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It has emerged that the now former Cabinet Member for Finance at Hillingdon Council was asked by the Council Leader to stand down from his post, rather than resigning entirely of his own accord. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has established that Council Leader Ian Edwards asked his colleague to resign from the Cabinet, however he said it was a 'mutual' agreement' with Martin Goddard.
In an update shared on the council's various social media accounts on Wednesday (November 19), a statement read: "Cllr Martin Goddard, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, has confirmed he will not be standing for re-election in May next year, and consequently will be leaving the Cabinet with immediate effect."
He has since been replaced in the role by Councillor Eddie Lavery, former Cabinet Member for Community and Environment. Public communications up to this point have painted Cllr Goddard's resignation as his own decision based on the fact he will not be standing for re-election however the LDRS understands colleagues on both sides of the chamber have known for months he was not going to contest the May 206 local elections.
Cllr Ian Edwards, Leader of Hillingdon Council, has since told the LDRS that he believes the person in control of finances should be the person delivering it next year.
He said: "The statement released explains that budget building for 2026/27 and beyond has now commenced in earnest and I believe the person responsible for forming that budget should be committed to also deliver it. Cllr Lavery is experienced with a financial background and is standing in 2026."
It has now also been announced that Cllr Wayne Bridges has joined the Cabinet. He replaces Cllr Lavery as Member for Communities and Environment.
Cllr Sital Punja, Deputy Leader of Hillingdon Labour, said the timings and the fact Cllr Bridges' appointment was not announced at the same time as Cllr Lavery's, pointed to Cllr Goddard's resignation being sudden rather than planned.
She said: "How stupid do the Conservative administration think Hillingdon residents are? To claim this was a 'planned departure since August' is utterly ludicrous. If it was truly planned, why was no replacement announced at the same time for Cllr Lavery's former portfolio?
"This chaos is just the latest symptom of a Conservative administration in complete disarray. Under their watch, £70million in reserves has been wiped out during this term and the council is facing a spiralling overspend of £36million and rising. For months they have denied the financial crisis, attacked anyone who has raised concerns, and insist everything is under control, blaming everyone but themselves.
"Yet only this week, the council's own Chief Financial Officer confirmed to the Corporate Finance and Transformation Committee that Hillingdon will require three consecutive years [including an in-year request for the current financial year] of Exceptional Financial Support from the Labour Government just to stay afloat. This isn't bad luck — it's the inevitable consequence of Conservative incompetence, mismanagement, and a refusal to face reality. Sadly, this level of emergency borrowing will be paid for by the residents of Hillingdon."
The LDRS asked the Council Leader whether Cllr Goddard's departure will give residents and auditors confidence about the financial crisis facing Hillingdon Council. Cllr Edwards disagreed with the description of the current financial predicament as a crisis, as the council has asked central government for a bailout to avoid issuing a Section 114 notice - effectively declaring bankruptcy.
He said: "The assertion that there is a financial crisis at Hillingdon is a misrepresentation of the facts. There is an underfunding crisis that we anticipate will soon be resolved by government. Our expenditure is very firmly managed as the benchmarking of our services and costs shows."
It comes after, as Cllr Punja described in her statement, a senior finance director within Hillingdon Council told a council committee that he expects the council to go hat-in-hand to the government for exceptional financial support (EFS) for the next two financial years on top of a request for the current year. At a meeting of the Corporate Resources and Infrastructure Committee, Steve Muldoon, Corporate Director of Finance, told councillors: "In terms of the EFS, yes there is an application that was made at the end of August, I'm not disclosing that here today...
"That will be kept under review, we will make a more formal application for next year, and the year after that, potentially, as part of setting the budget for the coming year, and we will revise our estimates on the current information."
In June, the LDRS reported that £1million in payments had been made by Hillingdon Council to Grant Thornton, the former employer of Cllr Goddard. Over a dozen payments had been made since his appointment to Cabinet, while only one payment was made to the company in the six years prior - of £70,000.
There are no indications that Cllr Goddard had declared his past employment as an interest. Councillors are not duly required to declare past employment unless there is a risk of a conflict of interest.
Whilst there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, and Councillor Goddard has reiterated he does not possess any interest in the company, financial or personal, it raised concerns among opposition councillors around transparency.