Gone?

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 21st October.

Mohammed has had two weeks to do the right thing following the release of the report to the council. He chose not to. It makes little sense that he would resign now, unless of course he was afraid to show his face at council. That could have been a little embarrassing.

Whilst it is clearly a possibility that Mohammed resigned, the odds are that Fiaz gave him the elbow in order to imply that the failings were Mohammed’s fault and she has acted in a determined and forceful fashion. This might carry more weight if she had sacked him two weeks ago.

She will of course, ride to the rescue and announce a new cabinet member for housing, though there are no obvious candidates. Or maybe she will add his portfolio to the list of departments she micro-mismanages.

We await her statement to the full council with baited breath.

In her latest piece of propaganda to residents she states, “The report is shocking reading (indeed it is) and I am angry on behalf of every single resident living in one of our council homes. It is unacceptable and unfathomable what part of ‘putting people at the heart of everything we do’ isn’t well understood, or what it must mean. Ever since I became Mayor I have demanded that our residents have the best experience when dealing with the Council, including being treated with dignity, responded to swiftly and communicated to with respect. (Ah, clearly everything is the fault of the staff, nothing to do with the leadership.) For residents living in Council homes, they must also feel, and be, safe. That’s why I am deeply troubled and sorry that the Regulator of Social Housing judgement highlights how the Council’s housing services have fallen significantly short of the standards we expect for Newham’s Council tenants.

“Residents living in our Council homes deserve better, and I have made clear that the required improvements by the Housing Services department must be swift and rapid.”

Sometimes we think that the mayor might be suffering from some sort of cognitive disorder. She was shocked and angry, apparently at what was revealed by the regulator’s report. Clearly, she had no foreknowledge of the failings in her own housing department. Of course, the failures of the housing department were nothing to do with her.  

You could be forgiven for thinking that someone else has been in charge for the last six years.

We are glad to hear that the improvements should be “swift AND rapid”, but she doesn’t say how she is going to ensure these “swift AND rapid” improvements are made. We look forward to finding this out.

And just in case you were wondering, the failings of Newham Council definitely had nothing to do with her. Not only are the staff to blame, but she is managing a “broken system”. 

So, there you have it. It’s the system’s fault. And the staff. And probably Mohammed’s. But not her’s.