Havering Council seeks appeal over racism report ruling

The cash-strapped council, so hard-up that it had to be bailed out of impending bankruptcy earlier this year by the government, has hired a top law firm in central London.

It refused to say how much it was paying to try to prevent residents from learning details of alleged institutional bigotry at Havering Town Hall.

At least one councillor has now written to the council’s leaders and chief executive, asking how much has been spent trying to cover up the allegations.

The council was ordered in August to disclose a 400-page dossier of evidence to the Romford Recorder within 42 days, after we won a legal action on behalf of our readers.

We have been battling to uncover the file – which contains allegations of racism, sexism, homophobia and disability discrimination – since 2021.

In August, Information Tribunal judges ruled that the council was not entitled to suppress the document as its contents were of overwhelming public interest.

But Havering is now seeking permission to appeal, arguing that being forced to reveal the details about its own alleged institutionalised bigotry will encourage other councils to avoid scrutiny.

It said the tribunal’s ruling “will inevitably be considered and taken into account by other local authorities when approaching such self-assessments,” causing a “chilling effect”.

Barristers argued there is “a real risk” that if Havering’s internal investigation is made available to the taxpayers who paid for it, this “would affect the openness of future peer reviews and self-assessments conducted by councils, and may therefore act as a disincentive to councils to engage voluntarily in similar processes.”

After serving appeal papers on the Recorder, Havering issued a press release defending its actions.

“This report is now historic and holds no relevance or resemblance to the diverse and cohesive organisation the council is today,” chief executive Andrew Blake-Herbert said in the press release.

“Since the review, we have implemented mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training, and our work with managers, trade unions and active and supported staff forums is helping us build a modern, inclusive workforce in an anti-discrimination organisation.

“We must balance disclosure with protecting staff and sticking to the principle that publishing a historic document, which holds no bearing on the council or borough today, risks undermining staff trust in future peer review exercises – not just in Havering but across the country.

“It also risks fracturing community cohesion in the borough at a time when the national temperature is heightened.”

The document was not “historic” when the Recorder asked for it.

Conservative councillor David Taylor has written to Havering Council leaders, asking for the total cost to date of trying to suppress racism and sexism allegations (Image: David Taylor)

We requested it in 2021, right when councillors were being asked to support spending taxpayers’ money on measures to combat the alleged institutional bigotry.

The Local Government Association (LGA), after reviewing the 400-page dossier compiled by Havering Council, had just found the Town Hall had a “disturbing” culture of “normalised” racism and sexism.

But only the LGA’s conclusion was published – not the actual evidence and allegations.

When we requested the document under the Freedom of Information Act, Havering Council refused to release it.

The subsequent legal action took so long that it was three years old by the time the tribunal decided Havering should have released it when we first asked for it.

However, the council’s own evidence demonstrates that allegations of racism and bullying have persisted even after the measures cited by Mr Blake-Herbert.

Four months ago, in May 2024, Havering Council revealed that formal complaints of racism and bullying had been received in the subsequent period, as had “allegations of blackmail and bribery”.

After the Recorder’s tribunal victory, Conservative councillor David Taylor wrote to the council’s leadership to ask how much it had spent on the three-year fight to cover up the allegations.

He was unaware at that time that the council had already retained barristers to continue the fight.

"The council must tell taxpayers how much it is spending keeping this report a secret - especially at a time when they are threatening more cuts to our voluntary sector and libraries," he said. 

"We need to ask if this really is money well-spent."

The Recorder will file papers resisting Havering Council’s appeal.