Following the Government’s Budget announcement (30 October 2024), Leader of Havering Council, Councillor Ray Morgon, writes:
“I am pleased to see that local government will receive an additional £1.3bn nationally.
"This includes £600m for social care and £230m for homelessness plus there was also mention of another year for the Household Support Fund, plus money for SEND, house building and road repairs.
“But we still don’t know what this means to us without seeing the detail, including how it is distributed around the country, although the government have said that they are reviewing that too.
“So it could be good news for us, but we are still looking at a budget gap of over £30million due to the costs of social care and homelessness which we must deliver by law.
"Therefore, we will no doubt have to go for another government loan next year.
“We will leave no stone unturned and do everything we can to continue to lobby the government to look at reviewing their funding plans and create a fairer funding formula based on current need rather than the postcode lottery which we have endured for many years.”