Newham mayor Forhad Hussain failed to show up to an overview and scrutiny committee meeting this week to answer questions about one of his key policies, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Newham Council's East Ham HQ with (inset left) scrutiny committee chair Sophia Naqvi and (inset right) mayor Forhad Hussain — Scrutiny committee chair Sophia Naqvi (inset left) and (inset right) mayor Forhad Hussain

An argument over who gets to ‘lead’ Newham’s neighbourhoods has held up the mayor’s plan to change how the council works with communities.

Opposition councillors have challenged plans to launch eight ‘community neighbourhoods’ all led by Labour councillors.

Newham Independents Party councillor Sophia Naqvi said she was “disappointed” Labour mayor Forhad Hussain didn’t attend a meeting to answer questions on the decision yesterday (Tuesday 13th).

Labour-led Newham Council wants to establish the neighbourhood forums to feed into Hussain’s decision-making process.

Council leaders say these will bring together ward councillors and community representatives to draw up plans for each of their areas.

Speaking to councillors yesterday, Mohamed Hammoudan – the council manager overseeing the plan – said this will mean local issues can be resolved more quickly.

Hammoudan said: “The council is a big organisation, and to try and funnel things through the whole organisation, sometimes things get a bit missed.

“The neighbourhood model is trying to have a more localised level where you can pick up these issues locally.

“It’s about making things happen a lot more swiftly and quicker without loads of bureaucratic processes.”

All eight of the neighbourhoods will be led by Labour councillors appointed by Hussain – even in areas mostly represented by Newham Independents or Green councillors.

Opposition councillors have objected to this, fearing they will be side-lined.

It comes after elections in May left no party with overall control of Newham Council for the first time since 1968.

Newham Independents and Green councillors have boycotted community neighbourhood meetings. They also voted at a council meeting last week to call on Hussain to make sure neighbourhood leadership reflects the political makeup of their areas.

Councillors on the overview and scrutiny committee, which examines the council’s work, ‘called in’ the mayor’s decision to set up the community neighbourhoods.

This means the council can’t press ahead with the project until that committee has decided whether to refer it back to the mayor with recommended changes.

Green committee vice-chair Matthew Carlile asked how ward councillors would fit in to the Labour-led neighbourhood forums.

Cllr Carlile said: “How would ward councillors – the ones that were elected by residents because they weren’t happy with what had happened before – how will they be included in the listening and community decision-making?”

Hammoudan said this was “a really valid question” but that ward councillors’ knowledge and information about their areas would be “fundamental” to deciding each neighbourhood’s priorities.

He said: “Hopefully the ward councillors’ roles are not diluted – they’re actually strengthened.

“The model heavily relies on the local intelligence from the ward councillors; you’ve got your surgeries, you’ve got your ability to go and talk to people on a regular basis. That’s really important.”

However, council staff – who must remain politically neutral – said they couldn’t answer question on how lead members are chosen. They said only Hussain or leading Labour councillors could answer this.

Neither Hussain, Labour councillor Lakmini Shah – who is responsible for the project – nor Labour committee members attended the meeting.

The committee said this meant they couldn’t make a decision, and decided to adjourn until Hussain attended. This means the project cannot progress until that happens.

Committee chair Cllr Naqvi said: “We do not have the essential information necessary to make a decision. This is because the decision-maker is not present.

“It’s disappointing that this mayoralty wants to take us backwards.”

She added: “We want to adjourn until the mayor or cabinet member attends.”

The mayor’s office has been contacted for comment.

Update (15th October):

A Newham Labour spokesperson said the group was “surprised” by the call-in, as the committee had already scrutinised the proposals last month.

They added: “We also invited ward councillors to help shape Community Neighbourhoods and were disappointed that many opposition councillors chose not to take part.

“We’re now taking this away and will reflect on the points raised, because we’re determined to make sure Community Neighbourhoods serve the needs of local people.”

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