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Open it up

15 Jan

The chair of West Ham CLP, Cllr Charlene McLean, has written to Labour’s general secretary asking that they skip the re-run trigger ballot and move straight to an open selection:

As Chair of West Ham CLP and on behalf of its Officers, I am writing with regards to the statement issued by Sir Robin Wales on the 21st December 2017  accepting that the original trigger ballot process for the Newham Mayoral candidacy held between October and December 2016 should be re-run, following widespread criticism and continuing concern amongst Labour Party members in Newham members affiliates about the democratic and accountability issues arising from this process.

You will be aware that in January 2017 West Ham CLP passed a motion of no confidence in the trigger ballot process and this was re-affirmed at the General Committee meeting on the 23rd November 2017.

In addition to concerns raised by the CLP, a number of members and affiliates have lodged multiple complaints about the way the Newham Mayoral trigger ballot was run. Since the outcome of the trigger ballot in February 2017, there has been no constructive engagement with West Ham CLP on these issues raised. 

We are now less than four months from the date of the local elections and are concerned that there is no longer sufficient time in which to re-run the trigger ballot and then potentially hold an open selection process, if that is what the trigger ballot determines. We would note that it is the Labour Party’s delay in addressing our concerns which has created this urgency.

We therefore do not feel that a re-run of the trigger ballot is the practical response at this time and request that the Labour Party immediately hold an open selection for the mayoral candidate.

Furthermore, we have additional concerns about the continuing delay with Newham Local Government candidate selections and would like clarity around when the intended timetable for that will re-commence.

The call has been backed on social media by other councillors, including Julianne Marriott:

I’ve just emailed #Labour NEC asking that #Newham goes straight to an open selection. I don’t believe a re-run of a trigger ballot is in best interests of Newham residents.

Regardless of Labour’s internal politics there is a practical reason for going straight to open selection: with the election being held on 3rd May, the deadline for nominations is 4 pm on 6th April.

In 2016 the original trigger ballot process took about 6 weeks, from late October to the declaration of the result in early December. Even if Labour started the re-run by the end of January (and there’s no sign of that happening) it would be mid-March before the outcome was known. Getting an open selection done in three weeks would then be a challenge.

The answer is clear. Sir Robin has been mayor for 16 years. He has a record to run on. Neither he nor the Labour party should be afraid of an open selection.

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TSSA trailer

7 Nov

Salim Patel 121

Cllr Salim Patel, mayoral advisor and TSSA delegate

London blogger and ex-Guardian journalist Dave Hill has an intriguing account of how one union affiliate’s vote ended up in Sir Robin’s pile in the trigger ballot.

It’s well worth reading the whole piece, but the nut of it is here:

The TSSA [Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association] branch in question is its Euston one. That branch had had previous ties with the East Ham Constituency Labour Party (CLP) in Newham, and in May 2015 became affiliated to it again. A letter from the branch, which I have a copy of, informed the CLP’s then treasurer of this, said that affiliation fees and a donation of £50 had been paid by credit transfer from TSSA head office, and stated: “Our delegate will be Councillor Salim Patel.”

Councillor Patel represents Manor Park ward in Newham. His Labour Party profile describes him as a train manager with Virgin Trains. He is also one of Sir Robin’s appointees as a “community lead councillor” with additional children and early years responsibilities. For these duties he received in 2016/17 a special responsibility allowance of £8,433.39 in addition to his standard councillor allowance of £10,842.

The person in charge of running the trigger ballot was Councillor Patrick Murphy, chosen by  Newham Labour’s Local Campaign Forum in conjunction with the party’s London region for the task of procedures secretary. His duties included distributing trigger ballot papers. Councillor Murphy too was a mayoral adviser at the time, receiving a special responsibility allowance of £7,871.50. He is still on Sir Robin’s team, currently as a “delivery lead” councillor, with responsibility for environment policy.

My information is that the TSSA Euston branch received no direct communication from Councillor Murphy, unlike other unions entitled to vote in the ballot. Rather, Councillor Patel in person brought the ballot paper to a Euston branch officer, who signed it off without really appreciating what it was or giving it more than a moment’s attention. A vote was eventually added to the pile favouring Sir Robin’s automatic re-selection. The final result was 20-17.

Hill says he has contacted Cllr Patel for his side of the story and promised to update his story if he’s got anything wrong. He has not yet had any response.

If Salim Patel won’t talk to Dave Hill he should at the very least explain himself to local Labour members.As with everything else connected to the affiliate votes in the trigger ballot, this absolutely stinks.

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Time after time

15 Aug

By the time next year’s election rolls around 15 current members of the council will have held their seats continuously for 20 years or more.

The table below shows exactly how long they’ve been around

Name Date elected Years to date
A SINGH 04/05/1978 39.31
C McAULEY 06/05/1982 35.30
R WALES* 09/07/1992 25.12
I CORBETT 09/07/1992 25.12
L HUDSON 05/05/1994 23.30
E SPARROWHAWK 05/05/1994 23.30
N WILSON 05/05/1994 23.30
C FURNESS 01/05/1997 20.30
Q PEPPIATT 01/05/1997 20.30
U DESAI 07/05/1998 19.30
R CRAWFORD 07/05/1998 19.29
J LAGUDA 07/05/1998 19.29
W VAUGHAN 07/05/1998 19.29
P SATHIANESAN 07/05/1998 19.29
P HOLLAND 07/05/1998 19.29

 *Robin Wales was also previously on the council from 1982 to 1986.

When local branches meet this autumn to select their candidates, one thing they should consider is the urgent need to freshen up the Labour group.

NOTE: The original version of this post stated that 16 members will have held their seats for 20 years or more and the table included Cllr Bryan Collier. It has been pointed out that Cllr Collier was defeated at the 2006 election and returned to the council in 2010, so his current continuous service is just over seven years; first elected in 1994, his total period as councillor is more than 19 years. The same is true for Cllr Alan Griffiths.

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Letter to the Editor

8 Aug

A reader writes

Dear Sir,

What on earth is going on at the Newham Mag? I had always thought it was the Mayor’s personal publicity freebie, distributed fortnightly to the adoring masses, and a snip at just £20,000 per issue.

But in the current edition there are only seven (7!)  photos of our Mayor (compared to 20 in the previous edition) and of those, in only 4 is he wearing the Mayor’s ceremonial chain of office. In one photo, he is not even wearing a tie and looking very much the worse  for wear, but possibly this photo shoot was carefully crafted to blend in with a very messy dwelling whose landlord the Council is aiming to prosecute.

And what’s worse there are more photos of the Deputy Mayor (Statutory) and Cabinet Member for Community Neighbourhoods, Ken Clark – he has eight.
Has there been a midnight coup?

Has Clark seized the Mag as part of  his own ruthless drive to succeed the man who has created his Deputy (Statutory)’s political career out of nothing? I think the people deserve an explanation before disllusion and consternation start to take a grip as election year approaches.

Yours sincerely,

Kevin Mansell

All excellent questions.

To which can be added, when will the council comply with the direction issued by the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government last December and reduce publication of the Newham Mag to just four times a year?

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Come dine with me

26 Jul

Meydansofrasi 2

Last night the Meydan Sofrasi restaurant on Barking Road excitedly tweeted that

THE MAYOR OF NEWHAM, SIR ROBIN WALES visited our restaurant today. 

As you can see from the accompanying picture, the mayor was taking refreshment with some of his nearest and dearest.

Fellow diners included councillors Unmesh Desai, Andrew Baikie, the Corbetts, Lester Hudson and, er, Ahmed Noor.

That’s the same Ahmed Noor who broke the council’s rules on landlord licensing, who’s currently suspended from the Labour party and who was accused by the standards committee of abusing his power to stifle complaints against him from tenants. The report to the standards committee about his conduct makes for hair-raising reading.

With councillor re-selections coming up in the autumn, is this a sign that the disgraced Noor may make a comeback? Even by Newham standards that would leave a nasty taste in the mouth.

UPDATE (13:30): the restaurant has deleted the tweet.

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Massive attack

24 Jul

At the last full council meeting Sir Robin launched an unprecedented attack on a small number of chairs of governors of Newham schools. Although it was a repeat of his performance at the Labour Group AGM a fortnight earlier, that was a private meeting and this was in public.

A number of councillors were absolutely appalled. Forest Gate South councillor Dianne Walls has written to the mayor to complain about his behaviour (copying all the other councillors into the bargain):

Robin,

I was very shocked and surprised at the last group and council meeting when you publicly named the chairs of governors of schools in the borough requiring improvement, following Ofsted inspection, in a way that was designed to humiliate.

This is an unprecedented move in my experience and cannot possibly inspire members or anyone else to take on the challenging task of being a school governor.

This cruel and unusual treatment has not been demonstrated towards other councillors who have served, in the very recent past, on one of those governing bodies you mentioned.

Indeed your own mayoral advisor for children and young people has served on the governing body of a number of failing schools / institutions (in some cases as vice chair), without receiving similar rebuke.

I am ashamed of sitting on a council where those in power use their position to bully and humiliate other members without all of the facts of the case being aired. I refer you to Cllr Scoresby’s email on the subject of Monega school.

We all want the best for our children, and you know that many members give up a lot of time and commitment to governing bodies on which they serve (some for many years) and try to do their best in the face of relentless political interference from this government. Your attack on chairs of governors puts that commitment in jeopardy.

So members of governing bodies need support and encouragement (and yes constructive criticism) but not public humiliation when things go wrong.

I have to say, in conclusion, that an attack on a female member in this way was particularly shameful, when we want to encourage more women to participate in public life. We are all diminished by such behaviour.

Regards, Cllr Dianne Walls OBE

The mayor is clearly feeling the strain when it comes to schools. He’s been forced to back down over funding his free school meals “promise” and a dozen secondary school heads are up in arms about his proposal to spend almost £30 million on expanding two local academies, a plan which will put other local schools at risk.

As so often before, Sir Robin’s response to his own mistakes is to lash out at others.

Disclosure: I was one of the chairs that Sir Robin named in his attack.

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Election 2017 – your candidates

12 May

The lists of candidates standing in the general election for the two Newham constituencies have been published.

East Ham

  • Choudhry Afzal – Friends Party
  • Kirsty Finlayson – Conservative
  • Chidi Oti-Obihara – Green Party
  • Daniel Oxley – UKIP
  • Stephen Timms – Labour
  • Glanville Williams – Liberal Democrats
  • Mirza Zillur Rahman – Independent

West Ham

  • Rosamund Beattie – UKIP
  • Lyn Brown – Labour
  • Paul Reynolds – Liberal Democrats
  • Kayode Shedowo – Christian Peoples Alliance
  • Patrick Spencer – Conservative
  • Michael Spracklin – Green Party

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Broken promise

4 Apr

Screenshot 2017 04 04 17 10 06

The mayor’s 2014 manifesto

The Newham Recorder reports:

Free school meals for some primary school children in Newham could be under threat, a headteachers’ union has warned.

In a letter sent out on behalf of the Newham branch of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) on Friday, parents were told “rising costs and a frozen budget mean tough decisions will have to be taken”.

Union officials wrote that the ‘Eat for Free’ programme was “unsustainable” in part due to a new “transparent” funding formula from the council – calculated on the number of children and meals served – asking schools to foot 60pc of the bill moving forwards.

“Schools will not be able to continue to provide free meals for all junior aged pupils unless the national funding picture changes, or the mayor decides to fully fund his initiative,” the letter stated.

The story quotes Forest Gate South councillor Dianne Walls, a former local primary school headteacher, expressing surprise “as a member of the council” that schools were being asked to pay anything at all.

Councillors kept in the dark, promises broken. I am shocked. Shocked.

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Spin City

15 Mar

Mayoral ally and ‘full-time’ councillor Clive Furness has circulated his Councillor’s Report for March to local members in Canning Town North. The headline item is the recent expulsion/long-term suspension of Cllr Obaid Khan.

After rehashing the Labour group statement he has a pop at his former friend and colleague:

He has begun a disinformation campaign supported by several councillors and members in which he claims to be the victim. We should have been put on notice after the last council elections when he was arrested for fighting with opposition members at the polling station.

That’s not quite how things went down at the time, when Khan was treated as something of a hero.

Sir Robin personally bought him a new shirt to replace the one that got ripped in the fight, which he presented at the Labour victory party after Khan had been released from police cells. The mayor praised him mightily for his commitment to the cause.

And who was it, just a few weeks later, that held the mayor back during his infamous confrontation with the Focus E15 mums at the Newham Show, saving him from making a bad situation much worse? Cllr Obaid Khan.

Even by Newham Labour standards, this is an outrageous bit of spin.

Furness rounds out his section on councillor misconduct by stating with a completely straight face (link added):

Two councillors remain suspended, one pending the outcome of criminal proceedings and one awaiting action from the [National Constitutional Committee].

I wonder how he will attempt to distance himself and Sir Robin from these two when the time comes.

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Sir Robin re-arranges the deck chairs

23 Feb

KenClark

Indisputably number two

In an email sent to all councillors this afternoon Sir Robin Wales has set out his plan to revamp the political leadership of the council and re-structure the executive responsibilities.

Aside from the predictable self-justifying bluster, including the mayor naming himself Lead Member for Business and Growth, the biggest news is the appointment of Councillor Ken Clark as the statutory deputy mayor. Lester Hudson retains his deputy mayoral title, but this is largely meaningless. Ken Clark is unquestionably Sir Robin’s number two.

Dear Colleagues, 

Following my selection as the Labour Party’s candidate for Newham Mayor in 2018, I have reviewed our executive arrangements for the next few years. Our direction of travel has been clear for some time and my new arrangements will help support this. 

When deciding our objectives it must always be in the full knowledge that we face a crisis in our funding. The scale of the attack this Conservative government has made on local authorities, and Labour boroughs in particular, has been well documented. Our recognition in 2010 of the need to plan for a future which involved the complete elimination of government grant has been proven correct. 

Our Approach 

We recognise that government funding will not be re-instated. I am proud that throughout this difficult time, and unlike most other councils, we have managed to invest in the services our residents say matter most to them, protected our frontline services from cuts while continuing to freeze Council Tax. 

Supporting residents to develop resilience remains our strategic approach. None of us were elected to manage decline but rather to support all our residents to prosper and succeed. Our approach and decisions are driven by our shared Labour values of fairness, localism, reciprocity, solidarity and trust. 

With fifteen months to go to the local elections, we have delivered our shared Labour Party Local Government Manifesto from 2014. Our borough has moved from second most deprived local authority in the country in 2012 to 25th. Together we have achieved much for our residents and understand that there is much more to do.

Investment:

We currently have the capacity and ability to borrow at competitive rates of interest. We are using that power to invest in opportunities which will support our ambitions while always evaluating investments for levels of risk. Investments which further our social aims, such as buying and building homes, will have those benefits included in any assessment of risk versus return. 

Efficiency:

We have no alternative but to continue to drive our efficiency agenda forward. We have already saved considerable sums of money through our focus on efficiencies but there is more to be done. 

We have developed a new way of delivering services through a variety of small businesses based on co-operative principles. Wherever possible, these businesses will increase the participation of workers in the running and management of the company and receive a fair share of any profits arising from greater efficiency or increased business. This will help us deliver responsive and efficient local services in Newham and beyond which are fit for the future and is an effective alternative to privatisation.

Integral to this approach is to realise the benefits within the rest of the Council. We are creating a separate Commissioning Hub to identify exactly what we are buying. 

Finally, we have introduced a transformation programme to ensure we improve our customer services and maximise savings without reducing services in any way. 

Community Neighbourhoods:

A key part of our overall approach is the further development of our Community Neighbourhood programme. 

We realise that Labour Councillors – and the wider Party – should have strong roots in all our communities. The most effective way of ensuring this is to provide local councillors with real power to influence what happens in their local area.

Our individual Community Neighbourhoods are equivalent in population to medium sized towns. This devolution of power and responsibility is our strategic approach to ensure that residents benefit locally. 

A fit for purpose political organisation 

Essentially, therefore, the Council will: 

  • Focus on efficiencies to realise the savings which will protect front line services and a lower council tax
  • Drive operations through small business and our Community Neighbourhoods
  • Invest in areas which support our social objectives and deliver additional revenues. 

To support these I have decided to re-align our political responsibilities into four broad areas: 

  • Community Neighbourhoods will expand and, wherever appropriate, we will devolve operational issues to a more local level. To support this I will establish a team of Delivery Lead Councillors which will report as Mayoral Advisors to Councillor Ken Clark, who I appoint as my statutory Deputy Mayor.
  • To support this I have decided to establish a streamlined team of four Community Lead Councillors to oversee our Community Neighbourhood work. 
  • We will create a team of Resources Lead Councillors reporting to Councillor Lester Hudson, who will also act as a deputy mayor, but not in a statutory capacity. The primary task of this team will be to drive efficiencies and investments to ensure that we have the money to embark on our ambitious programme of service delivery and expansion.
  • There will also be a number of other Member posts, both at Cabinet and Mayoral Advisor level, with responsibility for relationships with schools, health partners, police, businesses and developers. 

The full details are enclosed as an attachment to this email. 

Future initiatives:

As a result of this ambitious realignment I anticipate that by 2020 we will be in a strong position with our budget and will, uniquely amongst councils, be able to invest increasing sums in better services to benefit our residents.  

To ensure we are ready to invest in services which make a difference to our residents I will be conducting a review of existing services and launching a debate within the Council, the local Labour Party and our wider community on what we want to achieve.

In particular, we will be reviewing 

  • Our local skills offer
  • How we deal with non-statutory vulnerability
  • Adult care – both residential and in the home
  • Health investment – particularly in primary care linked to Community Neighbourhoods
  • Our offer for people with mental health issues 

We have one of the most effective policy, research and public affairs teams in the country and we will use this resource to inform our debate within the Council. 

We can be rightly proud of our achievements as a Labour Council in recent years. Together with the plans we are putting in place to safeguard our financial independence for the coming years means we can drive a radical left agenda here in Newham. It is time for a fundamental change and I mean to drive it together with you as my Council and Party colleagues. 

Best wishes,

Robin

Newham’s political leadership – February 2017

Mayor and Lead Member for Business and Growth: Sir Robin Wales

Deputy Mayor (Statutory) – Strategic Delivery and Cabinet Member for Community Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Planning and Public Affairs: Cllr Ken Clark

Deputy Mayor – Resources and Cabinet Member for Finance: Cllr Lester Hudson

Cabinet Member for Strategic Policy: Cllr David Christie

Cabinet Member for Financial Inclusion and Health Promotion: Cllr Frances Clarke

Cabinet Member for Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour, Sports and Leisure, and Deputy Cabinet Member for Community Neighbourhoods: Cllr Forhad Hussain

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People: Cllr Quintin Peppiatt

Cabinet Member for Work & Skills and Domestic Violence: Cllr Lakmini Shah

Cabinet Member for Transformation and the Small Business Programme (and Equalities): Cllr Rachel Tripp

Mayoral Advisor – Adults & Health – Cllr Clive Furness

Delivery Lead Councillors

Mayoral Advisor – Neighbourhoods Support – Cllr Ayesha Chowdhury

Mayoral Advisor – Neighbourhoods Support – Cllr Ann Easter

Mayoral Advisor – Environment – Cllr Pat Murphy

Mayoral Advisor – Housing – Cllr Terry Paul

Resources Lead Councillors

Mayoral Advisor – Place Commissioning – Cllr Andrew Baikie

Mayoral Advisor – Commercial Property – Cllr Ian Corbett

Mayoral Advisor – People Commissioning – Cllr Richard Crawford

Mayoral Advisor – New Media and Finance – Cllr Tahmina Rahman

Community Lead Councillors

Mayoral Advisor – Community Neighbourhoods Lead Councillor (and Adult Care) – Cllr Hanif Abdulmuhit

Mayoral Advisor – Community Neighbourhoods Lead Councillor (and Mental Health) – Cllr Idris Ibrahim

Mayoral Advisor – Community Neighbourhoods Lead Councillor (and Regeneration) – Cllr Mas Patel

Mayoral Advisor – Community Neighbourhoods Lead Councillor (and Children & Early Years) – Cllr Salim Patel

Civic

Chair of Council and Civic Lead – Cllr Joy Laguda

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