A major east London borough should be allowed to declare its independence and rejoin Essex, an MP has said.
MP Andrew Rosindell is campaigning for the London borough of Havering, which includes Romford, Upminster and Collier Row, to leave the capital and return to the English county to which it is a historic part, as part of Angela Rayner’s reorganisation plan of local government.
Havering was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, combining the areas of the former Romford Borough Council and Hornchurch Urban District, which were both previously part of Essex. It is largely a suburban area — and is one of the greenest London boroughs— with more than of its land being Metropolitan Green Belt-protected.
The Deputy Prime Minister has said she wants to merge areas where the are currently two tiers of a local authority — smaller district and larger county councils — in a bid to streamline services.
She also wants to give regional mayors more powers over housing, education and employment, which she believes would help drive economic growth.
Mr Rosindell, the Tory MP for Romford, presented his argument for an independent Havering in the House of Commons earlier this month.
“Romford is geographically Essex. We are historically Essex. We are culturally Essex and our social, sporting and commercial connections have always looked towards the county of Essex,” he said.
“My constituents and I are proud of our Essex identity, which transcends local government or administrative boundaries that are forever changing—as they are again today.”
Mr Rosindell argued that under the Greater London Authority, Romford do not see enough policemen; all but one of its police stations have closed, constituents did not want to be a part of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) and have opposed “planning interference” from the mayor.
He believes that ever since the merger of Romford and Hornchurch into the new Greater London and the creation of Havering, “our Essex identity has been diminished and even discarded” by some, due to a government reorganisation at the time which he believes was “lazy in its construction and took no account of our history”.
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Mr Rosindell added: “I believe that today we have a once-in-almost-a-century chance to look afresh at the old boundaries of Greater London that were constructed six decades ago.
“The entire region around our great United Kingdom capital of London has changed dramatically since those days, and we should therefore seize this moment to be bold and look at options for change that local people would be happy to see, thus giving my constituents in Romford, Hornchurch and across the Borough of Havering hope for a much better structure of local government, rightly determined and supported by the people it is established to serve.”
He went on: “It could just be, much to the surprise of many of my constituents, that the new Labour Government’s plan for devolution and local government reorganisation provides the opportunity we need to [...] have our future restored to becoming part of Essex local government structures once again.”
Mr Rosindell criticised the “overarching” powers of the London mayor, saying that Greater London as a region was “too big and too remote” to meet the needs of a borough such as Havering.
"It is also very costly for us to be part of Greater London, as we pay tens of millions of pounds per year to the Greater London Authority,” he said.
“That equates to a vast sum for the GLA precept per household: an exorbitant amount of money that my constituents simply cannot afford.”
The MP also warned that if Romford stayed in London, it would eventually be forced to merge with boroughs closer to the centre of the capital, in order to meet Ms Rayner's 500,000 people threshold. At present, the borough has a population of around 260,000.
"I ask the minister to please consider Havering for collaboration with, for example, our neighbouring Essex local authorities such as Brentwood or Epping Forest, both of which are also served by Transport for London and have much in common with Romford and Havering," he said.
Local government minister, Jim McMahon, said: "It is currently not envisaged that the boundaries of Greater London will be changed, or that the proposed Greater Essex mayoral combined county authority will be expanded, although the latter would be possible at a later date should it be locally desired and should statutory tests be met."