Hello Everyone, Now that the Mayor of London and GLA elections have concluded, I am pleased to be back with my weekly update missives about the all-important stuff we are doing at the Council for residents in Newham! Before I jump into that, I wanted to take a moment to thank all those council staff who have played an important role supporting yesterday’s election operations across all the polling stations here in Newham. While we wait for the final results tomorrow, I wanted to salute their efforts in helping democracy thrive in Newham through widening participation and enabling free and fair elections.
Since my last message to you all back in March, there’s been a ton of stuff we’ve been delivering. As I bring you up to speed on those, I wanted to flag some highlights! We’ve finally pulled up the shutters this week at the Stratford Market Village to welcome back the traders after 4-months of agonising waiting. As you know over that time, we’ve been supporting the traders with doing all we can to get the best deal for them and the Council from the landlords. As you’d expect, they played hard-ball, but I am pleased to say that we drove a good deal on a 15-year lease, secured use of a £700,000 grant from the GLA allowing it to re-open. It’s been a massive relief to the 60 traders whose livelihoods we have saved and the 100 employees who were are risk of losing their jobs. As the Mayor of Newham, I’ll always work hard to support locals and ensure that Newham is a place where we support thriving businesses. I know that Stratford Market Village is cherished by local people, so please do head over once it opens next week. It’s got everything from fresh food, electronics, deli meat, hair products and the infamous curry chips!
On Monday, I got to meet many of our 50 Steps Changemakers who make a massive difference in the health and wellbeing of our people here in Newham as we launched our new 50 Steps to a Healthier Newham strategy which focuses on people, places and partnerships to address the wide and varied health disparities amongst our people. In Newham, we know that there are significant and disproportionate health inequalities. Many residents in Newham face deep-rooted inequalities and challenges, and that’s why we are building a fairer Newham because we want our people to thrive and have healthy, happy lives. If you are interested in being becoming a Change maker read more here. On Wednesday, we published our final Action Plan in response to the Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Challenge, which took place last November. They published a report in March this year with a series of recommendations about how the Council can do better. The Action Plan is a commitment by the organisation to continually improve and learn to deliver the best outcomes for Newham residents; and forms a key part of the journey I started at the Council when I became the Mayor in 2018, because I want the Council to always be better as it serves the people of our borough. The LGA Peer Challenge report highlighted the multiple examples of good services being delivered by the Council and other improvements being made. They also commended the commitment across the board to the Council’s bold and ambitious Building a Fairer Newham plans; but were concerned about the Council’s ability to prioritise and told us this needed to change because of the financial challenges facing local government and the limited resources that Newham Council has. That’s why the Action Plan sets out how we are tackling this head on, and we’ve already made a start across all the areas identified by the LGA as requiring a different approach. So in sum, the Action Plan is the Council’s commitment to learning and improving so that it delivers sustainable improvements our residents experience and deserve. It’s what I expect, because our residents are our purpose and that’s why being a better Council is a must. Watch a short video about it here. A couple of final things before I sign off. Our Rites of Passage programme celebrating the enduring legacy of the Windrush pioneers has won additional funding which means we’ll be extending our programme of activities to explore the stories, traditions, and experiences that have shaped the vibrant Caribbean influence in Newham, and you can sign up here to attend one of the free events. As we head into the bank holiday weekend, why not head over to the Green Fair 2024 organised by Sustainable Newham on Monday 6th May at West Ham Park? There’ll be a vast array of local groups, businesses, creatives and small traders to showcase all things environmental, including interesting talks! I’ll be there to flag the Council’s Just Transition Climate Action Plan, which is being commended nationally and is a UK first!
Until next week, enjoy your bank holiday, rest well and take care!
Best wishes, Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE Follow what I am up to via X/Twitter: @rokhsanafiaz | 
