This week in Newham:

• The Cabinet met to approve highway maintenance plans, respond to scrutiny regarding the Poplar Living Business Plan, authorise borrowing for the capital programme, approve a lease agreement with the London Ambulance Service, and agree to a revised approach for the oneSource ICT split.
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss a transformation delivery plan and to appoint members to scrutiny commissions.
• The Health and Wellbeing Board approved the Better Care Fund 2025-26 submission, discussed integrated neighbourhood teams, and received updates on the Newham Health Equity Programme and initiatives to address diet-related diseases and improve heart health.
• The Strategic Development Committee meeting was cancelled.

Cabinet - Tuesday 01 April 2025

Newham Council's cabinet met to mark the borough's 60th anniversary and address key issues, including highway maintenance, housing, and technology. The cabinet approved the Highway Maintenance Plan, responded to an overview and scrutiny committee regarding the Poplar Living Business Plan, authorised borrowing for the capital programme, approved a lease agreement with the London Ambulance Service, and agreed to a revised approach for the oneSource ICT split.

Highway Maintenance Plan

The cabinet approved the Highway Maintenance Plan, allocating £3.6 million from the existing Keeping Newham Moving budget to resurface 21 roads. In addition, the council expects to receive £692,000 in grant funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) for critical infrastructure improvements, primarily on the borough’s classified road network.

The plan also includes an extension to the Keeping Newham Moving programme, with a £5.253 million investment for footway and carriageway reconstruction, particularly in areas affected by subsidence, such as Beckton. This extension also covers essential maintenance work on structures, ensuring their functionality for at least 25 years.

Councillor Neil Wilson, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, raised concerns about tree roots damaging pavements and requested reassurance that when trees are removed, they are replaced. Councillor Charlene McLean, Cabinet Member for Resident Engagement and Resident Experience, thanked the cabinet for resurfacing West Ham Lane, and asked about the expected lifespan of the road reconstruction work in Beckton. Paul Gannon, Head of Engineering, stated that a typical road reconstruction should last for 30 years.

The cabinet approved the recommendations, including the proposed list of schemes for 2025-26, accepting the DfT funding, and granting delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Environment & Sustainable Transport to make alterations to the programme as needed.

Poplar Living Business Plan

The cabinet considered the executive response to the overview and scrutiny committee's call-in regarding the Poplar Living Business Plan. The call-in was initiated after a cabinet meeting on 4 March 2025.

Councillor Anthony McAlmont, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, expressed disappointment that the executive rejected their recommendations, citing concerns about the long-term financial viability and governance arrangements of Poplar Living. He highlighted concerns about spending on housing, particularly Poplar Living, and the possibility of a Section 114 notice. He recommended a five-year strategic business plan, a moratorium on new developments, and annual reviews of the business plan by the audit committee.

Councillor Zulfiqar Ali, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, defended the Poplar Living model, stating that the administration should be judged by its track record and outcomes. He argued that a moratorium on spending would be unintelligent, as the business plan does not commit the council to any financial plans at this stage. He also said that every scheme is scrutinised financially and legally to ensure it delivers value for money.

The cabinet agreed to note the recommendations from the overview and scrutiny committee and confirmed the cabinet decision of 4 March 2025, approving the Poplar Group Business Plan for 2025/26.

Financing the 2025/26 Capital Programme

The cabinet authorised the Corporate Director of Resources to enter into new long-term borrowing of up to £454 million to fund the estimated borrowing requirement in 2025/26. Councillor Zulfiqar Ali presented a report seeking authority for this borrowing. Andrew Ward, Deputy Director of Finance, was also present to answer questions. The capital programme was agreed as part of the budget approved by the council on 27 February 2025.

The report stated that £357 million of the borrowing is to provide funding for 2025/26, of which £278 million is allocated to housing. £51 million relates to the replacement of existing external temporary borrowing, and £46 million relates to the replacement of internal borrowing.

Councillor Neil Wilson highlighted the commitment to improving buildings, particularly in the provision of new leisure spaces and community engagement strategies.

Letting of 4th Floor, Building 1000

The cabinet agreed to grant a new lease to the London Ambulance Service for the 4th floor East Wing at Building 1000 Newham Dockside and delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Resources to negotiate and finalise the terms and legal documentation. Councillor Zulfiqar Ali presented a report regarding the proposed letting of the whole 4th floor East Wing of Building 1000, Newham Dockside, to the London Ambulance Service (LAS). The proposal aligns with the council's asset management strategy to maximise income from vacant buildings.

The LAS currently occupies most of the East Wing, and the proposal would grant them a longer lease for the 4th floor, enabling them to consolidate their training facilities. Sam Faulding, Assistant Director of Asset Strategy, confirmed that the leasehold arrangement reflects market rates and demonstrates the best value the council can get.

OneSource ICT Split

The cabinet agreed to note the ongoing management of the new IT hybrid model and the revised procurement approach, delegating the award and entering contracts to the Corporate Director of Resources. The cabinet also stipulated that the new council representatives on the joint committee should be updated on any oneSource related matters. Councillor Zulfiqar Ali presented an update on the oneSource ICT split, following a previous cabinet decision in March 2024 to separate from the shared service and develop its own IT infrastructure. Lauren White, Director of Information Assurance and IT Contracts, was also present.

The report outlined a revised proposal to bring the service back in-house, with specialist IT partners procured to provide discrete support as needed. This approach aims to retain current staff and their expertise, while avoiding reliance on a single external provider.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 01 April 2025

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Newham Council met on Tuesday 1 April 2025 to discuss a transformation delivery plan and to appoint members to scrutiny commissions. The committee was also scheduled to receive updates from the chairs of scrutiny commissions and to review the forward plan of key decisions.

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the council's transformation delivery plan, called Transforming Newham For the Future, which is focused on making services available online, joining services to better support residents, and being a lean and efficient council.

The chairs of the scrutiny commissions were scheduled to provide oral updates.

The committee was scheduled appoint members of Scrutiny Commissions, Scrutiny Inquiry Working Parties and membership of external bodies for each agreed priority topic agreed from the Scrutiny Work Programme.

The committee was scheduled to review the Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

Health and Wellbeing Board - Wednesday 02 April 2025

The Newham Health and Wellbeing Board met to approve the Better Care Fund (BCF) 2025-26 submission and narrative plan, which outlines how Newham will use pooled funding from the council and the NHS to meet national objectives for integrated health and social care. The board also discussed integrated neighbourhood teams, and received updates on the Newham Health Equity Programme and initiatives to address diet-related diseases and improve heart health.

Simon Reid, Director of Commissioning and Integration, explained that the BCF wraps up all of the joined up integrated work. He said that the national team requires the health and well-being board to sign off the plan.

Dr Muhammad Waqqas Naqvi, Primary Care Clinical Lead, Newham Health & Care Partnership, sought assurance regarding continuity and the incorporation of health equity considerations. Simon Reid clarified that the submission focuses on where resources are allocated, while conversations about disproportionality inform how services operate.

Simon Reid highlighted significant achievements, including doubling the number of people accessing reablement services, establishing a mental health step-down and crisis support service, and creating a step-down service for homeless residents.

The board received an update on the progress of integrated neighbourhood teams (INTs), a key priority for the Newham Health and Care Partnership. Jo Frazer-Wise, Director of Delivery, Newham Health & Care Partnership, explained that the aim is to develop four integrated locality teams covering the existing eight community neighbourhoods.

Julie Pal, CEO Healthwatch Newham, presented the organisation's proposed work programme for 2025-2026, which aligns with the 50 Steps to a Healthier Newham initiative and aims to reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes.

Dr Adeola Agbebiyi, Public Health Consultant, provided an update on the Newham Health Equity Programme (NHEP). Dr Adeola Agbebiyi highlighted the launch of the Health Equity Toolkit, which includes tools like the 'Does it Look Like Newham' dashboard, designed to help services understand if they are reaching the populations they should be reaching.

Dr Adeola Agbebiyi and Andy Gold, Community Public Health Manager, presented an update on Eat Well Newham, an initiative focused on addressing diet-related diseases. They highlighted the launch of the first-ever Ramadan health champions and a partnership with Tower Hamlets and Birmingham City Council to socialise culturally tailored diabetes prevention healthy eating plates.

Dr Adeola Agbebiyi presented information on A Million Healthy Hearts and Minds, a London-wide campaign to improve heart health. The initiative focuses on raising awareness, engaging diverse stakeholders, and improving performance in heart disease and blood pressure management.

This week in Newham:

• The Council meeting on 24 March 2025 discussed belonging and inclusion in Newham, and adopted a reviewed statement of licensing policy.
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on 25 March 2025 to discuss the Populo Living Business Plan for 2025/26, and decided to take no further action.

Council - Monday 24 March 2025

The Newham Council meeting on 24 March 2025 included discussions on belonging and inclusion in Newham, and the adoption of a reviewed statement of licensing policy. The council also agreed to provide Councillor Mohammed Gani with a dispensation for non-attendance at meetings until 20 October 2025 due to ill health.

Commission for the Future of Belonging & Inclusion in Newham

The council heard from Sondra Katwala from British Futures about the work of the Commission for the Future of Belonging & Inclusion in Newham. She outlined the challenges faced in fostering inclusion and belonging, and how the commission aims to engage with schools, cultural organisations, businesses, and citizens to address these challenges.

Councillor Sabia Kamali asked how the commission's approach would differ from the current council strategy, particularly in addressing the impact of ethnicity, faith, and other protected characteristics¹. She also asked where the council had failed in engaging with residents and stakeholders, and what specific gaps existed in tackling hate and discrimination.

Councillor John Gray raised the issue of socio-economic class and intersectionality, highlighting how black, disabled women often suffer the most from inequalities. He asked for Sondra Katwala's thoughts on addressing this important issue in Newham, where there are huge differences in wealth. Sondra Katwala responded:

when people play a kind of competing grievances game, is it, do you care about ethnic diversity or do you care about gender or do you care about social class? To get it right, you know, it's a majority experience, you know, being from a minority or non-white background, it's a majority experience in Newham, but all of these things affect everybody.

Sondra Katwala outlined the commission's approach, which includes an open survey, street engagement, and a call for evidence from civic stakeholders and individuals. She encouraged councillors to host events and share information to support the commission's work.

Statement of Licensing Policy 2025-2030

The council considered and adopted the reviewed Statement of Licensing Policy, which will take effect for five years. The policy aims to assist the Licensing Authority in reaching decisions on applications, setting out matters that will normally be taken into account, and providing information for applicants, residents, businesses, and responsible authorities.

The policy was approved by the Licensing Committee on 20 February 2025, and by the Cabinet on 4 March 2025.

Key aspects of the policy include:

• Encouraging a wide range of entertainment activities and promoting live music, dance, and theatre.
• Balancing the licensed entertainment business sector with the impact of such activities on the licensing objectives.
• Protecting the amenity of Newham as a mixed commercial and residential area.
• Actively encouraging early pre-application engagement with responsible authorities and offering a pre-application advice service.
• Recognising the fundamental right that women should live without fear and committing to tackling violence against women and girls².
• Referring to the forthcoming Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law.
• Highlighting the importance of protecting children from harm and promoting the Challenge 25 scheme.
• Maintaining the existing Special Cumulative Impact Policy, with a recommendation to remove applications for Club Premises Certificates and applications that involve Regulated Entertainment³ from the policy.
• Including a new Model Pool of Conditions to assist prospective licence holders, responsible authorities, and other individuals.

The council received seven responses to the consultation on the licensing policy. As a result of feedback, some minor changes were made to the draft licensing policy, specifically Section 28, to recognise that Women’s Safety measures prescribed in this section would also have relevance to wider vulnerable groups thereby ensuring the language is inclusive. Some external links in the section were also amended.

The council also considered the Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) and noted that no adverse impacts had been identified.

Attendance at Meetings - Authority to Exempt Councillor Mohammed Gani

The council approved a dispensation for Councillor Mohammed Gani in respect of attendance at any meetings of the council and its committees, sub-committees, panels, boards, working parties and outside bodies, until 20 October 2025, due to continued ill health.

Motions

The council considered two motions.

Enhancing Public Confidence through Mandatory Bi-Annual DBS Checks for Councillors

This motion, proposed by Councillor Mehmood Mirza and seconded by Councillor Sophia Naqvi, called for mandatory bi-annual Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for all serving and newly elected councillors. The motion argued that this would enhance public trust and ensure accountability, transparency, and public safety.

The motion also called for the Monitoring Officer to draft a policy outlining the procedures for DBS checks, and for the council to lobby the Local Government Association and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to amend national legislation to make DBS checks mandatory for all councillors in England.

Expanding Landlord Licensing To Stratford Olympic Park And Royal Victoria

This motion, proposed by Councillor Nate Higgins and seconded by Councillor Areeq Chowdhury, called for the expansion of the landlord licensing scheme to include Stratford Olympic Park and Royal Victoria wards. The motion argued that licensing is a vital tool for tenant justice and that all tenants in Newham should have equal rights and protections.

The motion also called for the council to commission an updated evidence base and proactively collect missing housing condition data, and to formally commit to extending landlord licensing across Newham if the evidence confirms it is permissible.

Members' Questions

Four questions were submitted by members:

• Councillor Shantu Ferdous asked about plans to address the need for more special or inclusion schools and SEND specialist professionals, given the current financial difficulties.
• Councillor Nate Higgins asked for clarification on the position of controlled parking in Chobham Manor, given objections to the expansion of the East Village Controlled Parking Zone.
• Councillor Joshua Garfield asked for an update on the multi-agency enforcement strategy being developed to address issues in Meridian Square.
• Councillor Danny Keeling asked if the Health and Adult Social Care team would work with sexual health partners in rolling out Naloxone to service users, to prevent overdoses related to chem-sex.

Public Questions

Three questions were submitted by members of the public:

• A question about provisions being made for low-cost gymnastics lessons and elite training opportunities in the Beckton Riverside area, given extensive housing developments and the eviction of the East London Gymnastics Club.
• A question about when the cinema promised at Hallsville Quarter will open.
• Ben Lambert asked when the council will provide a timetable for revisiting plans for the Woodgrange Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN), following a hit-and-run incident on Balmoral Road.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme

Councillor Anthony McAlmont, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, provided an update on the committee's work programme and future commissions. The update included information on Council Tax collection rates, the Budget Scrutiny Commission, and the call-in of Cabinet decisions concerning the Restoration and Regeneration of the Carpenters Estate and the Development of the People Powered Places Programme 2025-2027.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 25 March 2025

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the call-in of a cabinet decision regarding the Populo Living Business Plan for 2025/26, focusing on whether the plan adequately addresses the council's housing needs and financial risks. The committee decided to take no further action, effectively endorsing the original cabinet decision. Key discussion points included the delivery of social rent homes, the financial viability of Populo, and the exploration of alternative development management options.

Populo Living Business Plan 2025/26

The committee reviewed the Cabinet's decision to approve the Populo Living Business Plan for 2025/26. The plan outlines a strategic shift for Populo, moving away from direct development to providing development management services for the council, driven by changing economic conditions and financial pressures.

The plan includes the following key points:

• Populo will focus on delivering development management services on behalf of the council, acting as its agent in taking forward developments.
• Populo can deliver services for other organisations to generate revenue and support financial resilience.
• The council can use Populo as part of its strategy to attract external investment to support its housing delivery ambitions.

The committee scrutinised the financial viability of the plan, particularly regarding the timing of dividend payments to the council. Councillor Zulfiqar Ali, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, stated that any further capital investment by the council would require cabinet approval.

Conrad Hall, whose role is not specified in the provided documents, acknowledged the financial risks associated with building houses but emphasised that the risks are managed. He explained that early losses would be stored within the company and repaid from subsequent activity. He also mentioned that the council is considering disposing of some market properties for sale rather than long-term rental, although this is not yet a formalised change of direction.

Delivery of Social Rent Homes

A significant portion of the discussion revolved around the council's pledge to deliver 1,500 homes for social rent and how this target would be met, particularly in light of Populo's changing role. Councillor Masters, Scrutiny Commission Chair, sought clarity on how the remaining 800 homes would be delivered if not through Populo.

It was clarified that the 1,500 homes would be delivered through a combination of direct delivery, acquisitions, and schemes like the RECS project, Pier Road in Cyprus. Paul Leslie, whose role is not specified in the provided documents, noted that the government had approved the RECS project, which includes approximately 750 homes, a portion of which will be social rented. He added that the Affordable Homes for Newham project and equity would also contribute to the target.

The committee discussed the number of social rent homes expected to come from Populo, with the understanding that Populo is acting as a developer for the RECS project. Discussions with the Greater London Authority (GLA) are ongoing to potentially increase the number of social rent homes across various schemes, including J. Tri-Point, First Face, the Carpenters Estate², and the Pier Road and Cyprus project.

Alternative Development Management Options

The committee questioned whether the council had explored forming an in-house development management team instead of relying on Populo. It was mentioned that it would cost $59.6 million over the next 10 years to provide development management services through Populo.

Darren, Director of Community Wealth Building (last name not provided), explained that the council had tested an in-house development management proficiency through Housing Services and the Community Wealth Building Place team. He noted challenges in recruiting the right resources into the in-house team, while Populo has a stable team with development experience. He stated that Populo needs to demonstrate value for money, and procurement colleagues check value for money against market averages.

Financial Viability and Dividends

The committee raised concerns about the financial viability of Populo, considering the amount of capital investment and the projection that dividends would not materialise until 2038.

Councillor Ali acknowledged the importance of financial viability and the need to monitor the long-term consequences. He reiterated that the business plan does not commit the council to any further capital investment, and all requirements would go through the proper approval process.

Conrad Hall explained that the nature of development finance involves storing early losses within the company and repaying them from subsequent activity. He clarified that the absence of a financial dividend in the early years does not mean the council is incurring losses that require cuts to other services.

Synergy Between Affordable Homes to Newham and Populo

A committee member inquired whether the council had considered bringing the complete operation of Populo in-house, given the synergy between Affordable Homes to Newham and Populo.

The response indicated that while the council is examining potential duplication of effort, there are no plans to bring Populo in-house. The advantages of having a body outside of the council, such as a singular focus and the ability to recruit and retain talent, were highlighted.

Newham's Housing Development Ranking

A committee member questioned the Mayor's reference to Newham being best in the field or best in the sector in terms of housing development. The response indicated that the reference came from a government source, the GLA, in the context of the council's quantum housing delivery output. The council agreed to provide the specific reference as part of the follow-up.

This week in Newham:

• The Strategic Development Committee on Tuesday 18 March 2025 approved plans for 955 new homes at Silvertown Quays and Stratford, as well as the correction of a Section 106 obligation for London City Airport.
• An Officer Key Decision on Tuesday 18 March 2025 saw the council approve an extension to funding for a scheme to help disabled people get jobs.
• The Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission on Thursday 20 March 2025 would have considered school attainment and attendance, the over-representation of some ethnic groups in the borough's care system and performance metrics for education and children's services.
• An Officer Key Decision on Tuesday 18 March 2025 saw the council approve a £1.6m budget increase for the refurbishment of a rough sleeping assessment centre in Plaistow, and approve the start of the procurement process.

Strategic Development Committee - Tuesday 18 March 2025

The Strategic Development Committee considered four planning applications and resolved to approve them all.

The first two applications were Reserved Matters applications for the former Paint Factory and Central Thameside West, North Woolwich Road, Silvertown, and Silvertown Quays, North Woolwich Road, Silvertown. Both of these applications related to the Silvertown Quays masterplan, a major mixed-use development on the north bank of the Royal Victoria Dock. This development was originally approved in 2016 and is being delivered in phases.

The former Paint Factory site will include three data halls. The current application concerned the 'Multi-Function Building' (MFB) which will be a community, education and training space for local residents. The application sought approval for the layout, scale, appearance and landscaping of the MFB. The MFB will include six meeting rooms, a District Heating Network (DHN) plant room, kitchens, WCs and cycle parking. It will also house the District Heating Network (DHN) hub for the three data halls. The Committee were assured that the plant room is appropriately sized to serve all three data halls, and noted the Section 106 obligation requiring the MFB to be ready for occupation before any of the data halls are occupied.

The Silvertown Quays application concerned 600 residential units in four buildings, ranging in height from 12 to 16 storeys. 29% of the homes will be deemed 'affordable', with a tenure split of 14% London Affordable Rent and 15% Shared Ownership. Affordable housing is housing that is let at less than market rent, or is available for purchase through intermediate schemes like Shared Ownership. London Affordable Rent is a type of affordable housing set at or below social rent levels. Shared Ownership is a government scheme that enables people to buy a share of a property and pay rent on the remaining share. The affordable homes at Silvertown Quays will be provided by The Guinness Partnership, a housing association that provides social and affordable housing across England.

Councillor Sali-Pontin expressed concern that some of the units would not meet the required standards for daylight and sunlight, asking if this affected dual aspect units. The applicant explained that no units were single aspect and north-facing, 62% of the units are dual aspect, and that daylight and sunlight had been tested throughout the design process. They explained that balconies, although a valuable amenity, impact negatively on daylight provision, and that even units that did not meet the recommended levels of daylight still had adequate daylight.

Councillor Young noted comments made by the Design Review Panel when the initial outline application was considered in 2016, and asked how the applicant had responded to those comments. Officers explained that the detailed design had to follow the Design Guide that was approved as part of the outline permission. This guide sets out the types of materials that can be used, as well as other design principles, to ensure that the different phases of the development are consistent with one another. Councillor Young also asked about the material choices and how they relate to the nearby heritage assets, such as Silo D and Millennium Mills. The applicant explained that they had used neutral materials to avoid competing with the strong form of Silo D.

The third application was for a full planning application for 355 homes at 68-70 High Street, Stratford. This development consists of two new buildings, one of 27 storeys and one of 12 storeys, and would require the demolition of the existing building at 68-70 High Street. The taller building would be Build-to-Rent (BTR), a type of housing where all of the homes are owned by a single landlord and let to tenants on assured shorthold tenancies. The 12-storey building would contain a cafe and music venue at ground floor level and 83 'affordable' homes on the upper floors. The cafe would host jazz music at weekends. The development would include a new public space linking the High Street to the Bow Back River, and will achieve 220% biodiversity net gain.

The committee heard from Mark Cass, chair of the National Jazz Archive and a representative of Jazz East. Mr Cass argued that jazz music would attract a mature and diverse audience to the venue. He said that jazz typically attracts a slightly more mature audience. He also said: if you look at the origins of where jazz came from it's probably one of the most um excuse me historically uh inclusive musics um it's quite diverse it attracts male and females to um uh to listen to watch and participate in it.

The committee questioned the applicant about the rent for the cafe, the management of the landscaping, the height and density of the development, employment opportunities, and the financial contributions the applicant was offering towards Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG). They were told that the proposed rent for the cafe was 50% of market rate, and that there was a possibility of a revenue share model, with money coming back into the building to enable reinvestment. They were also told that landscaping within the plot would be managed by an on-site facilities management team funded by residents. They were also told that density is no longer a metric that is widely used in planning, and that the focus is now on design quality and public benefits. Councillor Young expressed concern that the design had not been reviewed by Newham's Design Review Panel. Officers explained that Newham's Design Officer had attended the LLDC Quality Review Panel, and that the scheme had been revised in response to comments made at that panel.

The final application concerned the correction of a previously agreed Section 106 obligation for a hotel at London City Airport. A Section 106 obligation, sometimes known as a planning obligation or a developer contribution, is a legally binding agreement between a local authority and a developer. It is used to mitigate the impact of new development, for example by securing contributions towards affordable housing, education or transport infrastructure. In this case, the committee agreed to reduce the financial contribution the applicant was offering towards Newham Workplace, the council's employment and skills programme, from £914,107 to £316,300. This followed the applicant querying the original figure. Officers explained that the contribution is calculated based on the number of jobs the development is expected to create, and that this information had been overlooked by both officers and the applicant until after the original decision was made.

Officer Key Decision - Tuesday 18 March 2025

The Officer Key Decision concerned a decision to be made by the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing to accept an extension of grant funding for the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) programme.

Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission - Thursday 20 March 2025

The Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission meeting would have received reports on Child Protection, Educational Inequality and Disproportionality, School Attainment and School Attendance, and the ECYP Annual Work Programme for 2024/25.

Officer Key Decision - Tuesday 18 March 2025

The Officer Key Decision concerned a decision to be made by the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing to increase the budget for the refurbishment of Lady Helen Seymour House.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 21 March 2025

The Officer Key Decision meeting on 21 March concerned a decision by the Corporate Director of Resources to award a contract to Daisy Corporate Services Trading Limited for the provision of contact centre services.

This week in Newham:

• The Audit Committee on Wednesday 12 March 2025 had a look at the council's accounts and heard from internal audit and external audit.
• The Pensions Committee on Thursday 13 March 2025 approved a new communication policy for the pension fund and talked about what the impact of Trump's re-election might mean for Newham's investments.

Audit Committee - Wednesday 12 March 2025

The Audit Committee is a committee of Newham Council that is responsible for scrutinising the council's financial management. It meets four times a year to review the council's accounts, internal audit reports, and external audit reports. The committee is made up of councillors from all political parties represented on the council, as well as independent members.

The committee discussed a number of items at this meeting, including:

• The auditor's report to those charged with governance, which summarises the findings from the auditors' audits of the London Borough of Newham and Newham Pension Fund.
• The quarterly report on the savings delivery programme, which reports on the delivery of approved savings actions agreed in the annual budget setting process.
• Financing the 2025-26 capital programme, a report that requests approval from the Cabinet to borrow £454 million to fund the capital programme.

Auditors Report to those Charged with Governance (ISA 260)

The committee reviewed the Auditors Report to those Charged with Governance (ISA 260), prepared by Ernst & Young (EY). The report sets out the auditors' findings from their audit of the council's accounts for the financial year 2023/24.

The auditors were unable to provide an opinion on the accounts, because the council had not been able to provide all of the necessary records for the audit. This is known as a ‘disclaimer of opinion’, and it is a serious matter. It means that the auditors cannot say whether the accounts give a true and fair view of the council's financial position.

The auditors identified a number of issues with the council's financial records. They said that the records were inaccurate and incomplete, and that the council did not have adequate controls in place to prevent errors. The auditors also said that the council had not been able to provide them with sufficient evidence to support its claims about the value for money of its services. The auditors found that the council had failed to meet a number of its statutory deadlines for producing its accounts. They also found that the council's financial reporting was not clear and transparent.

The committee was concerned by the auditors' findings. Councillor Paul, who has been a councillor for many years, and is known for his robust scrutiny of the council's finances, said that he did not believe that the auditors had done enough to challenge the council's financial management. He questioned a number of statements in the report, including the statement that there is no significant weakness in financial stability in governance. He suggested that this was not consistent with the council's recent application for exceptional financial support from the government.

Councillor Garfield also questioned the auditors' findings, asking them to explain some of the inconsistencies they had identified. The auditors explained that they had identified a significant number of errors in the council's financial records, including casting errors, differences between primary and line items within notes, and inconsistencies with the previous year's accounts. The auditors stated that they had shared these errors with officers and would be following them up as part of the audit for 2024/25.

Nia Thomas, Newham Council's Chief Accountant, explained that the council had been under pressure to meet the deadline for producing its accounts, which had previously been 31 May but has since been extended to 30 June. She said that the council was working to address the errors identified by the auditors. Andrew Ward, the Deputy Director of Finance, added that the council had increased the size of its team to provide more support for the production of the accounts.

Quarterly Report on the Savings Delivery Programme

The committee reviewed the Quarterly Report on the Savings Delivery Programme, which sets out the council's progress in delivering the savings that it has agreed as part of its budget. The council has a target of delivering £32 million of savings in 2025/26.

The committee heard that the council was on track to deliver 86% of the agreed savings. However, £3.5 million of savings were forecast to be delayed, and there was a risk that £1 million would not be achieved. The committee was concerned about the risk that the council would not be able to deliver all of its agreed savings.

Councillor Paul questioned whether it was acceptable for the council to have a 14% shortfall in savings. He suggested that the council should find alternative savings to make up for the shortfall. Kwame Hall, the Assistant Director of Finance, explained that the council had established a Finance Management Board to scrutinise savings proposals and to ensure that there were clear plans in place to deliver the savings. Mr Hall said that the board was encouraging managers to prioritise the delivery of savings, for example, by delaying the filling of vacant posts.

Councillor Paul noted that the report included £9.7 million of savings that had been carried over from the previous year. These are savings that were agreed in the previous year's budget, but which have not yet been delivered. Councillor Paul questioned why the council was confident that these savings would be delivered this year, given that the council has consistently failed to deliver 100% of its savings targets in recent years. Councillor Lee-Phakoe asked what the council was doing to avoid having to make similar levels of savings in future years.

Mr Hall explained that the council had learned from its previous mistakes, and had made changes to the way it approached savings. For example, he said that the council had abandoned its previous policy of relying on procurement savings. Procurement savings are savings that are made by negotiating lower prices with suppliers. However, the council had found that procurement savings were often difficult to achieve, and that they could lead to a reduction in the quality of services.

Councillor Paul suggested that the council should use transformation savings to cover the shortfall. Transformation savings are savings that are made by changing the way the council works. Mr Hall responded that the council had to balance the need to deliver savings quickly with the need to avoid disruption to services. He said that the council had built contingencies into its budget to account for the fact that it was unlikely to achieve 100% delivery of its savings targets.

Councillor Crawford noted that the council had consistently failed to deliver 100% of its savings targets in recent years, and questioned whether the council's executive understood the implications of this. Mr Hall said that the council's rate of savings delivery had been steadily improving, and that the council had learned from its mistakes. He said that the council was asking more challenging questions about savings proposals to ensure that they were deliverable. Mr Hall acknowledged that the council could do more to highlight remedial action to improve savings delivery, but stressed that the council's reports provided a full picture of its financial performance.

Financing the 2025-26 Capital Programme

The committee reviewed the Financing the 2025/26 Capital Programme report. The report sets out how the council plans to finance its capital programme. The capital programme is a list of major projects that the council plans to carry out, such as building new schools or roads.

The report proposed that the council should borrow £454 million to finance the capital programme. Of this, £278 million was for housing. This included £115 million for the council’s programme to acquire properties. Newham Council has one of the largest temporary accommodation programmes in the country, and acquiring properties is part of the council’s policy to reduce the amount spent on temporary accommodation.

Councillor Paul asked for a number of changes to be made to the report, including:

• Details of the recent exceptional financial support provided by the government.
• Details of the scale and scope of the financial risks.
• A wider range of information about external factors, including interest rates.

In response, Mr Hall agreed to make some of the changes, but said that he did not think it was appropriate to repeat policy assumptions that were already included in other council documents.

Councillor Lee-Phakoe questioned the amount of money the report proposed borrowing for housing. She said that the council was already spending a lot of money on temporary accommodation, and that she was concerned that the proposed borrowing would not be enough to address the problem. Mr Hall responded that the council's acquisitions programme was only one part of its overall housing strategy, and that he had brought the report to the committee to be transparent about the proposed borrowing. He said that it would be a legitimate policy decision for the council to not borrow money to buy properties, but that this might lead to higher costs in the short term.

Councillor Garfield expressed concern about the fact that a lot of the money would be spent on projects in Poplar, which is a relatively expensive part of London. He said that the council might end up competing in the property market with the same people who will ultimately be paying back the borrowed money via council tax. He also said that the council's acquisition policy, which requires properties to be within 90 minutes of Stratford by public transport, was making it difficult to find affordable properties. Mr Hall responded that the council had acquired some properties outside of London, and that the 90-minute rule was based on a commute from Stratford, not to Stratford. He acknowledged that it would be possible to change the policy, but said that this was outside the scope of the report.

Pensions Committee - Thursday 13 March 2025

The Pensions Committee is a statutory committee that is responsible for overseeing the administration of the Newham Pension Fund. It meets four times a year to consider reports from officers and advisors on a range of topics.

Investment Strategy Update

The committee reviewed the Investment Strategy Update. The report set out the performance of the Newham Pension Fund for the quarter to 31 December 2024. The report included the following information:

• The estimated funding level of the fund had increased from 98% to 99%.
• The value of the fund's assets had increased to £1.943 billion, the highest value ever recorded.
• The fund had returned 3.32% over the quarter, outperforming its benchmark by 1.11%.

The committee was pleased with the fund's performance, but noted that the economic environment remained uncertain, particularly in light of Donald Trump's recent re-election as President of the United States. Councillor Gray, Chair of the committee, expressed concern that the government might seek to interfere with the LGPS in order to achieve its short-term political objectives, and he reminded the committee that the council was ultimately responsible for any deficit in the fund.

The committee discussed the fund's exposure to US equities, and whether any changes to the investment strategy were needed. The committee noted that the fund had a significant exposure to the US, as the US stock market had been one of the best-performing markets in recent years. However, the committee also noted that the US economy was facing a number of challenges, including rising interest rates and inflation. The committee asked its investment advisors, Barnett Waddingham, to monitor the situation closely and to advise the committee if any changes to the investment strategy were needed.

LGPS: Fit for the Future

The committee received an update on the government's consultation on the future of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) entitled LGPS: Fit for the Future. The proposals included plans to require local authorities to pool all of their assets with a pool by March 2026. At present, 75% of Newham's assets are pooled with the London CIV.

The committee was concerned about the proposals, as they believed that they could lead to a loss of local control over the pension fund. The committee also believed that the proposals could lead to a reduction in the quality of services provided to members. The committee agreed to submit a response to the consultation, setting out its concerns.

Administration of the Pension Fund

The committee received an update on the administration of the pension fund. The committee was told that the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA), which administers the Newham Pension Fund, was making good progress in implementing the McCloud judgement. The McCloud judgement is a legal ruling that requires pension schemes to make back payments to some members who were discriminated against on the grounds of age.

The committee was also told that LPPA was on track to meet the deadline of 31 October 2026 for connecting to the Pensions Dashboard. The Pensions Dashboard is a government initiative that will allow members to view all of their pensions in one place.

The committee discussed the number of active members in the scheme, and the opt-out rate. The committee was told that the opt-out rate was 11%. The committee was concerned about this, as it meant that a significant number of employees were not saving for their retirement. The committee asked officers to investigate ways of reducing the opt-out rate.

The committee agreed a new policy for reporting breaches of pension law. The committee was told that breaches of pension law could result in significant financial penalties. The committee agreed that it was important to have a robust policy in place to ensure that breaches were reported and dealt with appropriately.

The committee approved the proposed Communication Policy for 2025-2028. The policy is intended to ensure that members and employers are provided with the information they need in a timely and accessible manner.

New Employers

The committee was informed that two new employers had been admitted to the Newham Pension Fund. These were Innovate Services, which provides catering services to Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford, and Julius Rutherfoord & Co, which provides cleaning services to the EKO Trust schools.

This week in Newham:

• The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 04 March saw the Cabinet note progress being made on the Council's improvement plan in response to the Regulator of Social Housing's critical judgement in October 2024, as well as approving the Populo Living business plan for 2025-26.
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday 04 March was cancelled.
• The Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday 04 March did not have a transcript available at the time of writing.
• The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission meeting on Tuesday 04 March was a very busy one, with updates being provided on progress with dealing with the Regulator of Social Housing's judgement, as well as discussions on temporary accommodation, homelessness prevention, and the HRA Business Plan.
• The INEL JHOSC meeting scheduled for Wednesday 05 March did not have a transcript available at the time of writing.
• The Chief Officer Appointment Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday 05 March was scheduled to discuss the appointment of a new Director of Housing Services, in addition to a new Director of Housing Needs, a Corporate Director of Environment & Sustainable Transport and a Corporate Director of Adults & Health.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Thursday 06 March saw the sub-committee revoke the licence of Variety Foods after hearing arguments from the licence holder and the Home Office.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Wednesday 05 March revoked the licence of Priya Restaurant after receiving evidence from the Home Office that two illegal workers were employed there.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Wednesday 05 March decided to suspend the licence of Maamalas Restaurant for three months after hearing evidence from the Home Office that an illegal worker had been employed there.
  

Cabinet - Tuesday 04 March 2025

The Cabinet noted the progress of the Social Housing Improvement Plan, approved the Populo Living Group business plan and approved the new Statement of Licensing Policy to be sent to full council for adoption.

Social Housing Improvement Plan

The meeting received a quarterly update on the Social Housing Improvement Plan, which was created in response to the Regulator for Social Housing's (RSH) judgement that Newham Council's housing services were non-compliant and required improvement. The regulator graded the service C4, its lowest possible grading. The Council was given this grading because of the poor quality of its repairs service, its failure to carry out electrical and fire safety checks, and its failure to keep proper records of its housing stock. The regulator found that at the time of the inspection 40% of the Council's homes had not had an electrical safety test in over 11 years.

The Cabinet noted the progress the Council has made since the judgement in October 2024, including:

• £20 million of investment to improve fire safety in the Council's housing stock.
• £18 million of investment to accelerate the Decent Homes programme.
• Improved performance in responsive repairs.
• Recruitment of new senior staff to lead on the programme, including an interim Head of Building Safety and an interim Strategic Tenant Experience Lead.
• The appointment of the property consultancy Savills as strategic partners to provide challenge and support to the improvement programme.

Councillor Paul Kitson, the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy, Housing and Culture, reported that the number of properties with up-to-date electrical certificates had improved, stating that 66% of the properties under our management had a certificate less than 10 years old. He also said that the Council was working to ensure that all homes have a valid electrical safety certificate by May 2026.

Populo Living Business Plan 2025/26

The meeting then considered a report seeking approval of the Populo Living group business plan for 2025/26. Populo is a wholly-owned housing delivery company set up by Newham Council to deliver affordable housing in the Borough.

The plan reflects a change of approach by the Council to the delivery of affordable homes via Populo Living. It proposes to use the company primarily as development manager on behalf of the Council, rather than providing the company with loan funding to deliver new homes directly. This shift is a consequence of recent changes in the economic landscape for housing, in particular higher interest rates which has rendered the Council's investment criteria unachievable.

Review of the Borough’s Statement of Licensing Policy

The meeting then received a report seeking approval of the borough’s new statement of licensing policy. The Licensing Act 2003 requires all Licensing Authorities to review and consult on their Licensing Policy at least every 5 years.

The Licensing Policy sets out the framework in which the Licensing Authority, Newham Council, considers applications for premises licences, club premises certificates and other authorisations relating to:

• The retail sale of alcohol.
• The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of a club.
• Regulated entertainment.
• The provision of late night refreshment.

The Council must also have regard to the four licensing objectives:

• Prevention of crime and disorder.
• Public safety.
• Prevention of public nuisance.
• Protection of children from harm.

Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 04 March 2025

At this meeting of Newham Council's Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission, members received updates from officers and Cabinet Members on the Council's progress on dealing with the Regulator of Social Housing's (RSH) findings that led to the issuing of a C4 judgement in October 2024, as well as the continuing challenges of temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention within the borough. The Commission also reviewed the Council's Housing Revenue Account Business Plan.

This was the Commission's first opportunity to discuss the findings of the Regulator's report ¹ since it was published.

Regulator of Social Housing Update

In the report, the Regulator highlighted outcomes in the Safety & Quality, and Transparency, Influence & Accountability standards in particular, citing a lack of up-to-date electrical certificates, a large backlog of fire safety actions, insufficient assurance on safety risks, and a failure to demonstrate that legal requirements were being met.

The report pack included the regulator's full inspection report, which included the following finding:

There is widespread agreement that the temporary accommodation issue and more widely, homelessness, is in a state of crisis in Newham.

The Commission heard that since the judgement, officers had embarked on a significant improvement journey, and had been working closely with the Regulator to develop and implement a Housing Improvement Plan.

Members heard from Councillor Blossom Young, Cabinet Member for Housing, Landlord and Tenant, experience improvements that:

We've apologized to residents and we take seriously our response to the issues the Regulator identified.

Members questioned how the Council intended to ensure the quality and consistency of work carried out by contractors. The Commission also heard from Paul Kitson, Newham Council's Corporate Director for Inclusive Economy Housing and Council that an investigation was underway, conducted by the legal firm Capsticks, to explore the discrepancy between the information previously provided to scrutiny and the information in the RSH report.

Members requested sight of the minutes of the Housing Strategic Improvement Board (chaired by Newham Council's Chief Executive Abi Gbago), and that these be shared on an ongoing basis, as well as an update on the number of vulnerable tenants that had been identified and contacted.

Temporary Accommodation and Homelessness Prevention

The Commission received a report setting out the current situation regarding temporary accommodation (TA) and homelessness prevention in Newham and exploring some of the specific conditions that contribute to housing instability and homelessness within the borough. The report explained that Newham has a very high proportion of households in the private rented sector.

Newham has more than double the national average of households living in the private rented sector (PRS). In 2021-22 there were approximately 4.6 million households within the PRS, representing 19% of all households in England. However, according to the 2021 census, Newham has 38.5% of households living in the private rented sector, putting it at the third highest in London, just behind Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.

Members heard from Councillor Amar Virdee, Cabinet Member for Housing Needs, Homes Sector and Community Safety and Crime, that:

...the report gives a quite a lot in detail progression of where we have and the trajectory of travel. But I think ultimately, I think one of the key questions, which has always been asked to me is why are we here? What are we doing about it?

Members sought updates on the Council's policy on placing households in TA out of borough, and expressed frustration at the lack of a definitive policy on this, as well as questioning what the Council was doing to get a grip on the increasing cost of TA, and the underlying reasons for the borough's high homelessness presentation rates.

The Commission requested that the Council look at lengthening the residency criteria for the Housing Register from three years to five years, and asked for data around the cost to residents moving out of TA into the private rented sector.

HRA Business Plan

The Commission received a report setting out the recent work to refresh the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan and summarising recent government policy announcements and forthcoming measures that will affect the Council's HRA.

The report pack included the following information about what was to be discussed in relation to the HRA Business Plan:

• The recent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 1.7% may allow social housing providers to increase rents by up to 2.7%.
• The government's recent consultation on its rent policy for social housing, proposing a maximum rent increase of CPI+1% for the five years from April 2026. The council's analysis of this policy proposal was to be provided in the report.
• The government's decision to reduce the discount available under the Right to Buy scheme.
• The increase in the number of Right to Buy applications the council had received since the government announced the discount would be reduced.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Thursday 06 March 2025

The Licensing Sub-Committee met to determine an application by the Home Office to review the premises license of Variety Foods, 20 Carlton Terrace, Forest Gate, London E7 8LH. The sub-committee decided to reject the application for an adjournment and decided to proceed with the review.

The subcommittee were told by Beanna Hughes, representing the Home Office Immigration Enforcement team that:

Immigration enforcement does not drive looking for business to come up with it. Intelligence says, and there has to be significant concerns for action to incoming intelligence. We do not routinely refer to seek a license for a group, but if we do, the selected cases will be highlighted in concerns.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Wednesday 05 March 2025

The Licensing Sub-Committee revoked the premises licence of Priya Restaurant, 209 High Street North, East Ham, E6 1JG. This followed an application for review by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement team after two illegal workers were found to be employed at the restaurant.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Wednesday 05 March 2025

The Licensing Sub-Committee decided to suspend the licence of Maamalas Restaurant, 241B High Street North, Manor Park, E12 6SJ for three months and remove the designated premises supervisor. They also added five conditions to the licence, including a requirement for the licence holder to undertake a fire risk assessment.

The Home Office applied for a review of the licence for Maamalas Restaurant on 13 January 2025 on the grounds that the licence holder was not complying with the licensing objective to prevent crime and disorder. The Home Office made the application after identifying that illegal workers had been employed at the restaurant.

This week in Newham:

• The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission meeting on Tuesday 25 February was all about trying to work out how to respond to the Regulator of Social Housing's recent inspection into the council's housing services, and how to pay for the Carpenters Estate restoration.
• The Cabinet meeting on Monday 24 February saw the Cabinet face some tough questions about the council's flagship Carpenters Estate regeneration scheme.
• The Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission meeting on Tuesday 25 February focused on the draft Air Quality Action Plan 2025-2030, and asked some difficult questions about Anti-Social Behaviour.
• The SACRE meeting on Wednesday 26 February heard about the work of the RE Matters programme, and discussed the priorities of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education.
• The Local Development Committee meeting on Monday 24 February was asked to consider three planning applications for sites in Royal Albert, Plaistow South and Canning Town South.
• The Council meeting on Thursday 27 February approved the council's final budget for 2025-26, which included an 8.99% increase in council tax.

Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 25 February 2025

This meeting was scheduled to review the London Borough of Newham's preparations for its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan and consider the findings of a recent inspection into the council's housing services by the Regulator of Social Housing.

Housing Revenue Account Business Plan

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report on the council's HRA Business Plan, which sets out its financial plans for managing and maintaining its social housing stock. The report was to provide an update on the current state of the HRA finances, as well as outlining the council's plans for new homes and for investing in its existing homes.

The report was to highlight the significant pressures facing Newham's HRA, which include:

• Inflation
• Interest rate rises
• Improvements needed in the condition and energy performance of the housing stock.
• Building safety regulation
• The council's commitment to increase the amount of social housing it provides.

The report was to explain that these pressures had been exacerbated by the Regulator of Social Housing's judgement that the council's housing services were non-compliant with the regulator's standards, and would require the council to accelerate its improvement works. The report was to point out that the council had allocated nearly £120m to capital investment in its homes over the next two years, and £25-£30m per year after that.

The report pack included the following information about what was to be discussed in relation to the HRA Business Plan:

• The recent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 1.7% may allow social housing providers to increase rents by up to 2.7%.
• The government's recent consultation on its rent policy for social housing, proposing a maximum rent increase of CPI+1% for the five years from April 2026. The council's analysis of this policy proposal was to be provided in the report.
• The government's decision to reduce the discount available under the Right to Buy scheme.
• The increase in the number of Right to Buy applications the council had received since the government announced the discount would be reduced.

The report was to explain that the effect on the HRA of the government's recent policy decisions would be analysed in the business plan when it is next updated.

Regulatory Update: Newham Council's Response to the Regulator of Social Housing Inspection

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report on the findings of the Regulator of Social Housing's recent inspection of Newham Council's housing services.

The report pack includes the regulator's full inspection report. In October 2024 the Regulator of Social Housing found that the London Borough of Newham had breached the Home Standard and was non-compliant with the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, giving the council an overall regulatory judgement of G4/V4.

The report pack says the regulator found that:

There is widespread agreement that the temporary accommodation issue and more widely, homelessness, is in a state of crisis in Newham.

The report pack says that Newham's homelessness strategy should focus on:

Recognition across the Council that it is a place-based and whole Council issue which requires urgent, collegiate, joined-up action.

The report pack explains that Newham has the highest number of people in temporary accommodation in London, and that this is a consequence of Newham's private rental sector.

Newham has more than double the national average of households living in the private rented sector (PRS). In 2021-22 there were approximately 4.6 million households within the PRS, representing 19% of all households in England. However, according to the 2021 census, Newham has 38.5% of households living in the private rented sector, putting it at the third highest in London, just behind Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.

The report pack was scheduled to discuss how Newham was going to respond to the regulator's findings. It says that the council had established a 'Homelessness Response Programme' to address the issues raised in the inspection. This programme included projects to improve standards for people in temporary accommodation, improve homelessness prevention and increase the supply of affordable housing in the borough. The report was to provide an update on the programme's progress.

The report pack includes an appendix setting out the progress of each of the projects that made up the programme. For example, it says that a project to implement a new compliance regime for temporary accommodation was 'not started', and that a project to design a new service to support people to move on from temporary accommodation was in the design stage.

The report pack suggests that the council will continue to press central government to take action to address the national housing crisis.

However, the council does not have the powers or the resources to be able to address fully either the underlying systemic failures that are driving the growth in TA or the financial implications of the growth that we are now dealing with. Therefore, we are also lobbying central Government on a range of matters

In particular, the report pack says the council was to lobby the government to:

• Engage local authorities in developing a new national homelessness strategy.
• Increase the housing security of private rented sector tenants, for example by ending 'no fault' evictions.
• Provide more support to particular groups who are especially at risk of homelessness, for example care leavers.
• Incentivise private landlords to make homes available at affordable rents.
• Increase funding for homelessness services, for example by increasing Local Housing Allowance rates.

Cabinet - Monday 24 February 2025

The Cabinet confirmed two previous decisions, one relating to the ongoing Restoration and Regeneration of the Carpenters Estate and one about the development of the People Powered Places Programme 2025-2027. Both decisions had been 'called in' for review by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, but in both cases the Cabinet ultimately decided to confirm the original decisions and make a final decision.

Restoration and Regeneration of the Carpenters Estate

This matter was discussed at length. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had referred the decision back to Cabinet for reconsideration because of:

• Concerns about increased costs. The James Riley Point element of the scheme has increased by £20 million since September 2023, and the overall cost has increased by £320 million.
• The impact of the increased costs on Newham Council's Housing Revenue Account and revenue budgets.
• The impact of the costs on the Regulator of Social Housing's C4 rating for remedial work.
• Questions about assumptions such as the modelling used, revenues and reserve levels, interest rates, and inflation.
• Concerns about rental values.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee made a number of recommendations, including:

• An independent financial review of the Carpenter's Estate restoration and regeneration project should be commissioned. This review should analyse all potential financing strategies, including public-private partnerships, and the potential for sale of all or part of the estate.
• A review of the governance arrangements in place for Populo Living.¹ Overview and Scrutiny considered that London Borough of Newham needed to be more strongly represented on the board of Populo Living, and that the board should include at least two Newham Councillors.
• An internal audit into Populo Living's procurement processes should be carried out.
• There should be greater alignment of Populo Living with Affordable Homes for Newham. In particular the committee believed that there should be comparisons between the rates of return on investment between the two organisations.

The Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, responded to the points made by Councillor Anthony McAlmont, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She explained the context for some of the increased costs, and explained that the Council was open to exploring alternative funding models, including external investment. However, she argued against an independent review, and did not agree to immediately appoint more Councillors to the board of Populo Living. She did, however, agree to commission a review of governance, and that officers would work with Populo Living to review their current procurement processes.

Development of the People Powered Places Programme 2025-2027

The Cabinet agreed to note the Overview and Scrutiny Committee's recommendations in respect of the development of the People Powered Places Programme. These recommendations related to the way that Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) funding is allocated and spent in Newham's eight Community Neighbourhoods.

The Committee had expressed concern about the financial sustainability and value for money of the scheme, and suggested a number of alternative ways in which the £1.6 million of NCIL funding could be spent. The Mayor said that she welcomed the recommendations made by the Committee, but that the current People Powered Places Programme already delivered value for money and enabled residents to participate in decision-making.

Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 25 February 2025

The Commission noted the Air Quality Action Plan and approved its progression to public consultation. The Commission also noted a report on residential Anti-Social Behaviour and asked officers to make a number of changes to the way the service was operated.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Officers presented a report on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). The Commission raised concerns that the Council's My Newham website made reporting ASB unnecessarily complex, particularly for people not already logged into a My Newham account. In particular, the Commission compared the Council's ASB reporting system unfavourably with that of the Metropolitan Police, asking the Council to make their reporting system more user-friendly.

The Commission recommended that the Council make greater use of Housing Liaison Officers in their efforts to combat ASB, as they are already familiar with the estates they operate on.

Members expressed concern about a lack of clarity in the Council's ASB interventions. In particular, members were concerned that the stages of intervention were not clear, and asked officers to create a flowchart to improve clarity for residents and officers. The Commission expressed particular concern about ASB in private rented sector housing in Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park, as they are not covered by the Council's Additional Licensing Scheme.¹ The Commission asked officers to provide an update on what was being done to combat ASB in these areas, and to confirm what criteria needed to be met to add Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park to the Additional Licensing Scheme, as well as whether there was any scope to do so before the current licences expire in four years time.

The Commission expressed concern about the out of hours noise service that will start in April, asking if the Council had sufficient resources to deliver the service, and requesting an update on it be presented to the Commission when it is operational.

The Commission were also very concerned about the quality of the Council's response to hate crime, asking for a detailed presentation on the subject to be presented to the Commission at a future date.

The Commission asked officers to review the Council's emergency housing policy, in particular the requirement that those affected by ASB must not be in debt in order to be eligible for emergency housing.

The Commission asked the Council to create a formal system for dealing with Registered Social Landlords like Housing Associations. The Commission were concerned that the Council were relying on Housing Associations to resolve ASB on their own properties, and felt that a more robust system of oversight was needed.

Air Quality

Officers presented the draft Air Quality Action Plan 2025-2030, which is a statutory requirement for the Council under the Environment Act 1995. The Commission raised a number of issues with the draft plan, including the impact of the Silvertown Tunnel and its detrimental effect on air quality in Canning Town. The Commission were concerned that the Council was not sufficiently lobbying the Mayor of London to mitigate the negative effects of the Tunnel, and asked for an external communications campaign to be created to inform residents of the Council's efforts to monitor and challenge the impact of the Tunnel.

The Commission expressed concern that the Council's strategy to combat air quality was too focussed on encouraging active travel, and did not take into consideration the lived experiences of people for whom active travel may not be a realistic option. The Commission asked for a strategy to be developed for vehicle charging, and for research on air quality to be sensitised to the needs of Newham residents.

The Commission requested that the local plan be reviewed by a relevant scrutiny commission before it is presented to full Council, in particular to review the Mayor of London's response to it, and the changes that have been made to the Council's social housing policy.

The Commission asked for clarification on how asthma, damp and mould and air quality are linked, recommending that the plan make clear the relationship between them.

The Commission asked officers to provide an update on public transport modal share in the borough, and to confirm whether cycling had increased.

The Commission raised concerns about the use of data centres in the borough and the diesel generators they use, asking how the Council planned to mitigate their impact. The Commission noted that the Council would receive an air quality offset payment to mitigate the effects of the data centres.

The Commission were concerned that the data on air quality in the draft plan was outdated, and asked for it to be updated using more recent data before the plan was submitted for consultation.

The Commission asked officers to clarify what the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) had achieved, and what would happen when TfL's monitoring of the Silvertown Tunnel falls away.

The Commission expressed concern about the ambitious target of 80% of Newham's roads being in a Low Traffic Neighbourhood by 2030, asking for an impact assessment of what this will mean for the borough.

The Commission requested that the Council's communications strategy focus on those residents who do not typically attend public consultations.

The Commission asked for more information on the ULEZ scrappage scheme.

The Commission asked officers to provide details on the former emissions network.

The Commission expressed concern that the targets in the Air Quality Action Plan were too vague, and asked for harder, SMART targets to be implemented.

The Commission asked what was being done to improve air quality on roads managed by TfL, such as the A13.

The Commission asked when the Council would be installing electric vehicle charging points in Ellington Park ward, and expressed concern that the Council may not be able to deliver its plan to green its fleet by 2030, asking for an update on when funding was needed to ensure it is delivered.

The Commission agreed that a Joint Commission with the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission should be held at a future date to explore issues related to air quality.

SACRE - Wednesday 26 February 2025

The meeting was about approving the minutes from the previous meeting and considering the SACRE’s priorities for the year. The members were also scheduled to receive an update on the forum of faiths and the RE Matters programme.

Local Development Committee - Monday 24 February 2025

The meeting considered three planning applications for sites in Royal Albert, Plaistow South and Canning Town South. It also included for confirmation the minutes of the previous meeting, which took place on the 25th November 2024.

Council - Thursday 27 February 2025

Newham Council approved its final budget for 2025-26, which includes an 8.99% increase in council tax and £79.4m in savings, as well as confirmation that the council will be using £51.2m of its own capital receipts to support day-to-day spending. The most significant issue discussed was the council's finances, and in particular the £84m budget gap. Two amendments were proposed to the budget, one from the Newham Independents, and one from the Green Party, but both were rejected. The Independents' proposals included abolishing the Emissions Based Parking Levy, freezing council tax, scrapping People Powered Places, and introducing free school meals for secondary school children, which would have led to an additional £32m budget gap. This was described by Councillor John Morris as an illegal budget. The Green Party's amendment proposed protecting the council tax reduction scheme, and cancelling the sale of the Debden House campsite. This was rejected by Councillor Mumtaz Khan on the grounds that it created significant financial vulnerabilities. Councillor Nate Higgins made a point of order to refute claims made about Bristol City Council's recent budget decisions. The council also confirmed the appointment of two new Cabinet Members: Councillor John Whitworth as Cabinet Member for Air Quality and Climate Emergency and Councillor Melanie Onovo as Cabinet Member for Youth Power.

This week in Newham:

• The Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 19 February awarded a contract to MP Building Ltd for the refurbishment of the Will Thorne Pavilion.
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday 18 February called in the Cabinet's decision to allocate £1.6m of the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) to the People Powered Places programme.
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday 18 February also called in the Cabinet's decision on the Carpenters Estate Regeneration Project.
• The Licensing Committee meeting on Thursday 20 February was all about discussing the draft Statement of Licensing Policy for 2025-2030.
• The Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday 18 February was cancelled.
• The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 18 February was a busy one, with decisions made about the council's budget, the Carpenters Estate, and the Stratford Shopping Centre.
• The Newham Pensions Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday 18 February was cancelled.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 19 February 2025

This meeting was about a decision to be made by Paul Kitson, Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy, Housing and Culture for the London Borough of Newham. These meetings are not meetings in the usual sense, but rather a mechanism for senior officers to make decisions when they have delegated authority from the Council to do so. The decision was on whether to accept a tender for the refurbishment of the Will Thorne Pavilion.

A report was prepared for the meeting, Refurbishment of the Will Thorne Pavilion - 05 02 2025 Final, that explains that the Will Thorne Pavilion, in Beckton, is a key part of the Beckton Parks Masterplan. The plan is to turn the pavilion into a community hub with a cafe and flexible event space. The report recommends the council accept the tender from MP Building Ltd to refurbish the building using a Joint Contracts Tribunal Intermediate with Contractor Designportion form of Building Contract 2016¹, for a cost of £1.035m.

The report describes the tender process and scoring methodology, explaining that a weighting of 50% price and 50% quality was used to evaluate the bids, with 10% of the quality score being allocated to social value.

The report also sets out the timeline for the project if the tender is accepted, including the requirement to complete the project by September 2025. This is nine months later than the original completion date of March 2025.

The report goes on to describe how the refurbishment will help the council to deliver on its corporate plan priorities, such as A Healthier Newham and Ageing Well, Your Neighbourhood, and Supporting Our Young People.

The report concludes by explaining that the total value of the project is £1.62m, with £1.047m coming from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities' Levelling Up Fund, £329,000 from the London Legacy Development Corporation's Carbon Offset Fund and £244,000 from other sources.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 18 February 2025

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee voted to uphold the call in on the Cabinet's decision to allocate £1.6m of the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) to a new cycle of the People Powered Places programme. The committee will issue a formal list of recommendations to the Cabinet for their consideration at a meeting scheduled for 24 February. If the Cabinet endorses these recommendations, an amended budget will be presented to the full Council on 27 February.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 18 February 2025

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee's meeting to review Cabinet's decision on the Carpenters Estate Regeneration Project decided to uphold the call-in. The committee agreed four recommendations to be sent to Cabinet for their consideration.

Licensing Committee - Thursday 20 February 2025

The Licensing Committee met to discuss the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy for 2025-2030. They approved the policy and noted that, if approved by full council, it will take effect for 5 years.

Cabinet - Tuesday 18 February 2025

The Cabinet agreed to adopt the Asset Strategy, Final Budget for 2025/26 and reviewed the Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Delivery Plan. It also agreed to acquire 36 residential units at Boleyn Heights and to enter into new lease arrangements with Corebridge Institutional Investments (Europe) Limited, the Leaseholder for the Stratford Shopping Centre and Morgan House.

This week in Newham:

• The Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 12 February awarded two contracts to Optima Health UK Ltd to provide occupational health and employee assistance services to Newham Council staff.
• The Audit Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday 12 February was cancelled.
• An Officer Key Decision was due to be made on Tuesday 11 February, but the meeting was not held. Aled Richards, the Corporate Director of Environment & Sustainable Transport at Newham Council, approved the implementation of part of the Romford Road Active Travel scheme.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 12 February 2025

This meeting was not a meeting in the usual sense, because it was for the Corporate Director of Resources to make a decision. Conrad Hall, the Corporate Director of Resources at Newham Council, awarded two contracts to Optima Health UK Ltd for the provision of occupational health and employee assistance services.

Officer Key Decision - Tuesday 11 February 2025

This Officer Key Decision meeting was not held, and the decision on a single matter was made by Aled Richards, the Corporate Director of Environment & Sustainable Transport at Newham Council. A report was provided that detailed a request for the implementation of part of the Romford Road Active Travel scheme, and the advertising of Traffic Management Orders associated with it.

LUF Romford Road Active Travel: Section F - Katherine Road and Station Road

A report was prepared on the proposed implementation of Section F East of the Romford Road Active Travel scheme, between Woodgrange Park station and Station Road.

The report proposes the implementation of Section F East, which consists of:

new tree planting, sustainable urban drainage (SuDS) ¹, stepped separated cycle tracks, pedestrian and cycle safety improvements and changes to parking, waiting and loading restrictions to improve bus and general traffic journey times and road safety.

• LUF Romford Road Active Travel: Section F - Katherine Road and Station Road - 31 January 2025 ²

As we've seen in previous emails, the Romford Road Active Travel scheme has been the subject of a great deal of discussion and debate. The council says that the scheme is necessary to improve road safety and encourage people to walk and cycle more. However, some residents and businesses have raised concerns about the impact of the scheme on traffic, parking, and access.

The report claims that the proposals support many of the council's policies, including:

• The 2022-2026 Mayoral Manifesto.
• The Council's Corporate Plan.
• The Air Quality Action Plan.
• The Just Transition Plan.

This is an interesting example of how the council uses reports like this one to try to show that its decisions are in line with its overall strategic objectives. However, it is important to note that these reports are often written after the decision has been made, and so it is possible that they are used to justify decisions that have already been taken.

The report concludes by saying that the estimated cost of Section F East is approximately £560,000, plus £200,000 for design, engagement, staffing and Transport for London fees.

This is a significant amount of money, and it is important to ask whether it is being spent wisely. The council needs to be able to demonstrate that it is getting value for money from its spending on projects like this one.

This week in Newham:

• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday 04 February was postponed.
• The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 04 February covered a wide range of topics, including the council's budget, the restoration and regeneration of the Carpenters Estate, and the People Powered Places programme.
• The Strategic Development Committee meeting on Tuesday 04 February was asked to make decisions on three planning applications, one of which was for the outline redevelopment of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting on Friday 07 February was scheduled to include consideration of a proposal to award a contract for the construction of the Green Street Community Hub, but was not held. The decision was delegated to the relevant officers.
• The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 04 February was for the Cabinet to consider a number of finance reports.
• A Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting was held on Wednesday 05 February.
• Another Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting was held on Wednesday 05 February.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting was scheduled for Thursday 06 February. The only item on the agenda was to be a decision on whether to award a contract to fit out the new Plaistow Library. The meeting was not held, and the decision was delegated to the relevant officers.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 05 February was to allow the Director of Corporate Resources at Newham Council to make a decision about a new commercial lease at their offices in Building 1000, Dockside Road, London E16 2QU.

Cabinet - Tuesday 04 February 2025

The Cabinet is responsible for making decisions on the council's behalf. The Cabinet is made up of the Mayor and the Cabinet Members. Each Cabinet Member is responsible for a particular area of the council's work, such as housing, education, or the environment.

This week the Cabinet met to discuss a wide range of topics from budgets and planning to health and sustainability.

The Council's Budget

The most significant topic for discussion was the budget for 2025/26. This was the third in a series of budget monitoring reports for the current financial year, and forecast a £45.5m overspend, due primarily to the costs of providing temporary accommodation to homeless households.

As we saw in previous emails, the council's budget is a complex document that sets out how much money the council has to spend and where it will be spent. The council’s budget is prepared in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which sets out the framework for local government finance in England. The Act requires local authorities to prepare a budget for each financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March. The budget must be approved by the full council.

Councils are required to produce a balanced budget, meaning that they cannot plan to spend more money than they expect to receive in income. This means that if a council is forecasting an overspend, it needs to find ways to reduce its spending or increase its income. The report pack explained that the Council was requesting a bespoke council tax referendum limit of 9.99%. This is the maximum amount that the Council can increase council tax without holding a referendum. Subject to that request being agreed, the report pack recommended a 9.99% increase in the Newham element of Council Tax for 2025/26.

The Carpenters Estate

The second most significant topic for discussion was the restoration and regeneration of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford.

The Carpenters Estate is a large housing estate in Stratford, East London. The Estate was built in the 1960s and is made up of a number of tower blocks and low-rise blocks. The Estate has been the subject of a number of regeneration proposals in recent years.

The meeting considered a report that requested approval for a series of decisions related to the project, including approval of a Section 106 Agreement for the Estate and an updated Vacant Possession Strategy.

People Powered Places Programme

The meeting considered a report on the People Powered Places programme. This programme enables residents to decide how to spend the Council's Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) funds.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge that local authorities can choose to impose on new developments in their area. The money raised from the levy must be used to fund infrastructure that is needed to support the development of the area, such as new roads, schools, or community facilities. The levy was introduced by the Planning Act 2008 and came into effect in April 2010.

Public Space Protection Orders

The meeting considered a report on the renewal of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) for alcohol control and dog control. PSPOs are used to tackle anti-social behaviour in public places. The existing Orders were due to expire on 22 February 2025.

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) were introduced under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. They allow local authorities to impose restrictions on activities in public places if those activities are having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality.

Strategic Development Committee - Tuesday 04 February 2025

The Strategic Development Committee considers planning applications in the borough and makes recommendations to the Mayor, who has the final say on whether or not to grant planning permission.

This meeting was about deciding whether to approve three planning applications. Two of the applications had previously been approved by the London Legacy Development Corporation before those powers were transferred back to Newham Council.

Land at Carpenters Estate, Stratford E15

The most significant item on the agenda was a decision to be made on a planning application for the outline redevelopment of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford.

The application was originally submitted to the London Legacy Development Corporation, but was not decided before the relevant powers were transferred back to Newham Council.

Land at Junction of Barbers Road, Pudding Mill Lane, Stratford E15 2NQ

Councillors were asked to make a decision on a planning application by The Portable Living Group to extend the temporary planning permission for the Snoozebox hotel at Pudding Mill Lane.

This application was also originally submitted to the LLDC before relevant powers were transferred back to Newham Council.

Land at 27 – 37 Lascars Avenue and 14 – 23, Royal Albert Quay, Beckton E16 2YR

The report pack includes a report on an application by David Maxwell of RAD CHP Ltd for the change of use of two buildings at Royal Albert Dock from office use to 457 student bed spaces and some retail units at ground floor level.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 07 February 2025

An Officer Key Decision meeting was scheduled for 7 February 2025. The only item on the agenda was to be a decision on whether to award a contract for the construction of the Green Street Community Hub. The meeting was not held, and the decision was delegated to the relevant officers.

New Plaistow Library - Contract Award Decision

The Corporate Director of Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources, was scheduled to decide whether to award a contract to fit out the new Plaistow Library at 198 Plaistow Road, London E13 0FB.

The report prepared for the meeting explains that:

The current Plaistow Library building is Grade II listed. The building is in need of repair and is no longer a suitable long-term building for the library service. It is off the high street and not in an ideal location for passing footfall. It is also too small to cater for the increasing community activities and there is no scope for expansion as the building is located in a residential street.

The new library will be located within the Populo Living development at Valetta Grove.

Populo Living is Newham Council’s wholly owned housing company.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 05 February 2025

This meeting was to allow the Director of Corporate Resources at Newham Council to make a decision about a new commercial lease at their offices in Building 1000, Dockside Road, London E16 2QU.

Grant of a new commercial lease for 3rd Floor East, Building 1000 Dockside Road, London E16 2QU (the Property) to TeamCo

A report, 3rd Floor East 1000 Dockside - KD final 21 01 2025, was provided to the attendees of this meeting that included details of a proposal for the Director of Corporate Resources to approve the granting of a new lease for the 3rd Floor East at the council's offices at Building 1000 Dockside Road.

This week in Newham:

• The Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on Monday 27 January was scheduled to include updates on a range of topics, including the Newham Health Equity Programme, the Eat Well Newham scheme, the patient information leaflet being developed by Healthwatch Newham, and the annual report of the Newham Safeguarding Adults Board.
• The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission meeting on Tuesday 28 January was scheduled to receive updates on the impact of national developments on local services, discuss the role and impact of health literacy within Newham's health and care system, consider the outcomes of Newham's Adult Social Care Peer Review, and review the Commission's work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year.
• The Budget Scrutiny Commission meeting on Thursday 30 January was scheduled to discuss the recommendations made by the Budget Scrutiny Commission in 2023, to consider draft recommendations for the 2025/2026 budget, and to receive a report from the Budget Scrutiny In-Year Working Party.

Health and Wellbeing Board - Monday 27 January 2025

This meeting was scheduled to include reports on a range of health and wellbeing topics.

One of these reports, the Healthwatch Newham Update, was to be presented by Julie Pal, CEO of Healthwatch Newham. The report was scheduled to update the Health and Wellbeing Board on the work of Healthwatch Newham, which had been commissioned to deliver the local Healthwatch contract from 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2025. Healthwatch is an independent statutory body that gathers and represents the views of patients and the public about health and social care services in England. They work with the NHS and adult social care providers to improve services, and they have a legal duty to ensure that the views of patients and the public are taken into account when decisions are being made about how services are run.

The report explained that Healthwatch Newham's delivery was informed by Newham's 50 Steps to a Healthier Borough and the Covid-19 Recovery Strategy, and that it was delivering a work plan that had been presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board on 3 April 2024.

One of the key outputs from that work plan was the Patient Health Systems Information Leaflet. The report explained that Healthwatch Newham had been engaging with local residents and gathering insight, and believed that residents would benefit from a simple Patient Information System leaflet that would inform them of the best service to contact. The report said that the plan was to have a copy of the leaflet in every general practice and primary care setting in the borough, and to have it on display in community health settings including pharmacies, dentists and in various reception areas in Newham Hospital.

The report pack explained that:

Poor health literacy and numeracy can have a significant impact on people’s health and wellbeing due to barriers of understanding good health behaviours, accessing services, and being able to follow medical advice or treatment.

The report requested that the Health and Wellbeing Board:

comment on the revised design of the Patient Health Systems Information Leaflet as one of the outputs of the Healthwatch Newham 2024-2025 Work Plan and the communications set out in the previous report.

Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 28 January 2025

This meeting of Newham Council's Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to receive updates on the impact of national developments on local services, discuss the role and impact of health literacy within Newham's health and care system, consider the outcomes of Newham's Adult Social Care Peer Review, and review the Commission's work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year.

Budget Scrutiny Commission 2024 - Thursday 30 January 2025

This meeting was scheduled to discuss the recommendations made by the Budget Scrutiny Commission in 2023 and to consider draft recommendations for the 2025/2026 budget. The meeting was also scheduled to receive a report from the Budget Scrutiny In-Year Working Party.

One of the topics scheduled for discussion was the outcome of the Budget Scrutiny Commission 2023/2024. The Commission made fourteen recommendations to the Mayor and Cabinet in the Budget Scrutiny Commission 2023/2024 Recommendations document.

Amongst these recommendations, the Commission recommended that:

The Mayor and Cabinet: Make the following changes to the savings and growth proposals in the 2024/25 budget:

It went on to list a number of specific changes, including reversing proposed savings to Children's Centres and Active Centres.

It also recommended that the council:

Cease or pause the Newham Sparks Project in its entirety.

And that:

The Executive provide, within this public statement, provisional proposals and dates for resident and stakeholder engagement and an indicative timetable for budget consultation in the September preceding the financial year for the budget in question.

This week in Newham:

• The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 21 January was cancelled.
• The Strategic Development Committee meeting on Tuesday 21 January discussed two planning applications, one for a large housing development at TwelveTrees Park in Canning Town, and another for part of the Silvertown Quays development.
• The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission meeting on Tuesday 21 January was postponed.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to hear an application from the council's own Licensing Enforcement Team to review the premises licence of a shop called Sam Food and Wine in Forest Gate.

Strategic Development Committee - Tuesday 21 January 2025

The Strategic Development Committee is responsible for making decisions on planning applications in the borough. They often have to weigh competing priorities, such as the need for new homes and jobs, the protection of the environment, and the views of local residents.

This week the committee met to consider two planning applications: one for a large housing development at TwelveTrees Park in Canning Town, and another for part of the Silvertown Quays development.

TwelveTrees Park

The TwelveTrees Park application was a ‘hybrid application’. This means that some elements of the scheme were decided in detail, whilst others were decided ‘in principle’, to be decided at a later date. As we saw in the email about the Strategic Development Committee meeting on 17 December 2024, which considered an application for a self-storage warehouse on Romford Road, this is a common way of dealing with large and complex developments, as it allows the principle of development to be established, while more detailed design work can be carried out later in the process.

The application discussed at this meeting included two separate planning applications for the site: a ‘Section 73’ application and a ‘Reserved Matters’ application. Section 73 applications are a way of making changes to an existing planning permission. For example, a developer might submit a Section 73 application if they want to increase the height of a building or change the mix of uses on a site. Reserved Matters applications are used to decide the detailed design of a development once outline planning permission has already been granted. Outline planning permission establishes the principle of development, but it does not usually include detailed designs.

The site as a whole has permission for 4,708 homes, as well as shops, restaurants, community facilities and a secondary school. The first phase of the development, which is already under construction, will provide 1,205 homes. This application was about the second phase, which would provide 1,173 homes and a nursery.

Silvertown Quays

The Silvertown Quays development is a large, mixed-use development that is being built on the site of the former Royal Docks in Silvertown. The development will eventually include thousands of new homes, as well as shops, restaurants, offices, and leisure facilities. It is one of the largest regeneration projects in London and is expected to create thousands of new jobs.

This particular ‘Reserved Matters’ application was for three plots on the site, and requested permission for 37,900 square metres of floorspace, all of which would be residential, providing 326 new homes.

The committee heard from a number of different organisations about the application, including the Environment Agency, which noted that the site is in flood zone 3. This is the area of land that is considered to be at high risk of flooding. The Environment Agency assesses flood risk and works with developers to ensure that new developments are built in a way that reduces the risk of flooding. This often involves requiring developers to raise the ground level of their sites, or to include flood defences such as flood walls or flood gates.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Monday 20 January 2025

This meeting was scheduled to hear an application from the council's own Licensing Enforcement Team to review the premises licence of a shop called Sam Food and Wine in Forest Gate.

The Licensing Enforcement Team requested that the committee review the licence on a number of grounds, including selling alcohol outside the permitted hours, selling alcohol to someone under the age of 18, and failing to train staff in the responsibilities of selling alcohol.

As we've seen in previous emails, the Licensing Act 2003 gives local authorities a range of powers to regulate licensed premises. These powers are intended to ensure that licensed premises are run in a way that promotes the four licensing objectives.

Officer Key Decision - Monday 20 January 2025

This meeting was not a meeting in the usual sense, because the decision in question had been delegated to an officer. Jason Strelitz, Corporate Director of Adults (DASS), Commissioning, Health & Social Care, made two decisions about contracts for weight management and healthy cooking classes.

Mr Strelitz decided to terminate the council's existing contract with Pulse Healthcare t/a Xyla for the provision of weight management services, and to activate a clause in the Leisure Services contract which means that Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) can be required to run weight management services.

The decision record noted that the council was not satisfied with the performance of the existing contract. It said that the contract had failed to meet some important targets related to completer numbers and weight loss over the first two years of the three-year contract.

Mr Strelitz also decided to vary an existing contract with Nutrition Kitchen so that it also provided healthy cooking classes to residents with learning disabilities and new mothers with a history of gestational diabetes. The decision record noted that the contract had been successful and that the council was keen to extend its scope.

This week in Newham:

• The Audit Committee on Wednesday 15 January discussed a range of financial matters including a report on social value leases and the Council's draft Treasury Management Strategy.
• An Officer Key Decision on Thursday 16 January approved the award of a contract worth up to £8.3 million to PwC for transformation consultancy services.

Audit Committee - Wednesday 15 January 2025

This meeting of the Audit Committee considered a range of financial matters, including a report on social value leases, the Council's draft Treasury Management Strategy, and the Council's Statement of Accounts.

Social Value Subsidy in Leasing Arrangements

The Committee discussed the Social Value Subsidy in Leasing Arrangements report. This policy was adopted in 2019 and allows Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations to receive a discount of up to 80% on rent for council-owned properties, in recognition of their contribution to the borough.

The Committee heard that very few properties had been leased under this scheme since it was adopted. For example, Councillor Giles Clark, the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, said that he had only been involved in making decisions about two such properties since he became a Councillor four years ago.

The Committee discussed the case of Applecart Arts, a performing arts venue in Plashet Park that closed in 2024. Applecart Arts had received a rent subsidy from the council. Councillor Rita Chadha asked whether the council had been aware of the organisation’s financial difficulties. Officers said that Applecart Arts had been one of the first organisations to be awarded a lease under this scheme, and that the terms of their lease did not require them to report back to the council about their financial position.

Councillor Nate Higgins asked how the council measures the social value delivered by organisations that receive a discount on their rent. Officers confirmed that the council does assess the social value of individual organisations before deciding whether to award them a discounted lease, but that it has not evaluated the total impact of the scheme.

The Committee asked officers to review the social value policy.

Treasury Management Mid-Year Report

The Committee then considered the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report.

The Committee heard that the Council had borrowed £246 million from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) in the first half of the financial year, at an average interest rate of below 5%.

Stephen Wilde, the Assistant Director of Finance, told the Committee that interest rates had risen sharply since the Autumn Statement in November 2024, and that if the council were to borrow the same amount now it would have to pay an interest rate of above 5.5%.

Mr Wilde said that the council would continue to monitor interest rates closely, and that it would seek to borrow money for the long term when rates are low.

Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) and Treasury Management Annual Investment Strategy (AIS)

The Committee noted the Draft Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) and Treasury Management Annual Investment Strategy (AIS), which set out how the council will manage its borrowing and investments.

Stephen Wilde, the Assistant Director of Finance, explained that the report had not been presented to the Audit Committee before being presented to the Cabinet due to committee timings. The final version of the report will be presented to Full Council in February 2025.

London Borough of Newham Statement of Accounts 2023/24

The final item on the agenda was the London Borough of Newham Statement of Accounts 2023/24.

Conrad Hall, the Council’s Chief Finance Officer, told the Committee that the council’s auditors, Ernst & Young (EY), would not be able to complete a full audit of the council’s accounts by the deadline of 28 February 2025.

This is due to a backlog in local authority audits across the country, caused in part by problems with the way that local authority accounts are prepared.

Mr Hall explained that EY had done some audit work, “namely cash, borrowing and investments, bad debt provisions and the Collection Fund”, but that they would not be able to issue an unmodified opinion on the council’s accounts.

The Committee delegated approval of the Statement of Accounts to the Chair and the Section 151 Officer ¹, once EY has completed their work.

Officer Key Decision - Thursday 16 January 2025

The only item on the agenda for this meeting was the proposed award of a contract worth up to £8.3m to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the second phase of the council’s ‘Transforming Newham for the Future’ programme.

The first phase of the programme involved developing plans to change the way that the council delivers services. This second phase is intended to implement those changes.

This report argued that the council needs external support to deliver the programme:

With phase 1 concluded, we now need to progress with phase 2 delivery, which is essential to support Newham in implementing the future Resident Access and Enabling Services operating model. This phase will help realise the associated benefits, including enhanced resident and staff experience, improved operational efficiency, and sustainable financial gains, all driven by the deployment of digitally enabled processes, tools, and ways of working.

• Officer Decision - Transforming Newham for the Future Phase 2 Commission - 08 01 2025 Final ¹

The report explained that the council had considered and rejected two other options: using only council staff, and appointing a single strategic partner to deliver the entire programme. The report said that it would be too difficult to recruit the specialist staff needed to deliver the programme, and that using a strategic partner would give the council less control.

This week in Newham:

• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday was scheduled to discuss a range of topics including the council's performance, the budget, and the work of the scrutiny commissions.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Tuesday heard representations from residents, the police, and the applicant, Dessertz Ltd, about a proposal to grant a new licence for a late-night dessert shop in Forest Gate.
• The Cabinet meeting on Thursday approved the new Sex Work Strategy and accompanying action plan, the draft budget proposals, an application to the government for Exceptional Financial Support, and a proposal to increase council tax by 9.99%.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting on Tuesday approved a £1.48m contract to refurbish Donald Hunter House in Forest Gate.
• Another Officer Key Decision meeting on Friday approved an increase to the Right to Light compensation budget for the Plashet Road development from £277,630 to £845,400.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 07 January 2025

This meeting was scheduled to discuss a range of topics including the council's performance, the budget, and the work of the scrutiny commissions.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee is a key part of the council’s governance structure. Its role is to scrutinise the work of the council’s cabinet and to make recommendations to it.

The committee is made up of councillors from all political parties represented on the council. It has a wide range of powers, including the power to:

• Call witnesses to give evidence at its meetings.
• Require the council to provide it with information.
• Make recommendations to the cabinet on any matter relating to the council's work.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Tuesday 07 January 2025

The meeting of Newham Council's Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee on Tuesday 7th January 2025 was scheduled to discuss an application for a new premises licence for a dessert shop. The application had been made by Dessertz Ltd, for their shop at 344c Romford Road in Forest Gate.

The Licensing Act 2003 introduced a new system for regulating the sale of alcohol, the provision of late night refreshment and the provision of regulated entertainment.

Before the Licensing Act, these activities were regulated by a combination of different licences issued by Magistrates’ Courts and local authorities. The Licensing Act aimed to simplify the system by creating a single licensing authority in each local authority area. Newham Council is the licensing authority for the borough.

The Act also created four licensing objectives:

• The prevention of crime and disorder.
• Public safety.
• The prevention of public nuisance.
• The protection of children from harm.

Anyone applying for a licence to carry out one of the licensable activities is required to show how they will uphold the four licensing objectives.

Cabinet - Thursday 09 January 2025

This meeting of Cabinet discussed the council’s new ten-year strategy for addressing sex work in the borough. It also agreed the draft budget proposals for 2025-26, including an application to the government for exceptional financial support and a proposal to increase council tax by 9.99%.

Officer Key Decision - Tuesday 07 January 2025

The only item on the agenda for this meeting was the proposed award of a contract to refurbish Donald Hunter House ¹

Officer Key Decision - Friday 10 January 2025

The meeting on 10 January 2025 was not a meeting as such, because the decision to be taken had been delegated by the Council to an officer. The documents included a report on a decision to be made by Paul Kitson, Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy & Housing, on increasing the budget for Right of Light compensation to be paid to residents affected by the construction of the Council's Plashet Road development.

The Right to Light is a legal right that allows the owner of a building to receive light through their windows. If a new building is built that blocks the light to an existing building, the owner of the existing building may be able to claim compensation.

The amount of compensation that can be claimed depends on a number of factors, including the amount of light that has been lost, the value of the property, and the impact of the loss of light on the enjoyment of the property. In some cases, it may be possible to negotiate a payment in lieu of a Right to Light claim. This is a one-off payment that is made to the owner of the existing building in exchange for them agreeing not to bring a claim for loss of light.

In this instance, the report explained that the council had initially budgeted £277,630 for Right to Light compensation, but that this had now increased to £845,400.

The report explained that this increase was due to a number of factors, including:

• The initial Right to Light studies had been based on desktop research and estimations of internal arrangements.
• Additional homeowners had come forward with claims.
• The council had since allowed Right to Light consultants access to properties to carry out physical inspections.

The report also said that the council had considered obtaining Right to Light indemnity insurance, but that this had been deemed not to be financially viable.

This week in Newham:

• The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday approved the award of a contract extension for the provision of free holiday clubs for children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals.
• Another Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday approved the award of a £740,000 contract for the replacement of bin chutes and fire shutter doors in 63 high rise residential buildings in Newham.

Officer Key Decision - Thursday 02 January 2025

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday 02 January 2025 approved the award of a contract extension for the provision of the Holiday Activity and Food Programme in Newham. The decision was made by officers under delegated authority.

This programme, which is funded by the Department for Education, provides free holiday club places during the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays. The clubs provide at least one daily nutritious meal, as well as a range of physical and enriching activities, for primary and secondary age children and young people who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals (FSM eligible). They are intended to address holiday hunger, physical inactivity, and social isolation among children from low-income households.

The existing contract for the programme was due to expire in March 2025. The report prepared for the meeting proposed that the contract be extended by one year to allow the council to continue to provide the programme while it undertakes a full procurement process. The report argued that extending the contract represented best value because it would allow the council to maintain cost-effective pricing and avoid the expenses associated with re-tendering or transitioning to new providers.

The decision to extend the contract is likely to be welcomed by parents and carers of children who are eligible for the programme, as it will ensure that they continue to have access to free holiday clubs.

The report proposed that the funding be allocated in the following way:

• At least £200k to be allocated to the coordination and management of the HAF Programme
• Up to £500k to be allocated to internal Council services to deliver all or some elements of the programme covering the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays in 2025. These services included Fairplay House, Youth Empowerment, Children’s Health 0-19, Libraries, Early Help and the Youth Justice Service.
• The remainder of the grant, at least £1,300,000 to be spent on other provision throughout the year and made available to providers on the HAF Framework.

The report identified two alternative options:

• Do nothing - This was rejected because it would have meant that the Council will not be able to deliver the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which may lead to reputational damage and a missed opportunity to invest in much needed services and support for [Newham's] vulnerable children and young people.
• Go outside of the Framework and conduct a full tender process - This was rejected because it would not have allowed enough time to put a programme in place for the Easter 2025 school holidays.

The report noted that:

The service keeps an Equalities Impact Assessment and keeps this under review. This grant funding is aimed at supporting some of our most vulnerable children and young people (FSM and SEND¹), and will impact on those families living in poverty. Within [Newham] this has clear links to class, race and disability, although it impacts on most of the EQIA areas.

Officer Key Decision - Thursday 02 January 2025

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday 02 January 2025 approved the award of a £740,000 contract for the replacement of bin chutes and fire shutter doors in 63 high rise residential buildings in Newham.

The decision was made by officers under delegated authority.

The report, which was prepared for Paul Kitson, the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy, Housing & Culture², was scheduled to be considered by officers on the 2nd January 2025.

The report described how the council's Housing Building Safety Team had undertaken surveys of 88 bin chutes in 82 of the council's high rise residential buildings and identified a need to replace bin chutes and fire doors in 63 blocks. The report explained that the surveys had been undertaken by Hardall International Limited, that they had assessed each bin chute, hopper and chute room and given them a risk rating of either Pass or Fail, and that 63 of the blocks they surveyed had received a Fail risk rating.

The report explained that the works would cost an estimated £740,000 and that £679,000 of this would be funded from borrowing and reserves and £61,000 would be funded by leaseholder contributions. The report explained that leaseholder contributions had been calculated on a per-block basis.

The report recommended that:

the proposed contract for works for the bin chute hopper and fire shutter door replacement programme, estimated at approximately £740,000, be procured by way of restricted tender using Constructionline, the Council’s select list of pre-qualified contractors for construction works procurements.

The report stated that:

Due to the nature of the works and limited organisations within such a niche market, the Council has identified only four organisations that meet the criteria for the delivery of such a project.

It went on to explain that an expression of interest exercise had already been completed and that each of the four organisations had expressed interest in tendering for the works.

The report claimed that the programme of works would help to deliver the council's priority of Homes for our Residents and would help it to achieve its outcome measure of increasing resident satisfaction with the quality of their homes.

The report explained that:

Leaseholder consultation is required under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended). Observations made by leaseholders in response to consultation must be taken into account in the process leading to any award of contract.

This week in Newham:

• The Council approved the minutes of its last meeting, a range of treasury management proposals, amendments to the procedural rules, the new polling districts and polling places review, the recommended recipients of the Civic Awards, a report on exempted decisions made since the last meeting, and to appoint two Independent Persons for the council.
• The Strategic Development Committee approved two planning applications: one for temporary classrooms at Upton Cross Primary School and another for a self-storage warehouse on Romford Road.
• The Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday was postponed.
• The Council voted unanimously to award the Honorary Freedom of the Borough to Lyn Brown and Paulette Watson MBE.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday approved the award of a £916,197.75 contract to Every Project Counts Ltd to refurbish the kitchen and staff room at Winsor School.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee revoked the premises licence for Delondres Restaurant in Plaistow, after police were able to buy alcohol outside of the permitted hours.

Council - Monday 16 December 2024

The meeting started with two deputations. The first was from Applecart Arts, a performing arts venue in Plashet Park. The deputation requested emergency funding of £100,000 to prevent the closure of the venue, stating that the cost of closure to the council would be greater than the requested grant. Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz responded, highlighting the £65,000 rent subsidy that the council already pays to the venue, and stated that the council could not make new financial commitments at this meeting.

The second deputation was from Flourishing Community E20, a group that provides free wellbeing training to residents of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. They presented data about the wellbeing priorities of Newham residents and encouraged the council to consider a holistic approach to wellbeing.

There were two petitions presented to the council. One, presented by Councillor Nate Higgins on behalf of the Save Debden Campsite group, called on the council to reconsider its decision to sell the Debden Campsite. The campsite is an outdoor facility in Epping Forest that is owned by Newham Council and used by schools and community groups in the borough. As we saw in the email for 2 December, the council is facing significant financial challenges, so this request is likely to be difficult to accommodate.

A resident, Rob Callender, asked a public question about the Royal Docks Upgrade Project. This project is a £5.7 million investment in improving public spaces and pedestrian facilities in the Royal Docks. The project started in 2022 and was due to be completed in February 2025. However, the project has experienced a number of delays, some of which relate to utility companies needing to carry out work in the area. The council is also coordinating the Royal Docks project with other works, such as the construction of the Silvertown Tunnel, which is a new road tunnel under the River Thames that will link the Royal Docks to the Greenwich Peninsula. Mr Callender asked the council to provide a realistic update on these works, including an updated completion date. An unnamed officer responded, providing updated completion dates for each of the project’s phases.

In her announcements, Mayor Fiaz confirmed the appointment of two new cabinet members: Councillor John Whitworth to the Air Quality and Climate Emergency portfolio, and Councillor Melanie Onono to the Youth Power portfolio. She also announced that the council's draft budget proposals would be published the following week.

Councillor Anthony McAlmont, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, presented an update on the work of the committee. He highlighted that the Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission, which he chairs, had experienced difficulties in engaging with school leaders. In particular, he noted that only one teacher had attended a series of planned focus groups with school governors and teachers.

Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, responded by apologising for the non-attendance of school staff, and committed to ensuring that the focus groups would take place in the new year.

Councillors asked a series of Member Questions about a range of issues including:

• Domestic abuse services
• The proposed changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme
• The council's commitment to stopping the use of pesticides and weed killers in parks and estates
• The impact of emissions-based parking charges on lower-income car owners
• Whether elected members of the council are classified as council employees
• An update on the delay to the new Public Sex Work and Exploitation Strategy

The council then debated two motions. The first, about recruitment diversity, was proposed by Councillor Shantu Ferdous and seconded by Councillor Simon Rush. The motion called on the council to review its recruitment policies, processes, and procedures to ensure that it is positively encouraging applications from people from diverse backgrounds and protected characteristics.

The second motion, about the Olympic Park Fixed Estate Charge, was proposed by Councillor Danny Keeling and seconded by Councillor Nate Higgins. The motion called for the reform of the Fixed Estate Charge, a charge levied on residents of some areas of the Olympic Park. The motion argued that the charge is unfair and that it is contributing to making the Olympic Park an unaffordable place to live.

Councillor Sabia Kamali proposed an amendment to the motion, which argued that simply rejecting the charge without proposing an alternative funding model was not the answer. Councillor John Gray seconded the amendment.

The amendment was lost, but the original motion, as amended, was carried. It's likely that this is only the beginning of the debate about the Fixed Estate Charge. As we saw in the previous email, the council is facing a significant budget gap. It is likely that the council will be seeking to find ways to reduce its expenditure and increase its income in the coming years. The Fixed Estate Charge is likely to be one of the many issues that the council will be considering as part of its budget setting process.

Council - Monday 16 December 2024

This meeting was an Extraordinary Meeting of Council to confer the Honorary Freedom of the Borough on two people: Lyn Brown and Paulette Watson MBE.

The Honorary Freedom of the Borough is the highest honour that a council can bestow on an individual. It is given to people who have made a significant contribution to the borough. As we have seen in previous emails, Newham Council awards a range of civic awards, including the Good Neighbour Award, the Outstanding Contribution Award, and the Youth Excellence Award.

The Civic Awards Panel is a cross-party committee that considers nominations for civic awards. The panel makes recommendations to the council, which then decides whether to approve the awards.

Lyn Brown

Lyn Brown was the Member of Parliament for West Ham from 2005 to 2024. She grew up in Silvertown in the south of the borough and served as a councillor in Newham before entering Parliament. She held a number of shadow ministerial roles and served as a government minister in the Home Office from 2009 to 2010.

Paulette Watson MBE

Paulette Watson MBE is the founder of Vision 21, a charity that promotes digital inclusion and runs education and training programmes in Newham.

Strategic Development Committee - Tuesday 17 December 2024

This meeting considered two planning applications.

Upton Cross Primary School

The first application was to allow temporary classrooms at Upton Cross Primary School to be kept for a further two years.

The school is currently hosting pupils from Connaught School, a special needs school, while their permanent site is being built on Leyes Road.

As we've seen in previous emails, Newham Council is facing a range of challenges in providing enough school places for the borough's growing population, and in creating suitable facilities for children with special educational needs and disabilities. In this context, temporary classrooms are often used to accommodate children while new schools are built, or while existing schools are expanded.

970 Romford Road

The second application was to determine the appearance and landscaping of a new self-storage warehouse on Romford Road.

The committee welcomed the fact that the application proposed to build a warehouse that would meet BREEAM Excellent standards, and that the applicant had worked with the Design Review Panel to improve the appearance of the building.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 18 December 2024

This meeting approved the award of a £916,197.75 contract to Every Project Counts Ltd to refurbish the kitchen and staff room at Winsor School.

As we have seen in previous emails, Newham Council is responsible for ensuring that there are enough school places to meet the needs of the borough's growing population.

The report prepared for this meeting described the outcome of the procurement process and identified a number of implications of awarding the contract, including financial, legal, and equalities implications.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Wednesday 18 December 2024

This meeting revoked the premises licence for Delondres Restaurant in Plaistow, after police were able to buy alcohol outside of the permitted hours.

As we have seen in previous emails, the police and the council’s licensing enforcement team have a range of powers to enforce the licensing laws. These powers include the ability to issue warnings, to impose conditions on licences, and to revoke licences.

In this case, the Licensing Sub-Committee heard evidence that the licence holder had sold alcohol after the permitted hours, had not provided CCTV footage when requested, and had allowed customers to remain on the premises after closing time. The Sub-Committee also heard from a resident who complained about noise disturbance from the premises.

This week in Newham:

• The Pensions Committee received updates on the Local Government Pension Scheme, the McCloud remedy, and the performance of the Newham Pension Fund's investments.
• The Standards Advisory Committee discussed declarations of interest made by Councillors, a proposed new Code of Conduct complaints procedure, and received updates on legislation regarding remote council meetings.
• The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday was postponed.
• The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday approved the award of a contract worth £9.1 million to Clear Channel Limited UK for digital advertising on the borough's street furniture.

Pensions Committee - Wednesday 11 December 2024

The Pensions Committee is responsible for overseeing the Newham Pension Fund. The fund invests the contributions of employees and former employees of Newham Council and a number of other organisations in the borough, and pays out pensions to those people when they retire.

In this meeting, the committee received a report on the fund’s investments. The report showed that the total value of the fund has increased to £1.915 billion, but also noted that the fund is not fully funded. This means that it does not have enough money to pay all of its future liabilities.

The committee also discussed the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The LGPS is the pension scheme for people who work in local government in England and Wales. It is a defined benefit scheme, which means that the amount of pension you receive is based on your salary and how long you have worked for a local authority. The committee received a report on the McCloud remedy, which is the outcome of a legal case brought by judges and firefighters. It relates to changes to public sector pension schemes that were ruled discriminatory on the grounds of age.

Standards Advisory Committee - Wednesday 11 December 2024

The Standards Advisory Committee is responsible for promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct among councillors.

At this meeting, the committee discussed the process for dealing with complaints about councillors' conduct, and received an update on declarations of interest made by councillors.

As we've seen in previous emails, councillors are required to declare any interests that they have in matters that are being discussed at council meetings. This is to ensure that decisions are made in the public interest and not for personal gain.

The committee also discussed proposed legislation to allow councils to hold remote or hybrid meetings, and for proxy voting at council meetings. As we saw in the previous email covering the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 5 November 2024, this is a complex issue, with a range of implications for the transparency and accountability of local government.

Officer Key Decision - Thursday 12 December 2024

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday 12 December 2024 approved the award of a contract to Clear Channel Limited UK for digital advertising on the borough's street furniture.

The contract is worth an estimated £9.1 million over seven years and will see the installation of 62 digital screens across the borough.

The report prepared for this meeting explained that the new contract would:

update the borough’s current Council Information Panel’s (CIP) street furniture advertising provision, replace the current paper CIP units with digital displays and increase the amount of income coming into the Council.

The report also claimed that:

The modernised digital units also offer benefits with smart city technology and the ability to measure footfall, air pollution and provide Wi-Fi.

This decision is likely to be controversial. As we saw in the previous email covering the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 5 November 2024, Newham Council is facing a difficult financial situation. The report prepared for the Officer Key Decision meeting explained that the council is seeking to reduce its reliance on expensive forms of temporary accommodation and that rising interest rates are making it more difficult for the council to borrow money to fund its capital programme. It's likely that this context informed the decision to approve the award of this contract.

The report highlighted that:

LB Newham has recently adopted a new Advertising Policy that will come into effect with the new Digital Advertising Contract for LB Newham Street Furniture. It is expected to impact positively on health and wellbeing by restricting the promotion of smoking, alcohol and gambling.

However, some residents are likely to be concerned about the potential for these screens to contribute to visual clutter, and that the presence of advertising in public spaces could be seen as normalising consumerism. They may argue that Newham's street furniture should not be used for commercial purposes and that the council should be prioritising other ways of raising revenue.

This week in Newham:

• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee met on Monday to review an application from a shop in East Ham to vary the conditions imposed on its licence following problems with street drinking.
• The Cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss the council's response to a negative report from the Regulator of Social Housing, and to approve budgets for new housing developments and the introduction of new parking charges.
• The Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to meet on Monday to receive updates on safeguarding, consider the experiences of children in care, and review performance data.
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Tuesday to scrutinise the council's work and make recommendations to Cabinet.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting on Friday approved the Romford Road Active Travel Scheme, subject to Traffic Management Orders being approved later.
• Another Officer Key Decision meeting was held on Friday, for which no information is publicly available.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee met on Wednesday, but no information is publicly available.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Monday 02 December 2024

This meeting of the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee considered an application from the licence holder of Food & Wine Cross, a shop at 169 High Street North in East Ham, to vary some of the conditions on the shop's licence.

The licence had been reviewed in June 2024 following a request from the council’s licensing team, which had resulted in the licence being suspended for four weeks, and conditions being added to the licence, including restrictions on the size of bottles of alcohol that could be sold, and a requirement to mark all bottles of alcohol sold with the shop’s name and address.

The Sub-Committee considered five proposed variations to the licence, which are discussed in detail below.

35cl Minimum Bottle Size for Spirits

The licence holder requested permission to sell spirits in bottles smaller than 35cl.

A police representative objected to the application, pointing out that the shop was located within a Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ), which means that there is a presumption that applications for new licences, or variations to existing licences, that are likely to add to the existing problems will normally be refused.

The police representative presented a heat map showing the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area, and said that there was clear evidence of problems with street drinking, including discarded cans of high-strength alcohol and miniature bottles of spirits. The Sub-Committee decided to refuse the application.

Minimum Two-Can Purchase

The licence holder requested that the condition requiring single cans and bottles of beer, lager, and cider with a volume of 500ml or less to be sold in packs of at least two should be relaxed, to allow single cans of larger volume drinks, like 750ml and 1-litre bottles, to be sold individually.

The licensing officer said that he had not seen many larger bottles of beer discarded in the street and suggested that this variation could be granted, but the condition restricting the size of bottles of spirits should be kept. The Sub-Committee decided to amend the condition to require beers, lagers, stouts and ciders of 500 millilitres or less to be sold in a minimum purchase of two.

Bottle Marking

The licence holder requested permission to stop marking all bottles of alcohol with the shop’s name and address, arguing that this was time-consuming and unnecessary. He suggested that instead, a condition could be added to his licence stating that alcohol would not be served to any known problem maker or street drinker. The Sub-Committee agreed to remove the requirement to mark bottles.

Requirement for a Personal Licence Holder on the Premises

The licence holder requested that the condition requiring a personal licence holder to be present on the premises at all times be amended to allow a nominated person to be present instead. The Sub-Committee agreed to this change.

Provision of CCTV

The licence holder requested permission to change the wording of the condition relating to CCTV, so that they would only be required to provide downloads to the police on request, which could be provided within 24 hours. The licensing officer and the police representative both stated that they wanted the existing condition, which required a member of staff to be able to provide downloads of CCTV footage immediately, to be kept.

After some discussion, the licence holder agreed to a compromise where staff would be required to provide the police with access to CCTV footage immediately, and provide downloads within 24 hours. The Sub-Committee agreed to this change.

Cabinet - Tuesday 03 December 2024

This meeting of Newham’s Cabinet included a range of topics that affect all Newham residents, including the council’s response to a critical report from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), budgets for large building projects, and proposals to introduce new parking charges.

Response to the Regulator for Social Housing’s Inspection Report

The report pack included the council’s draft plans to improve its housing services. These plans prioritised work to resolve the health and safety risks found during the inspection. The report pack also included details about how the council planned to appoint named individuals to take on statutory health and safety, and complaints handling roles as required under recent changes to social housing legislation.

Delivering new homes at Pier Rd & Cyprus

The report pack included an update on progress, with Populo Living, Newham’s wholly owned housing company, having secured planning permission for both developments, and having appointed Hill Partnerships as the contractor.

To lock in the prices quoted by Hill Partnerships, this report pack requested an increase in the budget for both schemes: £147m for Pier Rd and £97.2m for Cyprus. This report pack also sought permission for Populo Living to sign the construction contracts.

Keeping Our Residents Safe - Fire Risk Assessment Requirements to High Rise Blocks

As a social landlord, Newham Council is required by law to assess the fire safety of its properties. In this report pack, Cabinet was asked to approve a proposal to undertake fire safety works, which will resolve issues that had been found during fire risk assessments (FRAs). The works included replacement of fire doors in communal areas and in some individual properties.

Sustainable Transport Strategy (STS) and Local Implementation Plan (LIP) 2025/26 to 2027/28

Newham Council is working to encourage residents to travel more sustainably, by making walking, cycling and public transport more attractive options. This report pack included plans to improve cycling routes and pedestrian facilities across the whole borough, and to expand the coverage of existing schemes that discourage cars from using local streets, like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and Healthy School Streets.

This report pack also included plans for improvements to public transport, particularly to bus routes.

Improving air quality and reducing CO2 emissions through parking charges

Newham Council is introducing new parking charges to discourage the use of diesel vehicles.

This report pack sought approval for a package of changes, including the introduction of a diesel surcharge. Drivers of diesel cars would pay £1 more per hour for short stay parking than drivers of petrol or electric vehicles, and would pay an additional £50 a year for a resident parking permit. Drivers of vans and other business vehicles would pay £100 a year more for a parking permit.

Parking Debt Annual Assessment

This report pack outlined the current level of parking debt, and sought approval to write off £12.6m that Newham believes is irrecoverable.

Treasury Management Mid Year 2024/25 Update

This report pack included the 2024/25 mid-year treasury report.

Pre Procurement Report in respect of the DfE School Capital Condition Programme 2025/2026

In this report pack, Newham was seeking approval to procure contracts up to a value of £3.55m, with a provision to supplement the DfE grant by up to £1m if needed.

Removal of Cap on Care Charging for Adult Social Care

In this report pack, Cabinet was asked to agree to remove the current limit of £400 per week on how much people are required to pay for adult social care, meaning that everyone would pay for the full cost of their care if they were financially assessed as being able to do so.

Award of Contract; for Microsoft Licensing Agreement (EA)

This report pack sought approval to award a contract to Pheonix Software for a cost of approximately £2.17 million per year for the next three years, to provide Microsoft licences.

Scrutiny Report: Meeting Newham’s Future Needs

The report pack included a report from Newham Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission, which had been looking at the capacity of the borough’s health and care system to cope with Newham’s rapid population growth.

Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission - Monday 02 December 2024

This meeting was scheduled to hear updates on the work of the Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP), and the experiences of children in the care system in Newham.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 03 December 2024

No transcript or minutes for this meeting were made publicly available.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 06 December 2024

A report on the Romford Road Active Travel scheme ¹ was included on the agenda for this meeting.

The report explained that this part of the scheme had been awarded £8.7m from the Levelling Up Fund in 2021 and that a public engagement exercise had been carried out between February and March 2024.

Detailed drawings of the proposed scheme were included in the report pack. The report also explained the results of the public engagement exercise and summarised other themes from the responses to the consultation, including a range of concerns about parking, bus stop design, the need for more trees, and the quality of the existing infrastructure.

The report was accompanied by an Equality Impact Assessment.

This week in Newham:

• The Newham Pensions Board was scheduled to discuss its administration strategy, receive an update on the Pension Administration Strategy, and consider any changes to the Risk Register.
• The Local Development Committee was scheduled to determine planning applications for a ghusl facility in Forest Gate, and for the renovation of a locally listed building in Plaistow.

Newham Pensions Board - Tuesday 26 November 2024

This meeting of the Newham Pensions Board was scheduled to include a presentation from Janet Morville-Smith of the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA), an update on the Pension Administration Strategy, and a discussion about the Risk Register.

Pension Administration Strategy

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report on the Pensions Administration Strategy. This document sets out what the council and employers are required to do in order to comply with their legal duties to their employees. The report pack notes that LPPA’s practices for receiving data have changed, so the requirements in the document were scheduled to be amended to reflect the change. The updated document states that employers are now required to submit monthly returns, leaver and joiner forms via the LPPA’s online portal, Your Fund. The only change to the main body of the document was scheduled to be the addition of a paragraph drawing attention to the Charging Policy.

Risk Register

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report that provided an update on the Risk Register for the Newham Pension Fund. The report pack describes the risks and how the council manages them. It also describes the action points from the previous meeting of the board, which was held on 22 October 2024. The meeting was also scheduled to consider any changes to the Risk Register.

Local Development Committee - Monday 25 November 2024

This meeting was scheduled to determine two planning applications: one for a new ghusl facility building at Hudson Bay, 1-5 Upton Lane, Forest Gate, and the other for the renovation of 31-35 Stock Street, Plaistow.

31-35 Stock Street

The application for 31-35 Stock Street seeks permission to renovate the existing, locally listed¹ building and bring it back into use as a multi-functional community space.

The building would contain office and workspace, a community workshop space, a cafe, and a venue hire space.

The proposal involves the erection of a single-storey side extension and alterations to the front of the building including the removal of a redundant crossover, extension of existing guard railing, and the introduction of a cobbled forecourt.

Hudson Bay, 1-5 Upton Lane

This application concerns the erection of a new ghusl facility building at Hudson Bay, 1-5 Upton Lane.

The report pack notes that the site is located within the Forest Gate Town Centre Conservation Area and is next to the Grade II listed Emmanuel Church.

The building would be used in accordance with Islamic funeral practices, used for washing and shrouding the body. The use is effectively a funeral directors and therefore is considered to fall under Class E(c) (ii).

The officers recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions.

This week in Newham:

• The Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission met on Thursday to follow up on the Inquiry that was held earlier this year.
• The Strategic Development Committee met on Tuesday to consider applications for planning permission at five sites in the borough.
• The Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission met on Tuesday to assess the effectiveness of the council's parks and green spaces strategies, and its recycling, waste and street cleansing strategy.
• The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday approved the award of two contracts, worth a combined total of almost £900,000, for the provision of event production services for Newham Council.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee met on Wednesday to consider an application for a new premises licence.
• An Officer Key Decision meeting on Monday approved an application to vary a construction contract for the refurbishment of two derelict buildings in West Ham, increasing the total contract value to £2.4 million.
• The Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee met on Wednesday to discuss the appointment of a new Director of Public Realm.

Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission - Thursday 21 November 2024

The Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission met on Thursday 21 November 2024. No transcript or minutes of this meeting were made publicly available.

Strategic Development Committee - Tuesday 19 November 2024

This meeting of the Strategic Development Committee considered five planning applications for sites across the borough.

The committee received a report on the performance of London City Airport. This report is submitted annually to the council in accordance with conditions attached to the airport's planning permission, and the Section 106 agreement that was entered into when permission was granted for the City Airport Development Programme.

The report noted that London City Airport submitted their annual performance report to the council. This report describes how the airport is complying with the conditions attached to its planning permission, and the Section 106 agreement that was entered into when permission was granted for the City Airport Development Programme.

The committee also received a report on developer contributions. These contributions are payments made by developers to pay for the infrastructure needed to support new development. These contributions can be made through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), or through Section 106 agreements. These payments fund things like affordable housing, transport improvements, open space, and education.

The report describes the total amount of CIL and Section 106 money received by the council during the 2023/24 financial year, and how the money was spent. It also describes how much money has been allocated, but not yet spent.

The report notes that there have continued to be delivery challenges for a number of community projects that have been allocated funding from Neighbourhood CIL in previous years.

The report describes how the council's strategic CIL funds were allocated during the 2023/24 financial year. Some of this funding was allocated towards the operation and/or maintenance of leisure and sports facilities, community facilities, highways, and open spaces. The report says that this year is the first time that Strategic CIL funds have been drawn down from reserves.

Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 19 November 2024

This meeting of the Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to assess the effectiveness of the council's parks and green spaces strategies, and to evaluate the impact of its recycling, waste and street cleansing strategy. It was also scheduled to receive an update on the re-procurement of waste treatment and disposal services by the East London Waste Authority (ELWA).

Officer Key Decision - Thursday 21 November 2024

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Thursday 21 November 2024 approved the award of two contracts for the provision of event production services for Newham Council for two years, with the option to extend for a further year.

The decision was made by Paul Kitson, Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing, following a report that explained the outcome of the tender process.

The report requested that the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing approve the award of the contracts:

• To Project Thirty Ltd for Lot 1: Large Scale Outdoor Events, with an estimated total cost of £594,534.
• To Centre Stage for Lot 2: Small to Medium Scale Events, with an estimated total cost of £300,000.

The report explained that the procurement process had been conducted using an open tender, as suitable frameworks did not exist. Six suppliers applied through the council's Oracle Fusion portal.

The report stated that the decision would contribute to the priorities set out in Newham’s Corporate Plan and cultural strategy:

5.2.1 Priority 2: Newham’s inclusive economy to support you in these hard times. Newham’s annual events programme will support local businesses, nurture talent and provide opportunities for all.

The report also stated that the two proposed contracts were within the council's budget, and that they represented value for money.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Wednesday 20 November 2024

The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee met on Wednesday 20 November 2024 to consider an application for a new premises licence from Deccan Bahar Limited for 79 Green Street in Forest Gate.

Officer Key Decision - Monday 18 November 2024

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Monday 18 November 2024 approved an application to vary a construction contract for the refurbishment of two derelict buildings in West Ham to provide 16 new affordable homes.

The decision was made by Paul Kitson, Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing, following a report that explained the need for the contract variation.

The original contract was awarded to Proma Construction Management Limited in June 2021 for a sum of £1,767,827.72.

The contract value has been increased following a variation in March 2023 and a further variation approved at this meeting, bringing the total value of the contract to £2,421,354.02, representing a 36% increase from the original sum.

The report states that the contractor is now in administration, but argues that:

given the status of the schemes and the risk to practical completion it is considered that it would not be financially beneficial to withhold the additional liability at this stage.

Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee - Wednesday 20 November 2024

This meeting of the Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee considered the appointment of a new Director of Public Realm.

The role had been advertised, with seventeen people applying. A longlist of six candidates were interviewed, with two being shortlisted.

The Sub-Committee was asked to interview the two shortlisted candidates and recommend one of them for appointment by Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, the Chief Executive of Newham Council.

This week in Newham:

• The Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission discussed the Council's response to the Inquiry Report, considered a report on the inequality experienced by young black boys and men in the borough, reviewed the work of the Youth Empowerment Service, and discussed the Young People's Charter.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to review the licence of a supermarket in Forest Gate, and to adopt a procedure for licensing sub-committee meetings.

Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission - Thursday 14 November 2024

This meeting was a follow-up to the Inquiry by the Relationship Between Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny Commission that reported earlier this year. The meeting's agenda included a discussion of the Mayor and Cabinet's response to the Inquiry report, a detailed report on the inequality, disproportionality and inequity experienced by young Black boys and men in the borough, and updates on the work of the Youth Empowerment and Youth Justice Services in promoting youth empowerment, reducing the involvement of young Black men in the criminal justice system, and promoting targeted and universal youth provision. The meeting was also due to discuss the Young People's Charter, which was co-produced with young people in Newham in 2022.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Tuesday 12 November 2024

This meeting of the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to include two agenda items.

Review of Premises Licence for Greenland Supermarket, 323 Romford Road, Forest Gate, London, E7 9HA

The first item on the meeting's agenda was a review of the Premises Licence of Greenland Supermarket, 323 Romford Road, Forest Gate, London, E7 9HA. As this meeting was not publicly broadcast, we do not know the details of why this licence was being reviewed. As we have seen in previous emails, licensing reviews are usually triggered by an application from the police or a local resident. They are usually requested when there are concerns about the way in which a business is being run, and can result in a licence being revoked or conditions being added to it.

Licensing Sub-Committee Procedure

The second item on the meeting's agenda was the proposed adoption of a procedure to be used in the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee's meetings. The document included for the committee's consideration¹ set out the following six stages for meetings of the committee:

1. Introductions
2. Presentation (of the officer's report)
3. Relevant Representations (from responsible authorities and interested parties)
4. Applicant's Response
5. Deliberation
6. Decision

Local authorities are required to have a procedure for licensing applications under the Licensing Act 2003. The procedure must set out how applications will be considered, and what factors the licensing authority will take into account when making a decision. The procedure must also set out how interested parties can make representations to the licensing authority, and how appeals against decisions can be made.

The adoption of this procedure was intended to ensure that the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee's meetings are conducted in a fair and transparent manner. It was also intended to ensure that the committee is able to make decisions that are consistent with the Licensing Act 2003 and the council's licensing policy.

This week in Newham:

• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed the Council's performance as a social landlord following a critical inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing, reviewed the Council's performance against its Building a Fairer Newham plan, and considered a report on meeting the needs of a growing and ageing population.
• The Officer Key Decision meeting approved the sale of 28 council-owned properties to raise money for Homes for Residents and other core priorities, citing financial pressures caused by the government.
• The Cabinet meeting approved the disposal of land for the development of 9 new homes by a Community Land Trust and the sale of Debden House and Campsite, a large asset in Epping Forest.
• The Inner North East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to discuss the ongoing transition of responsibility for specialised healthcare services from NHS England to the local Integrated Care Board.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to review the licence of a shop in Forest Gate that sold alcohol outside of its permitted hours.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 05 November 2024

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to consider a wide-ranging agenda, including a review of Newham Council’s performance as a social landlord, a review of the Council’s progress on delivering its corporate plan, and the approval of a report about how to meet the demands of population growth. As we have seen in previous emails, Newham faces a number of challenges, including a significant budget shortfall, a shortage of affordable housing, and an ageing population.

Regulator of Social Housing Inspection

The committee received a report about Newham Council's strategy, plans, and actions to keep residents of its social housing safe. The inspection was undertaken following a referral by the Housing Ombudsman, who found maladministration in the way that the council had handled a number of complaints about damp and mould in its properties. The Housing Ombudsman published a special report on damp and mould in June 2023, following a sharp increase in the number of complaints it received about this issue.

Councils are required to meet the 'consumer standards' set out by the Regulator of Social Housing. These standards cover a range of issues, including the quality of homes, the way that repairs are carried out, and how tenants are treated. The Regulator has the power to take enforcement action against councils that fail to meet these standards.

Building a Fairer Newham Performance Report

The committee considered a report on the council’s performance against its “Building a Fairer Newham” corporate plan, which had been approved at the Council meeting on 13 December 2023.

The plan sets out a vision for Newham to be “a place where everyone can thrive”. It identifies eight priorities for the council:

1. Homes for Newham
2. A Safer Newham
3. A Healthier Newham
4. A Fairer Newham
5. A Greener Newham
6. Children and Young People
7. Support for Adults
8. A Well-Run Council

Each priority is underpinned by a number of commitments that set out what the council will do to achieve its objectives. The performance report reviewed the council's progress against these commitments and identified areas of good performance as well as areas where the council needed to do more.

The report is an important document for anyone who wants to understand how the council is performing and what its priorities are.

Meeting Newham’s Future Needs

The committee also considered a report on how the council is planning to meet the needs of a growing and aging population. As we have seen in previous emails, Newham's population is projected to grow significantly in the coming years. The report highlights a number of challenges that this growth will bring, including increased demand for housing, schools, and health and social care services. These challenges will need to be addressed in the context of a challenging financial environment for local government.

The report sets out a number of recommendations for how the council can address these challenges. These include:

• Building more homes, including affordable homes;
• Investing in schools and early years provision;
• Improving access to health and social care services;
• Creating jobs and opportunities for residents; and
• Making Newham a more sustainable and resilient borough.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 06 November 2024

The Officer Key Decision meeting approved the sale of 28 council-owned properties. As we have seen in previous emails, Newham Council is facing a significant budget shortfall. The report considered at this meeting explained that this was partly due to factors beyond its control, such as central government funding cuts. It explained that rising interest rates were making it more difficult for the council to borrow money to fund its capital programme, which includes plans to build new council homes.

Cabinet - Tuesday 05 November 2024

This meeting of the Cabinet considered a wide range of items, including proposals to improve support for looked after children and care leavers, to improve sexual and reproductive health services in the borough, and to improve the borough's cycling infrastructure. The Cabinet also made a significant decision regarding the future of Debden House and Campsite, agreeing to sell this large asset, which is located in Epping Forest.

The Cabinet received a report on the performance of Newham's Children's Services department. A report published by Ofsted following an inspection in May 2023 found that services for children in need of help and protection in Newham were 'requires improvement to be good', noting that services for children in need of help and protection, including those in care, have deteriorated since the last inspection.

The report explained that the council is seeking to reduce its reliance on expensive forms of temporary accommodation for looked after children by acquiring and refurbishing its own properties. This approach is intended to improve the lives of children in care as well as delivering better value for money for Newham residents.

The Cabinet also received a report on the performance of the council's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. The report explained that the council was legally required to commission these services for residents and that the existing contract was due to expire in 2025.

The report also highlighted the importance of providing high quality, accessible SRH services, noting that Newham had a higher than average rate of sexually transmitted infections.

Inner North East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (INEL JHOSC) - Wednesday 06 November 2024

The INEL JHOSC is a joint committee of four London Boroughs, Newham, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets, that scrutinises the work of the NHS in North East London.

The committee received a report on the ongoing transition of responsibility for specialised services from NHS England to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). ICBs are new statutory bodies that have been created to join up health and care services at a local level. They are responsible for developing a plan for meeting the health needs of their local population and for allocating resources to NHS organisations and local authorities to deliver these services.

The report highlighted the financial challenges facing the NHS in North East London, noting that there were long waiting lists for many services and that the NHS was struggling to recruit and retain staff.

The committee discussed the best way to scrutinise this transition, and agreed to write to the ICB to request further information about its plans.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Wednesday 06 November 2024

This meeting was scheduled to consider an application from Newham Council's Licensing Enforcement Team to review the licence of Asona, a shop in Forest Gate that sells alcohol. The Licensing Act 2003 gives local authorities powers to regulate the sale of alcohol in their areas, with the aim of preventing crime and disorder, public nuisance, and protecting children from harm.

This week in Newham:

• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee met on Monday to discuss an application from Cheers Bar Lounge in Stratford to vary its licence and received a representation objecting to the application from Councillor Carolyn Corben.
• The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to meet on Tuesday to scrutinise a report on meeting the borough's future health and care needs, review 0-19 Health Services, follow-up on leisure services, and consider adult safeguarding.
• The Local Development Committee was scheduled to meet on Monday to consider two planning applications, including a proposal to turn a former care home in Forest Gate into co-living accommodation.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to meet on Tuesday to consider an application for a new premises licence for EADN London in Canning Town.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Monday 28 October 2024

The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee of Newham Council met to consider an application to vary a premises licence. The application relates to Cheers Bar Lounge, located at 5-9 Leytonstone Road, Stratford.

Application to vary the licence of Cheers Bar Lounge

Mr Muhammad Afzal Khan & Mr Wiqas Afzal Khan, the current licence holders of Cheers Bar Lounge at 5-9 Leytonstone Road in Stratford, applied to vary the existing premises licence. The application requested no changes to the hours and for the addition of extra conditions that had been agreed with the police and responsible authorities.¹

The report notes that where premises lie within a Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ), there is a rebuttable presumption that applications for a new premises licence or club certificate or variations in respect of such premises would normally be refused, unless the applicant can demonstrate in their operating schedule that there will be no negative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives. The report explains that because the application relates to premises within a CIZ, members of the Sub-Committee would need to be satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated this.

A representation objecting to the application was received from Councillor Carolyn Corben, who represents the Maryland ward in which the bar is situated. Councillor Corben objected to the application on behalf of [her]self and Maryland residents on the grounds that:

I have had residents report to me issues of public safety and public nuisance - ASB including street drinking, smashed glass all over the pavement, vomiting and fighting.

Councillor Corben urged the Sub-Committee:

to only grant a license until midnight Thursday to Saturday to minimise the chances of public nuisance, crime and disorder.

Councillor Corben also expressed concern that the area outside the bar was not suitable for use as an outdoor drinking area because:

You can see how narrow the pavement is here... I am concerned that people, women in particular, making their way by foot from Stratford to Maryland have to walk here on what is a narrow pavement anyway and I'd be concerned they may feel intimidated / harassed and possibly feel the need to cross the road, which is not easy at this point.

The report notes that the premises at 5-9 Leytonstone Road have been the subject of previous licensing reviews and enforcement action. It says that on 3rd August 2012 & 21st September 2012 the off licence located at 5 Leytonstone Road failed two test purchases where alcohol was sold outside their permitted hours. This resulted in the licence being reviewed and, following a decision by the Licensing Sub-Committee on 16 November 2012, suspended for 8 weeks and new conditions imposed on the licence.

Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 29 October 2024

This meeting of Newham Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to consider a range of topics across the health and care landscape. Scheduled topics included a review of 0-19 Health Services and the presentation of a scrutiny report on the capacity of Newham’s health and care system to meet the anticipated demands of population growth, with a particular focus on how services will meet the needs of an ageing population, as well as a follow-up on the Leisure in Newham workstream that commenced in July. In addition to these key items, the committee was also scheduled to receive a verbal update on emerging matters across the health and care system.

Local Development Committee - Monday 28 October 2024

This meeting was scheduled to involve the consideration of two planning applications.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Tuesday 29 October 2024

This meeting was scheduled to discuss an application for a new premises licence for EADN London, located at 24 Stephenson Street in Canning Town. The licence would cover a range of activities including the supply of alcohol, live and recorded music, performances of dance and the provision of late-night refreshments. The application was submitted by Cezen 4 Ltd.

This week in Newham:

• The Council approved a motion on the Temporary Accommodation crisis and a motion in support of house building.
• The SACRE congratulated Claire Clinton, and others involved with the Student RE Matters project, for winning a London-wide Interfaith Award.
• The Newham Pensions Board confirmed that the Newham Pension Fund will adopt a new communications strategy from April 2025.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to discuss whether to revoke the licence of, or change the conditions on the licence for, a restaurant in Forest Gate.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee considered an application for a new premises licence for Deccan Bahar Ltd at 79 Green Street in Forest Gate.

Council - Monday 21 October 2024

This meeting of the Council was themed around Newham's Temporary Accommodation (TA) crisis, a recurring theme at Council meetings. As we saw in the previous email, the projected cost of temporary accommodation is a major contributor to the £175 million budget shortfall that the Council is facing over the next three years, a figure that was confirmed by Mayor Fiaz in her opening speech.

The Mayor announced two new cabinet appointments relating to housing, with Councillor Arma Verde becoming the new Cabinet Member for Housing Need, Homelessness and Private Rented Sector and Councillor Blossom Young becoming the new Cabinet Member for Housing Landlord and Tenant Experience Improvements. The Mayor thanked Councillor Shabbat Mohammed for his four years of service as Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation; Housing Needs, Homelessness and the Private Rented Sector.

Newham's Temporary Accommodation Crisis

Councillor Shaban Mohammed explained the challenges the council is facing:

During the last 14 years local government has been facing a funding crisis especially in Housing, ASC, and children’s services

Councillor Mohammed also highlighted the rising cost of nightly paid accommodation, which has increased by 70% over the last year. He explained the council's current approach to mitigating the financial cost of temporary accommodation:

The Council has introduced a range of interventions to help residents maintain tenancies. These include the use of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs)¹ to help prevent homelessness, employing tenancy liaison officers to assist private tenants experiencing illegal eviction or harassment, introducing specialist housing pathway officers to support residents with complex needs, and embedding housing officers within the Welcome Newham Team² to assist asylum seekers in finding accommodation.

Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Children Services and Education, made a speech highlighting the impact of temporary accommodation on children:

She stated that a recent upturn in malnutrition amongst children experiencing homelessness was due to a lack of cooking facilities in nightly paid accommodation.

Councillor Blossom Young, Cabinet Member for Housing Landlord and Tenant Experience Improvements, spoke about the limited number of properties the council has available to let to those on its housing waiting list:

She noted that Trust for London³ recorded that Newham built the second-highest number of affordable homes and the third-highest number of homes overall between 2020 to 2023. However, the scale of demand is such thatwe must go further and faster".

Addressing Newham's Housing Crisis

Councillor Nate Higgins, Leader of the Green Group, proposed a motion calling for the Labour Government to scrap the Right to Buy scheme⁴, give the Mayor of London powers to work with councils to develop rent controls, and reform council tax to ensure that the owners of the most valuable properties pay the most.

Councillor Danny Keeling, Deputy Leader of the Green Group, seconded the motion.

He argued that it is a stain on our society that we rely on charities to support homeless people. He stated that, In effect it was a single transfer of wealth to a single generation leaving future generations much worse off, and argued that Right to Buy must be scrapped.

Councillor Jenny Keeling proposed an amendment to Councillor Higgins' motion that called for the introduction of a task and finish commission on TA, rather than the task force proposed in the motion. The amendment also called for the extension of the landlord licensing scheme to the Stratford Olympic Park and Royal Victoria wards. The amendment fell.

Councillor Keeling, on behalf of Councillor Higgins, made a right of reply speech that drew attention to the 2022 Labour Manifesto, which included pledges to end Right to Buy, introduce rent controls and increase the proportion of social housing in new developments. The motion fell.

Newham Temporary Accommodation Crisis

Councillor John Gray proposed a motion calling for a task force to address the TA crisis in Newham.

The motion noted that Newham is arguably the worst TA situation in the country and that the Council is in danger of bankruptcy due to rising TA costs, which could mean that the Council needs to find a further £175m in savings over the next three years.

Councillor Shaban Mohammed seconded the motion, highlighting the impact of 14 years of Tory austerity.

Councillor Jenny Keeling proposed an amendment to Councillor Gray's motion, replacing references to a task force with references to a task and finish commission, arguing that the Council needs more scrutiny and transparency. She also called for the extension of the landlord licensing scheme to the Stratford Olympic Park and Royal Victoria wards. The amendment fell.

The motion passed.

In Support of House Building and Endorsement of the Labour Government's Approach

Councillor John Morris proposed a motion in support of housebuilding and endorsement of the Labour government's approach, which noted that 50% of Newham's children live in poverty and that the borough's population is projected to grow to 422,200 by 2030.

The motion argued that, building more housing of all tenures, with a particular focus on social rent housing and other affordable housing types, must be an urgent priority. The motion acknowledged that NIMBYism can be a barrier to housing development, but argued that the needs of society must be balanced against the concerns of local residents.

The motion condemned the Green Party for opposing housing developments in North Hertfordshire, Bristol and Maidenhead, as well as solar farms in several areas. It also celebrated the Labour government's decision to establish Great British Energy.

Councillor Blossom Young seconded the motion, praising the Council's efforts to address the housing crisis.

The motion passed.

Authority to Exempt

The Council approved a dispensation for Councillor Mohammed Gani to be exempted from attending council meetings until 20 April 2025 due to ill health.

SACRE - Wednesday 23 October 2024

This meeting of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) began with an update on the Student RE Matters project. The committee were particularly pleased to hear that the project had recently won a London-wide Interfaith Award.

Schools Engagement with RE Offers

The committee considered the level of engagement by the borough's schools with the RE support and training offered by RE Matters.

It was noted that attendance at meetings held for secondary schools was poor. Claire Clinton, RE Advisor for Newham, said that she believed that this was due to a number of factors, including the cost of providing cover for teachers to attend meetings, the increasing workload of teachers, and the fact that many secondary schools are now employing non-specialist teachers to teach RE. She said that she was confident that the recordings of meetings were being accessed by teachers, and that this was a valuable way of disseminating information and training.

Some subjects then stopped completely. So history haven’t had a network for 15 years, geography haven’t had a network for 15 years. There’s all sorts of places that don’t, subjects that don’t have networks because of that decision 15 years ago.

It was agreed that the committee would track who accesses recordings of meetings to get a more accurate understanding of the reach of the sessions.

SACRE Annual Self-Evaluation Toolkit and Actions

The committee split into groups to review their annual self-evaluation using the SACRE Self-Assessment Tool.

They concluded that they were performing at an Advanced level in all areas. They did, however, make some recommendations for how the committee could improve.

2024/2025 Draft SACRE Priorities

The committee considered their priorities for the coming year, as listed in the Draft SACRE Priorities for 2024-25 document. They agreed to add two new priorities:

• To conduct a pupil survey about RE
• To provide more support and training to schools that are not part of RE Matters.

Other Business

The committee discussed a letter from the Local Authority requesting that a Roman Catholic representative be appointed to the Education, Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission. It was agreed that the committee should write to Dr Stephen Saxby, who is the SACRE's Roman Catholic representative, to ask if he would be prepared to take on the role.

Newham Pensions Board - Tuesday 22 October 2024

This meeting of the Newham Pensions Board was about the administration of the Newham Pension Fund.

Performance of the LPPA

The board were informed that the Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA)'s service level agreement performance for the most recent quarter was 98.1%, against a target of 95%. The average wait time for members calling the LPPA call centre was 2 minutes and 27 seconds, well below the 4 minute target.

There was some discussion of the risk register.

Councillor Terry expressed concern that the risk register did not show what the target risk levels were.

James Cocks, Head of People Transactional Services for OneSource, explained that they would be reviewed by the end of the financial year, and new target risk levels would be included in the updated register.

We would like to see the target risk come down, wouldn’t we? If we’re saying we’re currently at 2D, we’re now going to put in to place these mitigating controls around the enlightened system, then we should be then actually saying so as a result of doing that, we’ve managed to reduce the risk level.

Administration and Legislative Update

The board discussed the progress of several ongoing pieces of work that were taking place at the LPPA. This included the implementation of the McCloud Remedy⁵, an update to the LGPS to correct age discrimination.

The McCloud remedy is a legal judgement that found that changes to the way that pensions were calculated in public sector schemes unfairly discriminated against younger workers. The remedy requires all schemes to compensate those workers who were discriminated against.

The board heard that LPPA had identified 5,446 records that might need to be updated.

That does not mean that we will be paying out anywhere near that number of uplift figures.

The board also heard that the implementation of the Pensions Dashboard⁶ was moving along well.

The Pensions Dashboard is an online portal that will enable people to view all of their pension entitlements in one place. The dashboard is due to be launched in 2026.

The meeting also discussed the impact of the removal of the Exit Cap⁷ on the scheme.

The Exit Cap was a legal limit on the amount of money that could be paid to a public sector worker when they left their job. The Exit Cap was removed in 2021.

The board approved the content of the LPPA's Administration and Legislative Update.

Communications Policy

The board discussed the adoption of the Newham Pension Fund Communications Policy for 2025-2028. The policy sets out how the fund will communicate with its members and employers. It was noted that the policy included the use of both web and paper communications, to reflect the fact that some members did not have access to the internet. Councillor Terry also requested that information about the 50/50 scheme⁸ be included in the materials provided to members.

The 50/50 scheme allows members to pay half of their normal pension contributions in exchange for receiving half of their normal pension benefits.

The board approved the policy and its accompanying communications schedules.

Action Log

The meeting reviewed the Newham Pension Board Action Log. A number of action points were reviewed. It was noted that action points PB064 and PB065 would remain open.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Thursday 24 October 2024

This meeting of the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to be about whether to revoke the licence of, or change the conditions on the licence for, a restaurant in Forest Gate. The restaurant was alleged to have breached a number of its licensing conditions.

Review of Premises Licence for Bronze Royale, 319 Romford Road, Forest Gate, E7 9HA

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to review the premises licence of Bronze Royale.

The application from the police was made on the grounds that the bar had failed to uphold the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety.

The Council Licensing Team report states that:

a licensing inspection was carried out on 19 August 2024. The inspection found that the restaurant had allegedly breached a number of the conditions on its licence, that the restaurant was allegedly operating outside of its permitted hours, and that the designated premises supervisor was allegedly present while these breaches were taking place.

The Sub-Committee was also scheduled to consider a representation from Minhaj Ul Quran International, the mosque opposite the restaurant.

We have serious concerns about the appropriateness of allowing a bar to operate in such close proximity to a religious institution. A place of worship should be treated with respect, and having a bar directly across from our mosque is deeply inappropriate and offensive to the values we uphold.

The representation describes significant noise disturbances, public intoxication, prostitutes and illegally parked cars.

Confirmation of Procedure

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to confirm the procedure for the meeting.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Wednesday 23 October 2024

The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee of Newham Council met to consider an application for a new premises licence for Deccan Bahar Ltd at 79 Green Street in Forest Gate. The application requested late night refreshment service every day from 23:00 to 02:00 the following day, with opening hours every day from 12:00 to 02:00.

Deccan Bahar Premises Licence Application

This was the first time that Deccan Bahar had applied for a licence under the Licensing Act 2003 for these premises.

The meeting report pack contains representations from the Council's Commercial Environmental Health and Licensing Enforcement Teams, as well as from local residents, all of which object to the application.

Representations from Council Teams and Local Residents

Newham Council's Commercial Environmental Health Team objected to the application on the grounds of the prevention of public nuisance.

They noted in their report that two local households had submitted noise complaints about the premises.

I Would like to bring into your notice that (79 green street E7 8JF) newly opened restaurant (Deccan Bahar) making too much noise late night everyday. Also highly affected street light. We are the (address redacted) too much disturbing during late time till 1am in the early morning

-- Local Resident, in a representation submitted to Newham Council, 26 August 2024

The Council Licensing Enforcement Team also submitted a representation, objecting to the application on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder, public nuisance, the protection of children from harm and public safety. They reported that they had observed the premises serving customers inside and taking food orders over the phone at 23:36 on 20 September 2024, despite the applicant not having a licence to trade after 23:00.

Both the Commercial Environmental Health and Licensing Enforcement Teams noted that they had observed chairs placed on the public highway outside the premises. They reported that the manager of the restaurant had told them that the chairs were for customers who were waiting for a table. The Head of Network Management at Newham Council was reported to have confirmed that no application for tables and chairs to be placed on the highway had been submitted.

This week in Newham:

• The Cabinet meeting was cancelled.
• The Pensions Committee met to receive updates on the Newham Pension Fund's investments, business plan, and administration.
• The Strategic Development Committee approved the construction of a data centre in Canning Town, subject to a Section 106 agreement.
• The Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission scrutinized the performance of its community safety partnership, reviewed police stop and search data, and looked at plans for a new youth safety strategy and a new community safety enforcement model.
• The Officer Key Decision meeting approved the procurement of water, wastewater and ancillary services for the council.

Pensions Committee - Wednesday 16 October 2024

This meeting of the Pensions Committee was scheduled to discuss a number of updates on the administration of the Newham Pension Fund, its business plan, and investment strategy. It was also scheduled to receive a report on the global economic outlook from Fathom Financial Consulting.¹

Investment Strategy Update

The Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the investment strategy, including the performance of the Fund's investments. A report on the Funding Update Q2 was scheduled to be noted.

The Committee was scheduled to be asked to agree the Scheme Investment Adviser’s (SIA) recommendation to appoint the London CIV² Global Equity Value Fund. The SIA's recommendation is set out in the summary report included in appendix 3 of the main report. It provides information on Wellington Management Company³ investment process, performance and why they were chosen. This new fund was to be funded by a reduction in the allocation to the LCIV Global Focus Fund and the LGIM Paris Aligned Global passive equity fund.

Business Plan Update

This report was scheduled to provide an update to members on the Newham Pension Fund's 2024/25 business plan and the progress that has been made since the last meeting held on 24th July 2024.

A key topic scheduled to be covered in the report was the government's Pensions Investment Review, which was launched in August 2024. The Chancellor requested input from stakeholders on how to boost investment, increase pension pots, and tackle waste in the pensions system. The committee was scheduled to consider the Fund's response to this request. The response was to be prepared following meetings with the LCIV and input from the Society of London Treasurers⁴ (SLT) as well as the Scheme Investment Adviser (SIA).

The Committee was also scheduled to receive an update on the LCIV. The update was to include a report on the activity of the Fund and changes to sub-fund launches, along with a staffing update. The report notes that:

The LCIV Annual Conference was held on 4/5 September and was attended by the Chair of the PC and officers.

The meeting was also scheduled to be asked to agree the Draft Pension Fund Annual Report 2024-25. This report includes the Pension Fund Accounts 2024-25, which also form part of the Council’s Statement of Accounts 2024-25.

Pensions Administration Update

This report was scheduled to provide an update to members on the administration of the Newham Pension Fund. It was to include:

• An update on the McCloud remedy
• An update on the Exit Cap
• An update on the Pensions Dashboard
• Performance data from LPPA
• An update on The Pensions Regulator's new Code of Practice
• An update from the Newham Pension Board
• Membership Data
• A report on the cessation of Mitie Ltd⁵ as an employer of the Pension Fund.

The report states that:

The Pensions Regulator had released its long awaited single code of practice on the governance of pension schemes which was laid out before Parliament on 10th January 2024. It merged all 10 of the previous codes into one set of guidance for governance and administration of a pension scheme and came into effect in March.

The Committee was scheduled to be asked to note the administration updates and the Performance data from LPPA.

Strategic Development Committee - Tuesday 15 October 2024

This meeting of Newham Council's Strategic Development Committee included applications to determine planning permission at four sites in the borough, and considered the minutes of two previous meetings.

Land at Former EMR Site, Bidder Street, Canning Town

The most significant item on the agenda was an application for planning permission by IXDS Limited to build a data centre at the Land at Former EMR Site, Bidder Street, Canning Town. This is a 1.98 hectare site that was previously occupied by European Metal Recycling, but is currently vacant. The proposed data centre would be 72.3 metres tall, and would include ancillary office space, a plant building and an energy centre. It was recommended for approval subject to a Section 106 agreement to secure a number of benefits for the local community.

The former EMR site is on land designated by Newham Council as a Strategic Industrial Location¹ and a Strategic Site. Newham Council's policies on Strategic Industrial Locations² seek to protect them from development that could take place elsewhere, particularly where this would involve the loss of existing industrial floorspace. The council requires that any loss of industrial floorspace from Strategic Industrial Locations must be compensated for by equivalent or better provision elsewhere, and must lead to a net increase in jobs.

Because the application would lead to the loss of waste management capacity, it had been opposed by the Environment Agency, but the applicant had subsequently agreed to relocate the existing waste management facility to 6 Factory Road, so the Environment Agency withdrew its objection. The Greater London Authority had also identified a number of concerns about the proposal, particularly the height of the data centre, which is significantly taller than envisaged in the Local Plan. These concerns were to be addressed through a Section 106 agreement.

The Section 106 agreement would secure a number of benefits for the local community. These include £4.08 million for a Data Economy Programme designed to improve the skills of Newham residents and help them get better jobs, £1.625 million for a Digital Connectivity Strategy, and a commitment to provide 35% of construction jobs and 50% of end-user jobs to Newham residents. The Section 106 agreement would also secure a financial contribution of £520,000 towards the Canning Town Station Improvements, £1 million towards the delivery of the Mayer Parry Bridge, and £200,000 towards the provision of pedestrian routes. The applicant also agreed to enter into a ‘Car Free’ agreement to prevent employees parking in the Canning Town Controlled Parking Zone.

The proposed data centre would be built to BREEAM Excellent standards, and would include a district heating plant that would utilise waste heat from the operation of the data centre. A connection to this network would be offered to the neighbouring residential development at the Crown Wharf site (a Barratt Development) and potentially a further 13 large scale heat pump energy centres with thermal storage, and 4.5km of low temperature heat network pipework, to provide heat to supply 13 mixed-use developments in Newham and Tower Hamlets. The applicant would be required to work with future and potential District Heating Network operators to secure the delivery of this heat network.

Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 15 October 2024

This meeting of the Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to review several reports and consider how they relate to the safety and security of the people of Newham. This included looking at the performance of its Community Safety Partnership and scrutinising the effectiveness of policing in the borough, as well as proposals for the adoption of a new model to better coordinate community safety enforcement. The meeting was also scheduled to consider the adoption of a new Youth Safety Strategy.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 18 October 2024

A single item was included in the Officer Key Decision meeting of Newham Council on 18 October 2024. This concerned the procurement of water, wastewater and ancillary services for the council.

LBN Water, Wastewater and Ancillary Services Procurement 2024 - 2025

A report included in the meeting pack for the 18 October 2024 Newham Council Officer Key Decision meeting, requested approval from the decision-maker for the Director of Resources to approve the reprocurement of water, wastewater, and ancillary services for the London Borough of Newham² through Wave, the current supplier.

The report states that the existing contract with Wave is due to expire and the new contract would last for 12 months.

The report says that the procurement would be made through YPO, a publicly owned organisation that provides procurement services. It says that Wave are the sole supplier on the YPO Water Framework, meaning that the council would not undertake a competitive tendering process.

The report recommends that:

It is recommended that the decision-maker approves the reprocurement of water, wastewater, and ancillary services through Wave under the YPO framework. This approach guarantees a seamless continuation of services, ensures compliance with procurement regulations, and maximizes value for the council.

The report says that using Wave through this framework would provide Continuity of Service, Cost Efficiency, Compliance and Risk Management and Time Savings.

The report goes on to list the advantages of procuring the services from Wave through YPO. It says that this would deliver:

Time and Cost Efficiency: Access to a UK Compliant Framework simplifies procurement, saving significant time and money by avoiding lengthy tendering processes. Immediate benefits include competitive Framework rates for water and wastewater services and savings of over £19,701 compared to default rates.

The report says that no alternative options were considered, because the council is obliged to use a direct award framework. It says that the framework has already been awarded to Wave, who were the incumbent supplier.

The report states that:

This direct award through the framework is therefore the most efficient and effective option for the council.

The reports says that there are no equalities implications as a result of the proposed decision, because:

The reprocurement of water, wastewater, and ancillary services through the YPO framework is a routine utilities contract and is expected to have little to no impact on equalities.

This week in Newham:

• The Newham Pensions Board met to discuss the administration of the Newham Pension Fund, including the presentation of an internal control assurance report, an update on legislation, and a performance update.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee met to consider an application from the owner of NKS Food Centre in East Ham to extend his alcohol licensing hours and to amend two conditions on his license.

Newham Pensions Board - Tuesday 08 October 2024

This meeting was about the administration of the Newham Pension Fund. The Newham Pension Fund is a large fund that is responsible for paying the pensions of thousands of current and former council employees. The board that oversees the fund is made up of councillors, officers, and representatives of the scheme's members. The board is responsible for making sure that the fund is well-managed and that it is able to meet its obligations to its members.

The board received a presentation from Janet Morville-Smith, Head of Risk & Compliance at the Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA). The LPPA is responsible for administering the Newham Pension Fund on behalf of the council. Ms Morville-Smith's presentation was based on the LPPA's Annual Internal Control Assurance Report. Internal controls are the processes and procedures that are put in place by an organisation to help ensure that it is achieving its objectives and that it is managing its risks effectively. The LPPA's Annual Internal Control Assurance Report provides an overview of the organisation's internal controls and how they are working. The report is designed to provide assurance to the Newham Pension Board that the LPPA is managing the fund effectively.

The board also received a number of other reports, including a report on pensions administration and legislation, and a performance update from the LPPA. The report on pensions administration and legislation provided an update on the latest legislative changes that are impacting the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).¹

The report covered a number of important legislative changes, including the new Pensions Regulator's Code of Practice, the government's response to the McCloud Judgement, and the latest developments on the Pensions Dashboard. The board was also asked to consider a draft communications policy for the Newham Pension Fund. The policy sets out how the council intends to communicate with the scheme's members and employers. It was accompanied by employer and member communications schedules, which set out what information the council intends to communicate to these stakeholders on a monthly basis over a three-year period.

The performance update from the LPPA reviewed the organisation's performance against a number of key metrics, including casework performance, contact centre performance, customer satisfaction scores, and data quality. The update also included a summary of the latest monthly performance figures. The report noted that activity levels are expected to remain high due to the implementation of the McCloud remedy, the embedding of monthly returns from employers, and the production of annual benefit statements.

The board also received an update on the Pension Board Action Log. The Action Log is a document that tracks the progress of all the actions that have been agreed at previous meetings of the board. The log is used to ensure that actions are followed up and that the board is making progress on its objectives.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Monday 07 October 2024

The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee heard an application from Mr Dushanthan Mahendran, the licence holder of NKS Food Centre, to extend the hours his shop at 185 Altmore Avenue, East Ham, can sell alcohol on Fridays, Saturdays and Bank Holidays to 2am. The Sub-Committee also considered a request from Mr Mahendran to amend two existing conditions on his license.

The committee heard representations from Newham Council's Licensing Enforcement Team, the Commercial Environmental Health Team and from a solicitor representing two local residents.

The Licensing Enforcement Team and Commercial Environmental Health Team both objected to the application, raising concerns about the potential for the extension of licensing hours to lead to an increase in street drinking, noise and anti-social behaviour in the area.

The resident's solicitor also objected to the application, and argued that the conditions Mr Mahendran was seeking to amend were not being adhered to. He also told the Sub-Committee that, during the consultation period for a minor variation application submitted by NKS Food Centre in July 2024, his clients and other people living nearby had been intimidated by a group of men who had gone door-knocking in the area and had threatened residents who had objected to the application.

The applicant's legal representative, Mr Fender, disputed some of the claims made by the objectors. He said that his client had a good track record of operating the shop responsibly and that there had been no problems since the shop's alcohol licensing hours had been extended to 1am in April 2024. He argued that Mr Mahendran was merely seeking to level the playing field with the shop at 101 Burgess Road, which is already allowed to sell alcohol until 2am.

The Sub-Committee ultimately decided to grant Mr Mahendran's application to extend his alcohol licensing hours, but rejected his application to amend the two conditions on his license. They also imposed two new conditions on his license: that a personal licence holder must be present during all of the shop's licensed hours, and that the shop must mark bottles and cans in a way that meets the approval of the council's Licensing Team.

This decision highlights the difficult balancing act that licensing committees often have to perform when considering applications for new or amended licenses. They have to weigh the interests of the licensee against the concerns of residents and other responsible authorities. In this case, the Sub-Committee decided that the extension of licensing hours was acceptable, but that the other amendments requested by the applicant were not. They also imposed two new conditions on the license in an attempt to mitigate the risk of the extended hours leading to an increase in street drinking and anti-social behaviour.

Last week in Newham:

• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed the Council's transformation programme and climate change action plan, including the potential for double-counting savings from different initiatives.
• The Audit Committee meeting was cancelled.
• The Cabinet approved a new framework for HIV prevention and support services, the procurement of a new contract for highways services, and the adoption of a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 01 October 2024

This meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee began with the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting and the noting of the committee’s work programme for the year ahead. A new member, Savio Kamali, was appointed to the committee. Councillor Hudson was also appointed Deputy Chair of the Children and Young People's Scrutiny Committee.

The committee then moved on to consider three reports: the Council’s draft asset management strategy, the Council’s transformation programme, and the Council’s climate emergency action plan.

Asset Management Strategy

The committee considered a draft asset management strategy. This is a document that sets out how the council will manage its assets, such as land, buildings, and infrastructure, over the long term. It is a key document for any council, as it helps to ensure that the council is making the best use of its resources, and that it is planning for the future.

The committee raised a number of concerns about the strategy, including that the paper had not been signed off by officers. This is unusual, as scrutiny committees normally only consider reports that have been formally approved by the council's executive.

The Monitoring Officer, Conrad Hall, explained that this was a draft strategy, and that the committee was being given an opportunity to input into it before it was finalised. He said that it was normal to discuss draft policies like this in private, to enable a full and frank exchange of views.

Councillor Blackmini Shah, who is also Chair of the Education, Children and Young People's Services scrutiny committee, remained concerned that the committee had not been told in advance of the meeting that the paper was a draft.

The Chief Executive, Zulfi Shah, explained that the covering note that accompanied the paper had made it clear that it was a draft. He said that the strategy had been shared with the committee in the spirit of sharing information as early as possible.

This discussion highlights the importance of transparency in local government. Scrutiny committees play a vital role in holding the council's executive to account. It is therefore essential that they have access to all of the information that they need to do their job effectively. In this case, it appears that the committee was not given all of the information that it needed in advance of the meeting, which led to some confusion and frustration.

The committee agreed to treat the strategy as pre-decision scrutiny. Pre-decision scrutiny is a process that allows scrutiny committees to review and comment on proposals before they are formally approved by the council's executive. This is an important part of the council's decision-making process, as it allows scrutiny committees to provide input and challenge proposals before they are finalised.

The committee requested an assurance that their recommendations would be seriously considered. The Chief Executive gave the committee that assurance.

Organisational Transformation

The committee then discussed a report on the Council's transformation programme, “Transforming Newham for the Future”. This programme was approved by the Cabinet on 6 August 2024, and sets out a series of initiatives that are intended to improve the council's efficiency and effectiveness. These include initiatives to improve the council's use of technology, to streamline its processes, and to improve its customer service.

Councillor Rita Chakrabati, who is also a member of the Health and Adult Social Care scrutiny committee, expressed concern about the challenging financial context in which the transformation programme was being implemented. She also expressed concern about the risk that the programme would result in services becoming “too digital”, despite evidence that many residents did not want to interact with the Council digitally.

James Paskins, Assistant Chief Executive (Organisational Transformation), explained that the transformation programme would take a multi-channel approach and would not be wholly reliant on digital. He acknowledged that there were significant challenges with the Council’s legacy IT systems, which he attributed to long-standing and pretty significant historic decisions made as part of the sharing of technology services in OneSource. OneSource was a shared IT service that was set up by Newham and Havering Councils in 2004. As we saw in the email for 30 August 2024, Newham Council is in the process of splitting from OneSource.

Councillor Chakrabati then went on to raise concerns about the council’s complaints service. As we have seen in previous emails, resident dissatisfaction with council services, particularly with regards to repairs, is a recurring theme. Councillor Chakrabati said that, based on her experience of casework, the complaints service had not improved, despite public statements to the contrary.

Councillor Chakrabati requested that members be given a greater role in scrutinising the transformation programme, and asked for an update on plans to consolidate portfolios, which had been identified as an area for improvement in the LGA Peer Challenge that took place in November 2023.

Mr Paskins explained that the Chief Executive was leading a review of the Council's organisational structure, including how portfolios should be configured. He said that he anticipated that an update would be provided by the end of the year.

Councillor Terry Paul, who is Chair of the Crime, Environment and Regeneration and Transport scrutiny committee, expressed concern that the programme did not seem to have sufficient urgency, particularly in light of the Council’s medium term financial strategy, which was forecasting significant cuts in the coming years. This strategy was discussed at the Cabinet meeting on 6 August 2024 and forecasts a budget shortfall of £175 million over the next three years. Councillor Paul questioned whether the programme could realistically be expected to deliver the savings required to close the Council’s budget gap, and suggested that the programme should be rewritten in light of the true scale of the financial challenge facing the Council.

Mayor Fiaz disagreed, saying that the transformation programme was key to the Council’s response to the financial challenges it faced.

Mr Hall agreed, saying that no transformation programme could realistically be expected to find efficiencies of £175 million. He acknowledged that there was a risk that savings from different programmes, such as the transformation programme and the medium term financial strategy, could be double-counted. He said that the Council was alert to that risk and would manage it.

Councillor Winston Vaughan then asked for an update on plans to delegate responsibilities, an issue that had been discussed at the committee's previous meeting.

The Mayor and Mr Paskins confirmed that the review of portfolio scopes was ongoing, and that an update would be provided to the LGA Peer Challenge Team by the end of October, in line with the action plan that had been agreed with the LGA.

Councillor Blackmini Shah asked whether Mr Paskins had heard anything from the scrutiny benches that had made him think the Council should change its approach to the transformation programme.

Mr Paskins said that he had been struck by Councillor Paul’s comments about the need for the Council to find “simple solutions to what are often simple problems”, citing the example of the council’s homelessness applications process as an area where efficiencies could be made.

Mr Hall then challenged Councillor Paul’s earlier assertion that the Council should not assume that residents would be able to get help from family members to access online services. Councillor Paul had made this point in response to concerns raised by Councillor Chakrabati about the increasing digitisation of council services.

Councillor Blackmini Shah replied, saying that the Council needed to adopt a “human-centred design” approach to service delivery, rather than simply relying on co-production.

Cabinet - Tuesday 01 October 2024

This meeting of the Cabinet considered six reports, and approved each of them:

• Annual Complaints Report 2023/24
• Refurbishment of 46 Clover Road
• Purchase of 63 Residential Units in Barking and Dagenham
• HIV Prevention and Support Services - Permission to Establish a Framework
• Highways Contracts
• Local Flood Risk Management Strategy - Adoption

Annual Complaints Report 2023/24

The Cabinet received a report on the Council’s complaints performance in 2023/24. As we have seen in previous emails, scrutiny committees have repeatedly raised concerns about the performance of the council’s complaints service, and this issue was also raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on Tuesday 1 October 2024.

The report highlighted that the number of complaints upheld had fallen to 8% below the London average. This suggests that the council is making progress in improving its complaints handling. However, as we have seen in previous emails, the council still faces significant challenges in this area.

The report noted an increase in complaints about waste collection, which Councillor Aled Richards, Cabinet Member for Climate and Sustainability, attributed to teething problems arising from service changes. Councillor Richards said that he was confident that the number of complaints would fall in future.

The report also noted an increase in complaints about housing services, which was attributed to the Housing Ombudsman becoming more active in advocating for residents.

Councillor Zafiq Ali, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, asked for future reports to examine the relationship between service requests and complaints. This is a sensible request, as it will help the council to understand the link between poor service delivery and complaints.

In response, it was agreed that future reports and updates on the Council's transformation programme would demonstrate the impact of service improvements on overall demand.

Refurbishment of 46 Clover Road

The Cabinet approved the refurbishment of 46 Clover Road in Custom House to provide supported accommodation for young people leaving care. The refurbishment will see the building, formerly used as office space, converted into six self-contained flats.

This decision follows on from a pattern that we have seen in previous emails, in which the council seeks to reduce its reliance on expensive forms of temporary accommodation by acquiring and refurbishing its own properties. This approach has the potential to deliver significant savings for the council, as well as improving the quality of accommodation for residents.

Purchase of 63 Residential Units in Barking and Dagenham

The Cabinet also approved the purchase of 63 residential units in Barking and Dagenham to provide accommodation for care leavers. This decision is similar to the previous one, and is another example of the council's strategy to reduce its reliance on temporary accommodation.

HIV Prevention and Support Services Framework

The Cabinet agreed to establish a framework for HIV prevention and support services. This framework will be accessible to all local authorities, integrated care partnerships, integrated care boards, integrated care systems, and NHS Trusts across London. The framework will run for a maximum of eight years.

The report highlighted the importance of HIV prevention and support services, noting that the complexity of support needs for HIV is increasing as people living with HIV become older, poorer and develop other co-morbidities.

This is a significant decision, as it will allow the council to secure income from other local authorities to cover the cost of providing these services. It also has the potential to generate additional income for the council, as it could be used to provide other public health services in the future.

Highways Services Contract

The Cabinet also approved the procurement of a new contract for highways services. This contract will cover the design, maintenance, and improvement of Newham’s roads, pavements, and structures. It will be awarded for a period of six years.

The report highlighted the importance of highways services, noting that the roads and pavements are important to everyone in Newham, and they help us deliver sustainable transport objectives.

Councillor Rohit Das highlighted the need for the contract to deliver social value, asking for the procurement process to create opportunities for young people in Newham to access apprenticeships and training opportunities in the highways sector.

This echoes comments made by Mayor Fiaz at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 1 October 2024. The Mayor stated her concern that the council was not doing enough to create opportunities for young people in the borough.

Local Flood Risk Management Strategy

Finally, the Cabinet agreed to adopt a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS). This strategy sets out how the council will manage the risk of flooding in Newham.

The Cabinet heard that the strategy had been developed in consultation with residents and businesses. Councillor John Whitworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Development, Air Quality and Climate Emergency, highlighted that the LFRMS would support the Council’s commitment to resilience and sustainability in the face of climate change, as set out in the Council’s Just Transition.pdf) action plan. This plan was discussed at the Council meeting on 13 December 2023.

The adoption of the LFRMS is a statutory requirement for all local authorities. This means that the council is legally obliged to have a strategy in place. The strategy will help the council to reduce the risk of flooding, and to respond to flooding incidents if they do occur.

This week in Newham:

• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed the Council's transformation programme, including plans to consolidate portfolios and the impact of digitisation on resident experience.
• The Cabinet agreed to note the Council's Annual Complaints Report for 2023/24, approved the refurbishment of 46 Clover Road to provide accommodation for young people leaving care, approved the purchase of 63 residential units in Barking and Dagenham to provide accommodation for people leaving care, approved a new framework for HIV prevention and support services, approved the procurement of a new contract for highways services, and approved the adoption of a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.
• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee was scheduled to review the premises licence for Kay Viva in Stratford following complaints from local residents about noise and antisocial behaviour.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 01 October 2024

This meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee began by agreeing the minutes of their last meeting and noting the work programme for the year ahead. A new member, Savio Kamali, was appointed to the committee and Councillor Hudson was appointed Deputy Chair of the Children and Young People's Scrutiny Committee. The committee discussed a draft asset management strategy and a report on the Council's transformation programme. The meeting concluded with a discussion of the Council's climate emergency action plan.

Asset Management Strategy

The committee considered a draft asset management strategy.
Councillor Blackmini Shah expressed concern that the paper had not been signed off by officers and questioned how members could be sure that the contents of the paper were correct.

I always thought that papers given to scrutiny are always signed up by officers. I've never known a paper being given to us as draft because if it is draft how do we know it's correct?

The Monitoring Officer, Conrad Hall, explained that it was normal to discuss draft policies like the asset management strategy in private and that the committee was being given the opportunity to input into the strategy before it was finalised.

It's not been signed off by the council through the ordinary processes, so it's part of the regular liaison with scrutiny in order to discuss proposals at a formative stage in order to ensure that the final version is as good as it can be. But it's draft because it's not been signed off - for example it's not been to cabinet for approval. Not completely convinced it necessarily would need to go to cabinet for approval but it's not been through a formal sign off process at the council and therefore it would be normal to discuss draft policies like that in private to enable a full and frank exchange of views at that last stage.

Councillor Shah remained concerned that the committee had not been told in advance of the meeting that the paper was a draft.

If someone had come to us and said 'we're going to give you this paper under the guise of pre-decision scrutiny' then I would have understood that, that it's a pre-decision and it's not, it's supposed to be on green paper, et cetera. We were not, and when I read this paper, I read it in our good faith and I looked at the content and I'm thinking to myself 'what is there that warrants it being on green paper?' Now you're saying that it's draft, why wasn't that communicated to us before?

The Chief Executive, Zulfi Shah, explained that the covering note for the paper had made clear that it was a draft strategy for confidential use and that it had been shared with the committee in the spirit of sharing information as early as possible.
The committee agreed to treat the paper as pre-decision scrutiny and asked for an assurance that their recommendations would be seriously considered. The committee was given that assurance.

Organisational Transformation

The committee discussed a report on the Council's transformation programme.
Councillor Rita Chakrabati expressed concern about the Council's ability to fund the required improvements to IT, given the challenging financial context, and also about the risk that the programme would result in services becoming too digital, despite evidence that many residents did not want to interact with the Council digitally.

The technology we put in when we had money was poor and we're admitting it in this paper. My worry is, if we're going to a system which, as far as I can see reading between the lines and discussions in previous meetings, is more technology and more digital, have we actually got the money to do it properly? I can see that you're proposing that hopefully through this we'll save £30 million, but how do we know that this technology is going to be sufficient and that it isn't going to sort of damage relationships with our residents further, given that a large part of their complaints come down to technology not working when they want to report issues?

The Assistant Chief Executive (Organisational Transformation), James Paskins, acknowledged the challenges with the Council's legacy IT systems.

There are significant legacy challenges around our technology estate, linked to some long-standing and pretty significant historic decisions made as part of the sharing of technology services in OneSource, which remains with kind of good intentions at the time, particularly around efficiency and sharing of back office services at a time when that was quite a popular method of reducing costs to those services, which over a pretty substantial period of time has left us with what it's called a significant technology deficit gap. Now that's a lot of technology at place at work, but in essence what it leaves us with is a number of systems that are either end of life, currently on premises, and that's quite an old-fashioned way of maintaining services, but lots of modern public sector organisations have moved those services to cloud, ultimately leaving us to a position where it's very costly to upgrade and update systems in order to deliver the benefits we know they can, particularly around things like automation, automation of access to residents into services automation, the way staff work, there's a lot of manual processing in the council that a lot of the activity analysis highlighted.

Mr Paskins explained that the Council would be taking a multi-channel approach and would not be wholly reliant on digital as a solution to resident contact.

We're not looking at digital as the only solution to all resident contacts and you'll see in the program of overall architecture a significant amount of energy and effort is going to go into improving our telephony offer, particularly around looking at accessing the best, again, technology as a solution in telephony, so how can we use best-in-task technology to improve skills allocation in the call centre, how can we integrate all of the call - the many call centres like this and accountants who are robust and integrated after that is professionalised and accessible to all residents. We're looking at a multi-channel approach, just kind of key thing of what to do with as part of a bit of a reassurance around that important risk around relying to having digital as the only solution to resident fee, and then finally we'll continue to use mechanisms like the resident survey and our other resident engagement pathways and processes to check in with residents on how that's going, and resident-led design of a lot of our solutions will be a key part of our approach as well, so ensuring residents have a raw voice in the program is a key element as well.

Councillor Chakrabati went on to say that, based on her experience of case work, the Council's complaints service had not improved, despite statements made publicly by the Council to the contrary. She requested that members be given a greater role in scrutinising the transformation programme.

It's the residents who come and shatter us and the mayor when things don't go right, and it was quite surprising to find that we'd actually stated publicly on LinkedIn that we had actually made great improvements to our complaints service and actually I'm being perfectly honest that's not how it feels on the ground, so in order for us not to keep coming across those hiccups I think a small stake, doesn't have to be big, but something about member checking on this would be really helpful going forward.

The Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, undertook to provide more information about member engagement in the transformation programme.
Councillor Chakrabati also asked for an update on portfolio consolidation, which had been identified as an area for improvement by the LGA Peer Challenge.

And our final point, page 87, talks about portfolio consolidations. Where are we with that? Because the LGA peer review also gave us a deadline as well, didn't it? How we get when we're back?

Mr Paskins explained that the Chief Executive was leading on a review of the Council's organisational structure and how portfolios should be configured. He anticipated that an update would be provided by the end of the year.
Councillor Terry Paul expressed concern that there did not seem to be sufficient urgency in the programme.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of pace. There doesn't seem to be a lot of urgency. If you're transforming, you transform. If you're talking about transforming, you're thinking about you're only going to get 80% savings. Are we going to pay people 80% of their fee because it ain't working?

Mr Hall explained that it was sensible to budget cautiously and that budgeting for only 80% of the planned savings did not mean that the Council was not seeking to deliver 100% of those savings.

I think it is sensible to budget only if you expect to deliver, that's how you leave some contingency in your budget, it doesn't mean that we're trying to deliver 80% of it, I'd like to deliver 110% in plan savings. I think it is sensible to leave some contingency against non delivery - in other words to sort of work ambitiously but budget cautiously.

Councillor Paul went on to say that the Council's transformation plans needed to be aligned with the Council's medium term financial strategy, which was forecasting significant cuts in the coming years, and questioned whether the programme could realistically be expected to deliver the savings required to close the Council's budget gap. He suggested that the programme should be rewritten in light of the true scale of the financial challenge facing the Council.

The cabinet did this report on the 6th of August I think, so obviously it passed it on historical information, since that cabinet report which is talking about a £39 million transformation, today at this speed looking forward facing, we have an additional 136 million have to cut the revenue by 40%, so in actual fact the real transformation is four times the size of the program, would it not be fair, and perhaps it might be a question to bear, to perhaps pause what was passed in the cabinet and rewrite this transformation program in line with the real challenge and transformation facing the organisation

Mayor Fiaz disagreed with Councillor Paul's suggestion that the Council was tackling multiple challenges in a way that was disjointed. She said that the transformation programme was key to the Council’s response to the financial challenges it faced.

This transformation plan in the eight full phases that will come are inherent to the way in which we're going to deal with a significant financial challenge but some of that significant financial challenge is a consequence of a dynamic at play which no council will be able to deal with, no matter what type of structure or organisation mode it enters into.

Mr Hall agreed, saying that no transformation programme could realistically be expected to find efficiencies of £175 million.

I don't believe that there is a transformation program that can somehow identify savings of £175 million entirely through efficiencies. No organisation would be able to find efficiencies of that scale.

He accepted that there was a risk that savings from different programmes could be double-counted. He said that the Council was alert to that risk and would manage it.
Councillor Winston Vaughan asked for an update on the delegation of responsibilities, which had been discussed at the committee's previous meeting.

However, I just wanted to understand, are we on track to do what it is that we said we were going to do, because what I'm reading in various different documents doesn't correspond to what I'm hearing.

The Mayor and Mr Paskins confirmed that the review of portfolio scopes was a work in progress and that an update would be provided to the LGA Peer Challenge Team by the end of October, in line with the action plan that had been agreed with the LGA. The Mayor added that the Chief Executive was leading on a separate piece of work to review the structure of the corporate leadership team. She anticipated that this work would be complete by the end of the year.

Councillor Blackmini Shah asked whether Mr Paskins had heard anything from the scrutiny benches that had made him think the Council should change its approach. Mr Paskins agreed that the committee had raised some valuable challenges to the transformation programme, particularly in relation to the speed of transformation and the scale of the savings required. He welcomed the scrutiny that the committee was providing and said that he would be seeking further input from members about the development of future phases of the programme.
He said that he had also been struck by Councillor Paul’s comments about the need for the Council to find simple solutions to what are often simple problems.

One of the key things we've discovered early on in the resident experience programme is it's our homelessness applications process, it's very proactive, but it's a good, it's a useful kind of symbol of the sorts of changes we can make very simply that deliver significant efficiency, because currently, given the current process classes, a resident fills in a form, that form turns into a 10-page, that form is online by the way, but that form turns into a 10-page PDF, that PDF is then emailed to the HPAS team, and, you know, this is a genuine reality of the current process. A member of SARC in that team manually copies the information on that PDF form onto a back office system. There is a very simple, not complex, not AI, not chatbot related answer to that problem, and that is a simple basic service improvement, process improvement opportunity that the programme is actively tailored.

Mr Hall intervened to challenge Councillor Paul’s earlier comment that the Council should not assume that residents would be able to get help from family members to access online services.

We all have relatives who are elderly and would struggle with online forms. We design our systems to allow them, you know, face-to-face or telephone contact. You will not save as much money. Most, not all, most of that generation of people have, as has been said, you know, sons and daughters and nieces and nephews and grandchildren who can help with that, and we can make systems online as simple as possible. I just offer it as a challenge back. I acknowledge the point. You don't want to set up a system that people can't access, but equally, if you start from a design principle about we must make sure that they have as much access as they can at the moment, you are adding costs in of people to answer phones and run manual processes and so on. So, I just offer that as a challenge back when it was made.

Councillor Blackmini Shah replied that Mr Hall’s comments illustrated the tension inherent in trying to deliver services that work for all residents. She said that co-production was no longer enough and that the Council needed to adopt a human-centred design approach.

Just on that point, I think on board your point, but this era of co-production is gone. Everyone's now talking about human-centered design and human-centered design has got to include all aspects of our community and the law of unintended consequences.

Climate Emergency Action Plan

John Whitworth, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and Sustainability, introduced a report on the Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.pdf). He said that climate change posed a very real threat to the borough and that the Action Plan set out the steps that the Council would take to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

This activity is absolutely crucial to the borough, because nobody doubts that climate change exists and that climate change will degrade the environment and living conditions, and this plan is designed to carry out measures that will counteract this harm and actually mitigate the damage that it's caused and enable people to live a decent life, so this expenditure, the work of this team is absolutely essential for the future well-being, I think, of this borough.

Councillor Chakrabati asked whether it was correct that the activities set out in the Action Plan would be self-financing.
Jacob Hytland, the Council’s Director of Climate Action, confirmed that that was the case. He said that the Climate Action Team was funded by a mixture of core Council funding and external grants and that the team was raising significantly more money than it was costing the Council.

So essentially, yes, I mean, there is some core funding that's coming from the council to fund my role and a couple other team members' roles, the majority that you can see on the kind of organogram a lot of that's from our, our only core costs at the moment are some resourcing and a small bit of budget to actually do some work, but the vast majority of that funding is coming from external sources from a GLA, national government level but we're raising sort of, you know, ten times more than we cost.

Councillor Chakrabati said that she understood that Newham’s Climate Emergency Action Plan was unusual in that it took a ‘just transition’ approach. She asked Mr Hytland to explain what the risks to the Council were in taking this unusual approach and to explain how the Council would improve the carbon rating of its website, which was currently an F.

On page 7 you say that this is quite unusual, or quite a, that this is an unusual plan, it's not norm is what's implied in this, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but with that, does there come some risks that we should be considering as a committee? What are we doing that's so unusual to other boroughs that may link to a risk adventure? And then my final point is how does this relate to our website? Because our website has a carbon rating of F. Sorry, the website? The council's website has a carbon rating of F.

Mr Hytland said that the Council’s approach was unusual but that this should be seen as positive and that other councils were likely to follow Newham’s lead in taking a just transition approach to tackling climate change. He explained that many climate action plans focused solely on reducing carbon emissions but that Newham’s plan went further, looking at how to build resilience to the effects of climate change that were already happening and how to make sure that nobody was left behind in the transition to a net zero economy.

So I think where we took inspiration from and where the term just transition comes from is actually a workers union movement which is saying that if we're going to transition to a net zero economy, which is a fundamental shift of how we organise our lives on this planet, it cannot go through what I think the most recent example of an unjust transition would be coming off of an industrial and coal mining type economy in the late 70s and 80s, where whole towns are sort of left to fend for themselves after one big factory shuts down.

Councillor Chakrabati pressed Mr Hytland to be more specific about the risks associated with taking a just transition approach.

Sorry, I didn't actually answer that.

Mr Hytland replied that he believed that the Council was mitigating risk by taking this approach. He said that the Council recognised that climate change was already happening and that it was therefore necessary to focus on building resilience to the effects of climate change, such as flooding and extreme heat.

Sorry, just to come back to the risk question, I actually would say that we've done this plan in preparations for those risks, and actually what I'm seeing across, at a London level, at a national level, international level, is the swing from, away from actually what we call mitigation, so decarbonisation, getting rid of emissions, to resilience and adaptation, so the kind of, ‘it's happening, what do we do now?’ type thing, and I think we're well placed to be working on both of these, but I do believe that we're actually ahead of the game in terms of bringing resilience really core into that conversation, because if we were just sat over here talking about decarbonisation, we'd missed this complete bit and I think that would be putting our residents at risk.

Mayor Fiaz added that the work of the Climate Action Team was a great example of what the Council could achieve if it had the right culture across the organisation.

I wanted to say that the value that this team has brought in is a demonstration of the potential that this organisation can get to if we have the right culture across the officer corps in enabling us to drive in more income, to help offset revenue pressures in ways that we've been spending revenue on certain items in the past and to date, and that's one active area that we're looking at.

Councillor Susan Masters asked Mr Hytland to explain how the Council was funding the employment of students from UCL and UEL and how the Council would fund the decarbonisation of its buildings, given that the necessary works were likely to require significant capital investment. She also asked how the Council was educating its residents about the climate emergency and how they could help the Council to achieve its net zero targets.

So, I think in your team, you're having young people from UCL and UEL working, is that from the apprenticeship levy, are they going to be paid, or is it not very simple to be from? And it also says here that there's some strategic studies happening at all maintained schools, 15 keeps for corporate buildings, EV trade strategies, Bridge Road and books and road premises, giving studies, and when the studies are completed we need capital for decarbonising, whereas I haven't got it already, and if we don't find the funding, how are we going to achieve our net zero targets? And the final one is how are we educating our residents to achieve the goal of net zero?

Mr Hytland explained that the students from UCL and UEL were undertaking mandatory work experience placements with the Council, for which the universities covered their salaries. He said that decarbonising the Council’s buildings was a huge challenge, given the likely cost. He explained that the Council was working on securing grant funding to meet the capital costs of retrofitting its buildings and that, in the meantime, it was using a combination of other funding sources to fund the preparatory work required before applications for grant funding could be submitted.

So, working really closely, as you can imagine, there's a number of departments in both institutions that are looking at climate change overall, and students looking for both work experience as mandatory to their courses as part of masters programs typically, or bachelors programs as well, we've had both, but at the moment we have a master'

This week in Newham:

• The Local Development Committee considered three planning applications, including a controversial proposal for a new House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in Manor Park and the change of use of a Forest Gate pub into a community centre.
• The Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission received reports on the council's performance in providing services to children and young people, the Youth Empowerment Service, and youth justice.
  

Local Development Committee - Monday 23 September 2024

This meeting considered advice from the Head of Legal Services on determining planning applications, and reviewed three planning applications.

Determining Planning Applications

The committee received a report from the Head of Legal Services on the legal issues that the committee should consider when making decisions about planning applications. These included the legal framework for planning, the National Planning Policy Framework, the London Plan, the Newham Local Plan, and the Human Rights Act 1998. The report also set out the committee’s powers and duties when determining planning applications, and the process for making decisions.

As we have seen in previous emails, the Local Development Committee plays a key role in shaping the built environment of the borough. The committee is responsible for making decisions on a wide range of planning applications, including those for new homes, businesses, and infrastructure. The decisions that the committee makes can have a significant impact on the lives of Newham residents, and it is therefore essential that the committee makes its decisions in a fair and transparent way, and that it takes into account all of the relevant legal and policy considerations.

409 High Street North, Manor Park

This application requested permission for the construction of a part-three, part-four storey building comprising a 29 bedroom, 56 person House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) (Sui Generis¹), and a mixed use co-working space and café (Sui Generis) at ground floor level. The site is currently occupied by a vacant two-storey building, which was last used as a restaurant.

The report by council officers included their recommendation to approve the development, subject to the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement. Section 106 agreements are a mechanism by which councils can secure contributions from developers towards the provision of local infrastructure and services.

Hudson Bay, 1-5 Upton Lane, Forest Gate

This application sought permission to change the use of the ground floor and basement level of the building from a public house (sui generis) to a multi-functional community centre (use class F.2²).

This application is notable because the site is located within the Forest Gate Town Centre Conservation area. As we've seen in previous emails, Conservation areas are designated by local authorities to protect areas of special architectural or historic interest. This means that the council has to pay particular attention to the impact of new development on the character of the area when it is considering planning applications.

The council officers' report noted that the applicant has not provided authoritative marketing evidence that demonstrates that there is no realistic prospect of the building being used as a pub in the foreseeable future. This suggests that the council is concerned that the loss of the pub would have a negative impact on the vitality and viability of the town centre. This is a common concern for councils, as pubs often play an important role in the social and economic life of local communities.

The report included the officers' recommendation to approve the development, subject to the completion of a Section 106 legal agreement.

Clapton Football Club, Upton Lane, Forest Gate

This application sought Listed Building Consent to erect a mesh link fence around the perimeter of the football ground, replacing existing fencing.

The report by council officers recommended approval of the application.

Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission - Thursday 26 September 2024

The meeting on 26 September 2024 was the first of the municipal year for the Education, Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission. The committee reviewed the council's performance dashboard on services for children and young people and noted its contents. The committee also noted its work programme for the year. The committee received two reports on services for children and young people, one on the Youth Empowerment Service ([YES]³) and one on youth justice.

Youth Empowerment Service

The committee received a report on the work of [YES]³. The report described the range of services that YES provides, including youth work, sports and arts activities, and support for young people at risk of exploitation. The committee noted the report and asked questions about how the service was being delivered.

The report sets out the work of the Youth Empowerment Service (YES) at a time of increasing demand and significant change for the service.

The committee heard that YES was working in a challenging environment with increasing demand for its services, particularly from young people at risk of exploitation.

The committee also heard about plans to improve the service, including a move to a locality model⁴ with four hubs based on need and demand, the creation of a new digital youth work offer, and the development of a new Youth Empowerment Strategy.

Youth Justice

The committee also received a report on the [Youth Justice Service]²'s new plan for 2024-2025.

This report presents Newham’s Youth Justice Service Plan for 2024-25. The plan sets out how the service will work with children and young people who have offended or are at risk of offending, to prevent them from entering the criminal justice system.

The committee noted the report and asked questions about the service's performance, including its performance in reducing the number of [first-time entrants]¹ to the youth justice system and the over-representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic young people in the criminal justice system.

The committee heard about the service's plans to improve its performance, including plans to develop a new strategy for working with children and young people at risk of exploitation and to work to improve the educational attainment of children and young people in the youth justice system.

This week in Newham:

• The Council debated motions on public toilets, child poverty, London City Airport, and knife crime.
• The Strategic Development Committee meeting was cancelled.
• The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission discussed community wealth building, resident experience of council services, and building safety in the borough.
• The Audit Committee meeting was also cancelled.

Council - Monday 16 September 2024

This week's Council meeting considered a number of motions on topics including public toilets, child poverty, London City Airport, and knife crime. The meeting also heard public questions and announcements from the Mayor.

Public Questions

Three questions were asked by members of the public. The first, submitted anonymously, was about what the council and police can do to support homeless people in Maryland. Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education, Environment and Sustainable Transport replied that she would discuss this issue with police. The second question, from Andrew Baikie, was about whether Councillor Ruiz considered the £630,000 spent on renewing a modal filter¹ on Manor Park Road, between Station Road and Durham Road to be good value for money. Councillor Ruiz confirmed the response she had provided in writing. The third question was about the council's response to a report on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) published by the National Education Union (NEU). This question was asked by Phil Lindsay, Assistant Secretary of the Newham branch of the NEU. Councillor Ruiz responded that this was an ongoing issue that she would continue to discuss with officers from the NEU.

Announcements by the Mayor

The Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, announced that the council's plans to take over planning powers from the London Legacy Development Corporation for the Olympic Park would come into force on 1 December 2024. As we've seen in previous emails, the Mayor has made this one of her key priorities since her election in 2018, and this is a significant milestone in her efforts to bring the Olympic Park under local democratic control. The handover of these powers will give the council greater control over the future development of the Park, and will allow it to ensure that the Park benefits the residents of Newham.

The Mayor also announced that the council would be launching a consultation on its budget, which faces a projected shortfall of £175 million over the next three years. She said that the council had previously been able to balance its budget but could no longer do so due to the high cost of temporary accommodation, and was seeking additional funding from central government to address the shortfall.

Increasing the Quantity and Quality of Public Toilets

Councillor Simon Rush proposed a motion to increase the quantity and quality of public toilets in Newham. This is a topic that has been raised at previous council meetings, and which is of great interest to residents, particularly those with young children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The lack of public toilets in the borough has been a longstanding issue, and is one that has been repeatedly raised with councillors by their constituents.

The motion called for a review of the council's Community Public Toilets Scheme, and for the viability of opening more public toilets in council buildings to be assessed. It also called for the council to introduce minimum design standards for the construction of new public toilets, and to encourage partner agencies to make their toilets accessible to the public. The motion was carried unanimously.

Fight Child Poverty in Newham

Councillor Nate Higgins, Leader of the Green Group, proposed a motion calling on the government to take action to address the high level of child poverty in Newham. This is another issue that has been raised in previous emails, and which is a major concern for residents. Newham has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the UK, and the council has been working for many years to try to address this issue. However, the council's efforts have been hampered by cuts to government funding, and the high cost of living in London.

The Green motion noted that 50% of Newham's children live in poverty, and that the council's Eat for Free scheme, which provides free school meals to primary school children, was now fully funded by the Mayor of London. It called for the council to use the money it had previously allocated to the Eat for Free scheme to extend the scheme to secondary schools, and for the Mayor of Newham to write to the government asking them to end the two-child benefit cap, restore the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, which was introduced during the pandemic, and provide additional funding to local authorities to tackle child poverty.

The motion was opposed by the Labour administration, who argued that extending free school meals to all secondary schools was unaffordable and that funding from the Mayor of London only covered part of the cost of providing free school meals to primary schools, with schools having to meet the shortfall from their own budgets.

Free school meals are not the only way in which we as a council continue to support our children and our families. It is just one of a number of ways. Our Holiday Action Activities Fund provides activities, hot food and food vouchers for all children and young people in receipt of free school meals at every single holiday. We support the Newham Food Alliance, who distributes tons of free food every single week. We administer the Household Support Fund, again supporting our families. We support our Newham Work, our Newham money, both actively working to put more money into the pockets of our residents. We as a council are a London Living Wage employer, and actively campaign for others in Newham to join us.

- Councillor Sarah Ruiz

The motion was put to a recorded vote and was defeated, with 27 Councillors voting against it, 6 voting for it, and 3 abstaining.

London City Airport Planning Appeal

Councillor Ann Easter proposed a motion on the recent government decision to uphold an appeal by London City Airport against the council's rejection of their expansion plans, which will allow the airport to increase its passenger numbers to 9 million. This is a decision that has been met with anger and disappointment by many residents, who are concerned about the impact of the airport's expansion on noise, air pollution, and climate change.

London City Airport is not without its value, but the cost of that is disproportionate for our residents. Already, increased flights leads to additional cars, some waiting around our streets for pickup, and the effect of pollution in the air from them and the aircraft makes our atmosphere more toxic and physically dangerous. But to my mind, it's the noise which is especially damaging towards residents' health and wellbeing. Come and visit, come to my ward, and hear how, with monotonous regularity, the noise of taking off and landing planes banish conversation and all conscious thought for a few seconds, several times an hour.

- Councillor Ann Easter

The motion noted that, while the government had upheld the airport's appeal, they had also ruled that the current 24-hour weekend curfew on flights should remain in place. It called on the council to write to the government to urge them to resist any further attempts by the airport to have the curfew lifted and to lobby the government to reconsider its approach to aviation policy, in light of its commitment to tackling climate change.

The Green Group submitted an amendment to the motion, calling on the council to endorse their ongoing campaign to redevelop London City Airport by closing it and building homes and businesses on the site. As we've seen in previous emails, the Green Party has long been opposed to the airport's expansion, and has argued that the site should be used for more sustainable development.

The amendment was put to the vote and was defeated, with the majority of Labour Councillors voting against it. The original motion was then put to the vote and was carried unanimously.

Cracking Down on Knife Crime

Councillor Louise Godfrey proposed a motion calling on the government to take action to tackle knife crime. This is an issue that has been of great concern to residents in recent years, and which the council has been working to address through a range of initiatives, including youth work, community safety programmes, and working with the police.

The motion noted that the Labour government had recently announced plans to ban the sale of zombie knives and machetes, and that it would soon be announcing a further ban on ninja swords, and launching a review of online knife sales. It also noted that the government had announced a new programme called Young Futures, which would provide support to young people at risk of being drawn into crime.

The motion called on the council to write to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, welcoming the government's plans and inviting her to visit Newham to see the preventative work that the council was already doing to tackle knife crime. It also called on the council to work with the government to implement the Young Futures programme.

The motion was seconded by Councillor James Beckles, and was carried unanimously, without discussion, due to time constraints.

Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 17 September 2024

The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission of Newham Council met on 17 September 2024. The meeting considered reports on Community Wealth Building, resident experience, and building safety. No decisions were made at this meeting.

Community Wealth Building

The committee considered a report on Community Wealth Building, and its relationship to the council's Our Newham Money programme. As we've seen in previous emails, Community Wealth Building is a key priority for the council, and is a central part of its strategy to address poverty and inequality in the borough.

Our Newham Money is a free, confidential and impartial advice service for Newham residents and businesses. The service aims to help residents manage their money, access benefits and grants, and avoid debt. It also provides support to local businesses, including advice on starting a business, accessing finance, and growing a business. The service is funded by the council and delivered by a team of experienced advisors.

The committee questioned officers on the financial sustainability of the Our Newham service, expressing concern about the impact of the expected ending of the Household Support Fund in April 2025. The Household Support Fund is a government fund that provides financial support to local authorities to help them support vulnerable households with the cost of food, energy, and other essentials. The fund has been extended several times, but is due to end in April 2025. The committee is concerned that the ending of the fund will put additional pressure on the council's budget, and will make it more difficult for the council to support vulnerable residents.

If that is withdrawn in September, and it has been extended I think three times now, it would definitely impact on our ability to get back in the first line events support because the council doesn't have the budget available to replace what's seen over the years. We are concerned that it could lead to additional pressures on statutory services because the crisis is then not managed and it escalates into other problems for people.

Officers acknowledged these concerns, but argued that the Our Newham service was successfully moving residents away from a dependence on short-term support:

So over time, the integrated work of the Arnhem Service, including the work of Arnhem Money is also intended to shift people out of that space whereby they are habitually continuously reliant on measures and interventions like household support fund monies, albeit we recognise how far a borough like Newham, given the longstanding features of poverty and inequality we have to go.

Resident Experience

The committee considered a report on Resident Experience of council services. As we have seen in previous emails, the council has been working to improve its resident experience in recent years. The council has introduced a number of initiatives to try to improve the way that it communicates with residents, and to make it easier for residents to access its services. However, the council's efforts have been hampered by a number of factors, including cuts to government funding, the high cost of living in London, and the increasing complexity of the council's services.

The committee heard that the council had set up two housing hubs in Canning Town and Stratford, which are averaging 400 and 200 visits from residents each month respectively. Housing hubs are a key part of the council's strategy to improve resident experience. The hubs provide a single point of contact for residents for a range of housing-related services, including repairs, rent payments, and housing advice.

Members of the committee expressed concern about the low levels of resident satisfaction with council services, particularly with regards to repairs, where just 11% of residents were satisfied with the service:

I mean, resident satisfaction, 27%. Please hold a satisfaction of 11%.

The committee requested a progress report on the resident experience of council services in six months.

Building Safety

The committee received a report on building safety in the borough, and its relationship to the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Building safety has been a major focus for the council since the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The council has been working to ensure that all of its buildings are safe, and that it is meeting its legal obligations under the Building Safety Act 2022. The Act introduces a new regulatory regime for high-rise residential buildings, and places a number of new duties on building owners and managers.

The committee heard that Newham Council is responsible for ensuring the fire safety of all privately rented properties in the borough that contain more than one home, unless the freeholder of the property is a housing association or other registered provider. The committee heard that Newham Council is responsible for 303 such buildings, as well as 106 owned by housing associations.

Officers told the committee that its building safety team were prioritising which of the buildings they are responsible for to inspect based on risk. They explained that they were having to gather a lot of missing information on these properties, including fire safety information, which is a legal requirement under the Building Safety Act 2022. This is a significant challenge for the council, as it means that it has to track down a lot of information that may not be readily available.

Yeah, no, thank you. Yeah, in terms of the golden thread, the building safety act makes specific requirements for us to maintain this level of information, which they call it the golden thread. It's not fully defined, but it can be basically all the information that you need to manage the building. There'll be more information if we have a new development. Part of the challenge in a way that is worded here is that essentially all of our buildings, so all 86 of our high-rise buildings are what I would, legacy buildings for these buildings were built up for.

The meeting concluded with the Chair expressing disappointment in the quality of the information provided to the committee, requesting that officers take more care in future to provide accurate and comprehensive information.

We are getting tired and calling it out. And when we call it out, it seems like scrutiny is the bad guys. We cannot be the bad guys, but call now something that is not right, that is not correct. And we shouldn't be made to be the bad guys here. We are doing the specimens of new service. So please, can I ask in the future, but these are facts properly before they come before us.

This week in Newham:

• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting decided to amend the license for Woodgrange Supermarket to prevent the sale of beers, lagers and ciders above 6.5% ABV.
• The Standards Advisory Committee agreed its proposed work programme for 2024/25 and reviewed the response to the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee - Tuesday 10 September 2024

This meeting of the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee decided to amend the license for Woodgrange Supermarket at 5 Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate. The shop's license was amended to prevent the sale of beers, lagers and ciders above 6.5% ABV and a new condition was added requiring the licensee to provide invoices to council officers on request. These amendments were made in response to a review of the shop's license that was requested by the council's Licensing Enforcement Team. As we've seen in previous emails, licensing reviews are a common occurrence, and they can be triggered by a variety of factors, including complaints from residents, evidence of underage sales, or concerns about crime and disorder.

In this case, the Licensing Enforcement Team, the Police Licensing Team and Trading Standards all made representations in support of the review. They raised concerns about a number of issues, including:

• The sale of cheap, high-strength alcohol.
• The shop's proximity to an alleyway where street drinkers congregate.
• The sale of alcohol to an underage person.
• The lack of staff training on licensing law.

The licensee's agent, Nigel Carter, disputed some of the claims made by the Licensing Enforcement Team and argued that revoking the license would be disproportionate.

The Sub-Committee ultimately decided to amend the license, rather than revoking it. As we've seen in previous emails, sub-committees will often try to find a balance between the interests of the licensee and the concerns of residents and other responsible authorities. They will often impose conditions on a license in an attempt to address the issues that have been raised.

Standards Advisory Committee - Wednesday 11 September 2024

The Standards Advisory Committee agreed its proposed work programme for 2024/25, reviewed the council's response to the Local Government Association's (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge of the council, and noted the declarations of interest made by Councillors in meetings. No decision was made about the appointment of a new independent person for the committee.

LGA Corporate Peer Challenge

As we saw in a previous email, the LGA's Corporate Peer Challenge of the council took place in November 2023. This was the first peer review of Newham Council in 10 years. Peer challenges are a way for councils to learn from each other and improve their services, and they are a common feature of local government in the UK.

This peer review was carried out by a team of experienced officers and councillors from other councils, and they looked at a wide range of aspects of the council's work. The peer challenge team made 11 recommendations to the council, covering issues such as the relationship between the executive and scrutiny functions, the culture of the council, and the council's approach to community engagement.

In response to the peer review, the council has produced a detailed action plan setting out how it intends to implement the recommendations. The action plan includes a number of specific actions, such as developing a new code of conduct for councillors, improving the council's training for councillors, and reviewing the council's scrutiny function. The action plan also includes a timeline for implementing the actions.

The Standards Advisory Committee discussed the peer review report and the council's action plan. The committee was generally supportive of the recommendations made by the peer review team and the actions proposed by the council. However, the committee also raised some concerns about the implementation of the action plan.

The Standards Advisory Committee was particularly concerned about the lack of progress in appointing a new independent person to the committee. Independent persons are an important part of the council's ethical framework. They are independent of the council and provide advice and support to the Standards Committee on matters relating to the conduct of councillors. The post has been vacant for some time, and the committee is keen to see it filled as soon as possible.

This lack of progress echoes the concerns raised at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 6 August 2024, which highlighted similar issues with recruitment and the filling of vacant positions.

Proposed Work Programme

The Standards Advisory Committee agreed its proposed work programme for 2024/25. The work programme sets out the committee's priorities for the year ahead. It includes a number of key areas of work, such as:

• Reviewing the council's Code of Conduct for councillors.
• Providing training to councillors on ethical issues.
• Advising the council on complaints against councillors.

The work programme also includes provision for the committee to receive updates on the implementation of the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge action plan. This is important because it will allow the committee to monitor the council's progress in implementing the recommendations.

Ethical Framework Update

The Standards Advisory Committee received a report (Ethicalframeworkreport Sept 2024) detailing the declarations of interest made by Councillors during the period 9th April 2024 to 27th August 2024. Declarations of interest are an important part of the council's ethical framework. They are a way for councillors to be transparent about any personal or financial interests that they have that might conflict with their role as a councillor.

The Standards Committee noted that there were no declarations of gifts and hospitality made during this period. The committee questioned whether the report contained all of the declarations of interest that had been made in the period. It was agreed that officers should update the report to include all declarations.

This discussion highlights the importance of transparency in local government. Councillors are expected to be open and honest about any interests that they have that might affect their decision-making.

Appointment of Independent Person

The committee discussed the vacant position of independent person on the committee.

Just to update the committee on the recruitment of the independent person, members will recall that just before the summer break, we shared a draft advert with members, and thank you to those members who provided their comments on that.

The meeting was informed that there had been a number of delays to the recruitment of a new independent person. It is anticipated that the advert for the post will be placed this month.

So it is anticipated that the advert will go out this month. And we just wanted to record our thanks to Christina for being so patient as well, given the difficulties that we've had with recruitment and hopefully we'll be able to update members at the next meeting.

The committee noted the update, and Councillor Choudhury expressed his wish for the role to be filled quickly.

This has been rumbling on for quite a while, hasn't it? And no disrespect to all of the efforts being put into it. But I think we've been quite frankly, we've been hearing this line that we need to get to it as quickly as possible.

The committee discussed whether it would be possible to appoint a new independent person before its next meeting on 11th December. It was agreed that this may be difficult, given that any appointment would need to be confirmed at a meeting of full council.

Obviously, once an equipment process done and the candidate is chosen, it does actually have to go to full council for approval. So once that's achieved, hopefully, we should have enough council meetings between now and your next meeting.

It was agreed that the committee would contact Christina Asare, who has been acting as independent person, to advise her of the outcome of the discussion.

This week in Newham:

• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting was cancelled.
• The Cabinet discussed the response to the Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny report, the acquisition of Chantler Close in Custom House, and the adoption of a new Adaptive Street Lighting Policy.

Cabinet - Tuesday 03 September 2024

This meeting began with the Cabinet noting the executive response to the Black Boys and the Borough Scrutiny report, which was published on the 4th of June 2024, and makes twelve recommendations for the Council to consider. The Cabinet have accepted recommendations 1, 3, 4 and 5 in their entirety. The Cabinet have partially accepted recommendations 2, 6, 7, 8, 8b, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The Cabinet have not accepted recommendation 10b. The recommendations cover a wide range of issues, and many relate to the Council's Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010.

Councillor Sarah Jane Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children Services and Education, presented the response to the scrutiny report, stating:

As the lead Members representing the cross-cutting nature of the Scrutiny Task and Finish Commission looking into ‘The Relationship between Black Boys and the Borough’, we thank the members for their work and for the conclusion of this Commission’s work across the areas as presented in their report.

Recommendation 1: Plan for action

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should develop an action plan to address systemic and structural inequality across the Council and the community. The Cabinet have agreed to this recommendation, citing their Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Plan, approved in September 2022, and their new Equity and Equality model, which has recently been approved by the Council's Corporate Leadership Team. The new model will include training, an action plan, and the creation of an Equity Steering Group in Autumn 2024.

Recommendation 2: Targeting Progress Towards Equality

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should review its Equality Monitoring processes. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, stating:

This recommendation is welcomed and partially accepted because of the work already underway through the Council’s existing Equality Monitoring Process, which was last reviewed in 2023.

Recommendation 3: Using Data and Lived Experience to Inform Policy

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should use data and information on the lived experience of its residents to inform its policymaking. The Cabinet have accepted this recommendation, stating:

This recommendation is welcomed and accepted and is already delivered through various mechanisms within the Council.

The Cabinet listed a number of ways that the Council is already meeting this recommendation, including:

• The use of Equality Impact Assessments.
• The improvement of its data collection processes.
• Embedding lived experience in the design and delivery of Children and Youth Services.

Recommendation 4: Newham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership

The scrutiny report recommends that the Newham Safeguarding Children's Partnership produce an action plan with measurable outcomes to reduce disproportionality and disparity for Black boys in areas such as educational exclusion, child protection planning, care and the criminal justice system. The Cabinet have accepted this recommendation. A data dashboard for the Partnership, showing data disaggregated by ethnicity, is presently in development, and an update will be presented at their next meeting in November 2024.

Recommendation 5: Preventing School Exclusions

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should review and build on its existing support to identify new ways to prevent school exclusions. The Cabinet have accepted this recommendation, stating:

We approve and accept this recommendation, as this is already a core area of work within the Council’s Education service.

Recommendation 6: School Behaviour Policies

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should review the implementation of school behaviour policies in Newham. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, stating:

We recognise the importance of examining the School Behaviour policies, and understand the drivers and thinking that have given rise to this recommendation which we partially accept.

The Cabinet stated that a sole focus on behaviour policies would not be an effective way to address this issue. They instead believe that a focus on quality assuring and evaluating the impact of inclusive practice in schools will be a better way to improve inclusive practice.

Recommendation 7: Engaging on Community Safety Strategies

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should review its community safety strategies and engage directly with young black boys and men. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, and listed a number of actions that the Council and its partners are already undertaking, including:

• A refresh of the Council's Youth Safety Strategy.
• A commitment for Newham to take part in the Mayor of London's Stop and Search project.
• Ongoing work to raise awareness about Stop and Search amongst young people.
• The creation of a Trust, Engagement and Equity subgroup by the Newham Safety Partnership.
• Several projects being delivered by the Violence Reduction Unit, including:
  • A young black boys and men's board.
  • Detached youth work.
  • A summer raising awareness programme.
  • School-based education to reduce robbery, gang involvement and joint enterprise.

Recommendation 8: Stretch Collaboration

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should consider using the Stretch Collaboration methodology to help transform its services.

Stretch Collaboration and Transformative Scenario Building moves away from conventional collaboration. It helps people work together across differences to transform systems, sectors, organisations and perspectives.

The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, stating:

This recommendation is welcomed and partially accepted, as links to the ambitions we have for creating enabling and empowering environments and experiences for all young people, including those at risk of exploitation and those facing disproportionality. It will be subject to an assessment of any revenue cost implications in line with the Council’s governance processes in place.

Recommendation 9: Mapping Opportunities

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should map and publicise opportunities for young Black men and boys to engage with it. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation.

Recommendation 10: Trauma Responsive Training

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should identify and deliver trauma responsive training for all staff. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, stating:

In light of the work outlined below, we welcome and partially accept Recommendation 10 from the Scrutiny Task and Finish Commission. We will look to work with partners and providers to offer and/or promote evidence-based training on trauma-informed approaches, many of which rely on more than just a one-off training session. Our continued relationships across the VRU, voluntary sector and academic bodies ensure our approach to trauma-informed working in Newham is in line with pan-London and national progress.

The Cabinet listed a number of areas where the Council is already undertaking this work, including:

• A free training course on trauma-informed care, delivered in partnership with Teeside University and the North East London Training Hub.
• A new approach to trauma-informed working, called 'Caring Steps', which was developed in 2023 and piloted by three organisations.
• A centralised training page on the Well Newham website.
• Collaboration with the London VRU's Trauma Informed Project.

Recommendation 11: Black Youth Voices

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should collate Black youth voices and experiences into one coherent strategy. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, stating:

This recommendation is welcomed but partially accepted. As part of the new Equity approach, services will be expected to identify and develop specific equity objectives and actions within the annual business planning cycle, based on gaps in resident outcomes and areas for improvement.

Recommendation 12: Black Boys and Young Men Working Group

The scrutiny report recommends that the Council should establish a working group of young Black boys and men, community leaders, business leaders and Council colleagues to help inform policy and service delivery. The Cabinet have partially accepted this recommendation, stating:

We partially accept the recommendation. As part of the Newham Equity Approach, a staff equity steering group is being set up to drive improvement in Council policy and service delivery. While the terms of reference of the group are yet to be finalised, the group will consider how it includes the lived experience and knowledge of residents, community members and businesses, including young black men.

The Cabinet then moved on to discuss the proposed acquisition of Chantler Close, Custom House from housing association Look Ahead.

Acquisition of Chantler Close

Councillor Zulfiqar Ali, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, presented the report on the proposed acquisition of Chantler Close, Custom House, from housing association Look Ahead, stating:

The chair councils of the government finance and resources there in the cabinet lady we all are aware of the unprecedented challenges that we're facing in the homelessness in the barrel.

The scheme

Chantler Close is made up of two blocks of 26 self-contained one-bedroom flats and a large parking area. It is located outside of the Custom House Regeneration Area. Five of the flats are currently used for affordable housing, and the rest are used by Look Ahead to provide temporary accommodation. There are no planning restrictions on the site. The Cabinet heard that Look Ahead would relocate all existing tenants to suitable alternative accommodation before the sale is completed. The Council is expected to complete the purchase of the freehold in August 2025.

Use of the scheme

The Council are planning to lease the scheme to a third-party housing organisation, who will then let the units to people currently in temporary accommodation at rents linked to the Local Housing Allowance. The third party organisation will be responsible for all landlord functions, such as collecting rent and managing repairs.

Financial implications

The capital costs of purchasing Chantler Close will be funded through prudential borrowing. A financial analysis has demonstrated that the acquisition will provide a net income to the Council over 50 years, and will deliver a saving on the cost of temporary accommodation. The Cabinet heard that the acquisition would deliver an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 9.1%, while the current cost of borrowing is 5.5%.

Adaptive Street Lighting Policy

Councillor Sarah Jane Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children Services and Education, presented a report on the adoption of a new Adaptive Street Lighting Policy, stating:

In the last five years, the Council have invested in the replacement of its existing standard street lights, sodium lanterns, with new lighting, new light-emitting diodes, LEDs, for those of us who know the language.

What is Adaptive Street Lighting?

Adaptive street lighting uses modern technology to vary the brightness of streetlights, making it possible to reduce the energy consumption of street lights while still meeting the required standards.

The Cabinet heard that:

This form of modern technology means that lighting provision is no longer a one-size-fits-all offer. Instead, we can now increase lighting levels where necessary, especially for safety reasons, but also lower lighting levels where necessary, reducing costs and energy consumption, as well as ensuring residents' privacy and sleep are not disrupted by too bright a lighting.

The proposals

The Cabinet heard that Newham Council has already replaced around 90% of its Sodium streetlights with new LED units. This has reduced the Council's annual carbon emissions from street lighting from 2442 tonnes to 1220 tonnes. The policy will further reduce the Council's carbon emissions from street lighting to 854 tonnes per annum, and will save around £500,000 per year in energy costs.

The policy allows for lighting levels to be reduced at certain times of night, on certain types of road. Lighting levels will be reduced by up to 20% between 6pm and midnight, and up to 50% between midnight and 5am. The policy will not apply to areas such as zebra crossings, signal-controlled crossings and junctions, underpasses and footbridges. Lighting levels in Town and District Centres and outside of train stations will be reduced by 20% at all times.

The trial

A trial of the new policy was carried out between February and May 2024. The trial involved a variety of sites in different wards, and sought to understand the impact of adaptive lighting on:

• The local environment.
• Lighting levels.
• Perceived personal safety.
• Potential impacts on traffic safety.

The trial involved consultation with internal and external stakeholders, including local residents, Transport for London and local ward Councillors. The outcome of the trial was that there was no significant negative impact on residents from the reduced lighting levels.

The decision

The Cabinet approved the proposed Adaptive Street Lighting Policy, and delegated authority to Aled Richards, Corporate Director for Environment and Sustainable Transport, to make changes to the policy in order to maintain highway safety.

Stratford Business Improvement District Renewal Ballot

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, Portfolio Lead for Inclusive Economy, Strategic Housing Delivery and Culture, presented a report on the request by Stratford Original Business Improvement District (BID) for a renewal ballot.

The Stratford Business Improvement District (BID), also known as Stratford Original, is a not for profit organisation funded and led by local businesses based in Stratford Town Centre. They have expressed their intent to the Council to hold a renewal ballot for its third five-year term in Autumn 2024, having been instituted in 2015 following the first BID ballot.

What is a BID?

A Business Improvement District is a defined area within which businesses pay a levy to fund projects that will improve their trading environment.

BIDs are business led partnerships which are created through a ballot process to deliver additional services to businesses in a defined location. They can continue for an unlimited number of terms, providing they are successful in their ballots.

What is Stratford Original proposing?

Stratford Original is seeking approval for a third five-year term, which will run from April 2025 to March 2030. They are proposing to expand the BID area to include 21 new businesses. The BID has notified the Council of its intention to hold a ballot, and has provided them with:

• A copy of their proposed business plan.
• A summary of their consultation with businesses in the BID area.

The decision

The Cabinet noted Stratford Original's request for a ballot, and delegated authority to Megan Charnley, Director of Community Wealth Building, to determine whether the proposal conflicts with any Council policies, and whether the Council should vote to support the renewal.

Pre-Procurement Services for Microsoft Licensing Agreement

Councillor Zulfiqar Ali, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, presented a report on the procurement of a new Microsoft Enterprise Agreement.

In April 2023, by a Cabinet decision, the two Councils decided to split from the OneSource IT service and associated shared infrastructure to:

Why does the Council need a new agreement?

The Council is currently party to a shared Microsoft Enterprise Agreement with Havering Council, which expires on 31 March 2025. As part of the planned split from the OneSource shared IT service, the Council needs to procure a new agreement in its own right.

How will the new agreement be procured?

The Council is planning to procure the new Enterprise Agreement through Crown Commercial Services (CCS), a public procurement organisation. CCS run an aggregation service for public sector organisations, which brings together organisations with similar requirements in order to leverage savings.

The decision

The Cabinet approved the procurement of a new Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, to be awarded to the winning supplier through the CCS aggregate process.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 06 September 2024

This meeting concerned the awarding of a contract for school support services to Newham Partnership Working Limited.

School Support Services Contract Award - Newham Partnership Working Limited

The Corporate Director of Children and Young People, Laura Eden, was asked to approve a direct award of the school support services contract to Newham Partnership Working (NPW) for an initial period of 12 months, with the option to extend for a further 12 months for the total amount of £544,000.

The report explained that this was permissible because

NPW has confirmed that over 80% of its work is provided to its controlling members, that these members manage NPW, and that there is no private capital participation. Additionally, NPW meets the 'horizontal exemption' criteria under Regulation 12(7) of the PCR, commonly known as the ‘Hamburg’ exemption, which has also been confirmed.

The report explained that The Council has a statutory duty to provide school support services to Local Authority (LA) maintained schools, and that NPW is

a company limited by guarantee, owned by member schools and the Council. It was incorporated in 2011 and originally established under what is now known as Regulation 12 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. In January 2013, the Council transferred parts of its schools' traded services to NPW.

The report goes on to say that this transfer was requested by Newham schools, and that the contract would cover a range of services including School HR services, Governor Services, and ICT Support for data exchange.

It was proposed that, under the new contract, governor services would no longer be provided by NPW, but would instead be delivered by the Council directly.

The report argues that this is preferable because these services can more effectively be delivered by Council officers without any adverse impact on service provision to schools, and in particular that servicing Schools Forum can be more effectively by Council officers as financial expertise on schools funding sits within the council.

The report notes that, although other options were considered, NPW was the preferred supplier. It explains that, while other providers were found, they would not be able to provide all of the services required. It explains that awarding contracts to multiple providers would be fragmented and challenging to contract manage and for schools to access integrated support.

The report concludes by saying that [f]uture arrangements will explore the possibility of incorporating a competitive tender process in subsequent years.

This week in Newham:

• The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting was postponed.
• The Officer Key Decision approved the admission of six care providers to the Supporting Vulnerable Adults Dynamic Purchasing Vehicle.
• The Officer Key Decision approved a £942,000 contract for the installation of fibre optic cables in Newham.
• The Officer Key Decision considered the lease of the Tate Institute to Respace Projects.
• The Officer Key Decision approved the procurement of Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programmes for £740,249.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 30 August 2024

This meeting concerned the approval of the admission of a number of care providers to the Supporting Vulnerable Adults Dynamic Purchasing Vehicle (SVA DPV). These vehicles are agreements between the council and a list of pre-approved suppliers, that allow the council to purchase goods and services without having to go through a lengthy procurement process each time. Dynamic Purchasing Vehicles are different from conventional frameworks because new suppliers can apply to join them at any point. In this instance, any company wishing to provide supported living services to the council would first have to apply to join the Supported Living category of the SVA DPV by completing the Stage 1A pre-selection process.

If successful, the provider would then be invited to join the DPV and would be eligible to bid for contracts to provide individual care packages, or to build and operate supported living schemes. This is similar to the process used by the council to procure advocacy services, which we discussed in a previous email meeting on Wednesday 14 August 2024 saw the Corporate Director for Adults, Health and Communities, Jason Strelitz, award a contract for the provision of advocacy services to VoiceAbility.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 14 August 2024

The key decision made during this meeting was to award a contract for the provision of Advocacy Services in Newham to VoiceAbility. The new contract will run for two years from 1 September 2024, with an option for a one-year extension, and will cost the council £915,000.

Advocacy Services Contract

This decision is significant because it relates to Newham Council's statutory duties to provide advocacy services under several laws. These include the Care Act 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and the Mental Health Act 1983. Advocacy services are designed to help people understand their rights and to make their voices heard when decisions are being made about their care or treatment. This is particularly important for people who may be vulnerable or who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves.

This is not the first time that we've seen the council seeking to procure advocacy services. In a previous email, we reported on the council's decision to award a contract for advocacy services to Pohwer in July 2023. That contract was for a period of three years, with an option to extend for a further two years. The total value of that contract was £1.8 million. It is not clear from the report why the council has decided to award the new contract to VoiceAbility rather than extending the existing contract with Pohwer. However, it is possible that this decision was made on the basis of cost, quality, or other factors.

The new contract with VoiceAbility will operate as a core and flex arrangement. This means that there will be a core budget of £210,000 to provide 660 hours of advocacy, and an additional flex budget of £95,000 for spot purchases of advocacy when demand is higher. This is a common way for councils to procure advocacy services, as it allows them to be flexible in their spending and to respond to fluctuations in demand.

Under the terms of the new contract, VoiceAbility will provide three tiers of advocacy:

• Tier 1 Statutory Advocacy will be provided for the Care Act, Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (including in-borough Rule 1.2 and Relevant Person's Representative (RPR)), and Independent Mental Health Advocacy. Rule 1.2 and RPR advocacy are types of advocacy that are available to people who are being assessed for, or who are already deprived of their liberty. This could include, for example, people who are living in care homes or hospitals.
• Tier 2 Statutory Advocacy will be provided for out-of-borough Rule 1.2 and RPR
• Tier 3 Non-statutory advocacy will be provided. Non-statutory advocacy is advocacy that is not required by law, but which can still be very helpful for people who need support to make their voices heard. This could include, for example, advocacy for people who are experiencing problems with housing, benefits, or employment.

The report notes that Although non-statutory advocacy is covered as part of this contract, associated costs are nominal and its removal would not materially affect the contract value. This suggests that the council is not placing a high priority on non-statutory advocacy. However, the report also states that Statutory advocacy to be prioritised, as well as prioritising the use of volunteer/peer advocates where possible. This suggests that the council is looking for ways to reduce the cost of advocacy services, which could have implications for the availability of non-statutory advocacy in the future.

The decision to award the contract to VoiceAbility was made on the basis of a report by council officers. The report assessed bids from three potential providers against a set of criteria, including quality, cost, and experience. VoiceAbility's bid was judged to be the most economically advantageous. This means that it offered the best value for money, taking into account all of the relevant factors.

The decision to award the contract was also made in consultation with Councillor Neil Wilson, the Lead Member for Health and Adult Social Care. Councillor Wilson is responsible for overseeing the council's health and social care services. This suggests that the council is committed to ensuring that the new contract meets the needs of Newham residents.

). The decision was made by Jason Strelitz, the Corporate Director, Adults and Health, in consultation with Councillor Neil Wilson, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 23 August 2024

This meeting was to consider the procurement process for a proposed Fibre Upgrade Project. Like the previous decision, this decision was not made in a public meeting, but was instead made by an officer of the council acting under delegated authority. In this instance, the decision was made by the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy & Housing, and involved awarding a £942,000 contract to ITS Technology Group for the installation of dark fibre¹ across the borough.

Officer Key Decision - Tuesday 27 August 2024

This meeting was not a meeting in the usual sense: Officer Key Decisions are not discussed in public, but are instead made by officers of the council who have been delegated the authority to make them. Councils will often delegate decision making powers to officers for routine, low-value, or time-sensitive decisions. This is in contrast to decisions that are made by elected councillors, which must be made in public. Decisions made by officers can be 'called in' by councillors if they disagree with them.

This meeting was to make a decision about whether to grant an agreement for lease and a lease of the Tate Institute to Respace Projects² as a condition of a £1.381 million grant from the Levelling Up Fund, which Respace Projects was awarded in order to refurbish the building.

Officer Key Decision - Thursday 29 August 2024

This meeting was to consider a report about the procurement of a contract for the provision of Occupational Health and Employee Assistance Programmes to Newham Council staff. The decision was made by the Corporate Director of Resources in consultation with the Director of Human Resources and the Director of Law. As in the previous example, this meeting was not a meeting in the conventional sense, but was rather a process by which an officer of the council considered the evidence and made a decision under delegated authority.

The meeting considered a report that recommends using the ESPO 985B_23 framework agreement to procure a joint contract with Havering Council for the provision of Occupational Health and Employee Assistance services. Framework agreements are similar to Dynamic Purchasing Vehicles in that they allow the council to purchase services from pre-approved suppliers, but unlike DPVs, they are not open for new suppliers to join once they have been set up.

The report considered, and ultimately decided against, an option in which the council would not procure the contract at all, arguing that this would leave the council in breach of its statutory duty of care to its employees.

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Friday 23 August 2024 was scheduled to include a report on proposals for a Fibre Upgrade Project for Newham.

Officer Key Decision - Friday 23 August 2024

The key decision scheduled to be made during this meeting was to award a contract for the laying of dark fibre¹ across the borough to ITS Technology Group as part of the proposed Fibre Upgrade project.

Fibre Upgrade Project

This decision is significant because it relates to Newham Council's commitment to ensuring that its residents have access to reliable and affordable internet access. As we have seen in previous emails, Newham Council has made several investments in recent years in an attempt to improve the borough’s digital infrastructure. For example, in December 2021, the Council launched its Digital Inclusion Strategy, which sets out the council's ambition to make Newham a connected borough where everyone can benefit from the opportunities that digital technologies offer. One of the key objectives of this strategy is to ensure that all residents have access to affordable, reliable and fast broadband.

The report proposing the Fibre Upgrade project claims that it will deliver a number of benefits for Newham residents, including:

• Improving internet speeds in areas that are currently underserved by internet service providers.
• Providing free connections to over 50 public buildings for the next 35 years.

These commitments directly address concerns that were raised in the Digital Inclusion Strategy, which noted that some residents and businesses in Newham still do not have access to affordable, reliable and fast broadband, and that this was a barrier to economic growth and social inclusion. The strategy went on to say that the council would work with partners to improve broadband infrastructure across the borough.

The total cost of the Fibre Upgrade Project is estimated to be £942,000. The majority of this funding (£800,000) will come from the Strategic Investment Pot, a fund administered by the City of London Corporation. A further £222,000 will come from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, with the remaining £80,000 coming from existing council budgets. It is notable that the council is using a blend of funding sources to finance this project. This is a common approach for councils, as it allows them to spread the cost of major projects and to reduce the impact on their own budgets.

If the contract is awarded, work on the project is expected to start in September 2024 and take around a year to complete.

The Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 14 August 2024 saw the Corporate Director for Adults, Health and Communities, Jason Strelitz, award a contract for the provision of advocacy services to VoiceAbility.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 14 August 2024

The key decision made during this meeting was to award a contract for the provision of Advocacy Services in Newham to VoiceAbility. The new contract will run for two years from 1 September 2024, with an option for a one-year extension, and will cost the council £915,000.

Advocacy Services Contract

This decision is significant because it relates to Newham Council's statutory duties to provide advocacy services under several laws. These include the Care Act 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and the Mental Health Act 1983. Advocacy services are designed to help people understand their rights and to make their voices heard when decisions are being made about their care or treatment. This is particularly important for people who may be vulnerable or who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves.

This is not the first time that we've seen the council seeking to procure advocacy services. In a previous email, we reported on the council's decision to award a contract for advocacy services to Pohwer in July 2023. That contract was for a period of three years, with an option to extend for a further two years. The total value of that contract was £1.8 million. It is not clear from the report why the council has decided to award the new contract to VoiceAbility rather than extending the existing contract with Pohwer. However, it is possible that this decision was made on the basis of cost, quality, or other factors.

The new contract with VoiceAbility will operate as a core and flex arrangement. This means that there will be a core budget of £210,000 to provide 660 hours of advocacy, and an additional flex budget of £95,000 for spot purchases of advocacy when demand is higher. This is a common way for councils to procure advocacy services, as it allows them to be flexible in their spending and to respond to fluctuations in demand.

Under the terms of the new contract, VoiceAbility will provide three tiers of advocacy:

• Tier 1 Statutory Advocacy will be provided for the Care Act, Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (including in-borough Rule 1.2 and Relevant Person's Representative (RPR)), and Independent Mental Health Advocacy. Rule 1.2 and RPR advocacy are types of advocacy that are available to people who are being assessed for, or who are already deprived of their liberty. This could include, for example, people who are living in care homes or hospitals.
• Tier 2 Statutory Advocacy will be provided for out-of-borough Rule 1.2 and RPR
• Tier 3 Non-statutory advocacy will be provided. Non-statutory advocacy is advocacy that is not required by law, but which can still be very helpful for people who need support to make their voices heard. This could include, for example, advocacy for people who are experiencing problems with housing, benefits, or employment.

The report notes that Although non-statutory advocacy is covered as part of this contract, associated costs are nominal and its removal would not materially affect the contract value. This suggests that the council is not placing a high priority on non-statutory advocacy. However, the report also states that Statutory advocacy to be prioritised, as well as prioritising the use of volunteer/peer advocates where possible. This suggests that the council is looking for ways to reduce the cost of advocacy services, which could have implications for the availability of non-statutory advocacy in the future.

The decision to award the contract to VoiceAbility was made on the basis of a report by council officers. The report assessed bids from three potential providers against a set of criteria, including quality, cost, and experience. VoiceAbility's bid was judged to be the most economically advantageous. This means that it offered the best value for money, taking into account all of the relevant factors.

The decision to award the contract was also made in consultation with Councillor Neil Wilson, the Lead Member for Health and Adult Social Care. Councillor Wilson is responsible for overseeing the council's health and social care services. This suggests that the council is committed to ensuring that the new contract meets the needs of Newham residents.

The Cabinet met on Tuesday 6 August 2024 and discussed a range of issues, including plans to make the Council more efficient, a new investment strategy for their wholly owned housing company Populo Living, and the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge project. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to receive oral updates from the Chairs of Newham Council's Scrutiny Commissions, and discuss a range of topics including the Building a Fairer Newham performance report and the Disabled Freedom Pass scheme. Finally, the Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee met on Thursday 8 August 2024 to discuss the appointment of a new Director of Public Realm.

Cabinet - Tuesday 06 August 2024

The Cabinet agreed to implement a new Our Transforming Newham for the Future Plan to make the Council more efficient and save money. The Cabinet also agreed to a new investment strategy for their wholly owned housing company Populo Living, and to proceed with the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge project.

Our Transforming Newham for the Future Plan

The Cabinet discussed a new Our Transforming Newham for the Future Plan. This plan is intended to respond to a projected budget gap of £175m by the end of 2027/28. This is not the first time this year that the Cabinet has considered the Council's financial position. In June 2024, the Cabinet noted an in-year overspend of £11.1m for 2023/24, as well as significant concerns about the delivery of services within existing resources over the medium term.

The Our Transforming Newham for the Future Plan is designed to make the Council more efficient, improve service delivery, and reduce operating costs. The Plan involves a new 'Target Operating Model' (TOM). Target Operating Models are often used by large organisations to describe how they intend to deliver their strategic objectives. They are a useful tool for aligning different parts of an organisation around a common goal, and for identifying areas where improvements can be made.

The new Target Operating Model (TOM) aims to:

• improve resident access to services and information,
• make better use of data,
• modernise technology infrastructure,
• transform the workforce and culture, and
• optimise service delivery across various domains.

The Cabinet agreed to approve the plan and to invest £5.9m in its implementation. It was acknowledged during the discussion that the implementation of the plan would require significant cultural change and people management.

Meeting this challenge requires a fundamental shift in our approach to Transformation, most specifically in the pace and scope of our whole-organisational transformation vision and plans.

- Abi Gbago, Chief Executive, Newham Council¹

The Plan also aims to reduce the Council's reliance on external suppliers.

Populo Living Investment

The Cabinet also discussed a new investment strategy for Populo Living, which is Newham Council's wholly owned housing company. Wholly owned housing companies are becoming increasingly common as councils seek new ways to deliver affordable housing. They offer a number of advantages over traditional council housing, such as greater flexibility in terms of borrowing and investment.

The Cabinet agreed to convert a £30m working capital loan provided to the company into equity. Working capital is the money that a company has available to meet its short-term financial obligations. Equity is the value of the assets owned by a company, less its liabilities.

The arguments for doing so were that:

• it would provide the company with more financial flexibility to deliver the Council's housing priorities,
• it would lead to earlier debt repayment by Populo, and
• it would be financially neutral in the long-term.

The arguments against were that:

• the Council would receive lower income from the loan in the short-term, and
• it would require an adjustment to the Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy to accommodate the lower income.

Populo Living Limited...is a key part of the Council’s housing delivery strategy and route to starting 1,500 new affordable homes by 2026.

- Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE² and Councillor Zulfiqar Ali³

The report noted that Populo has a good track record of delivering affordable housing. This is in line with previous reports to the Cabinet, which have praised the work of Populo Living in delivering the Council's housing priorities. For example, in a report to the Cabinet in July 2023, Populo Living was described as a key partner in the Council's efforts to tackle the housing crisis. The report also noted that the company had a strong track record of delivering high-quality, affordable homes.

Royal Victoria Dock Bridge – Allocation from Capital Programme Executive Decision (Call In)

The Cabinet considered a report from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) regarding their 'Call In' of an executive decision made on 4 June 2024 concerning a proposed £13.2m investment in the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge to connect communities to the north and south of the Royal Victoria Dock.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee asked the Cabinet to reconsider the decision, citing concerns about the:

• economic benefits of the bridge,
• bridge specifications,
• financial implications of the investment, and
• lack of a Gross Value Added (GVA) report to properly assess its impact.

Gross Value Added (GVA) is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area. It is often used as a measure of the economic impact of a project or investment.

The Committee noted that Newham Council did not have the financial resources to build the RVDB to the specifications proposed and doing so would entail difficult choices between spending on services or the RVDB.

- Councillor Anthony McAlmont⁴

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee also raised questions about the precedent that this investment could set for subsidising developers.

The Cabinet agreed to note the referral of the decision and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee's resolutions, and to defer its decision to the Cabinet meeting in September 2024. This was in part due to the need for the Cabinet to provide the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the information that they had requested.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 06 August 2024

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss a number of reports at their meeting. These included the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2024-2025, the Building a Fairer Newham performance report, and a briefing on the Disabled Freedom Pass Scheme.

Scrutiny Work Programme

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to discuss and potentially approve the work programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the other scrutiny commissions for the 2024/2025 municipal year. The Scrutiny Work Programme 2024-2025 was included in the report pack for the meeting.

Crime, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission

The proposed work programme for this commission included reviews of the performance of the Newham Safety Partnership, the introduction of the new Newham Integrated Community Enforcement model, and the borough’s new Licensing Policy. The Newham Safety Partnership is a statutory partnership between Newham Council and a number of other organisations, including the police, fire service and probation service. It is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to reduce crime and disorder in the borough.

They were also scheduled to review the implementation of the Environment Act, including its impact on local biodiversity and air and water quality, and to scrutinise the performance of street cleaning services.

Education, Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission

The proposed work programme for this commission included a review of the Youth Safety Strategy, and scrutiny of youth empowerment, youth justice and alternative youth provision in Newham. They were also scheduled to scrutinise the Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report. The Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership is a statutory partnership between Newham Council, the police, and health and social care providers. It is responsible for coordinating the work of different agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the borough.

Other items on their proposed agenda included a review of the experiences of care experienced young people and care leavers, especially in relation to the protected characteristics¹, a review of the sufficiency of placements for looked after children, school attainment, school attendance and the SEND & Inclusion Strategy Annual Report.

Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission

The proposed work programme for this commission included a discussion of how the borough can meet future health and adult social care needs in the context of significant population growth. As we saw in the Cabinet meeting, this is a significant challenge facing the council. Population growth is likely to put a strain on health and social care services. The council will need to find ways to meet this increased demand, while also managing its finances.

They were also scheduled to review the impact of the new leisure services provider, Better. Better is a charitable social enterprise that manages leisure centres, libraries and children's centres on behalf of local authorities. It took over the running of Newham's leisure centres in 2018.

Other items scheduled for discussion included adult social care efficiencies, the 0-19 Health Service model, health equity and literacy, social care peer review pick-ups², and community mental health care. The 0-19 Health Service model is a way of providing integrated health care to children and young people. It is based on the principle that health care should be provided in a holistic way, taking into account the needs of the whole child. The model has been implemented in a number of areas across England.

The commission was also scheduled to revisit a previous scrutiny report on ethnic inequalities in maternity experiences.

Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Commission

The proposed work programme for this commission included a review of workforce culture within the directorate, and scrutiny of Newham Council’s Community Wealth Building strategy, including the Our Newham Work strand. Community Wealth Building is an economic development approach that aims to keep wealth within local communities. It involves encouraging local procurement, supporting employee ownership, and investing in local assets. Our Newham Work is a programme that aims to create employment and training opportunities for Newham residents.

They were also scheduled to receive a briefing on fire and flood resilience in the borough, and discuss temporary accommodation and homelessness prevention. These are both significant challenges facing the council. The council has a statutory duty to provide temporary accommodation to homeless households, and the demand for this type of accommodation is increasing. The council is also working to improve its resilience to fires and floods.

Other items proposed for discussion included the Regulator of Social Housing Inspection, the Housing Revenue Account business plan, the private licensing regime, the Local Plan, the repairs and maintenance service, and scrutiny panels in housing associations. The Regulator of Social Housing is responsible for regulating social housing providers in England. The Housing Revenue Account is a ring-fenced account that councils use to manage their housing stock. The private licensing regime is a system that requires landlords of certain types of property to obtain a licence from the council. The Local Plan is a document that sets out the council's planning policies for the borough.

Reserve items included an audit of council tenants, the housing needs of disabled tenants, and the Culture Strategy.

Building a Fairer Newham Performance

The report pack included the final Building a Fairer Newham performance report for 2023/2024. The report covered the period from April 2023 to March 2024. Building a Fairer Newham is the Council's corporate plan for 2020-2024. It sets out the council's vision, priorities and objectives for the borough.

The report described performance against the 132 commitments made by the council as part of the Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Plan. It also outlined performance against 35 key performance indicators. The report noted that 61% of commitments were described as being on track or completed, and 50% of Key Performance Indicators were on target.

The report acknowledged that the council was facing significant pressures, including rising demand for services and the cost of living crisis. It said that:

As we progress delivery against the Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Plan, the Council faces continuing pressures inrising demand for services, including inadult and children social care and housing. This has been compounded by inflationary pressures, the cost of living crisis, and a lack of adequate funding from Government to meet rising demand which is impacting on all local authorities, and disproportionately impacting on Newham, particularly in homelessness.

This echoes the concerns raised during the discussion of the Council's financial position at the Cabinet meeting.

The report highlighted a number of achievements, including:

• The launch of Well Newham, a social prescribing pilot. Social prescribing is a way of connecting people to sources of support within their community.
• The agreement of Newham’s Just Transition Plan. A Just Transition Plan is a plan for ensuring that the transition to a low-carbon economy is fair and equitable for all.
• The implementation of a multi-service environmental crime tasking programme to identify and reduce fly-tipping.
• The introduction of weekly bin recycling collections.

The report also identified areas for improvement, including:

• Numbers of people in temporary accommodation were above projections.
  
• The time it takes to issue Education, Health and Care Plans³ was still too long.

The report also summarised the findings of a Local Government Association Corporate Peer Review, which took place in November 2023. The review found that:

Whilst the action plan focuses on organisational improvements, the LGA Peer Review report also endorsed our vision for Newham and recognised the significant progress we have made over the past 5 years.

The report included an action plan which proposed to address the recommendations of the review.

Disabled Freedom Passes

The report pack included a briefing note on the Disabled Freedom Pass scheme.

The Disabled Freedom Pass scheme provides free travel on public transport in London for people with disabilities. It is a national scheme that is administered by local authorities.

The briefing note proposed to provide information about:

• Eligibility criteria for the scheme.
• The application process.
• The benefits of the scheme.
• The cost of the scheme.
• The impact of the scheme on the council’s budget.

Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee - Thursday 08 August 2024

The Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee is a sub-committee of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. It is responsible for making recommendations to the Chief Executive on the appointment of senior officers.

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to meet to consider the appointment of a new Director of Public Realm. The Director of Public Realm is responsible for a range of services, including highways, parks and open spaces, waste management, and street cleaning.

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to interview three candidates for the role. The candidates were shortlisted from a pool of 24 applicants.

The Sub-Committee was also scheduled to consider whether to exclude the press and public from part of the meeting where the candidates were discussed. This is common practice for appointments committees, as it allows them to have frank and confidential discussions about the candidates.

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to make a recommendation to the Chief Executive on which candidate should be appointed. The decision of the Chief Executive is subject to there being no 'well-founded objections' from other members of the Executive.

The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Monday 29 July 2024 was postponed. The Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 31 July 2024 decided to award a £6.4m contract to Apex Contractors Ltd for the construction of a new building at JFK Beckton special school. The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission discussed the implications of population growth for health and social care on Tuesday 30 July 2024, but no transcript for that meeting is currently available. Finally, the Health and Wellbeing Board approved the new North East London Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy at its meeting on Thursday 1 August 2024.

Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 30 July 2024

The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to consider reports about how Newham will meet the challenges of future population growth and the low levels of physical activity in the borough. The commission was also due to consider its work plan for 2024-25 and receive an update on the work of the Newham Place Partnership.

Meeting Newham’s Future Needs

The commission was scheduled to discuss a report entitled 'Newham Population Growth Project', which set out the likely impact of projected population growth on the demand for health and social care services.

The report noted that demographic changes are expected to drive additional demand for services:

The age profile of Newham’s population is expected to shift significantly, with high growth in the proportion of older adults. This change in the population profile is expected to drive additional demand for services.

This echoes similar statements made in reports to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in 2023 and 2024. The O&S Committee was told in July 2023 that the Council would need to increase its spending on adult social care by 11.9% in 2024/25, and in July 2024 that there were significant concerns about the delivery of services within existing resources over the medium term.

These concerns relate to the Council's statutory duties to provide a range of health and social care services. This includes the duty to assess the care needs of adults under Section 9 of the Care Act 2014, and to meet those needs if they are eligible for support under Section 18 of the Care Act 2014.

Councils across England are experiencing similar pressures due to growing and ageing populations, leading to increasing demand for services at a time when budgets are being squeezed. As a result, many councils are looking for new ways to deliver services more efficiently, often through closer integration with the NHS and other partners. This is one of the key objectives of the Newham Place Partnership, which will be discussed later in this email.

The report to the Scrutiny Commission proposed a new model for the provision of health and social care, based on 'Integrated Neighbourhood Teams'. It is not yet clear how these teams will operate, but the report stated that they would be responsible for providing a range of services to residents in a particular geographical area.

Leisure in Newham

The commission was scheduled to consider a report on the levels of physical activity in Newham. As we saw in a previous email, Newham has the lowest levels of physical activity in England, according to Sport England’s Active Lives survey. This is a long-standing issue, and the Council has made a number of commitments to address it. For example, the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2018-2028 includes a commitment to increase the number of residents who are physically active.

It is not yet clear what the report to the commission will recommend, but it is likely to focus on the need for a joined-up approach between the Council, the NHS, and other partners.

Standing Item - Update on Emerging Matters

The commission was scheduled to receive a report on the Newham Place Partnership. The Newham Place Partnership is a strategic partnership between Newham Council and the NHS North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB). Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are NHS organisations responsible for planning and arranging health care services for their local population. They were introduced in July 2022 as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

The partnership is responsible for overseeing the delivery of health and care services in Newham, and for developing and implementing a joint health and wellbeing strategy. The report was expected to provide a summary of the partnership’s recent activities and to highlight some of the key challenges it is facing. These challenges are likely to include the need to make significant savings in the face of increasing demand for services.

Scrutiny Commission Work Plan

The commission was scheduled to consider its draft work plan for 2024-25. The draft work plan was provided to the councillors. Scrutiny committees are responsible for holding the council to account for its decisions and policies. This involves reviewing the council’s performance, scrutinising its budget, and making recommendations for improvement.

The work plan sets out the topics that the commission intends to scrutinise in the coming year. This will likely include topics such as the delivery of health and social care services, the performance of the Newham Place Partnership, and the council's response to the cost of living crisis.

The work plan is a key document for the commission, as it sets out its priorities for the year ahead. It is important that the work plan is comprehensive and reflects the key challenges facing the borough.

Officer Key Decision - Wednesday 31 July 2024

An Officer Key Decision was made on Wednesday 31 July 2024 to award a contract for the construction of a new building at JFK Beckton special school to Apex Contractors Ltd. Officer decisions are made by council officers under delegated authority from the council. They do not involve a formal meeting, but the decision must be published and is subject to a call-in period during which time councillors can ask for the decision to be reviewed.

Expansion of JFK Beckton

The decision was made to address a lack of adequate special educational needs provision within the borough, and was made in line with the council's statutory duty to provide sufficient school places under Section 14(1) of the Education Act 1996.

The project will see the construction of a new building at JFK Beckton, which is a special school for pupils with special educational needs (SEN).

JFK Beckton is one of four schools in Newham run by the Learning in Harmony Trust. It is a special school for pupils with SEN, and the new building will provide additional capacity for pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The decision to expand JFK Beckton was made in response to a projected increase in demand for special school places. This is in line with the council’s Local Area SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2023-28. This strategy sets out the council’s plans to ensure that children and young people with SEND have access to the support they need to succeed in education.

The report accompanying the decision noted that:

Currently, the greatest pressure is in the secondary phase with difficulty finding suitable autism places during transition into Year 7; resulting in temporary arrangements for additional places across a range of providers.

This expansion at JFK Beckton will help to address this pressure by providing additional places for children with ASD.

Equality Impact Assessment

The council is legally required to consider the equality implications of its decisions. An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was carried out and it concluded that the expansion of JFK Beckton special school is likely to have a positive impact on equality of opportunity. The EQIA found that there is a significant need for more specialist school places for children with ASD in Newham and that the expansion of JFK Beckton will help to meet this need. The EQIA also found that the expansion of JFK Beckton is likely to have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people with ASD and their families.

Funding

The total cost of the project is estimated to be £6,485,674. The project was originally budgeted at £5,212,290 in October 2022. The report accompanying the decision attributed the increase to a number of factors, including inflation and design changes. This is in line with the trends seen in the wider construction industry, where costs have risen sharply in recent years.

This funding will come from a variety of sources, including the Department for Education, Section 106 contributions and the London Legacy Development Corporation. Section 106 contributions are financial contributions made by developers to mitigate the impact of their developments on the local area. These contributions are often used to fund infrastructure projects, such as schools and roads.

Health and Wellbeing Board - Thursday 1 August 2024

The Health and Wellbeing Board approved the new North East London Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy. The meeting also received a number of updates on other projects in the borough.

North East London ICS Update

The Board received a verbal update on the work being done by the North East London Integrated Care System (ICS) in response to PA Consulting's report on population growth in the borough. As mentioned in the previous meeting section, Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are partnerships between the NHS and local authorities that aim to join up health and care services for local populations. They were introduced as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

The meeting heard that the ICS will be focusing on a ‘neighbourhood working’ model, as discussed in the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission, and will trial ways of working in partnership with Stratford Primary Care Network (PCN).

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are groups of GP practices that work together to provide a wider range of services to their patients. They were introduced in 2019 as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Councillor Jason Arthur raised concerns about a proposal by the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) to locate mental health services in Romford, arguing that residents should not have to travel so far for treatment.

It's a bit stupid, isn't it?

Councillor Arthur also expressed concern about the lack of accountability to the Health and Wellbeing Board from the ICS.

Councillor Arthur's concerns echo those raised in the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission, where it was noted that decisions made by NHS bodies were not always aligned with the needs of Newham residents.

The Board were told that the ICS is advocating for more resources for Newham, and that the Health and Wellbeing Board is ultimately accountable to residents for the work of the ICS.

Healthwatch Newham Annual Report 2023-24

The Board received Healthwatch Newham’s Annual Report for 2023-24. Healthwatch is an independent statutory body that exists to represent the views of people who use health and social care services in England.

The report highlighted the organisation's recent activities, including work to improve the experience of patients using Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services, a review of Continuing Healthcare services for people with diabetes, and engagement with over-55s from Black African, Caribbean, Asian and Polish backgrounds on access to dental services, Freedom Passes and Blue Badge applications.

Newham Health Equity Programme

The Board received an update on the work of the Newham Health Equity Programme.

The meeting heard that the programme is:

“Focusing on services and organisations and creating a context for prompting, nudging and pushing tuition work to support those organisations to become more better in their outcomes.”

The Board heard about the work being done by Barts Health NHS Trust to develop its approach to tackling health inequalities, using the Health Equity Programme’s roadmap tool. Tom, Director of Strategy at Barts Health NHS Trust, said that Barts Health had found the tool very helpful in enabling it to assess its current performance in this area and identify areas for improvement.

Councillor Arthur welcomed the work that Barts Health is doing to tackle health inequalities. He said:

“It's like the whole of the protected characteristic thing, it shouldn't be that we should label an LGBTQIA community over here or a Black African community there. It should be just part of our business as usual thing.”

This echoes similar comments made during the discussion of the Healthwatch Newham Annual Report, highlighting the importance of addressing health inequalities in a way that is embedded in everyday practice.

Action on Diet: FEND Improvement Updates

The Board received an update from Andy Jones, the Council’s Food Strategy Lead, on the progress being made on the four key actions identified in the Council’s Food Equality in Newham Diet (FEND) Action Plan.

The London Circular Food Procurement Commitment

Mr Jones updated the Board on the Council’s work with its catering partner Caterlink to reduce the carbon emissions from the 4 million meals it serves every year through its participation in the London Circular Food Procurement Commitment.

Fruit and Vegetables on Prescription

Mr Jones updated the Board on the Council’s plans to pilot a fruit and vegetable prescription scheme for households where there is a risk of, or existing, diabetes. This mirrors a proposal to pilot a similar scheme in Tower Hamlets, which was discussed in Tower Hamlet’s Health and Wellbeing Board on 25 June 2024.

The Healthy Food Advertising Policy

The Board heard that Newham Council introduced a Healthy Food Advertising Policy in 2024. The policy prohibits the advertising of foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar on Council-owned assets, as part of a broader London-wide initiative to reduce exposure to junk food advertising. Similar schemes have been introduced by councils across the country, following the introduction of a ban on junk food advertising on Transport for London property in 2019.

Mr Jones told the Board that the Council wants to work with partners to introduce similar policies on their assets, echoing the call for partners to collaborate in order to scale up initiatives that was made during the discussion of the London Circular Food Procurement Commitment.

Sustainable Urban Drainage and Food Growing

The Board heard that Newham Council is using £625,000 of funding from the Sustainable Urban Drainage scheme to create food growing spaces across the borough, which reflects a similar proposal to use funding from the same scheme to create 200 new food growing gardens in Barking and Dagenham, which was discussed in their Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on 18 July 2024.

Councillor Neil Wilson told the Board that the Council’s work on food is often seen as being ‘middle class’ and that more needs to be done to make it relevant to all communities in Newham.

The Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, said that the Council needs to find new and innovative ways of promoting healthy eating to young people, and that the Council should use its advertising space to promote healthy eating messages.

North East London Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy

The Board approved the new North East London Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy. This follows the approval by Barking and Dagenham Council of a similar strategy in March 2023. The new North East London strategy aims to ensure that everyone in the region has access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health services, regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, or ethnicity.

The Board heard that the strategy will be delivered through an annual action plan, which will include a range of activities to be delivered at both a borough and an ICS level.

Simon, Director of Public Health for Adults and Health, told the Board that the strategy would address two of its key priorities: health inequalities and system sustainability.

Councillor Wilson welcomed the strategy, saying that Newham has been leading the way on sexual health for many years. This reflects Newham's commitment to providing high-quality sexual health services, which has been demonstrated by the recent increase in the use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and the development of a new psychosexual service for the trans community.

The meeting ended at 7:23pm.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Wednesday 24 July 2024 discussed a cabinet decision to allocate £13.2m of capital funds to the construction of the Royal Victoria Docks Bridge and decided to refer the decision back to the cabinet for reconsideration. At the same time, the Pensions Committee noted the Pension Fund’s funding and investment performance in the first quarter of 2024 and agreed a draft revised Investment Strategy Statement. On Monday 22 July, the Council discussed the return of planning powers from the LLDC to Newham Council, and voted in favour of the Mayor's recommendations on how to achieve this. An Officer Key Decision was made on Tuesday 23 July 2024 to award contracts for a programme of internal refurbishments to council-owned housing in the Canning Town & Custom House area. Finally, on the same day, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee met again, but the transcript for the meeting is not yet available.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Wednesday 24 July 2024

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed a call-in of a cabinet decision made on 4th June 2024¹ to approve the allocation of £13.2 million of capital funding for the construction of a new Royal Victoria Docks Bridge.

The bridge will connect areas north and south of the Royal Victoria Dock, enabling pedestrians and cyclists to cross. The bridge is part of a larger regeneration project known as Silvertown Quays being undertaken by the Silvertown Partnership, a joint venture between Lendlease and Starwood Capital.

The original planning application for Silvertown Quays included a requirement for a bridge to be built by the developers. This application was granted in 2016 ² with a minimum deck width of 5.8 metres. Following discussions with the Council, the Silvertown Partnership agreed to increase the width of the bridge to 8.55 metres.

14/01605/OUT was the original outline planning application submitted for Silvertown Quays. It does not include detailed bridge designs.

This increase in width was intended to 'future-proof' the bridge to accommodate the increased use expected as a result of both the Silvertown Quays development, and future development in the Royal Docks and Beckton Riverside Opportunity Area.

The call in was made on the following grounds:

• Financial Concerns: The council is currently forecasting a budget gap of £110m over the next 3 years. The allocation of £13.2 million, and the associated capital financing charges, would place an additional strain on the Council's budget.
• Need: The committee felt that the report lacked analysis of the need for the bridge.
• Legal Concerns: Some legal concerns were discussed in the closed session of the meeting.

Funding

The total cost of the bridge is estimated to be £41 million. The Silvertown Partnership are proposing to fund £27.8 million through a loan from Homes England, with the Council funding the remaining £13.2 million.

The Silvertown Partnership initially committed to fully funding the bridge themselves but following the increase in the width of the bridge, they requested that the Council contribute to the cost.

Council officers argued that the Council's contribution to the funding is justified because the increased width of the bridge is intended to accommodate increased use as a result of wider regeneration of the area, not just the Silvertown Quays development. The developers are only legally obliged to contribute funding that will mitigate the impacts of their own development under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

If you want a future-proof piece of infrastructure outside the boundaries of that development, you cannot reasonably ask that specific developer to fund it. - Paul Kitson, Corporate Director for Inclusive Economy and Housing.

Councillor Chadha stated her concern that this could set a precedent for the council subsidising private developers.

Need

The committee felt that the report did not provide sufficient evidence of the need for the wider bridge.

There is no analysis provided on the necessity of widening the bridge - Councillor Ottson.

The committee noted that the planning application already required the developers to build a footbridge, and questioned whether the wider bridge, with its associated costs, was necessary.

Business Case

Several members of the committee expressed concern that the report did not include a business case for the project. This means that there is no analysis of the expected economic benefits of the bridge.

There's nothing here about the economic benefits - Councillor Paul.

Conclusion

The committee ultimately decided to refer the decision back to the cabinet for reconsideration. They felt that the report was lacking in detail and that it did not provide sufficient justification for the expenditure in light of the Council's financial situation.

Councillor Paul summarised the Committee's concerns:

This is an over-engineered solution. Council is subsidising an employer. I would love to look at the balance sheet of this project, and it doesn't wash its face.

Officer Key Decision - Tuesday 23 July 2024

This Officer Key Decision meeting considered the awarding of contracts for a programme of internal refurbishments to council-owned housing in the Canning Town & Custom House area.

Canning Town & Custom House Refurbishment Programme

The meeting considered a report titled Canning Town & Custom House Refurbishment Programme – Lots 1, 2 & 3.² The report concerned the awarding of three contracts for refurbishment works on council homes in Canning Town and Custom House.

The report proposed that contracts be awarded to:

• SER Contractors: for Lot 1, at a cost of £1,734,229.04
• Greyline: for Lot 2, at a cost of £1,812,200.79
• Uniserv Enterprises Ltd: for Lot 3, at a cost of £2,021,100.00

The report explained that the programme was intended to carry out essential works on the properties in advance of a larger regeneration programme at a later date:

The works are being carried out inplace, and in advance of, the wider regeneration programme yet to be implemented. The works are considered essential and have been specifically designed and tailored to help protect the external fabric of the building, in addition to preserving the safety and security of the councils housing stock.

The report recommended that Paul Kitson, in consultation with the Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE and the Lead Member for Housing Councillor Shaban Mohammed, approve the awarding of the contracts.

The report noted that the cost of the programme had risen by approximately 27% since it was initially agreed in October 2022. The report attributed the increase to a 20% rise in material costs, and wage inflation of 7-8%.

The report explained that a decision to do nothing was not considered viable:

Do nothing; not considered an option as the works are essential to ensure the councils responsibility to protect the external fabric, and structural integrity of the building are maintained.

Pensions Committee - Wednesday 24 July 2024

The Pensions Committee noted the Pension Fund’s funding and investment performance in the first quarter of 2024. They also agreed a draft revised Investment Strategy Statement and instructed officers to carry out a consultation with stakeholders on it.

Investment Strategy Update

The Committee reviewed the Fund’s investment performance and funding level. The meeting heard that investment returns in the first quarter of 2024 were slightly lower than expected, with the total value of the fund increasing by £57m to £1.767bn. The greatest source of outperformance was the LGIM ESG Paris Aligned global passive equities fund, whilst the fund's equity protection portfolio was the largest detractor from performance.

Underperformance was driven by strong equity returns, which had a negative effect on the portfolio's protective positions.

The Committee also heard that the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund in Newham now had a funding deficit of £56m at the end of March 2024, meaning that the assets held by the fund were worth less than the total they were liable for. This compares with a funding surplus of £4m in March 2022. The report stated that “The main reason for this reduction was for the change in inflation and the allowance for pension increases being higher than the Actuary’s long term assumptions.”

The Committee considered the draft Investment Strategy Statement (ISS) which sets out how the council will manage the investments in the pension fund. The meeting noted that updates to the ISS were required to comply with regulations, with the new version including further information on the Fund’s Pooling Partner. The meeting also heard that discussions were ongoing about the possibility of appointing a second active equity manager to the fund.

The Committee agreed the draft ISS and instructed officers to carry out a consultation with stakeholders on it, with any changes as a result of this consultation to be approved by the Chair and s151 Officer.

Pension Administration Update

The Committee received an update on the administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund in Newham. The meeting heard that the implementation of the McCloud Remedy, which will give tens of thousands of public sector workers higher pension payouts, was progressing well. The Committee was told that the software used to manage the fund had been updated in February 2024 and that work was ongoing to identify members who had been affected.

The mechanics for rectifying the age discrimination by extending the “underpin” (doing a comparison of what benefits the member would have got if the old regulations continued against what they have got under the current regulations and awarding the higher) had not changed from any consultation or previous draft regulations.

The Committee also heard an update on the Pensions Dashboards, which will allow people to see all of their pension pots in one place. The meeting was told that the Council would be required to upload its data to the dashboard by 31 October 2026.

Business Plan Update

The Committee received an update on the Newham Pension Fund Business Plan for 2023/24. A key part of the discussion was about the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV). The LCIV is a pooled investment vehicle for local authority pension funds, and Newham is one of its investors.

The Committee heard that the LCIV is planning to launch a number of new funds in 2024, including a Nature Based Solutions Fund, a Private Debt II Fund, a Global Equity Value Fund, an Indirect Property Pooling Fund, and a UK Housing Fund. The Committee also heard that the LCIV had achieved £2.4m in annual savings in 2023, which are passed on to investors.

Finally, the Committee discussed the Economic Activities of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill ([EAPB (OM)]), which is currently going through Parliament. The Bill would give the government new powers to direct Local Government Pension Scheme funds to divest from companies for reasons relating to the activities of foreign governments. Members of the committee requested more information on the potential impacts of this legislation. The meeting heard that the Fund’s Officers and the Scheme Investment Adviser would continue to monitor developments.

Action Point: More information was requested on this legislation and whether new decisions could affect the fund investments retrospectively. The legal officer would bring updates back to the Committee on this.

Council - Monday 22 July 2024

The Council discussed the return of planning powers from the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) to Newham Council, and voted in favour of the Mayor's recommendations on how to achieve this. The Council also approved the appointment of Rachel McCoy as the Council's Monitoring Officer, and the appointment of two new political assistants to work with the directly-elected Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday 23 July 2024

No transcript is currently available for this meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

This week, Newham Council held four meetings: the Audit Committee, the Local Development Committee on Wednesday 17 July 2024, the Strategic Development Committee and the Cabinet on Tuesday 16 July 2024. The Audit Committee accepted the external auditor's disclaimer of opinion on the Council’s 2022/23 accounts. The Local Development Committee granted planning permission for a range of new buildings and a change of use at a building on Green Street. The Strategic Development Committee considered plans for a new Mosque and Islamic Centre, a new hotel and the continued use of the Roof East leisure facility. The Cabinet discussed plans to make Stratford High Street safer, and made a series of decisions to address the Borough's social housing and homelessness challenges.

Audit Committee expresses concern over national audit backlog

At their meeting on Wednesday 17 July 2024 (Audit Committee, 17 July 2024), the Audit Committee accepted a disclaimer of opinion on the Council’s 2022/23 accounts from the Council's external auditors Ernst & Young LLP. A disclaimer of opinion is issued when the auditor is unable to form an opinion on the financial statements.

A similar situation arose in Croydon in 2020. In that instance, the external auditors Grant Thornton issued a disclaimer of opinion in respect of Croydon's 2019/20 accounts, citing a number of serious concerns. These concerns related to the council's financial management, governance and record-keeping.

This is a highly unusual step to be taken but reflected the exceptional national situation and was not a commentary on Newham.

Ernst & Young, Audit Committee, 17 July 2024

The Committee were advised by officers and by Ernst & Young that there was a national backlog of audits. The Government had, before the General Election was called, proposed a ‘reset’ process which would involve amending the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015. The outcome of the proposed changes had been paused due to the election.

This is the second consecutive year in which Newham Council has received a qualified audit opinion. In March 2023, the then external auditors Mazars issued a ‘limited assurance’ opinion on the Council’s compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR). The Audit Committee were provided with an Annual Report on GDPR at this week's meeting.

The Committee noted that good progress is being made by the Council in addressing the 48 recommendations from Mazars' audit. It was noted that the number of open recommendations has been reduced to 17. The Committee also considered and accepted proposals to increase resources within the Information Governance Team, in particular to create a new role of Corporate Records Manager.

Strategic Development Committee considers new Mosque and Islamic Centre on Barking Road

At their meeting on Tuesday 16 July 2024 (Strategic Development Committee, 16 July 2024), Newham Council’s Strategic Development Committee voted to grant planning permission for the construction of a new Mosque and Islamic Centre on Barking Road.

The application for the site at 295-297 Barking Road seeks permission to demolish the existing buildings and erect a new five storey building, containing:

• A new Masjid Bilal & Islamic Centre on the ground, first, second and third floors, with dedicated spaces for men and women, as well as classrooms and a lecture hall.
• An ancillary retail unit (Use Class E) on the ground floor.
• Three 1 bedroom flats on the fourth floor.

Use Class E was introduced in September 2020, replacing Classes A1 (shops), A2 (financial and professional services) A3 (restaurants and cafes), B1 (business), D1 (non-residential institutions) and D2 (assembly and leisure).

The application has been under consideration since 2020 and has been amended during that time to replace a proposed gym with an extra residential unit, and to provide additional supporting documents.

The existing site contains a mosque, a minicab office, a cafe and a four bedroom flat. The application was the subject of extensive public consultation and received 246 messages of support and 2 objections. Most of the supporters referred to the need for an expanded mosque in the area. The two objectors raised concerns about the day to day management of the existing mosque.

The report concludes that the principle of development, including both the mosque and the residential units, would be acceptable, subject to the conditions and the completion of a Section 106 Agreement. The s106 Agreement will include financial contributions towards carbon offsetting, travel plan monitoring, employment and skills and highways improvement works. The agreement will also include measures to restrict the issue of parking permits for the residential units.

Cabinet approves plans to make Stratford High Street safer

Newham Council's Cabinet has approved plans to make Stratford High Street safer. The decision was made at a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday 16 July 2024 (Cabinet, 16 July 2024). The Cabinet considered proposals for the development of the Rex and the Bridge Road Island site in Stratford.

The Cabinet noted that fragmented ownership of the site had frustrated previous development opportunities. However, after negotiations facilitated by Populo Living Limited, a new opportunity has emerged to develop both sites.

The Cabinet approved plans to market the leasehold interest in the Rex Theatre for its continued future use as a cultural venue, and resolved to appropriate the land for planning purposes. In doing so, it noted the positive impact this would have on the regeneration of Stratford High Street.

Furthermore, the Cabinet:

• Approved entering into a conditional Development Agreement with Hollybrook (via its Special Purpose Vehicle Bridge Road Quarter Limited) to purchase private land and fund development of up to 179 homes at the Island site.
• Approved a budget of up to £88.2 million for the development of the Island Site.
• Approved the award and entering into a Development Management Services Agreement with Populo Design & Build Limited for a contract sum of up to £1.1 million to deliver the Island Site development.
• Approved payment of £5.6 million to Populo Design and Build Limited to cover costs incurred in operating the site for meanwhile use.

Local Development Committee considers new entrance for Essex Primary School

At their meeting on Wednesday 17 July 2024 (Local Development Committee, 17 July 2024), the Local Development Committee voted to grant planning permission for the construction of a new entrance extension at Essex Primary School.

The proposal would provide an enlarged reception area, a new disabled toilet, and a canopy. The application was submitted by Newham Council and supported by officers, who concluded that it would:

improve the accessibility and safety of students, staff and visitors.

Essex Primary School planning report, Local Development Committee, 17 July 2024

Cabinet agrees to lease 300 properties to help address homelessness

Newham Council's Cabinet has agreed to lease up to 300 properties through Chalkhill Partners Ltd to help the Council reduce its reliance on temporary accommodation. The decision was made at a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday 16 July 2024.

The Cabinet noted that the properties will be sub-leased to a third-party housing organisation and let to homeless families at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

The Cabinet noted that if the sub-lease arrangements necessitate their classification as finance leases under IFRS-16, the scheme will not proceed as it would not be financially viable.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the Council has taken steps to procure temporary accommodation in this way. In June 2024, the Council agreed to purchase 62 residential units within the Merchants Yard development in the London Borough of Havering. These units will also be let at LHA rates and market rents to Newham residents.

At that time, the Cabinet noted that:

The Council is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing in the borough and will continue to explore all opportunities to achieve this.

Cabinet, 18 June 2024

The decision to lease the properties from Chalkhill Partners Ltd was made in response to the increasing demand for temporary accommodation in Newham. The number of households in temporary accommodation in Newham has been rising in recent years. At the end of March 2024, there were 6,464 households in temporary accommodation in Newham. This is up from 5,861 households at the end of March 2023.

The Council has attributed the increase in demand for temporary accommodation to a number of factors, including the rising cost of living, the shortage of affordable housing in London, and the increase in the number of people being evicted from their homes.

Strategic Development Committee considers new hotel at London City Airport

Newham Council's Strategic Development Committee has granted planning permission for the construction of a new hotel at London City Airport. The decision was made at a meeting of the committee on Tuesday 16 July 2024.

The outline planning application for London City Airport seeks permission for the construction of a new hotel on the site of a current long stay car park.

The proposal would be a standalone building with a maximum footprint of 48m x 48m and a height of between 29m and 35m. It is estimated that it will contain 280 rooms.

The Committee report notes that this application renews a previously approved outline permission, which is due to lapse in July 2024.

The application is recommended for approval subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement and numerous conditions.

The s106 Agreement will include financial contributions towards education for young people during the construction phase, local labour, carbon offsetting, travel plan monitoring, car parking permit monitoring and environmental monitoring. The conditions attached to the application include requirements to submit reserved matters, as well as numerous conditions relating to ground conditions, drainage, transport and safeguarding.

The latter were recommended in a consultation response from London City Airport itself. The Airport noted:

Potential to conflict with safeguarding criteria.

London City Airport, Strategic Development Committee, 16 July 2024

This was not elaborated on in the document, and the safeguarding issues are not discussed in the report. However the report accepts that the airport operates independently from the planning authority to ensure safeguarding measures are implemented.

Strategic Development Committee grants permission for continued use of Roof East

At their meeting on Tuesday 16 July 2024, Newham Council's Strategic Development Committee voted to grant permanent permission to continue use of levels 7 and 8 of the Stratford Centre multi-storey car park as an urban park with a bar, cinema and other leisure uses. The facility is operated by Roof East.

The facility has been operating under temporary permissions since 2014. It is leased to the current operators until October 2027.

The application received 3 letters of support, all of which stated that the use was an asset to the local community. The application was not opposed by any members of the public.

The Committee report notes that National Planning Practice Guidance:

states (para 014) that ‘it will rarely be justifiable to grant a second temporary permission’.

National Planning Practice Guidance

However it goes on to conclude that:

Approving the application as a permanent permission would avoid bad practice of granting many temporary permissions.

Stratford Centre Multi-Storey Car Park planning report, Strategic Development Committee, 16 July 2024

This is not the first time that the Council has taken this approach. In March 2023, the Council granted permanent permission for the use of a site on Stratford High Street as a street food market. The site had been operating under temporary permissions since 2017.

The application is recommended for approval subject to conditions relating to permitted hours of use, amplified music and waste storage.

Newham Council agreed to increase the budget for the construction of two affordable housing developments by a total of £3.7 million this week. The developments at Bramall Close and Idmiston Road will provide 73 new homes at social rent levels. The decision was made necessary by unforeseen costs related to fire safety improvements and the discovery of asbestos. The Council also agreed to two contract variations for the Affordable Homes for Newham programme, one for the purchase of 17 new homes at the Leather Gardens development and another for an increase in costs associated with the construction of 117 homes at the Sutton Road development.

This week, Newham Council held five meetings: the Newham Pensions Board and the Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee on Monday 8 July 2024, the Health and Wellbeing Board on Wednesday 10 July 2024, and two Officer Key Decision meetings on Monday 8 July 2024 and Friday 12 July 2024.

Affordable Homes for Newham Programme

The first Officer Key Decision meeting (Officer Key Decision, 8 July 2024) concerned the Affordable Homes for Newham programme. The meeting considered a report outlining the need for two contract variations: one relating to the Leather Gardens development in Stratford, and another relating to the Sutton Road development in Plaistow. The report explained that significant changes in market conditions had occurred since the contracts were let, largely driven by the effects of the pandemic and the current geopolitical situation, resulting in a sharp rise in inflation and increased material and labour costs.

The Leather Gardens variation relates to 17 units that were originally scheduled to be sold on the open market by the developer, Countryside Properties. The variation will see the council purchase the units from the developer for £6.1m, in line with the terms of the existing contract.

Since the contracts were let, there have been significant changes in market conditions, largely driven by the latent effects of the pandemic and the current geopolitical situation. This has included a sharp rise in inflation, and increased material and labour costs.

Affordable Homes for Newham Programme Contract Variations report, Officer Key Decision, 8 July 2024

The Sutton Road contract variation relates to an increase in the costs associated with the construction of 117 homes¹ on the site. The total cost of the development is now estimated at £61.3m, representing an increase of £9.8m on the original budget.

The Sutton Road contract variation is required to address the increase in cost for the development of 117 homes. The original contract sum was £51.5m, this has now increased to £61.3m.

Affordable Homes for Newham Programme Contract Variations report, Officer Key Decision, 8 July 2024

The report attributes the cost increase to several factors, including increases in material costs, the need for additional fire safety measures following the Grenfell Tower fire, and increased costs associated with groundworks and utilities. The report also explained that 76 of the homes at Sutton Road would be made available at London Affordable Rent, while 41 would be offered for shared ownership.

Bramall Close and Idmiston Road Affordable Housing Developments

The second Officer Key Decision meeting (Officer Key Decision, 12 July 2024) concerned budget increases for two affordable housing developments at Bramall Close and Idmiston Road. These developments will provide 73 new homes at social rent levels², addressing the pressing need for affordable housing in the borough.

The original contract for the developments, agreed in July 2021, was for £30.6 million. However, unforeseen circumstances have led to significant cost increases.

The estimated final costs for the schemes are now £32.5m for Bramall Close and £10.8m for Idmiston Road.

This represents a combined increase of £3.7 million.

The majority of the cost increase (£2.8 million) is attributed to fire safety improvements. These improvements go beyond those initially specified in the contract and are necessary to comply with the latest fire safety regulations and guidance, including those stemming from the Grenfell Tower fire.

In addition, the discovery of asbestos at the Bramall Close site has added a further £0.7 million to the costs. The report notes that these costs could not have been anticipated:

The presence of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) at Bramall Close was confirmed during intrusive surveys.

Bramall Close and Idmiston Road Affordable Housing report, Officer Key Decision, 12 July 2024

These unforeseen circumstances have created a funding gap in the budget for the developments, necessitating the requested budget increase.

The report argued that the budget increases represented good value for money despite the unforeseen costs. The report cited the urgent need for affordable housing in the borough as justification for the additional expenditure.

Failure to approve the requested budget variations is likely to result in significant delays to the delivery of the schemes.

Bramall Close and Idmiston Road Affordable Housing report, Officer Key Decision, 12 July 2024

This delay would not only impact the 73 families in need of affordable housing but also result in wasted expenditure. The council has already spent £13.2 million on the Bramall Close development and £3.4 million on the Idmiston Road development. Any delays would likely result in increased costs due to inflation and the need to potentially re-tender elements of the works.

The decision to increase the budget was made in line with the council’s commitment to providing affordable housing and its statutory duty to ensure the safety of its residents.

Newham Pensions Board

The Newham Pensions Board met to discuss the recent performance of the Newham Pension Fund. The board noted the submitted reports but no decisions were made during the meeting.

Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee

The Chief Officer Appointments Sub-Committee met to discuss the appointment of a new Director of Education and Inclusion. The Sub-Committee agreed the job description for the role and that it would be advertised on the local government jobs website.

Health and Wellbeing Board

The transcript for the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on 10 July 2024 is not yet available.

The Newham Council held two meetings this week, with the Newham Schools Forum convening on Monday 1 July 2024, and the Budget Scrutiny Commission 2024 meeting on Wednesday 3 July 2024. No decisions were made at either meeting. The transcript for the Budget Scrutiny Commission 2024 is currently unavailable.

Newham Schools Forum

The Newham Schools Forum advises the Council on the planning, provision, and funding of education for children and young people aged 0-19. The forum, which must meet at least three times per year, is made up of elected councillors, school representatives from maintained schools and academies, and representatives from early years settings.

This week's meeting of the Newham Schools Forum discussed the Schools Block funding, which is the main source of funding for schools in England, the budget for the Schools Forum itself, and the work of the Schools Financial Assessments Team.

Schools Block Funding

The Schools Forum discussed the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) settlement for the 2025/26 financial year. The DSG is allocated by the Government to local authorities, who then distribute it to schools in their area. In the report prepared for the forum, officers noted that:

The purpose of this report is to provide Schools Forum members with a high level overview of the national funding changes for 2025-26 and the potential impact this may have on the local funding formula.

The report stated that the Government has announced a 2% increase in school funding for 2025/26, which represents an increase of £906 million on the 2024/25 budget.

The forum discussed how to ensure that the extra funding was distributed fairly and transparently. There was a debate about the best way to allocate the funding to schools, with some members arguing that it should be distributed based on need, while others argued that it should be distributed based on pupil numbers. This reflects the diverse needs of Newham's schools, with some facing significant challenges due to deprivation and social disadvantage. The forum agreed to continue this discussion at its next meeting.

Schools Forum Budget

The Schools Forum considered a report on its own budget, which was noted at £35,000. The report detailed how the budget is allocated to support the work of the Schools Forum in fulfilling its statutory duties. This includes providing training for forum members, funding independent research and advice, and covering the costs of meetings.

The forum discussed the budget for the 2024/25 financial year and agreed to carry it forward to the next meeting.

Schools Financial Assessments Team

The Schools Forum received a report from the Schools Financial Assessments Team, which detailed the work they had undertaken to support schools in Newham. This work included providing financial advice and support to schools, as well as carrying out financial assessments of schools. The Schools Financial Assessments team is part of the OneSource service, a joint venture between Newham Council and Havering Council that delivers a range of back-office services to both councils.

The forum praised the work of the Schools Financial Assessments Team and commended their dedication and professionalism.

This week, Newham Council held three meetings: a Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Tuesday 25 June 2024, an Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 26 June 2024, and another Officer Key Decision meeting on the same day. The Licensing Sub-Committee meeting was postponed, so no decisions were made.

Romford Road (South) Scheme Progression

The first Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 26 June 2024 authorised the progression of designs for the Romford Road (South) scheme to the detailed design stage. This decision follows a period of public consultation and an equality impact assessment.

Public Consultation and Community Feedback

The public consultation, conducted between February and March 2024, received 395 responses from local residents and businesses. The feedback indicated broad support for the proposals but highlighted concerns about the loss of parking spaces:

Whilst the main aspects of the proposals are generally supported, there are concerns around the removal of parking. This is particularly felt by residents in the area, who rely on on-street parking and are concerned about the impact on them, should the proposals be implemented as they are.

Equality Impact Assessment

An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was also considered. EQIAs systematically identify and assess the potential positive and negative impacts of policies on different groups. The assessment found that the proposals would likely benefit people with disabilities by making the road more accessible. However, it also noted potential negative impacts on individuals with caring responsibilities due to reduced parking availability.

The meeting concluded with the decision to progress the scheme to the detailed design stage, with a request for officers to consider ways to mitigate the loss of parking.

Romford Road (A118) Improvement Scheme, Section B-South

The second Officer Key Decision meeting on Wednesday 26 June 2024 decided to proceed with the next stage of the Romford Road (A118) improvement scheme between Water Lane and Radlett Close.

Scheme Objectives and Support

The scheme aims to enhance the experience of road users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists, and aligns with the Mayor of London's Vision Zero strategy to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries by 2041. Supported by the council's own policies, including the Newham Climate Emergency Action Plan and Local Implementation Plan 3, the scheme also aims to reduce car use, improve air quality, and enhance the public realm.

Public Consultation and Concerns

A public consultation conducted from February 27 to March 24, 2024, revealed concerns about the scheme's impact on traffic flow and congestion. The report noted that traffic modelling accounted for changes in travel behaviour and concluded that the scheme's impact on traffic flow would be minimal.

Equality Impact Assessment

The Equality Impact Assessment found that the scheme would likely have positive effects on people with disabilities and older adults by improving walkability and cycling facilities. However, it also noted potential negative impacts on low-income groups due to increased journey times and costs. Mitigation measures were proposed to address these issues.

The committee voted to proceed with the next stage of the project, which involves developing the detailed design.

Local Development Committee Decisions

The Local Development Committee met on Tuesday 25 June 2024 to consider two planning applications, granting one and refusing the other.

Planning Application 23.02102.FUL Land Adjacent 128 Forest View Road

The application to build a three-storey building with four flats on land adjacent to 128 Forest View Road, London E15 was refused. The refusal was based on the design being out of character with the local area and the overdevelopment of the site:

The layout, scale and massing of the proposed development would result in an incongruous form of development that would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the host dwellinghouse and the surrounding area.

From the 23.02102.FUL - Forest View Road - Consolidated Report

Planning Application 24.00394.LA3 Land at and South of Castle Point, 111-133 High Street Stratford, London, E15

The application to alter the public realm around the base of the Castle Point tower block was approved. The proposal includes replacing existing trees with larger ones, introducing new seating areas, planters, and lighting to reduce anti-social behaviour and increase biodiversity:

Although there will be a reduction in the overall number of trees on the site, this is offset by the significant ecological benefits derived from the introduction of large, mature trees, which will enhance the biodiversity value of the site significantly.

From the 24.00394.LA3 - Castle Point - Consolidated Report

These meetings highlight the Council's ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure, address community concerns, and ensure sustainable development in Newham.

The Newham Council held five meetings this week, including Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meetings on Tuesday and Thursday, a Strategic Development Committee meeting, a SACRE meeting, and an Audit Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Licensing Decisions

The Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee made several decisions regarding licensing applications and reviews at their meetings on Tuesday (Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee, 18 June 2024) and Thursday (Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee, 20 June 2024). Notably, they approved a new premises licence for a restaurant in Stratford and revoked the licence of a nightclub in Canning Town due to repeated breaches of licensing conditions. The committee also reviewed current licensing policies, aiming to adapt them to the evolving needs of the borough and prioritize resident satisfaction and safety.

This echoes similar discussions in the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on 13 June 2024, where concerns about noise and disturbance were raised by residents regarding an application for a new Premises Licence for The Golden Fleece, 721-723 Barking Road, London E13 9PJ. In that instance, the applicant's legal representative outlined mitigation strategies.

The Thursday meeting focused on the application for Pier One, a restaurant and bar also located in Canning Town. The application sought permission for late-night alcohol service and live entertainment, sparking objections from residents concerned about potential noise and anti-social behaviour. The committee's decision to grant the licence with specific conditions, including soundproofing, security measures, and restricted live entertainment hours, reflects their commitment to balancing business interests with community well-being.

These decisions highlight the crucial role of the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee in regulating businesses selling alcohol and providing entertainment, with an emphasis on upholding licensing objectives that protect children from harm, prevent crime and disorder, ensure public safety, prevent public nuisance, and promote public health.

Strategic Development Committee Rejects Abbey House Redevelopment

The Strategic Development Committee (Strategic Development Committee, 18 June 2024) refused planning permission for the redevelopment of Abbey House, Bakers Row, Stratford, citing several concerns, including the lack of affordable housing provision and potential harm to the historical character of the area. The proposed development, which included the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of a new structure with 72 residential units, drew criticism for its design, which was deemed incompatible with the local architectural style.

This decision aligns with the Council's commitment to preserving the borough's heritage and ensuring that new developments contribute positively to the existing urban fabric. This echoes similar discussions during the Local Development Committee meeting on 29 May 2024, where an application for development at land at the rear of 593-601, High Road Leytonstone E11 4PA was refused due to concerns about design and the lack of affordable housing. The committee's decision reflects the importance placed on design quality and the provision of affordable housing in new developments.

SACRE Emphasizes Inclusive Religious Education

The SACRE meeting (SACRE, 19 June 2024) focused on enhancing religious education (RE) in Newham schools. The committee reviewed the Ofsted Deep Dive RE Report for Newham, acknowledging the need for improved teacher training and the inclusion of diverse religious perspectives within the curriculum.

ensuring that RE is inclusive and reflective of our diverse community.

Councillor, SACRE meeting 19 June 2024

The committee adopted priorities for 2023-24, aiming to make RE more relevant and engaging for students. The discussion of an article from the Church Times, advocating for a deeper and more reflective approach to teaching RE, underscores the committee's commitment to fostering understanding and respect for different beliefs in a multicultural society.

Audit Committee Focuses on Accountability and Transparency

The Audit Committee (Audit Committee, 19 June 2024) convened to scrutinize the Council's financial activities and hold leadership accountable for financial management. Discussions covered the Affordable Homes for Newham contract variation, cyber security measures, and the Year Ahead Forward Plan.

The committee's decision to extend the meeting and exclude the press and public for specific agenda items, as permitted under the Local Government Act 1972, highlights their commitment to safeguarding sensitive information while ensuring thorough scrutiny of the Council's operations. This commitment to transparency and accountability is crucial for maintaining public trust.

Conclusion

These meetings provide a glimpse into the diverse responsibilities of the Newham Council, ranging from regulating businesses and managing development to ensuring inclusive education and scrutinizing financial practices. The Council's commitment to transparency, accountability, and community engagement is evident in their approach to these responsibilities.

This week, Newham Council held two meetings: a Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee meeting on Thursday 13 June 2024 and an Officer Key Decision meeting on Friday 14 June 2024. No transcript is yet available for the Officer Key Decision meeting.

Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee

This week's meeting of the Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee considered an application for a new Premises Licence for The Golden Fleece, 721-723 Barking Road, London E13 9PJ.

The applicant sought permission for the following licensable activities:

• The sale by retail of alcohol
• The provision of late night refreshment
• The provision of regulated entertainment

The applicant also sought permission for the following opening hours:

• Sunday to Thursday 10:00 to 00:00
• Friday to Saturday 10:00 to 01:00

The Sub-Committee heard representations from the applicant and their legal representative, as well as from a number of interested parties, including local residents and businesses.

Some residents expressed concerns about the potential for noise and disturbance, particularly late at night.

As residents, we have concerns about the noise. That was a massive problem. That is why this pub was closed. Because of all the disturbances of the residents in the early hours of the morning.

Local resident, Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee, 13 June 2024

The applicant's legal representative responded to these concerns by outlining the steps that the applicant would take to mitigate noise and disturbance, including the installation of noise-limiting equipment and the implementation of a dispersal policy.

We have taken into account all of our neighbours' concerns and that's why we have decided to reduce our hours and also come up with very good conditions.

Applicant's legal representative, Licensing (2003 Act) Sub-Committee, 13 June 2024

After hearing all of the representations, the Sub-Committee retired to consider its decision. The Sub-Committee's decision will be made available within 5 working days.

This week, Newham Council held three meetings: The Newham Pensions Board on Monday 3 June 2024, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 4 June 2024, and Cabinet on the same day. We do not yet have transcripts for the Newham Pensions Board or the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings.

Cabinet

At this week's meeting of Cabinet, the Mayor announced the appointment of Councillor Sarah Ruiz as Statutory Deputy Mayor and Councillor Madeleine Sokolovic as Deputy Cabinet Member to support Councillor Ruiz's Children and Young People's work.

I was really pleased to announce last week that I was appointing Councillor Seraroos as the statutory deputy mayor. And I wanted to formally welcome her in that role in this meeting of Cabinet and the congratulations. And also pleased to appoint Cabinet Councillor Madeleine Solly Pointin as Deputy Cabinet Member to support Seraroos Children and Young People's Works. So welcome to your first meeting of Cabinet.

The Mayor, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Councillor James Asser has stepped down from the Council. The Mayor thanked Councillor Asser for his service.

I also wanted to play some record and I'm sure everyone here and more broadly would wish former Councillor James asked the best in his featuring moves and wanted to note with thanks and gratitude for his contributions to the administration, our work both towards building a fairer Newham and all the work that he's done within his environment and sustainable transport portfolio. I'm sure all of us will be missing him.

The Mayor, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Right Care Right Person

The Cabinet discussed the Metropolitan Police Service's 'Right Care Right Person' policy, which seeks to reduce the number of mental health-related calls that the police respond to by diverting those calls to more appropriate agencies. This policy has been in place in the London Borough of Newham since October 2023. Scrutiny had previously raised concerns about the potential impact of this policy on the borough, given its demographics and high levels of poor mental health.

Councillor Neil Wilson, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, highlighted that, despite Newham Council having no direct role in its implementation, the policy impacts many areas of Council work, including Adult Social Care, Community Safety, and the Council's Well-Being duty. The Well-Being duty is a legal requirement for local authorities in England and Wales to improve the well-being of their communities. It is enshrined in the Local Government Act 2010, which gives local authorities a broad range of powers to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas.

Councillor Susan Masters, Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission, presented Scrutiny's findings, noting a significant decrease in police deployments for mental health related incidents.

As in Humberside, where the strategy was first employed, what we’ve seen is a huge drop in police deployments. Between October and November, the numbers dropped from 12,639 deployments down to 7,760.

Councillor Masters, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

However, Councillor Masters also raised concerns about the lack of data on what happens to people who are referred to alternative support services and emphasised Scrutiny's intention to continue advocating for better quality oversight as the strategy progresses.

What had turned us, however, as a committee, was the lack of monitoring of cases where the police had not been deployed. While those with lived experience of mental health crises are involved in police training processes, there seemed to be no attempt to track the experience of those who are no longer being deployed to anywhere in the system. What data has been captured is purely London-wide, with no breakdown by borough or analysis for demographics. All the figures recorded are just the proportion of mental health-related calls to the police that have led to a deployment.

Councillor Masters, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Local Plan

The Cabinet also discussed the new Local Plan. The Local Plan is a document that sets out how the borough will develop over the next 15 years. It includes policies on a range of issues, including housing, employment, transport, and the environment.

The current Local Plan was adopted in 2018. At the time, the then newly elected Mayor announced that a review would be undertaken. This review process began in December 2018 with evidence-gathering, consultations, and analysis of data about the borough. Following the publication of the London Plan in 2021, the Council began working towards the production of a new Local Plan.

This culminated in the publication of the Regulation 18 'Issues and Options' version of the Local Plan in October 2022, which was followed by a period of engagement with residents and stakeholders to gather feedback and suggestions.

And in October 2020, well be those members of the cabinet, you’ll recall that we endorsed the issues and options document which set out detailed engagement with residents selected members and local stakeholders and through that extensive engagement we’ve gathered a diverse range of views and aspirations that have then informed the regulation 19 version and we also engaged as valid partners our scrutiny colleagues, so thank you very much once again for that.

The Mayor, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

The Regulation 19 version of the Local Plan, discussed at this week's meeting, builds on the Issues and Options document and represents a significant step towards the publication of a final version.

Councillor Terry Paul, Chair of the Local Plan Scrutiny Commission, thanked the Council officers for their work on the Local Plan and expressed his support for it.

Each meeting that's back in the last year, we’ve got the local plan document which government has released together in Newham, and we conducted a very short, discreet and focused piece of work in understanding the participation of the local plan in the lives of residents. We looked at affordable housing, the housing needs of residents, our student accommodation, place-based, places of worship, climate resilience and flood protection. In Newham, the plan does play a role in maintaining an environmental and livable community, and we felt it wasn’t important to make some recommendations, which helped, and it’s obviously amplified from the desks of the mayor and the executive act to make the plan even better than what it is.

Councillor Paul, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

The Mayor highlighted some of the key policies and outcomes in the Plan, such as the target of delivering between 51,425 and 53,784 new homes by 2038, with a target of 50% social rent per site, a policy requiring new developments to reduce energy use and generate on-site solar energy, with a particular emphasis on embodied carbon, which is the carbon emitted during the manufacturing and transportation of building materials and products, and the allocation of land for 7 new schools.

Councillors also discussed a number of other issues relating to the Local Plan, such as the need for more burial space, the importance of engaging with faith groups, and the need for more family homes.

Cabinet approved the Draft Submission Local Plan (Regulation 19) for publication and public consultation. The consultation is expected to begin in July 2024 and run for an extended period of eight weeks to account for the upcoming general election.

Joint Waste Plan

Cabinet also discussed the draft Joint Waste Plan, which has been prepared by the East London Waste Authority in conjunction with the Councils of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge. The plan sets out how the four boroughs will manage their waste over the next 15 years.

Councillor John Whitworth, Cabinet Member for Climate and Sustainable Transport, said that the plan was important for achieving the council's environmental goals.

The joint waste plan ensures it reflects up-to-date strategic objectives including sustainable waste management and climate goals in line with our just transition action plan.

Councillor Whitworth, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Cabinet approved the draft Joint Waste Plan (Regulation 18) for publication and public consultation, which is expected to begin in September 2024.

Merchant's Yard

Cabinet approved the acquisition of 62 units of temporary accommodation at Merchant's Yard in the London Borough of Havering. Councillor Zafran Ali, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Modernisation, said that the purchase was necessary to meet the increasing demand for temporary accommodation in the borough.

This report seeks approval of the Cabinet to purchase a freehold interest in a 62-unit scheme at Merchant's Yard, and that is based in North Street, Romford, in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned by a developer, IP Global, who are reputable. All units are being built to high quality standards and specification, and incorporate high energy efficiency standards with high EPC, and most of these units have amenity space.

Councillor Ali, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Councillor Shaban Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, highlighted the financial benefits of the scheme, noting that the purchase price delivers value for money with an internal rate of return of 7.7% against a cost of capital of 5.5%.

The proposed purchase is 62 units as I said, 19 of which are one-bed, 39 two-bed, and 4 of them are three-bedrooms. I would like to say to you that we do recognise that they need for larger properties to meet the demands and this is something that we’re always conscious of so that we can maximise any opportunity where possible, however, the TA costs are having a substantial impact and there’s also an ongoing need for one-bedroom and two-bedroom. Therefore, anything we can get is beneficial in order to reduce the cost and that’s what we’re doing, but we will be, we are continuing to be vigilant in terms of making sure that we get larger property and we’ll do those as we are. Purchasing this involved, we are getting some commercial discount, and I’m pleased to say that we have undertaken a formal evaluation that has also demonstrated that the purchase price delivers value for money and it is, it’s giving good return in terms of the 50-year investment in terms of cash flow as well as delivering a sort of 7.7 as you will note in the report, internal rate of return, which is higher than the cost of capital which is currently 5.5%. So this does demonstrate that the investment is financially viable.

Councillor Ahmed, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Peer Road

Cabinet approved the entering into of a Unilateral Undertaking by the Council in relation to two housing developments at Peer Road.

This is a formal request for approval to enter into a unilateral undertaking, which is, um, um, developed often when the Council and an organization, usually, always the Council really, but the development planning authority, former approval to get that into that agreement the costs of entering into that agreement, which is the legal costs, including the viability. Therefore, this comes, we've already made the financial decision to do that. Um, and the contribution to the developments of um, the homes, new affordable homes, for one and four, two, two. They also include the viability and assessments for the approach of the scheme. So that's straightforward as the place to enter into the unilateral undertaking of the elements schemes can proceed.

Councillor Paul, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

A Unilateral Undertaking is a legally binding agreement between a local planning authority, like Newham Council, and a developer. It is often used to secure financial contributions from developers towards infrastructure and other community benefits that are required as a result of a new development.

Royal Victoria Dock

Following a request, the Cabinet agreed to move into a closed session to discuss the Royal Victoria Dock.

Could I propose that we take this item in private?

Councillor not identified in the transcript, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

When a Council moves into a closed session it is usually because they are about to discuss information that is confidential. Common reasons for this include commercial sensitivity, information relating to ongoing legal proceedings, and some types of personal data.

Optimising Resident Independence Through Social Care

Following the closed session, Cabinet discussed a report on optimising resident independence through social care.

Councillor Wilson began by outlining the successes of the current adult social care framework, noting that Newham performs significantly better than both the English average and its statistical neighbours in terms of keeping residents at home.

"The current adult social care framework of enabling our home care has been very successful, as outlined in my report which you can read. We are very good at keeping our residents at home with 11% better than the England average. We’re 15% better than our nearest statistical neighbours in this, and we’re spending £4.9 million less per annum than the median average of our nearest principal authority.

Councillor Wilson, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

He went on to highlight the contribution that the adult social care sector makes to the local economy, and pointed out that the Council's Trusted Assessor model has been very successful at identifying residents' needs.

However, he also acknowledged that there is always room for improvement, and set out proposals for enhancing the current model, including the introduction of a dedicated reablement lot, which will provide intensive support to help people regain their independence after a period of illness or disability, and an all-age lot to help ensure a smooth transition from children's to adult social care services.

And the proposals in this paper aim to enhance on that success by making subtle changes to the model and the proposal to operate a dedicated reablement lot, in other words, making certain that there’s reablement, this isn’t even more of a reality, and to have an all-aged lot working towards the cabinet, I think, to have an all-aged approach to disability and to name the independence and their two-aged lots, the specialist ones plus reserve, will enable residents to receive a consistent service from a child to adult.

Councillor Wilson, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

The Cabinet also discussed the need to ensure that social care services are of a consistently high quality across the borough. Councillor Cannon, representing Royal Docks ward, raised concerns about ensuring that services delivered in her ward are of the same quality as those in other parts of Newham.

But I’ve lived in Newham all my life, and our family has been the recipient of care, one way or another, over the years, um, which has not always been a consistent quality. So I would like to ask how we are going to ensure that quality is maintained in this, uh, venture, and also how can we ensure equity in all parts of the borough? Royal Docks is an island, which, so often, people forget it falls off. Um, and uh, I’d like to feel that our residents there will be sure of equally good quality.

Councillor Cannon, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

Councillor Sokolovic, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, welcomed the proposals, highlighting the positive impact on children and young people with social care needs.

"This is, um, really uh, an interesting development for us. You’ll think that we think, most times, people assume that home care is only around older people for an actual fact, a significant number of children and families receive home care support. By working together on this, it will, will mean that actually the um, transition from children’s into adults will hopefully become smoother. Um, because sometimes, when you drop off the edge of a gauge, 24, 25, you can get up quick enough. So um, I, i mean, we in children’s services really welcome this um, and look, you know, we can only work together to improve the services that we’re offering to our children and families.

Councillor Sokolovic, Cabinet, 4 June 2024

The report outlined six recommendations, all of which were approved.

Cabinet approved the procurement of a new multi-category Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for social care assessments, a framework agreement that allows the Council to purchase services from a pre-approved list of suppliers. They also approved the delegation of authority to the Corporate Director for Health and Adult Social Care to appoint providers to the DPS.

They also agreed to extend the current Children and Young People’s Services DPS for home care until 11 July 2025 and to procure a new all-age Dynamic Purchasing System. This will replace the existing adult and children’s DPSs and will be in place for an initial term of 4 years, with the option to extend for a further 4 years. The estimated annual value of the DPS is £31.8 million.

Finally, Cabinet approved the transfer of £500,000 from the budget for the implementation of the London Living Wage to Children and Young People's Services to enable the adult in-house Integrated Lifestyle Service Support (ILSS) rate to be paid to providers awarded an all-age contract. This will help to ensure that all social care providers in the borough are paying their staff a fair wage.

These decisions reflect the Council's commitment to providing high-quality social care services to residents of all ages.

This week, Newham Council held two meetings: the Local Development Committee on Wednesday 29 May 2024, and an Officer Key Decision meeting on Tuesday 28 May 2024. No transcript is yet available for the Officer Key Decision meeting.

Local Development Committee

The Local Development Committee is responsible for making decisions on planning applications in the borough. These decisions are made in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, which sets out the government's planning policies for England, and the London Plan, which sets out the Mayor of London's policies for the capital.

At this week's meeting, the committee considered four planning applications.

Development at land at rear of 593-601, High Road Leytonstone E11 4PA

This application sought permission to demolish an existing building and construct a five-storey building comprising 8 self-contained flats, with associated landscaping, cycle storage, refuse and recycling facilities.

Councillors raised concerns about the design of the building, arguing that it was out of keeping with the surrounding area. They also raised concerns about the lack of affordable housing in the development.

This is a very prominent site. I think it's important that we get the design right. I'm not convinced that this application does that. I'm also concerned about the lack of affordable housing. We need to be doing everything we can to provide affordable homes in the borough.

Councillor Harvey, Local Development Committee, 29 May 2024

After a lengthy discussion, the committee voted to refuse the application on the grounds of its design and lack of affordable housing. This reflects the council's commitment to ensuring that new developments are of a high quality and meet the needs of the community as outlined in its Local Plan. The Local Plan is a document that sets out how the borough will develop over the next 15 years. It includes policies on a range of issues, including housing, employment, transport, and the environment.

Redevelopment at Former Texaco Petrol Filling Station, 148-152 Romford Road, Stratford, E15 4LY

This application sought permission for the demolition of the existing buildings and structures on the site (former petrol filling station) and redevelopment of the site to provide a building ranging from four to eight storeys plus basement. The proposed development would be a mixed use scheme comprising flexible commercial floorspace at ground and mezzanine floors (Use Class E) and 28 self-contained flats on the upper floors with associated refuse, recycling, cycle parking, plant and other ancillary facilities.

This application was approved.

Application for prior approval at 127 The Green, E13 9AP

This was an application for prior approval for a proposed single-storey rear extension projecting 6.0m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse, with a maximum height of 3.0m and a height of 2.7m to the eaves.

This application was approved.

Development at Land Adjacent 60 Maryland Square, Stratford, E15 1LN

The application sought permission to erect a single-storey modular building to provide a place of worship (D1 Use Class) with associated access, cycle parking and landscaping.

This application was approved.

This week, Newham Council held 5 meetings: an Officer Key Decision meeting, a Chief Officer Appointment Committee meeting, the Audit Committee, another Officer Key Decision meeting, and full Council.

Of these, we have transcripts for the Audit Committee only. The Audit Committee's role is to scrutinise the financial affairs of the council, and to hold the council's leadership to account for their management of the council's finances. As part of this scrutiny role, the Audit Committee receives regular reports on the financial health of the council, and on its progress in delivering value for money.

At this week's Audit Committee meeting, Councillors discussed the minutes of the previous meeting. There was some disagreement over the accuracy of the minutes, with Councillor HIGGIN raising two points of clarification. Firstly, Councillor HIGGIN clarified that the minutes did not accurately reflect their suggestion regarding the use of data from the estate ballot at Carpenters Estate.

On page 15, it says that a member suggested that data from the estate ballot in carpenters of say be reused to identify occupants. That isn't what was suggested. We suggested that data from that estate ballot be shared with the committee so that we could understand the likely amount of fraud that might be detected during tenancy audits, because a similar process would have had to take place for that estate ballot. It's not that data be reused to identify offenses that we wanted, that data, so that we could see what might happen in future tenancy audits.

Councillor HIGGIN, Audit Committee, 21 May 2024

Councillor HIGGIN's second point of clarification related to their statement about the 48 hours' notice given for tenancy audits.

Also on page 15, it says a member stated that 48 hours notice of a visit was unreasonably short for working people. I also mentioned that in the context of three repeat visits, causing a sanction and how that those visits had to be at different times to accommodate if they visit at the same time every week, three weeks in a row, that would be unfair, depending because they're still at work at the time. So it's just not a sufficient average of the point that I made.

Councillor HIGGIN, Audit Committee, 21 May 2024

The meeting then moved on to a discussion of the action log. Councillor HIGGIN noted that action item AC216 could be closed, and asked for an update on action item AC200.

And then I had a question about AC200. There's been two reminders then on that and I think we've received that still. I might be wrong about that.

Councillor HIGGIN, Audit Committee, 21 May 2024

The meeting concluded with a discussion of the year-ahead forward plan. Councillor HIGGIN asked for clarification on the inclusion of quarterly reports on the delivery of the savings programme.

The quarterly reports, I think we agreed at the last meeting that we would get quarterly reports on savings, on delivery of the savings program as agreed by cabinet that we could have that and it's not in this list.

Councillor HIGGIN, Audit Committee, 21 May 2024

The meeting then moved into a closed session to discuss confidential matters relating to cyber security and affordable housing.