Newham Council Apprenticeship Scheme

Newham Council is recruiting for Apprentices. Please read all documents carefully and take note of apprenticeship criteria below before applying. To apply and for further information please see the below.

CLICK HERE

Should you require any help or advice with your online application, please contact the Recruitment Help Desk on: 0203 373 0909.

The closing date for all applications Tuesday 16th July 2019.

About the Job

Newham Apprentice

£19,803 pa

The Newham Apprenticeship Scheme (NAS) offers an opportunity for you to start an exciting new career, whether it is your first job, returning to work after a career break, or you are looking for a change in career direction.

There are opportunities in 21 different services including Children's Health Service, Resident Engagement, Sports & Leisure, Finance and Project Management. Please see the 'NAS Service Bios Booklet' attached for descriptions of the 21 services and the duties of each role. These opportunities are based in various sites across the borough.

Please see link for Biographies of the services to choose from and a general Job Description.

The roles will be on a two-year fixed term contract paying the London Living Wage.

As an apprentice you will receive off the job training to work towards either a Level 2 or 3 qualification related to your job role. You will also receive practical experience and work alongside experienced professionals who will help shape your professional development. There are even opportunities to progress to a higher or degree level apprenticeship in the future, avoiding tuition fees and potential student debt.

We are planning to offer a range of Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships in the following areas:

Assistant Accountant
Business Administrator
Community Activator Coach
Facilities Management

About You

To apply for an apprenticeship candidates must:
be 16 to 30 years of age*
be a Newham resident with proof of address
have right to work documents e.g. passport and proof of National Insurance number

*As an employer, London Borough of Newham is under represented in this age range, compared to the resident population of Newham.

No formal qualifications are needed to apply but the recruitment process does include an English and Maths assessment.

If you're a Newham care leaver applying, please clearly state this in your supporting statement.

Should you require any help or advice with your online application, please contact the Recruitment Help Desk on: 0203 373 0909.

Community NEC report: John Gray 3 July 2019

Firstly, many thanks to all branches that nominated me and to those who voted to re-elect me to the National Executive Council to represent our service group.

Also, congratulations to Denise Thomas who was also elected for the first time as the other NEC representative for Community.

I offer genuine commiserations to those on this Service Group Executive who were unsuccessful, but at least in Community it was I believe, a clean fight and now we must work together for the betterment of our members.

Both Denise and I stood on a joint platform and promise the SGE, branches and members that we will be accountable to them, will attend NEC/SGE meetings and report back in person and in writing.

If any branch or regional Community branch wants us to attend any meeting or events (especially campaigns or industrial action) then let us know and if we can we will attend.

NEC meeting 29 May 2019
Dave Prentis report on recent industrial action successes; Brexit update and the terrible performance in the local elections for Labour. The recruitment “Go for Growth” programme was a success with membership numbers up in every single UNISON region. The NEC agreed to send congratulations to members involved in the victories.

It also voted to send solidarity messages to members taking action, or preparing to, in other key strategic disputes, including care workers fighting cuts to the sleep-in pay at Alternative Futures Group across north-west England and hospital domestics fighting privatisation.

National Delegate Conference 2019

I was present at Conference which I thought went well but a little boring. I spoke on behalf of the NEC on the Housing Composite (my speech is on my blog and other posts on conference https://www.johnslabourblog.org/).

John Gray

Local Government Conference 2019

Yesterday I went to Day One of this year's Local Government Conference in Bournemouth representing Newham. This is the annual conference for all councils in the UK and all political parties.

I arrived to hear the the debate on climate emergency & UN sustainable development goals moved by Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees. To my surprise (not the only one that day) there was no speakers against and it was passed unanimously. 

During speeches by the outgoing and new Conservative Party Chair's of the LGA, I was astonished (and pleased) by the "one nation" Toryism I heard. I felt that I could be (almost) in a meeting of "Defend Council Housing" as both Lord (Gary) Porter and the new chair, Cllr Jamie Jamieson between them praised Council Housing as cheaper and better quality; called for reversal of austerity cuts and pointed out that local authority schools do better than academies.

Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, started his speech by saying because of the leadership election and Brexit he cannot announce anything and then spent the next 10 minutes proving it.

The keynote speaker was Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, who successfully charmed the conference. I was able to ask him a question that if there's an economic trade shock from Trump or Brexit, will there be a role for councils to build homes as a fiscal stimulus? He replied basically Yes, you get more multiplier effect, "more bang for your buck", from investment in infrastructure /housing but he doubted that councils had capacity to build to scale needed.

I went to the UNISON conference stall and supported their #localservicechampions campaign and next door and met chair of LAPFF (Local Authority Pension Fund Forum) Cllr Doug Murdo.

The workshop on preventing homelessness & rough sleeping chaired by Cllr Nick Forbes (Newcastle) was fascinating. How come Newcastle only has an average of 6 rough sleepers per night?

In the evening I went to a fringe organised by the LGiU and Camra on the importance of supporting local pubs (no particular reason of course) then in the evening I met up for a late night chat with my Newham Comrades Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and Cabinet Finance member Terry Paul who travelled down after our Cabinet meeting.

Back to London in morning for UNISON NEC meeting.

Warrior Square Walkabout

Picture college from this morning's walkabout in Warrior Square, Little Ilford with Councillors and officers from Housing liaison, Caretaking, ASB, Repairs and Technical.  Also, a local Police Community Support Officer was in attendance.

I am determined that we try to "design out crime" on our estates as far as possible. We identified the demolition of disused pram sheds and greater use of mobile CCTV cameras as being possible way forwards.

We also need to make it clear that all forms of anti-social behaviour will simply not be tolerated and  that residents who cause (or allow) such criminal behaviour will face eviction and/or termination of their leases. 

I am really pleased that we now have a dedicated Housing Liaison officer for all blocks and estates in the borough and that there will be regular inspections of estates by officers, Councillors and local residents. 

Newham Councillors at Debden House - Now and then: 1949 and 2019

On Friday we had a Cabinet training day at the Newham Council owned Debden House Conference, Education and Camping centre in Epping Forest.

This is the first time I have been at the centre and I was amazed at the facilities and that there is such a beautiful 50 acres campsite that Newham residents can use at reduced rates.

On the venue website there was a picture of Newham (East Ham) Councillors standing outside the main building in I think 1949.

70 years later, modern day Newham Councillors were here and I think you would agree we are quite different but still East Londoners.

(I would point out that our training event on Friday was informal but the picture from 1949 was probably of a more formal occasion).

Assaults survey: full findings reveal rising abuse of frontline housing staff

“He came right up to me and had his finger within inches of my face – it was awful.”

Alison* is describing an experience she had while working as a frontline housing officer in the North East of England. She was leading a public meeting for her local authority when one resident began complaining that he was having difficulty contacting the council. The incident quickly escalated and the resident became threatening.

“I started to have a panic attack,” she recalls. “It is not something I’ve ever experienced before – I had to leave the room.” Hat tip reporter Jack Simpson

The trade magazine for Council and Housing Associations "Inside Housing" has carried out an annual confidential survey of workers and freedom of information requests on "violence at work".

They found (pay wall) :-

"Our 2019 assaults survey shows violence against #ukhousing frontline staff on the increase

Welfare reform agenda, social media and mental health concerns blamed for rise in assaults on #ukhousing workers
There are nearly eight assaults for every 100 frontline #ukhousing workers – read the shocking results of our exclusive survey

I was interviewed as a branch officer of UNISON London Housing Associations. When I was a front line housing officer in East London for 25 years,  I had been punched, spat at, abused and even threatened with an axe attack. While physical attacks and threats were thankfully rare, verbal abuse was sometimes commonplace.

My response to the rise was “We are pretty sure that the problem is far, far worse than even these shocking statistics lay out...The sector is plagued by under-reporting".

With regard to modern day social media abuse I said “There used to be the occasional instance where tenants would follow workers home to sort of say ‘we know where you live’,” he says. “The social media stuff is a different form of that.”

"there is a problem with training throughout the sector and that associations need to work harder to ensure workers are prepared for situations where they are at risk.

But most of all employers need to act. “This is really, really crucial. If an employer doesn’t act, staff are brutalised and this will ultimately affect the service it provides to tenants.”

I also recommended to the reporter that a possible solution is employers signing up to the simple but effective UNISON "End Violence at Work" charter. 

"With a huge sense of relief I have just resigned as Chair of West Ham CLP"

Message from Josephine Grail

"The exhausting experience of chairing a set of increasingly hostile meetings has taken a personal toll.

Last night's AGM gave me no sense that there is a majority on the general committee who are interested in a collective effort to achieve our shared aims.

If there is a time when the left ought to be generous, confident and open it is surely now in Britain, despite the dark times we live in. I've never been interested in factional politics; I've never thought that individual political positions should take precedence over any other qualities, such as kindness, honesty, or diligence; and I've never understood why political disagreement should be a cause for personal hostility.

The arid insularity of some political activism pre-Corbyn always struck me as a symptom of the weakness of the left, not a viable way to organise for a better future. This is no longer a ‘pre Corbyn’ political era, and that excites me and motivates me. It includes an inevitable conflict, but I don’t believe that this has to be played out in the local party as it currently is in West Ham - a situation which looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

In any case you can't chair this kind of war; you can only fight it, or refuse to fight. I have no intention of continuing to preside over a battleground in which defeating one's internal opponents takes precedence over advancing the cause of socialism. There are more productive outlets for my political energy.

I'm saddened that people who have worked tirelessly to achieve what I saw as our shared aims - a better party, a better Labour Council, a Labour government - were rejected last night in favour of those who have no such record.

Furthermore, there are publicly and privately expressed concerns that one of the new self-identifying officers has not been sincere about their identification. If this is the case, it’s also a deeply concerning situation. Seema Chandwani, the Vice-Chair of London Labour, has already picked this up; at a time when the rights of LGBT+ people are under threat globally the left must be in the forefront of the struggle to defend these.

Some of the best people I know are in the local party and I hope they know who they are. In particular I wouldn't have been able to endure the low points of the last year without the kindness, integrity, and wisdom of John Saunders.

The struggle continues. But not this struggle".

Drakes Walk Walkabout (2)

This is a great picture from this morning of Newham residents, Officers (and myself) at the end of a "walkabout" in Drakes Walk, East Ham.

I am really pleased that the estate is looking far better than it did in March during a previous "walkabout" and it was good to have caretaking, repairs and environment officers with us this time.

As well as the most friendly little dog (front left) I have met in ages (sorry Cara, you have a rival).

There was a long list of repairs and improvements but I feel confident that we will make a difference in our residents lives by such joint walkabouts (every month for tall blocks and every 3 months for low rise) and putting them at the heart of everything we do.

The cost of renting in the capital (Newham average rent is 75% of average salary)

Shocking statistics but no surprise. Hat tip @GVKitchen via @HelloHowsy. We need a change of Government, we need this now. Nearly everyone accepts that there is a "Climate Emergency". There is also a "Housing Emergency".

Boris Johnson in Swedish...

Love it.

Hat tip @davelee1968 and @mwarne. 

Apologies to my Swedish relatives for the abuse of their language but I hope they will understand