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Personality crisis
8 Apr
Back in October the Newham Labour party website went offline. The domain registration expired and no-one bothered to renew it.
It seemed no-one had any reason keep it – West Ham CLP set up their own WordPress site; Lyn Brown already had hers and Stephen Timms had his.
But with council and mayoral elections looming in May, it’s back!
And as before it features a picture of Sir Robin on every single page. No matter where you go, Sir Robin is always there, staring back at you. Inescapable.
It is – quite literally – all about Robin.
Newham Labour a personality cult? Oh no. Not at all.
Let’s do the Time Warp again
2 Apr
Back in October 2013 Forest Gate councillor Ellie Robinson and Plaistow councillor Forhad Hussain were appointed to the mayor’s cabinet as ‘deputy executive members for community affairs.’
Their detailed job descriptions have recently been published on the council website, along with the allowance they will be paid: £31,000 a year, on top of their £10,800 basic.
That might seem a lot, but every penny will be spent funding development of the time machine they’ll need to fulfil one of their key responsibilities:
“Inspire residents across the borough to ‘get the party started’ in 2012 and work closely with all Councillors to maximise enthusiasm and participation.”
Love Newham?
17 MarWhy would you build an app like this:
When your mobile website looks like this:
Apps are all well and good, but you need to build different versions for different phones – iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and so on. A properly designed mobile website will work on all phones, plus tablets (the Love Newham app is only designed for phones), and doesn’t require citizens to go through the extra steps of visiting an app store, signing in (assuming you already have an account – if you don’t setting one up is another step), downloading and installing. They just work.
And they provide access to the full range of online council services.
But if people really want a dedicated app for reporting problems, why not simply point them to MySociety’s FixMyStreet app? Point 2 of the Government Digital Service’s design principles says it best: do less. If someone else is doing it — link to it.
I don’t know who’s advising Newham council on digital strategy, but if it was me I’d put developing a mobile version of the website a long, long way ahead of building an app.
Albert Rose by any other name…
5 MarI’ve written before about the slapdash attitude of the mayor and his councillors towards record-keeping and accountability. In particular about the register of interests.
This is a significant public document: it’s how we can tell if our elected representatives are looking after our best interests or theirs. If it’s not accurate or kept up-to-date we can’t know.
So it’s troubling to discover another example of an inaccurate declaration.
Councillor Ayesha Chowdhury has represented Beckton ward since 2002 and is currently the ‘lead community councillor’ for the area. Councillor Chowdhury owns (or co-owns) a large number of residential properties in the borough, from which she derives income from rent. In June 2006 she added to her declaration of interests a property at ’39 Albert Rose Close, E6.’
In January 2008 the spelling was changed to ’39 Albert Roase Close, E6’. And it has remained on the Register ever since.
But there is no Albert Rose (or Roase) Close in E6. Or in Newham. Or London for that matter.
In fact, there is no street of that name anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Presumably Ayesha Chowdhury knows how many houses and flats she owns. One of them must correspond to the Albert Rose Close entry in the register of interests, but it’s actual location is hidden. The net effect is that she has an undeclared property interest.
So if the councillor sits on a planning committee, or a licensing committee, or in full council and considers a proposal that affects her interest in this property we won’t know about it. We won’t know if she’s voting for her constituents or herself.
Ayesha Chowdhury is plainly a talented business person; she’s built up and now manages a substantial property portfolio and rental business. That requires considerable organisational skills. So it’s a mystery as to why she hasn’t – in 8 long years – made sure the list on the register of interests is correct.
As a member of the council’s Standards Advisory Committee she should know better.
UPDATE:
Following the election in May Councillor Chowdhury has updated her register of interests. The property in question is now listed as ’39 Albertross Close’.
There is no ‘Albertross Close’ in Newham, but there is an Albatross Close. Number 39 is a leasehold flat.
Making public health matter
25 Feb
According to Public Health England the health of people in Newham is “varied compared with the England average”. Which is a polite way of saying it’s mostly worse. Specifically:
- Deprivation is higher than average and about 24,000 children live in poverty.
- Life expectancy for both men and women is lower than the England average.
- Within the borough, life expectancy is 5.0 years lower for men and 5.5 years lower for women in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas.
- Over the last 10 years, early death rates from cancer and from heart disease and stroke have fallen, but the latter remains worse than the England average.
- In Year 6, 25.6% of children are classified as obese, worse than the average for England.
- Rates of sexually transmitted infections, smoking related deaths and hospital stays for alcohol related harm are worse than the England average.
- The estimated level of adult physical activity is worse than the England average.
But on the positive side:
- Levels of GCSE attainment, alcohol-specific hospital stays among those under 18, breast feeding and smoking in pregnancy are better than the England average.
- The estimated level of adult ‘healthy eating’ is (surprisingly) better than the England average.
- The rate of road injuries and deaths is better than the England average.
Public Health England identified the priorities in Newham as: tackling heart disease and stroke; immunisation; maternity and early years care; cancer; circulatory diseases; and long term conditions.
The Health and Social Care Act of 2012, which heralded the current unnecessary and damaging reorganisation of the NHS, also transferred responsibility for local health improvement to local authorities, including Newham. The transfer ctually took place on 1 April 2013, some nine months after the Act received Royal Assent.
So Sir Robin had a bit of time to think about how he might approach this and to include a bit about public health in his ‘Mayor’s Contract’. After all, what could be more important to improving the lives of Newham people than making them healthier?
Can you guess how many times does the word ‘health’ appears in the Mayor’s Contract 2013/14? Zero. Not even once.
I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. Improving health is hard work, it takes a long time and it’s really difficult to move the needle even a little. Most of the evidence of success will come years down the line, long after Sir Robin has moved on to City Hall or the House of Lords. And it’s not the kind of work that lends itself to photo opportunities.
But it is vitally important. In May Sir Robin is asking for another 4 years in power. His councillors and those who aspire to join them are already out on the doorstep, pushing leaflets through letterboxes and talking to voters. We must take this opportunity – it won’t come again for another 4 years – to push public health onto the agenda. Ask the canvassers what the Mayor’s proposals are, what he (and they) are going to do make Newham a healthier place.
And if Sir Robin deigns to hold a public meeting or two, turn up and ask him directly.
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