It could be Worse. You Might Live in Tower Hamlets.

Various news sources have reported that the on-off mayor of Tower Hamlets is in trouble again. Not content with a ban for five years for “corrupt practices”, (what The Guardian summarises as “vote-rigging, buying votes and religious intimidation”), Lutfer Rahman has found himself in trouble again. In February 2024, government inspectors were despatched to Tower Hamlets because of problems.

They found a “toxic and secretive culture” … “with decision-making dominated by the inner circle of the local mayor”. It seems that the minister, Jim McMahon, noted that “many good managers had left the organisation as a result of ‘speaking truth to power’”. 

We can only be grateful that nothing like that has occurred in Newham.

The Guardian again reports, “While the inspectors found the council was trying to improve in some areas, it suffered from a “weak and confused” culture of scrutiny, where “due process is often treated as an obstacle to priorities rather than as a necessary check and balance”.”

We have every confidence that the Budget Scrutiny Commission will echo our relief that the Newham experience is nothing like the Tower Hamlets practice.  

We are struggling to recall what the Newham Peer-Review said, but we are sure that it was nothing like that. 

It seems that Tower Hamlets suffered from “a “suspicious and defensive” internal culture, heavily based around Rahman and a small group of allies, described to the inspectors as “toxic”.”

We can only say that it is a good job that Mayor Fiaz has the confidence of her colleagues and has built a broad coalition; we are confident that she is not unable to delegate and trust her colleagues and obviously, she would not seek to obfuscate and bully either her junior colleagues or staff.

In some areas, it seems,  the Tower Hamlets’ inspectors were “sceptical of the council’s capability to self-improve.” All we can say is that we are glad that Newham is a learning environment in which people at all levels are encouraged to speak freely and without any implied threat of retribution. The Newham spirit is clearly behind the remarkable successes that Newham has had in improved performance and budget management.