Councillor report to West Ham Ward: February 2015

This is my written report as a Newham Councillor to West Ham ward Labour Party branch which meets every month. The ward thought to save time they would prefer written reports from Cllrs of which they could then ask questions.

Councillor Report to West Ham Ward

WEST HAM WARD LABOUR PARTY tel: 020 3373 **** or email John.Gray@newham.***.**

Ward meeting 5 February 2015

On 7 January I attended the Executive meeting of the Local Authority Pension Forum (LAPFF).  The forum believes that Council Pensions funds are being misled by accountancy firms about the profits and risks of companies they invest in.  They are taking advice by Cherie Blair QC on the matter and are lobbying the Financial Regulator for changes.

On 8 January I attend a finance committee meeting then full governors meeting of Rebecca Cheetham Nursery School, E15.  At the meeting the recent OFSTED report was discussed. The governors and staff were pleased that the school had gone from “requires improvement” to “Good” but were disappointed that they only narrowly missed obtaining “Outstanding”.

I did then go to the West Ham ward meeting that evening but it had finished early

On Saturday 10 January I held my surgery at Vicarage Lane community Centre. I had 3 cases - all involving housing issues.

On Wednesday 14 January I met with the Chief Executive of Newham Council, the Director of Finance and the Monitoring Officer with other Cllrs who are very concerned at the East Ham Campus overspend and unlawful expenditures.

On Wednesday 21 January I attended the AGM of LAPFF.  Please note that I am no longer a Newham Council member on the LAPFF and have reverted to being a trade union representative.

On Thursday evening 22 January I held a surgery at Brassett Point. Cllr Whitworth and I had swooped surgeries at my request due to a clash. I had one resident attend regarding a complicated planning dispute with a neighbour.

On Friday 23 January I meet up with the new engagement manager for West Ham and Stratford at the Stratford Library with Cllr Whitworth.

On Tuesday 27 January I attended a very moving and dignified remembrance event for Holocaust Memorial Day in the Old Town Hall in Stratford which was attended by our MP Lyn Brown.

In the evening I attended the Overview and Scrutiny commission meeting at East Ham Town hall where we scoped out our investigation into East Ham campus overspend and governance failures.

On Monday 2 February I attended a very interesting meeting of local Cllrs on Social media at  Coffee7 in Forest Gate. Publishing my Councillor reports on social media was one of the outcomes. 

Cherie Blair CBE QC "how better business practice can drive both market & social returns" LAPFF14

Picture of Guest Speaker at LAPFF conference, Cherie Blair, with the youngest member of the Newham Council Pension Committee (and possibly in the entire UK?) Cllr Seyi Akiwowo.

Cherie spoke about how when she started to practise law, human rights was not on the agenda especially for pensions. A common view at the time was that of the economist, Milton Friedman, that the only job of business was to maximise profit.

Nowadays most retail shoppers surveyed say that business ethnics matters but will they remember this during a Black Friday wrestle?

Socially responsibly investment is not a drag on company performance but improves it. According to the FT only 50% of companies currently comply to the Code of Practice.

Pension funds are holding the keys to capital, you can demand good business practises. You can help bring about change in the world - in the here & now. Issues such as child trafficking are not just for the  Police & Governments but also for pensions funds.

Those who are sceptical of this should remember the German philosopher, Schopenhauer's, three stages of truth "First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident".

Cherie also referred to the glass ceiling of women on Company boards. Research shows that most board appointment are made are the basis that "they know the company Chairman". Diverse boards result in better financial returns

Cllr Akiwowo asked Cherie on behalf of young people "How do we make pensions more sexy and make all aspects of diversity important? While Newham's elder Pension statesman, former Chair of LAPFF, John Saunders, also asked her a question relating to her work for the Kazakhstan government. Both questions were smoothly and calmly answered by her.

She agreed with Cllr Akiwowo that we need to educate young people about pensions and make pensions more relevant to all.  Also in response to John, that you cannot live in an  "ivory tower" and must be prepared to do the right thing even in a different and difficult environment.