The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Newham Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 17 March 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on the council's strategic approach to addressing obesity in Newham, a review of the draft Annual Scrutiny Report for 2025/26, and consideration of the council's Best Value Self-Assessment.

Addressing Obesity in Newham

The committee is scheduled to consider the strategic approach to tackling obesity across Newham. The report aims to provide a cross-cutting overview of how obesity is being addressed, including governance, coordination, and the contributions of Newham Council services and its partners. It is intended to support system-level assurance on priorities, the use of council levers, and identify future scrutiny opportunities. The report will cover the prevalence of obesity in Newham, its reflection in corporate priorities and strategic frameworks, and the governance arrangements in place. It will also detail the contribution of key council services, current activities, challenges, and the outcomes framework used to monitor obesity and healthy weight. Furthermore, the report will examine how inequalities in obesity are identified and addressed, how resident insight informs this work, the financial and resource context, and identify key future risks, opportunities, and areas for further scrutiny. The report highlights that The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Newham is high. According to the National Childhood Measurement Programme (NCMP), just under half of all year 6 children are overweight, and, when adjusted for the ethnicity (using different thresholds of risk), 7 in 10 adults in Newham have an unhealthy weight. ¹

Draft Annual Scrutiny Report 2025/2026

The committee will review a draft of the Annual Scrutiny Report for the municipal year 2025/2026. This report summarises the work undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and its subsidiary commissions throughout the year. As this is the final meeting of the committee in the current municipal year, members will have the opportunity to provide comments before the report is finalised. The report's foreword by Councillor Lester Hudson, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, states: Scrutiny exists to amplify the voice of our residents and here at Newham we aim to make a difference for our residents by challenging, influencing and improving. ²

Best Value Self-Assessment

A report on Newham Council's Best Value Self-Assessment will be considered by the committee. This follows the non-statutory Best Value Notice issued to the council by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 8 May 2025. The report includes an assessment by the Interim Chief Executive, Paul Martin, which concludes that the council has made good and tangible progress on a journey that will take some time to complete. It is in a stronger position to drive that further improvement and be able to respond swiftly and resiliently to other issues (and opportunities) as they arise, with a clear sense of what it needs to do to further strengthen its culture and capabilities and the commitment and capabilities to do it. ³ The committee will also consider the 'Delivering Best Value for Our Residents Plan 2026/27', which outlines the council's continuous improvement plans.