Please share and support this campaign by a local Newham head teacher. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555718/signatures/new
Hat tip my Labour Councillor & trade union comrade Sasha Das Gupta.
My own personal blog. UNISON NEC member for Housing Associations & Charities, HA Convenor, London Regional Council Officer & Chair of its Labour Link Committee. Newham Cllr for West Ham Ward, Vice Chair of Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, Pension trustee, Housing & Safety Practitioner. Centre left and proud member of Labour movement family. Strictly no trolls please. Promoted by Luke Place on behalf of J.Gray, Newham Labour Group, St Luke’s Community Centre, E16 1HS.
Please share and support this campaign by a local Newham head teacher. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/555718/signatures/new
Hat tip my Labour Councillor & trade union comrade Sasha Das Gupta.
On Thursday evening at 11pm I went to Newham Council Dockside Building, to be briefed and then take part, in the annual survey of the number of people sleeping on our streets. This is a national survey that all councils are expected to carry out that particular night (not sure if only England?).
Due to Covid there were only 7 small teams, covering known rough sleeping "hotspots" in Newham. The teams comprised of 16 in total: Council officers, 3rd sector organisations, local volunteers, 4
Newham Councillors and a representative from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt
There was also a team that stayed behind in order to make hourly checks on everyone to make sure they were safe and to take in the data at the end. Including a representative of the charity Homeless Link, who would independently verify the results.
We were briefed by Ajitha Sajeev, a fantastic long serving Newham officer, who has been recently been awarded a BEM for her work https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2020/10/newham-hero-honoured-by-queen-on-world.html
I went as a team driver with Kris, a manager from the homeless charity Thameslink, who I have been on many previous Newham Counts together.
We had a number of "hot spots" to visit and I was pleased that we found only one person sleeping rough that night in a large Newham retail park. We were able to have a constructive conversation with him and found that he did want help with getting his national insurance number, in order to find work (and hopefully safer accommodation). He did not want accommodation that night but outreach workers will visit him very early the next morning to see what they can do to help.
While I cannot yet say what was the total number of people sleeping rough in Newham on Thursday due to the need for verification, in September 2018 it was 105 but in September 2020 if was only 12. This is thanks to the superb outreach work carried out by our officers, stakeholders and volunteers but also due to the government funding promise following the announcement in March of the "everyone in" policy for all rough sleepers to be offered accommodation due to covid.
This shows what can be achieved if you have the funding and political will to solve a housing crisis. Hopefully this will be a lesson learnt.
Since it was so quiet I was home just after 2am.
Local blogger Martin Warne spoke in favour of changing Newham's governance from an Executive Mayor model to a "Committee model". Next May there will be a borough wide referendum to decide.
Interestingly it appears that Newham Fabians could not find a speaker who was in favour of the Executive Mayor model. For balance one of its officers gave examples of the positive arguments for the model.
This is Martin's excellent post https://forestgate.net/2020/11/23/talking-to-the-fabians-about-committees/
On Saturday Newham Fabians held an online meeting to talk about local democracy and participation. I was invited to talk about the committee model and why I think it’s the best option for Newham.
This is what I said…
Since 2002 Newham has been run by a directly elected executive mayor – for the first 16 years that was Sir Robin Wales; the current mayor Rokhsana Fiaz has served for 2 ½ years.
The referendum in May will be the first time in close to 20 years that residents have the chance to debate and determine how our borough is run. The choice will be between the current arrangements and a modern committee system.
Newham Voting for Change, the campaign for a committee system, is delighted that there will be a clear choice between a council run by a Mayor and a small executive they appoint and a more participatory, inclusive and open system in which every councillor can play a role. We’re looking forward to campaigning for the committee system in the referendum and having the chance to make the arguments about how Newham council should make decisions and agree policy.
So, what is the committee model?
This is the flatter, less hierarchical and more collaborative alternative to having the executive – or strong leader – arrangements we have now.
Under this model, full Council holds all the decision-making powers. It is full Council’s decision whether to exercise those powers directly or to delegate them to committees or to officers. Council can decide for itself how to organise the committees and adapt them over time to meet changing needs.
While there is no set model of committees, historically they have been based on major functional areas, such as housing, finance, education and resources; along with regulatory committees such as planning and licensing; governance committees such as audit and standards; and statutory scrutiny committees, such as health.
The London Borough of Sutton, for example, has four main committees that are responsible for the Council’s principal functions. These are:
- Strategy and Resources Committee
- Environment and Neighbourhood Committee
- Housing, Economy and Business Committee
- People Committee
Full Council appoints a leader, but without executive powers and, of course, they can be replaced by full Council – not an option that exists under our current arrangements.
The council leader provides political and strategic leadership, proposing new policy, strategy, budget and service standards, as well as acting as spokesperson for the authority.
They represent the Council in the community and in discussions with regional, national and international organisations.
Although this is not an issue in our present one-party state, all committees and sub-committees must be politically balanced, where possible.
Research shows that in councils that moved back to a committee system, the role of full council has been enhanced, with more councillors involved in decision-making. Which is a key reason for moving away from a mayor or leader-and-cabinet system.
Why do we believe this the best option for Newham?
Good governance is about more than structures and processes. Political and organisational cultures, attitudes and behaviours are what make systems successful.
We have seen that the concentration of power and patronage in the hands a single individual, and their hand-picked ‘executive team’, has led to groupthink, poor decision-making and a toxic political culture. Although Rokhsana Fiaz has handed back many of her powers to cabinet there is nothing to prevent a future mayor reclaiming them for themselves.
In a modern Committee system, all 66 councillors will have the power to represent their areas and do the job voters believe they are electing them to do.
Decisions will be made by committees of councillors (from all parties, should an opposition ever manage to get itself elected) working together. All of our councillors will have a voice to represent the communities they serve – not just the mayor and their chosen few.
Power and resources for decision-making in local communities can also be built into a committee system. This means more decisions can be taken closer to the people affected.
We believe that the committee system is:
OPEN – there is more opportunity for citizens, experts and communities to have their say and influence decisions
REPRESENTATIVE – all council members have input into decisions, not just the Mayor and Cabinet
CO-OPERATIVE – councillors have to work together to make decisions
ACCOUNTABLE – every councillor takes a role in making policy and seeing decisions enacted
And a properly designed committee system will be just as swift for decision-making as the mayor-and-cabinet system.
The socialist case for committees
Socialists know that supporting open, democratic and accountable government is crucial. Our party was established to open up government to working people who had gone unrepresented — so that democracy might be used to improve the lives of the many, not just the few.
I hope the referendum debate can be a starting point for a wider discussion on how to renew our democracy in Newham. As Fabians and socialists, we have questions to answer.
How do we create a political culture based on cooperation and solidarity? How do we rebuild trust in our politics and in our public institutions? How do we build support for and fund high quality, universal public services? How do we become carbon neutral within the next decade, to avert climate catastrophe?
The scale of the task confronting us means that the public needs to be at the heart of deciding how to proceed.
I will finish by quoting Olivia Blake, MP for Sheffield Hallam and a supporter for the campaign for a committee system in her city: “Labour councils should be innovative, pioneering new democratic processes with greater citizen participation and deliberation. And we need to start now. The people are ready for change, and we should listen.”
Newham Fabian Society is the local branch of the Fabian Society, a left-leaning think tank dedicated to new public policy and political ideas that is affiliated to the Labour Party. If you’re interested in finding out more, email the secretary.
Let us not forget the financial impact COVID-19 has had on local government and Rishi Sunak’s broken promise to do ‘whatever it takes’ to support councils to get through this.
Today I joined a zoom presentation by the developers of the old Ford car dealer showrooms at 259 Plaistow Road, West Ham ward, Newham.
I was there as a local ward Councillor with my colleague Cllr McLean (Cllr Whitworth had a medical clash and will be briefed later).
This site is now owned by the Government's Department of Education and they want to build a new 6th form school with the Big Education Trust as well as community facilities, work places and shops.
So far so good since it appears that Newham is in need of more school places. While I would have preferred a local authority school to provide spaces the government refuses to allow Councils to build schools anymore.
However, my challenge to the development team today was how many of the additional 400 homes proposed to be built on the site will be genuinely affordable to local residents? The Government spokesperson made it clear that they will expect the cost of buying the land and building the school will be offset by selling many of these homes.
In Newham we have a massive housing crisis. If the new school reflects Newham, 66% of its pupils will be living in poverty after their parent's housing costs are taking into account.
We also have the worse homelessness in the UK with more than 50% children living in temporary accommodation than in the entire north of England.
It seems as only 30% of these homes will be deemed (even under the current nonsensical government definition) "affordable" even if that means charging 80% of market rent. In Newham this could be £1400 per month.
It would appear that only a small percentage of these homes will be at social rents (40-50% of market rents) that local families in need will be able to afford.
The developers said that they will get back to us on this important issue.
In the meanwhile they are informally consulting with local residents and I would encourage everyone to look at their website https://plaistowplace.co.uk/ and also attend if possible one of their webinars this Saturday and next Tuesday (links not currently working?). Full consultation is due to take place next year.
I made it clear that the proposed levels of social housing are completely insufficient and must be reviewed. The developers bought this land in late 2018 after the May election when all Councillors and the Mayor were elected on a very clear manifesto commitment that 50% of all such developments must be at social rents.
Can I request that those who wish to attend make sure that they identify themselves fully when they join and also make sure they do not show any divisive backgrounds that may cause controversy or offence? I will be applying Labour Party rules on social media etc.
Well done to the AMNT (Association of Member Nominated Trustees) for this excellent stance on the refusal of many pension fund managers to allow trustees and pensioners to hold them to account for the way they vote in company Annual General Meetings.
Too often the big fund managers vote against their own trustees ESG policies in what is called "pooled funds" which many pension schemes have no choice but to invest in. The suspicion is of course they do this in their own commercial interests instead of pensioners.
The AMNT have managed to persuade the Government to set up a working party on barriers to pension trustee voting.
Watch this space
Picture is from the virtual Newham Council meeting on Monday, where I
was pleased that it was agreed that the future governance referendum of our borough, due to be
held next year on 6 May 2021 will give residents the real choice between carrying on
with the present Executive Mayor system (all legal power in the hands of one
person) or instead the Committee system (where power is shared amongst locally elected
Councillors).
In the debate, I spoke strongly in favour of the Committee system. While I respect the views of those who wanted the question on the ballot paper to be different eg a choice between Executive Mayor and what is called the “Leader and Cabinet” model. I argued that this is not a real choice, since at best, the “Leader and cabinet” model is in reality "Executive Mayor Lite".
The Committee model option is a real progressive alternative to the Executive Mayor. We need to change the political culture in Newham and I think the Committee model is the only one that will deliver on our manifesto commitment to deliver real participatory democracy to the people of Newham.
Check out the debate here on YouTube (and the excellent motion on Making Misogyny a Hate Crime by Cllr Mumtaz Khan) and also the twitter account https://twitter.com/ForNewham, website https://newhamforchange.org/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/newhamvotingforchange set up by local residents to support the Committee model next May.
"For more than 150 years trade unions have campaigned for better conditions and workers’ rights.
But no major industrial union has ever been led by a woman.
Christina McAnea is hoping to change that. She is standing to be the general secretary of Unison.
If she wins, she will be the first female boss of one of the big four: Unison, Unite, the GMB and Usdaw.
Ms McAnea said: “There’s an opportunity to make history here.
“What is more extraordinary in a union where 80% of the members are women, I am still the only woman standing. I am amazed by that.”
Ms McAnea is hoping to succeed Dave Prentis, who has led the 1.3 million-strong union for 20 years. She said there is still a “1970s view of what leader should look like”. Unison’s assistant general secretary said: “When I was doing hustings there was this ‘we should be more like the miners’ union’.
“Really? In a union of 80% women, where members are providing public services, many are low-paid so going on strike is a big issue, there’s still an old-fashioned view of the heroic male leader.”
Ms McAnea said of her leadership credentials: “I think I am the best person because I can point to a track record of delivery. I am probably one of the most senior negotiators in the country, male or female.” Those negotiations included leading the opposition to NHS reforms. And she was involved in the first national strike by health workers for two decades to force Jeremy Hunt to raise staff pay.
Ms McAnea was born in Glasgow into a working class family. She left school at 15 and went to university in her 20s.
She was inspired by firebrand Scottish trade unionist Jimmy Reid. Her union career began at GMB. And she is now frontrunner to take over as Unison boss, with the backing of 216 branches – ahead of closest rival Roger McKenzie on 104.
Obviously any attacks on civilians and their properties either side of the contested line of control in Kashmir should be strongly condemned.
Lyn Brown MP has also laid the following questions in Parliament to the Foreign Secretary :-
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) people killed, (b) people wounded, (c) households displaced and (d) civilian buildings destroyed during recent shelling by forces of the Republic of India of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Indian counterpart on the recent shelling by its forces of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether there are established processes to enable compensation by the Republic of India to families whose homes have been destroyed by its forces' shelling of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
I have been to physical meetings of its annual conference in London and Amsterdam in the past and always found them really interesting and useful. Obviously this year's setting it is very different.
The conference was opened by Tuur Elzinga, Vice-President and International Secretary of the Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions (FNV), Chair of the CWC.
Sessions start 4pm (Current UK time) and last 75 minutes. There are recordings available of each session. There are also 3 "Campaign Spotlights", an interactive space where CWC participants will showcase a priority initiative from their union.
you can register below
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cwc-2020-virtual-conference-tickets-123523793993
My question to session one panel "What does the panel think about pooled pension funds that refuse to allow asset owners to vote shares at AGMs in line with their ESG policies. Or is this only a British problem?" but panel ran out of time.
16 NovOn its website the LHG describes its role as "The Labour Housing Group (LHG) seek to ensure that housing of the highest possible standard is available for all members of the community regardless of their means.
As a socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party we work within the movement, both nationally and locally, to develop and promote workable socialist housing policies through our members.
If you believe another future is possible for our country and housing – become a member and join us in the fight".
Newham probably has the worse housing crisis in the entire country, so it makes sense that we should have a local branch here not only working on developing progressive housing policies but also working with the wider Labour movement to campaign for the funding needed to deliver safe, secure, good quality and affordable housing for all.
I am back on the Executive of the London wide branch of the LHG and maybe we can mirror their governance arrangements.
So on Wednesday 25 November 2020 at 7pm I will organise a zoom meeting for all Labour Party supporters in Newham, who are interested in housing issue,s to attend and form a Steering Committee to set up a branch.
Tomorrow I will email our CLPs, Labour Group, affiliated trade unions and our MPs (Lyn Brown MP is supportive) and Assembly member asking them to support and send the invite to their members.
There were a number of investment fund managers and advisors who also took part and asked questions.
I was very disturbed to hear about the failure of BHP to engage with its trade unions across the different continents and also its failure to protect workers against Covid-19 infections.
It was incredible to learn that BHP has set up so called "joint venture" dummy companies to employ staff at their sites at reduced wages and benefits, while at the same time washing their hands over their health and safety.
I asked the local union organisers, what can pension fund trustees in the UK do to help them and was told in no uncertain terms that they want us to push for meaningful dialogue with their employer. They want senior managers, who have the authority to take decisions and make things happen to negotiate with them and not just ignore or dictate to them.
Many UK pension funds have have huge investments in mining companies and are they are liable to potential massive risks if these investments go wrong. If companies fail to engage with their trade unions and fail to mitigate these risks, then investors must question if these companies are really suitable to put pensioners money into them.
(picture of trade unions protesting outside the BHP AGM in London 2018. Check out protests at last months virtual BHP meeting)
On Saturday I was invited with my colleague, Cllr John Whitworth, by a local charity based in West Ham ward to attend the opening of a nearby Covid-19 lockdown food bank.
During this latest "lockdown" the food bank will be open every Sunday from 2-3pm at Sylvia's Corner in Stratford (please register beforehand - see poster)
We helped out activists filling bags of food and handing them to local residents. All credit to local self help and mutual aid groups, who have done such a brilliant job during this crisis.
I got my ballot paper at home on Saturday and have voted and posted for Christina (number two in candidate list) to be our next UNISON General Secretary. From my personal interaction with her as a NEC member and branch secretary, she is the best candidate but also it is important that we smash the glass ceiling and that it is about time that a women is elected as the first ever General Secretary of the top 5 UK trade unions.
She is the only female candidate standing in a union were one million of our 1.3 million members are women.
You should have received your ballot paper by now via royal mail at your home address. If you have not it by now ring the helpline free on 0800 0 857 857 or on textphone 0800 0 967 968. The helpline opens on 10 November and closes on 20 November. Ballot papers must be returned by 27 November (but if you have a ballot paper please compete now and send it back by the freepost envelope)
If you lose the pre-paid envelope sent with the ballot paper you can return for free using your own and just write on envelope "Freepost Civica Election Services" and pop it in the post.
This morning at 11am I was at East London Cemetery with my West Ham ward colleague, Cllr John Whitworth, to lay a wreath to remember the fallen.
Usually we would have attended the Remembrance Day Service at the West Ham All Saints Church with our local MP, Lyn Brown. Due to Covid this was cancelled although Lyn was joining an online service and reading a lesson.
John and I decided to go and lay a wreath and show our respects at the nearest cemetery to West Ham Ward with a war memorial, East London Cemetery. Our ward colleague Cllr McLean was at another wreath laying event in Forest Gate.
There was one other wreath already on this memorial dedicated to some ones Great Grandfather "Albert Childs" who was killed in action on 31 October 1918 (less than 2 weeks before the end of the War)
Compared to other remembrance services it was very quiet and despite there being only the 2 of us it was quite moving.
I noticed at another war memorial another small group had gathered around it for the 2 minute silence.
Afterwards I reflected on a picture that had recently been sent to us by local historian, Alan Regin, of the Claxton family who lived at 46 Hampton Road, Forest Gate. See the picture below. Out of the five boys pictured four of them died due to the first world war and only the youngest Jonathan survived since he was too young to fight.