Hello Everyone, Happy Mother’s Day to all mums in Newham! I hope you are indulged, pampered and celebrated for everything you do each and every single day. Today is another celebration of women and comes hot on the heels of International Women’s Day which we marked over at the Old Town Hall Stratford on Friday night at an awesome event with awesome women and girls from across Newham. Showing the power of sisterhood, we had an array of amazing women talking about the importance of equality for women in all aspects of life, celebrating our collective and individual achievements and continue to inspire inclusion. This year, International Women’s Day has been particularly poignant for me, as I continue to see women held back, violently abused, discriminated against and treated unequally. We must call it out, we must take action each and every time it happens. As it is, we know that women in the UK effectively work for free for 2 months of the year because of salary disparities between men and women in this country. Analysis by the TUC highlights that women in similar roles to men are paid at a weekly rate of 14.3% less; and it will take 20 years to close the gender pay gap in this country (257 years globally)! While that was a startling fact, I was quite concerned when reading about a global survey showing that 48% of people think things have gone too far in promoting women’s equality at the expense of men; and how men are now expected to do too much to support equality. I can’t quite compute that! On Wednesday, a raging fire at Forest Gate Police station broke out in the afternoon, leading to some 30 fire engines and over 200 firefighters arriving at the scene. Alongside the phenomenal work of the London Fire Brigade, council officers attended to support efforts in response to the major incident. Thankfully by 11.30pm that evening the fire was declared ‘under control’ and no one was injured. While there were major disruptions for commuters and traffic through to the next day, the police have said that currently the incident is not being treated as suspicious. As part of continuity plans, policing operations have been able to continue as normal, including neighbourhood police patrols, and the police’s 999 response team are now based at Plaistow Police Station on Barking Road. We have been assured that the policing service for Newham remains unchanged and hasn’t been interrupted. Forest Gate Police Station remains cordoned off and some road closures are still in place, but a mobile front counter has been set up at Stratford Police Station,18 West Ham Lane E15 4SG which is open 24/7. Don’t forget: - If you need to speak to police in a non-emergency situation please call 101 or you can report crime online;
- If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use the Met Police’s textphone service 18000 or text them on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergency SMS service;
- In an emergency always dial 999.
Last Wednesday, the government also unveiled its Spring Budget 2024, which was a pre-election disappointment budget because the government placed ‘productivity’ from the public sector (after 14-years of austerity!) over investment in already overstretched public services; and tax cuts that will do more harm than good when the country needs real investment to boost living standards in the long-term for people. The Spring Budget had no additional funding to address the dire housing crisis in this country; no help for private renters struggling with soaring rents; no investment into adult social care; and no recognition of the scale of financial challenges because of growing demand facing all Councils, including Newham. There was a sop through extending the Household Support Fund, but only for another 6-months despite it being so vital for over 30,000 of our residents in Newham struggling with the cost of living crisis. As you know Our Local Investment for Fairness in Tough Times Budget 2024/25 agreed just last week has been the hardest yet and all councils are asking the government to help avert a crisis, but they are still not listening. In spite of these challenges, we’ll carry on doing all we can to bring opportunity to Newham and for our residents. That’s why I was thrilled that Newham features twice in the new investment prospectus for the capital, which was launched earlier this week by Opportunity London (a new partnership by London Council’s, the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London) seeking £9.6 billion of investment for 9 mega-schemes that will change the face of London to benefit all its people. Of the 9 mega-schemes, the two in Newham that are also really significant for our residents, are the Silvertown Millennium Mills and the Royal Albert Docks; both of which also featured in our new 5-Year Royal Docks Delivery Plan for our Enterprise Zone in the south of the borough which I launched on Thursday with the Mayor of London over at City Hall – now firmly part of Newham. As London’s first Living Wage neighbourhood, over the past 5 years nearly £44 million of Enterprise Zone money has been invested in the Royal Docks and we’ve already achieved real people-powered progress. With 9,000 homes built or under construction, including genuinely affordable homes that our people can afford; 2,620 jobs have been created for local people and Londoners. In the coming 5-years, working with the GLA, we intend to supercharge plans with another £2 billion of investment. This is all part of our ambition to create 55,000 new jobs and more than 36,000 new homes in the coming 20-years here in Newham and a total of £5 billion will be invested over this period. So the new 5-year Royal Docks Delivery Plan will mean more new homes, transport improvements and a range of community projects that will be delivered to benefit local people; and loads more world-class arts, culture and events as part of an exciting and creative At the Docks programme. There’s also be a search for a new development partner to bring the 30-acre Royal Albert Dock site to life. Importantly, our commitment to inclusive growth and community wealth building will drive a range of outcomes in the coming 5-years ahead to benefit our people including prosperity, growth and investment; sustainability & wellbeing; culture & community. We’ll drive these outcomes to benefit people living in the six Royal Docks designated neighbourhoods: Canning Town and Custom House; Royal Victoria and West Silvertown; Silvertown; Royal Albert Dock and Albert Island; North Woolwich; and Beckton Riverside. Find out more by watching the short video about the new Royal Docks Delivery Plan here or you can read the announcement here. This past week, our work to support the affected Market Village in Stratford has also progressed with council officers meeting with traders to plan the next phase of campaign actions to get the Market Village opened again to local traders. More info soon! On Monday, we’ll find out if we’ve get the title of London Borough of Culture in 2025 following the submission of our bid last October at an event at City Hall where the big reveal will happen. Whatever the outcome, I am proud that we are working so positively with all our creative talent and cultural partners in the borough through our Building Newham’s Creative Future 15-year cultural strategy and already showcasing how by coming together we are the beating heart of London’s culture, which will continue! Finally, on Monday 11 March or Tuesday 12 March the sighting of a new moon is expected. The new moon will mark the start of the Holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims across Newham’s diverse Muslim communities and around the world will begin a month of daily fasting from dawn to sunset. We have plenty of advice being offered at a series of events to support those fasting, especially residents with any medical conditions, which you can read here. As well as month of increased worship, charity and good deeds; Ramadan is also a wonderful time where friends and family come together around Iftar meals to break their fast ahead of celebrating the end of the month with Eid al-Fitr. I look forward to seeing you at one of the many Ramadan Iftar events planned across the borough and my sincerest Ramadan Mubarak to all those observing this special month in Newham.
Until next week, stay well and take care!
Best wishes,
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE Follow what I am up to via X/Twitter: @rokhsanafiaz | 
