Rifts open up within Newham Independents and the Greens after Labour mayor offers some councillors paid roles to run neighbourhood forums, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Opposition councillors Arshan Baskaran (top left) and Nasreen Shamima (bottom left) with mayor Forhad Hussain (top right)

Opposition councillors in Newham are divided after the borough’s Labour mayor appointed four of them to contentious paid “commissioner” roles.

Mayor Forhad Hussain appointed two Newham Independents and one Green councillor to “lead” his community neighbourhood forums – which both parties are boycotting.

Hussain also made Newham Independents councillor Oliur Rahman an “AI commissioner” but has offered no information on what this means.

Speaking at a council meeting last night (Monday 2nd) Hussain said the appointments showed he was “open to collaboration” with other parties.

However, Newham Independents group leader Mehmood Mirza said the appointments had been made without opposition groups being consulted.

Green group leader Arshan Baskaran described the appointments as an attempt by Hussain to “rearrange” who represents each area in the borough “one paid role at a time”.

He challenged the mayor to appoint neighbourhood leaders who had been elected by their fellow ward councillors.

Newham Independents has now suspended councillors Nasreen Shamima and Moniba Khan from party membership after they accepted the appointments from Hussain.

Cllr Khan is now the lead member for the neighbourhood forum in East Ham and Wall End, which doesn’t include her own ward.

Cllr Shamima, who represents Little Ilford, is the lead member for the Manor Park community neighbourhood, which encompasses her ward along with Manor Park and Plashet.

The appointments have also caused a rift within the Greens, as Ibrahim Alom left the group yesterday after agreeing to become Hussain’s “lead commissioner” for Forest Gate and Maryland, despite not representing these areas as a councillor.

Announcing the appointments, Hussain said: “Community neighbourhoods should not be about politics – they are about improving services for the people of this borough.

“I’m open to collaboration and doing things differently. That is why I’ve appointed lead members from across opposition parties to help drive this work.”

However, Cllr Baskaran said that politics had been “built in” to the roles, as they are supposed to provide “political leadership” for each area, but can be removed by the mayor.

He said the lead roles should be “democratically-elected by ward councillors within that neighbourhood, rather than appointed”.

Cllr Baskaran said: “Residents choose who sits in this chamber, and for which party. That isn’t the mayor’s to rearrange, one paid role at a time.”

In a statement before the meeting, Cllr Mirza said: “Newham residents deserve a democratic process that respects their elected representatives.”

The appointments come after a long-running argument over which party represents each area of Newham following May’s local elections.

The elections ended with Labour losing overall control of the council for the first time since 1971, with eleven of Newham’s 24 wards represented entirely by Newham Independents or Greens.

Following the elections, Labour mayor Forhad Hussain established eight “community neighbourhood forums” to address issues facing their areas.

Each is led by a councillor that he has appointed, and who answers directly to him.

The role carries an annual allowance of £15,500, on top of the basic £15,960 paid to all councillors. However, lead councillors won’t be able to claim this if they also get an allowance for another role such as chairing a committee.

Hussain originally intended to appoint Labour councillors to lead all of the neighbourhoods – even those made up of wards represented entirely by opposition parties.

However, he partially backed down last month, agreeing to appoint opposition members, while not allowing them to be elected.

In a statement yesterday Cllr Alom – who did not attend last night’s meeting – said he disagreed with the Greens’ decision to boycott the forums.

He said: “Residents need us to work together and make the best use of the opportunities available now.”

Cllr Khan and Cllr Shamima declined to comment.

Cllr Rahman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he wasn’t sure what his new AI commissioner role involves. He said he had been in talks with Hussain over the role, but hadn’t been expecting the announcement.

Cllr Rahman also criticised his party’s decisison to suspend Cllr Khan and Cllr Shamima. He said: “They say they were suspended pending investigation. But I don’t see why they couldn’t stay in the group and still be investigated.

“It seems they’re trying to make a political point by suspending two female members of their team.”

Hussain declined to speak to the LDRS yesterday. The council has been contacted for comment.

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