What a great taster video on why we desperately need change in Newham.
Vote for a Committee Model on May 6 in Newham Referendum & get rid of the Executive Mayoral Model.
For further information check out:-
WEBSITE: https://newhamforchange.org/
Showing posts with label Mayor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mayor. Show all posts
Monday, April 19, 2021
Friday, February 24, 2017
Hardship funds & Social care crisis: Proposed amendments to Newham Council Budget 2017/18
What I am hoping to do is persuade (there is a free vote) my fellow Labour Councillors on Monday to:-
(1) vote to increase Council tax by 1.99% for this year (which has not been increased for 9 years and is still less than expected inflation for this year) which will set up two hardship funds for Newham families affected by Tory cuts to Council tax benefits and housing benefit curbs.
(2) Also levy a 2% Council Tax precept for extra money specifically to help tackle the Adult Social Care Crisis and bed blocking in our local NHS hospitals.
If a simple majority of Councillors support this amendment then it "pauses" the budget for the Mayor to "reflect upon" the proposed change and consider bringing back his own amendment at a second meeting. You need a two thirds majority of Councillors to overturn his proposal at that meeting, I really hope that we can come to an agreement over this with the Mayor.
While we cannot reverse Central Government Tory cuts on the vulnerable and low paid families in Newham, we can try and mitigate it as best we can.
"The increase in council tax will enable the Council :-
- to establish a Hardship Fund of £750,000 for Council Tax Reduction scheme claimants in Newham;
- to establish a Discretionary Housing Payment “top-up” fund of £750,000 to better help those affected by the Government’s lower Benefit Cap.
- That 8,949 Council Tax Reduction scheme claimants in Newham were in arrears in 2015/16, and that 5,386 of those with served with a court summons for late-payment, and 1,560 had bailiffs instructed against them;
- Several London boroughs have either chosen not to introduce a Minimum Payment (charge) for CTR claimants or exempt disabled claimants or establish “Hardship Funds” for those in financial difficulty;
- According to the Department for Work & Pensions, the lower Benefit Cap will adversely affect around 800 families in Newham, leaving some of those with such serious rent shortfalls that they may fall into arrears and face eviction and homelessness;
- In 2016/17, DWP allocated Newham £1.552 million in Discretionary Housing Payment funding to help those facing the Bedroom Tax and Benefit Cap, and a similar sum is expected in 2017/18;
- In nearby Tower Hamlets, a fund of up to £1 million is being established in 2017/18 to “top-up” the Government’s DHP pot.
- The number of Council Tax Reduction scheme claimants falling into arrears and facing enforcement action makes it clear these charges are an unbearable strain on Newham’s poorest households, and that a Hardship Fund is needed;
- The Government’s Discretionary Housing Payment funding is not sufficient to cover the rent shortfalls of tenants hit by the Bedroom Tax and the lower Benefit Cap, and that Newham should top this pot up from the General Fund.
- The agreement to accept the governments offer to set an Adults Social Care Precept will increase the boroughs ability to support residents with their social care needs and prevent strain on our much needed local NHS resources
Agenda item 12:
The Council’s Budget Framework 2017/18 – The Mayor’s Final Revenue Budget
Proposals, Medium Term Budget Strategy to 2019/20 and Council Tax Setting
Proposals
That Council;
- Delete recommendation
1. And replace with:-Agree the Council’s General Fund Budget
Requirement for 2017/18 be set at £233 million
- Delete recommendation 4 and
replace with :- Agree to accept the Government’s offer to set an
Adults Social Care Precept of 2% on
Council Tax in 2017/18
- Delete recommendation
6 And replace with:-Agree the Newham Council element of Council Tax
for 2017/18 be increased by 1.99% This
results in a local element Band D level of £964.44
- Agrees to establish:
i.
a
Hardship Fund of £750,000 for Council Tax Reduction scheme claimants in Newham;
and
ii.
to
establish a Discretionary Housing Payment “top-up” fund of £750,000 to better
help those affected by the Government’s lower Benefit Cap.
Agenda Item 13:
Council Tax 2017/18
That Council
- Delete 1. And replace with:
Agree that the Newham Council element of Council Tax for 2017/18 be
increase by 1.99% This results in a
local element Band D level of £964.44
- Delete 3. And replace with:
Agree to accept the Government’s offer to set an Adults Social Care
Precept of 2% on Council Tax in 2017/18
Thursday, December 22, 2016
"What is Robin Wales so scared of?"
"Mayor should listen to views
I feel cheated of my chance to stand as a Labour Candidate to be Mayor of Newham.
Despite 424 Labour Party members from 11 out of 20 wards at the recent trigger ballot meetings voting NO, Robin Wales refuses to listen to the views of members and hold an open selection process.
Instead he is relying on the unknown and undemocratic votes of affiliate organisations as he is desperate to have five terms as mayor. What is Robin Wales so scared of?"
Members believe that Party rules and natural justice have been fundamentally broken and abused. They are demanding that the selection process must be rerun. There are I understand substantiated allegations of forgery, fraud and misfeasance which must be fully investigated by the Party and affiliate organisations.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Mayor of Newham issues public apology to Travellers and Gypsies
The Mayor of Newham said he was “sorry for the distress caused by my comments, how they came across and how they were interpreted” in a letter to the London Gypsy and Traveller Unit (LGTU).
The apology, released via Newham Council, referenced offensive remarks made during a conversation between mayor Sir Robin and deputy mayor Lester Hudson at a cabinet meeting on March 17 relating to new accommodation sites for Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Before approval of an agenda item which stated “no need has been demonstrated for new gypsy-traveller [sic] accommodation at the present time”, deputy mayor Lester Hudson asked if he could have the addresses of the objectors.
Mayor Sir Robin Wales replied: “I think what Lester is saying is that we would be very happy to set up a site right next to their house.”
Debby Kennett of LGTU, who at the time called the remarks “casual racist banter”, said she accepted the apology.
She said: “We welcome this statement from the Mayor of Newham finally apologising publicly for the offensive remarks made about the Gypsy and Traveller community at the cabinet meeting.”
The joint-CEO said she was also pleased with Sir Robin’s written personal assurance that “the Parkway Crescent site will remain a permanent site for Gypsies and Travellers and the council is committed to ensuring it will be protected from any future developments in the area” in addition to a “full review” being undertaken of the housing needs of the settled Gypsy and Traveller community.
She said: “We trust that these commitments will result in tangible and positive change for Newham’s Gypsy and Traveller community.”
In his letter, the Mayor of Newham wrote: “The discussion at the cabinet meeting between the deputy mayor and me was primarily to understand more about objectors to our approach.
“We wrongly believed at the time that those objecting to our strategy were opposed to a Gypsy and Traveller site in Newham, however the objectors were the LGTU and we apologise for any confusion.”
He added that the council “has previously established an authorised public site for Gypsies and Travellers” with detailed analysis of its groups and that “other local authorities could learn much from Newham’s approach and should do much more to help these communities”.
The Newham mayor finished his letter stating: “We want to continue to work with the local Gypsy and Traveller Community so they continue to have a sense of belonging in Newham.”
This report relates to this article last week in the Newham Recorder. While I am glad the apology was made, I am concerned about why these remarks were made in the first case and why it took so long for the apology to have been made.
Check out the original report in March here.
Thursday, December 01, 2016
"Second councillor puts name forward as potential 2018 Newham mayoral candidate"
Cllr Kay Scoresby, of Canning Town North ward, said she believed “it is about time we have a woman” [as Newham Mayor] and said she had been encouraged to stand by both Labour and non-Labour members in the Newham community.
Her announcement comes ahead of four key votes tonight in the borough to decide whether or not Sir Robin Wales is automatically re-selected as Labour’s next mayoral candidate in an affirmative nomination process known as a trigger ballot.
Speaking exclusively to the Recorder, Cllr Scoresby said: “If people vote no – and I sincerely hope they do – then they will have an open process where Sir Robin can join in. At the moment it is a one-horse race.
“My style [of leadership] would be very collaborative. One of the first things I would do is to have a big conversation with all of our stakeholders.
She added: “We have some fantastic charities in the borough that have been overlooked in the work that they do.”
Cllr Scorebsy advocated “proactive” working with health officials, schools and community group and said she wanted to restore the early years provision that was based on council-run, registered children’s centres before it was cancelled last September.
She said that if elected, she would also speak to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, about tackling the borough’s housing crisis at the “planning and development stage”.
“50 per cent of the land is used by the council. We should be looking at how we utilise that with people,” she said.
The teacher and married mum-of-three, who has been a councillor for more than 10 years, made her announcement earlier today. It follows on from Cllr John Whitworth’s declaration to run less than three weeks ago.
He said: “I welcome Cllr Scoresby’s entry into the contest as I believe the trigger ballot process should result in Labour Party members being given a choice for their candidate for mayor.
“I hope her standing will encourage other Labour members to also put themselves and their vision for Newham forward.”
A spokesperson for Sir Robin Wales was approached for a reply but declined to comment.
The wards set to vote later are Boleyn, Canning Town North, East Ham Central and Plaistow South.
In Tuesday’s trigger ballot vote in West Ham ward, 20 members voted “no” and eight voted “yes”. Green Street East is expected to take place on Sunday although this is yet to be confirmed.
At present the “yes” votes still lead with nine wards in favour of keeping Sir Robin as the selected Labour candidate for Mayor of Newham, with six wards voting “no” and one affiliated organisation, the Newham Co-op Party, also voting “no”.
A further 11 affiliated organisations are also in the process of voting and have yet to declare.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Labour councillor ‘prepared to challenge’ Sir Robin Wales as 2018 Newham mayoral candidate
"A councillor has said he wants to “challenge” Sir Robin Wales as the Labour Newham mayoral candidate for 2018, the Recorder can reveal.
West Ham ward Cllr John Whitworth informed the existing Newham mayor of his intentions in an open letter this morning.
He is now “appealing” to Labour members and affiliated organisations (trade unions and socialist societies) to vote “no” in “trigger ballots” starting today across the borough in order to force the mayor into an open selection election process.
In his letter to Sir Robin, Cllr Whitworth wrote: “If you were re-nominated again by a trigger ballot 2016, then by the end of your term you would have been in power for 27 years.
“This, in my view, would not be good for local democracy, the Labour Party or the people of Newham.”
He went on to say that should he formerly challenge Sir Robin to a leadership contest and win then he would review Newham’s directly elected mayoral model and replace it with an “alternative system”.
In the letter he wrote: “A directly elected mayor occupies a very powerful position. I believe that power of this kind should be shared, subjected to scrutiny, and not remain in the hands of a single person for too long.
“This is why I am challenging you to a contest to be the Labour candidate for Mayor of Newham”
Speaking to the Recorder, Cllr Whitworth said: “I think the fact that someone is prepared to challenge [Sir Robin Wales as Labour candidate for Newham Mayor 2018] will encourage people who have decided not to vote for an open selection.”
He added: “He has got an executive position with very strong powers. The concern is really that leaders in executive positions should not hold it for too long.”
Voting in the affirmative nomination process, also known as “trigger ballots”, begins today.
Labour members wishing to participate are requested to attend branch meetings and make a decision on whether to accept ‘affirmative nomination’ giving the Labour incumbent another four years or to “trigger” an open selection.
Website campaign Trigger Democracy has argued that not all Labour members have received their letter notifying them of where they have to go to vote as of yet.
A representative for the campaign, who wishes to remain anonymous, said Labour members were being urged to “Vote NO for Choice” at the meetings.
They said: “Trigger Democracy wants all Labour members to have a choice of who they want for Mayor of Newham.
“Members haven’t had a choice of candidates since 2002. We think it’s time Labour members had the chance to hear from women, young people and people from ethnic minority groups, people who reflect today’s Newham, about what they would do as Mayor of Newham.”
Sir Robin Wales has served as Newham Council leader for 21 years. He was elected leader of Newham Council from 1995 to 2002 before becoming the first Labour directly elected mayor in England in 2002.
He was re-elected in 2006 and 2010 and won his fourth term in office in May 2014 via an affirmative nomination process.
Sir Robin has been contacted for comment.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
"Newham Labour members push for an open Mayoral selection process"
Check out this article published in the Left Futures website on Monday. "Many people have reservations about the new Regional Directly Elected Mayors but such Mayors in single (unitary) authorities’ raises different concerns. The Mayor for Greater London, Sadiq Khan, has a very powerful position but he has significant checks and balances from an elected assembly whose only real job is to scrutinise him and from 33 independent minded London Boroughs who have professional legal and media teams to fight their corner.
With an Executive Mayor in a single local authority such as Newham, the dynamics are very different. That is why a broad coalition of Labour Party members from all wings of the Party have come together in in Newham, East London (West Ham and East Ham CLP) to argue for a NO vote in the forthcoming Trigger Ballot (also known as an “affirmative ballot”) and for the current Mayor, Robin Wales, to be shortlisted but also allow other Party members to put themselves forward as a possible candidate.
To be clear, the current Labour Mayor will be automatically shortlisted if local Newham Labour branches and affiliates vote NO. There would then be an open selection process of all Party members based on “one member, one vote” on who should be our candidate in 2018.
The reason why this is so imperative in Newham is that the incumbent Mayor has been in power since 1995 and if he is “reaffirmed” again until 2022 then this will mean he has been in power for some 27 years. Only once in all this time has be faced an open selection process in 2002 when he only narrowly won. All the other London Directly Elected Mayors will be relatively new and have had open selection processes. All other Labour Council leaders and Councillors face open selection processes every 4 years. Why not the Newham Labour Mayor?
Current controversial Newham Labour policies such as the privatisation of Council services into small businesses, closure of Sure Start centres and youth club provision, the selling off Council voids to well-paid people earning up to £90,000 per year while we send homeless families to Birmingham have never been put to local Party members.
This is completely unlike MPs who do not enjoy “Presidential” powers and are overwhelmingly part of the legislative and not the executive. 27 out of the 60 Labour Councillors in Newham have a paid SRA (Special Responsibility Arrangements) nearly all of which are the gift of the Mayor. (approx £1,615,260 wage bill over four year term) Eight councillors are paid over £33k (plus 10k allowance). All of them are men.
The Newham Executive Mayor is a hugely powerful and influential position. All “Executive power” has been kept for the Mayor in Newham, meaning that the Cabinet is purely advisory and as all other Mayoral advisors they can be sacked without appeal if they disagree or fall out of favour with the Mayor.
Since the Labour Group is conflicted and party members have no real role in holding the Mayor to account then one of the few ways to check and balance the powers of the Mayor is to hold an open selection process. I personally would argue that this should take place after every 4 years. Other may think sooner or longer but I have never met anyone who thinks 27 years is a good idea. Maybe also the Party should reintroduce a maximum two term limit which was the original intention.
I think that the Labour Party NEC should have (and can still) use their powers under rule to order an open selection in Newham. If not I hope that Newham will vote NO to reaffirm the current mayor and therefore YES for an open selection.
There are also a mass of really serious complaints and motions by CLP officers, branches and local Party members about the questionable timetable and process regarding the ballot. Not least that a paid Mayoral advisor has been appointed as the procedures secretary to overview the selection of the Mayor.
The trigger ballot meetings start Monday 14 November and have to finish by 4 December. If you are a Labour Party member or affiliate please participate and vote NO. Check out the website “TriggerDemocracy.com” for further details”.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Mayor blows own trumpet
Monday, November 30, 2015
Redbridge Mayor's Appeal - Fund raising meal Tuesday 1 December 2015
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