It therefore came as something of a surprise to learn that the Labour Party is contemplating the imminent suspension of the Newham Labour Group by way of putting the group into special measures.

The Housing Ombudsman has reported on the way in which councils handle housing complaints. This is the first report since a new Complaint Handling Code was strengthened by making it a statutory obligation.

Feedback from councils suggest that 92% of them find the code helpful in providing a consistent approach to complaint handling.

The report highlighted examples of good practice by some councils.

It also noted some failures.

It does seem that the mayor’s specially chosen councillors are hell-bent on embarrassing their leader. We understand that another councillor, this time Cllr Miraj Patel (Deputy Cabinet Member for the Environment) is the subject of a formal complaint.

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.

The question of Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz taking her own council to court has caused some amusement. We understand that it is being whispered within the council buildings that there is no tribunal case, (which suggests to us, that Fiaz intends to drop the matter), but we are confident in our original assertion.

We continue to dig into the story about Cllr Lewis Godfrey’s suspension from the Labour Party. We are confident in this assertion, although, he still appears on the council website (Nov 8^th 2024) as a Labour Party and Co-operative Party member.

There was an old adage which went to the effect that Labour knew how to spend money, but not how to use it.

There was some surprise when Cllr Pushpa was reported to have migrated from Newham to Havering, less than one month after being elected to represent the residents of Plashet ward in East Ham.

It didn’t take long.

The need to make massive savings did seem to have concentrated the minds of some of those on Newham Council. Amongst the savings they proposed was the reduction or abolition of facility time for trade union reps.

It’s an ill wind that blows no good.

Never truer than at Dockside. For some.

We learn that with the exit of the Director of Housing, the post is being filled by an interim director, at the cost of £650 per day. That’s a cool £170,000 per year before any on-costs.

The October council meeting was remarkable for two reasons.

The first was that it was one of a new type of “themed meeting” in which cabinet members, back benchers and opposition councillors could all contribute in the hope that an open debate and the generation of new ideas might lead to policy improvements.

IN her crusade to reduce the size and the cost of special responsibility allowances, Mayor Fiaz has announced some changes to the cabinet, following Cllr Mohammed’s departure.      

The mayor retains the following portfolios.

Newham Independents announced on TwiX that they would be submitting an emergency motion to council. Now that the Director of Housing, his assistant director and the cabinet member have resigned, it seems there is only one of the responsible individuals still in post. They have called upon Fiaz to resign.

We can expect some fireworks at the council meeting.

We have further information on the departure of Cllr S Mohammed.

It seems, it was a resignation, not a sacking.

On Thursday 17^th October, Cllr Mohammed attended the meeting of the Labour Group. The mayor had urgent business elsewhere, meeting with a tenants group, so Mohammed was left on his own to defend his actions against some hostility within the Labour Group.

We noted earlier, the remarkable turnover of Chief Execs in Newham; five chief execs in six years.

News has come to Open Newham that Abi Gbago, Newham’s latest chief executive, is now on the search for a way out.

We understand that Cllr Shaban Mohammed is no longer the cabinet member for housing. There is some dispute as to whether he voluntarily stood down because of the humiliation of the housing inspection or whether he was pushed under the bus by Fiaz in an attempt to protect her from criticism prior to the council meeting on Monday 21^st October.

It seems that ICT staff in Newham are currently taking part in a strike ballot. This is caused by “the council’s plan to outsource the service”, as quoted on UKAuthority website.

It seems that Newham has adopted an alternative, sort of DIY, strategy towards homelessness. Small tent-villages are springing up.

The government website announced today (16/10/24), that Newham Housing is not only the worst in the country, but the worst in history!

We reported that Newham were to be the first authority in the country to be awarded the grade C4. That of a failing authority.

Having been assured repeatedly by the mayor, that the council is not in crisis, we learn from the LGC that Newham “will not be able to balance its budget for 2025-26 unless the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government approves an exceptional financial support arrangement.”