We discovered that amongst hundreds of pages of reports, there was one area where Newham were unable to make any savings. Nor did they think that they would be able to make any in the future.

The impact of Reform is unlikely to be large in Newham. However, the growing distance between Labour and its former supporters in the white working class might be beginning to work to Reform’s benefit nationally.

We previously reported that Newham seemed to be going through Chief Executives at an alarming rate

In the six years since Ms Fiaz became mayor, there have been five Chief Execs. And, breaking news, we might soon have a sixth.

Much of the work of local government is subject to regulation and inspection. Their work is often rather boring to the outsider. Has the council met a particular standard in this or that area? Are they, in the judgement of their peers well run and financially viable.

We learn that Mayor Fiaz is endeavouring to have three miscreants suspended from the Labour Group. You will recall that Cllrs Kamali, Chadha and Masters all abstained on a vote against a Green motion.

Bless them. GB News have revealed Newham Council’s latest wheeze to cut down on the homelessness figures.

You know that you are living in a Alice-in-Wonderland state, when the same set of council papers both announce that there is a shortfall in the council finances that will require £175m in cuts and sell-offs, and you get motions demanding the additional expenditure of millions of pounds.

Just months after gaining a massive electoral victory, (securing 411 seats, with 20% of the nation’s voters), Labour’s popularity appears to be shrinking; down to 4% in early September according to More in Common.

It does seem that Cllr Thelma Odoi has not fully completed her disclosure to the monitoring officer. Her address is withheld, which seems to be the common practice now. However, we understand her to be a tenant of a council property. She may of course have purchased this.

The Spectator provided a list of admission numbers to Oxbridge Colleges for the top 80 schools in the country. Three of those 80 are in Newham. There is no other borough in the country that has results that compare with Newham.

Photos from The Recorder report.

The ON report on prostitution and the mayor’s (lack of) response generated some heated correspondence. It is clear that residents, particularly those in Townley Court are not as sanguine about the issue as our political leaders seem to be. 

A reader has kindly written to let us know that there should be a number of additions to the Landlords for Labour table. We are pleased to provide an update.

As we have noted, building a property portfolio has been popular amongst Labour councillors.

We make no apologies for returning to this subject. The fate of Canning Town Library is symptomatic of the malaise at the heart of the current administration.

The Order, pictured above, is what Newham officers recommended to curb prostitution along the Romford Road. It might be what residents demanded, but it is not what the mayor wanted.

We learn that Private Eye has become aware that not everything is lovely in the Newham garden.

Readers might wonder why it is that the mayor hasn’t congratulated the London Academy of Excellence and Newham Sixth Form Collegiate. The Times has published the table above which shows that The Collegiate, based on the East Ham Town Hall campus, has achieved outstanding results in ‘A’ Levels with 91.7% achieving A*-B passes. The Academy of Excellence did even better, achieving 92.1%.

The coroner reported, “Omar Abdi Ahmed died on 20th November 2023 in hospital due to hypothermia. Mr Ahmed, an amputee who received domiciliary care three times a day, was found by carers, unresponsive at home on l5th November 2023.

The most repeated cause of the current financial crisis, according to the mayor, is the cost of housing people in temporary accommodation. This year, they anticipate overspending by some £22m. There are additional overspends in children’s and adult services, but temporary housing is cited as the major problem.

In a recent Twitter post, Newham Independents have released the text of a letter sent to the mayor.

The revelation that Newham will have to find £175m to balance the books has shaken some councillors. The Independent Group have called on the mayor to be open about the cuts for this year.