessness and save £55,000 so it doesn't have to pay out for temporary accommodation such as B&Bs
Social care pilots which aim to help patients discharged from hospitals and back into the community are being reviewed in order to save about £800,000.
The council is also considering cutting its highways budget by £1.5m and increasing its council car park charges by 40% and bringing in charges for Sunday parking.
The authority has also suggested ending the discount for residents challenging parking fines which would save £350,000.
Other corporate cuts include:
Saving £3m by getting rid of its agency levy where it pays an "overhead" of 8% per agency worker into its pension fund - the council spends £20m a year on its agency staff
Stop paying into a council fund until 2025 - the account is used to settle claims through its insurance and could save £1.3m
Saving £300,000 to fund a team of five Metropolitan Police officers who focus on borough crime issues and instead the council will seek alternative funding to pay for this
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- Published4 October 2023
- Published5 March
