Expert who chairs council improvement panel points to progress with housing and social care but sounds warning over finances, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Newham Town Hall and (inset) Rob Whiteman speaks via Zoom to a scrutiny committee meeting

A local government expert says Newham Council has made “progress” since being placed on notice last year.

Rob Whiteman – who chairs a panel scrutinising the council’s improvement – said there had been improvements in areas such as housing and social care, but sounded a warning over council finances.

In a report to council leaders, Whiteman said his panel “recognise continued progress on areas such as housing services, children and young people and temporary housing with early shoots of progress in adult care”.

The Labour government issued the council with a ‘best value notice’ back in May 2025. It was effectively a warning that it could intervene if there weren’t improvement, citing concerns with the way the council was being run at the time.

The problems included the council’s finances – the council had required exceptional financial support from the government – and poor findings by the Local Government Association, the Regulator for Social Housing, and external auditors.

Government ministers chose to keep the notice in place in July this year and are set to review the decision again next month.

Whiteman – who chairs a panel of independent experts appointed by the council to examine its “transformation and improvement” – submitted a report to leading councillors yesterday (Tuesday 20th).

His report said the council’s adult social care service “performs well in several areas” including low use of care homes and improved how it manages demand.

But he pointed to a “challenging financial scenario” this year, with the department on course to overspend by £4million.

Whiteman also said the council had made “good progress in improving its housing service”. He said it should now focus on completing overdue fire safety work and improving electrical and lift safety checks.

However, Whiteman noted that the council is on course to be £64.2m short of what it needs to cover spending over the next five years.

He said that although the council has “gained greater control” over its spending plans, it is vulnerable to “significant fluctuations” in demand for services.

In her own report to leading councillors, town hall chief executive Maria Christofi noted that council’s “financial position is materially stronger than it was when the best value notice was issued”.

She said the council is on course to set balanced budgets next year and in 2028. Christofi also pointed to tougher spending controls she introduced last year.

However, she said that delivering planned savings “of course remains challenging”.

Leading Labour councillors discussed both reports at a cabinet meeting yesterday.

Speaking at the meeting, Labour mayor Forhad Hussain said the council is “moving in the right direction” but that there is “lots of work to do”.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.