Mayors New Car

Just as you think this Conservative Administration has taken us all for fools for the last time, they go and do it again, this time Leader of the Council, Cllr Michael White, surpasses himself by authorising the purchasing / lease of a new car for the Mayor.

However, it is by no means an ordinary car; it is a £50 Thousand plus Mercedes S class, in black of course. The decision was taken this week in what is know as an “Executive Decision” and signed by the Leader himself.


Cllr Mann said “The Tories have got ideas of grandeur above themselves, to spend that amount of money on a new car for the Mayor is unbelievable, the old car is still running perfectly well, even if it is a Rover 75 (pictured above), it is serviced by our own garage staff at Purfleet and has very low mileage”.
Leader of the Residents Association, Cllr Clarence Barrett said “At a time of rising inflation, cutbacks and the economic uncertainty, the need to exercise prudence is more important than ever. The current proposal to lease a Mercedes S class gives us no indication of costing, no idea of running costs and little evidence of alternative options being pursued. Whilst the car should be suitable for mayoral duties, there is a compelling need to ensure that council taxpayers are getting value for money and that environmental issues are also considered”.

The Residents Association will now be “Calling In” the decision, which means it will have to go before a special meeting of the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny meeting before the decision can be acted upon, the date of the meeting is not yet know, however it should be within the next two weeks.

Before anyone accuses me of making it up, follow this link to the Havering Web site http://www.havering.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=15361&p=0 where you can see a copy of the document yourself.