10 Years as a Councillor - New(ham) Kids on the Block 2010

Today is the 10th anniversary of my election as a Councillor for West Ham ward in the London Borough of Newham. The picture above was taken before an induction event held a few days later for newly elected Councillors.

It has been a privilege and a honour to serve as a Councillor even though it has been pretty "demanding" at times.

Sadly a few of my colleagues who were also elected have passed away since and out of the 60 Councillors elected in 2010 only 20 are still members.

While Labour was victorious in Newham on May 6 2010, the Tories won the general election which was also held on the same day. So it is a rather bitter sweet memory for me.

I was re-elected in 2018 for the 3rd time and then appointed by the new Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, as Cabinet lead for Housing Services and Deputy Mayor. It has had been a "full on" 2 years and for the last 2 months, due to the horrendous Covid-19 pandemic it has been particularly testing (although nothing when compared to the experience of our front line health and care workers).

However, I have no regrets whatsoever becoming a Councillor and still feel it is a great privilege and a honour to serve my community in this way. 

A gentler way to talk about pensions

Hat tip Henry Tapper and I totally agree with Henry (on this matter)

"Yesterday afternoon I had a chat with Glyn Jenkins. Most of my conversations with Glyn over the years have been in the bar of Unison’s Marylebone’s offices. Glyn is old school and that means he prioritises people.

This chat was different, we were talking with a small group of highly sophisticated pension professionals about how to talk about pensions. We were meeting on Zoom and it was part of a virtual conference that would otherwise have happened in a posh hotel in Surrey,

It didn’t make any difference to Glyn, we saw him smiling benignly out at us from what he told us was the least cluttered part of his living room. Rather than daunting us with the extent of his library, the background Glyn showed us looked like the back room of Charles Dickens’ Old Curiosity Shop!

I suspect that Glyn’s capacity to adopt new technology but to remain true to himself marks him out at a time when we are all marvelling at our new found tech-saviness. For Glyn, none of the technology mattered at all.

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So what did Glyn talk about?

Glyn talked about how people come to an understanding of the pension they get and how they can make best use of it. He talked about the life insurance that NHS staff were getting and the good it can do them right now. He talked about things that he thought his members should know about.

He explained things in a simple way, as he used to explain to me about the public sector pension transfer club in the rooftop bar of the Old Unison building. To get an idea of how straightforward Glyn’s approach is , here is his Linked in profile

Glyn did not talk about himself!

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A gentler way to talk about pensions

I suppose I found myself gently reproved by Glyn- and I’m sure he didn’t mean to reprove me! It’s just that this man’s kind gentle manner and his huge emotional intelligence worked on those on the call in a way that I couldn’t.

Though many of those in the room are at the forefront of delivering “engaging” communications, we all had to step back and re-connect with the simple values of gentle decency that Glyn presents.

And I find myself learning from the experience, chastened by my hubris and remembering that the people who Glyn speaks to and for , are the public servants on whom all our lives currently depend.

"A legendary social worker (and Labour movement activist) has retired" Dave Draycott

I have just congratulated on Facebook, Dave Draycott, a former Newham Council social worker and Leeds Labour movement activist (legend) on his retirement.

Dave has been a social worker for 44 years and a very active trade unionist, who also served as a Labour Councillor.

He is not at all "shy and retiring" and over the years he has got himself into bother because of this, from time to time, but in my experience, he has been a good comrade to me and others, as well as a pragmatic and authentic champion of the working class.

On Facebook tonight he posted "Well started in 76 and it’s time to go, retiring from Social Work and my team mates know me so well: single malt and political satire, hits the spot. The pressures of work will not be missed my workmates will, a great bunch."

I am pretty sure that we have not seen the the last of Dave Draycott in our movement. Hat tip to Unmesh for the Facebook link.

A Newham Greenways & Waterways Circular Walk

Yesterday Gill and I went on a wonderful 3 mile circular walk in Newham, starting in West Ham Memorial Recreation Park E15 (once the home of West Ham FC). We walked through the Park to join the Greenway footpath (in the footsteps of Gandhi) then turned left along the Channelsea river toward 3 Mills Green Park. Passing the former Channel 4 TV "Big Brother" site (and long lost "bridge of shame")

We paid our respects at the "Clasping Hands" statute, which in more normal times we would have held a remembrance event last week on April 28 for Workers Memorial Day.

Next we walked past 3 Mills (LBTH) then along the River Lee towards Bow Creek. At the Twelve Trees Crescent junction we crossed over the river and walked along the other side. .

This stretch toward Cody Docks is very much an unknown and unused gem. I love the Shopping Trolly sculpture in shape of DNA double-helix structure. After Cody Docks you walk through a industrial estate (past West Ham bus depot) then through some estates to rejoin the Recreation Park.

Newham Mayor update on Covid-19 to Labour members

Covid-19 impacts Newham more, 214 confirmed deaths & why community testing and contact tracing is key So now we have the evidence, which I reported three weeks ago and since: ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods are disproportionally impacted by Covid-19 in both infections and deaths. This comes at the end of the week I reported that 214 people have now died in Newham because of the virus so far. Yesterday, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released figures which highlight the uneven impact of Coronavirus across different communities and areas of the country so far. Examining the impact of deprivation on the Covid-19 mortality rates between the 1st March and 17th April 2020, the ONS looked at the 20,283 people whose deaths were registered by then, and where Covid-19 was listed on the death certificate. The ONS found that during this period the rate in the most deprived areas in England was 118% higher than in the least deprived. Specifically, the data showed that London suffered over 50 percent more than any other region in the country, over the seven-week period analysed; and that the local authorities with the highest Covid-19 mortality rates were all in the capital. Newham has been particularly hard hit, with deaths involving Covid-19 recorded between March 1 and April 17, the mortality rate was 144.3 deaths per 100,000 population, followed by Brent (141.5) and then Hackney (127.4). By contrast, the rate was 25.3 deaths per 100,000 in the least deprived areas of England and Wales. The analysis, which you can read here, also shows the Covid-19 mortality rate in the most deprived areas of England has been higher among men (76.7 deaths per 100,000 population) than women (39.6). Overall, the ONS makes clear that while general mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, Covid-19 appears to be taking them higher still. It’s also why we took action three weeks ago to boost our outreach to ethnic minority communities when reports first emerged about the disproportionate impact on Black, Minority and Ethnic communities, through our #HelpNewham local hub (which has a multi-lingual outreach team and phone service) because Newham is one of the most diverse boroughs in the country, as well as among the most deprived. You can read more about health and income inequalities in Newham in the section below. Overall, these figures are extremely alarming, and that’s why I’ve called for more health funding to be prioritised for deprived areas, including increased funding to boost our public health work, which has been decimated over the years. If it wasn’t already clear, councils like Newham urgently need more funding from the government now and in the future as we progress with Covid-19 ‘recovery. Importantly in Newham, we also know that the health inequalities are not uniform across ethnic groups, and the same applies to Covid-19, so grouping all minorities together misses important differences. That’s why our approach to addressing health inequalities in the borough, including the impact of Covid-19, is driven by understanding why these differences exist so that we can take the necessary action required locally, and demand action from the government where required by them. It’s also why we’re going to analyse the ONS data really carefully, to understand what has accelerated the mortality rate increase over the 7-week period studied by the ONS. You can listen to an interview that I did earlier today about the ONS research on the BBC here (at 39.13 minutes in and note, you’ll sign in with your BBC Sounds account or register for one). You can also read an interview I gave to the Financial Times about the ONS data here (paywall) and published yesterday. At the Downing Street briefing today, we heard that 1129,907 tests have now been carried out in the UK; and of those18,2260 people have tested positive - an increase of 4,806 cases since yesterday.  In London, Covid-19 infections have increased by 180 to 24,477 in the last 24 hours, and 948 of those infected are from Newham. While there’s been a decrease of people currently in hospital with Covid-19 at 14,695 (down from 15,111 yesterday), of those who’ve tested positive across all settings, a total of 28,131 have now died. This is an increase of 621 fatalities since yesterday. The government also announced £76 million in new funding today to ensure that victims of domestic violence get ‘priority need status’ to access local housing services more easily and avoid being made homeless. The money will go towards charities supporting vulnerable children, victims of domestic abuse and victims of modern slavery. I really welcome tsi good news, but we need to examine the detail carefully because we need to make sure that there are enough genuinely affordable homes for people to be moved into, and that this applies to those affected by no recourse to public funds as well. Earlier this week the Prime Minister said we have ‘passed the peak’, but I am not convinced. That’s because he was referring specifically to hospital admissions and deaths. But the death toll in domestic, care home and other community settings is telling us another story and why I believe we still have a long way to go. I’m urging great caution as the government considers the potential easing of restrictions following an announcement by the Prime Minister that he will publish plans next week. Why? Because, the government has to take into account the heightened vulnerability of communities like ours in Newham, otherwise it could lead to second wave and more deaths. Read more about this in the section below. While the government has now passed its ‘100,000 a day tests’ pledge, I’ve been calling for community testing and contact tracing of Covid-19 cases - and in the coming weeks this will be our focus in Newham. At the moment tests are only available for care home workers, other key workers and the people they live with. Social care workers and care home residents with or without symptoms can now be tested be tested as well, and earlier today a mobile site for testing opened in Rick Roberts Way in Stratford. You can find out if you are eligible for a test and how to book by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test. As we come to end of Lockdown Britain week 6, please continue to follow the restrictions in place this weekend. Please follow the government advice, which is to only go out once a day, stay and shop as local as possible, don’t gather in groups and keep two metres apart. Otherwise we’ll face a devastating impact in Newham – amongst many of our friends, families, co-workers and neighbours living here. I know that many residents are upset and angry when they see others flouting the advice, that’s why the Council is encouraging residents to report any concerns to Newham police directly on 101 or via twitter at @MPSNewham. While the council doesn’t have the power to enforce the restrictions (because under the Coronavirus Act only the police can), we do monitor the situation in our parks and high streets and liaise daily with the local police.  Yours in solidarity, Rokhsana Labour Mayor of Newham Follow what I'm up to on Twitter: @rokhsanafiaz  P.S. if you've sent me a message, I am so sorry for not being able to respond as yet, but I will soon and I really appreciate your patience during this time.

Wearing Red for Key Workers on May Day

This afternoon I took part in a Zoom meeting with the Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, our TUC regional secretary, Sam Gurney and Newham Council shop stewards from UNISON, Unite and GMB.

We were all wearing red to mark "May Day" and we wanted to show solidarity and support for all our key workers. It was a really positive and constructive meeting.

Check out my personal thanks to all the carers who look after my 79 year old Mum in her social housing sheltered flat in Ruthin, North Wales.

UNISON welcomes Supreme Court decision on ethical LGPS investment

This is an important legal ruling that effectively stops the UK £300 billion Council pension funds being told they cannot decide where to invest  unless it is pleases the current foreign or defence secretary. Well done to Greater London UNISON activist ,Jackie Lewis, for her role in this victory.

"UNISON has welcomed a Supreme Court decision overturning a ban on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) investment decisions which differ from government foreign and defence policy.

Yesterday’s decision overturned regulations introduced in 2016 which banned the funds from disinvesting in companies or countries on ethical grounds, except where the government has imposed official sanctions.

These were aimed at campaigns calling on pension funds to disinvest from companies which profit from, for instance, arms sales or the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Reacting to the court’s decision, UNISON head of local government Jon Richards said the union “has always been clear that the LGPS is an independent pension scheme” adding that ministers have no right to interfere in its decisions.

“Pension funds should serve the best interests of their members and if those members want to ethically invest or disinvest then – as long as decisions don’t undermine the pension fund – they must be allowed to do so,” he added.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign and a member of its executive, Jackie Lewis who is also a UNISON member and a member of the LGPS pension scheme, asked for judicial review of the regulations which found that they were unlawful.

They were supported by the Quakers, the Campaign Against Arms Trade, and War on Want

However, the government won an appeal against that decision. The PSC and Ms Lewis then turned to the Supreme Court to overturn that appeal court decision, in a case that was heard last November. The court published its verdict yesterday.

“We congratulate Jackie on her victory,” added Mr Richards.

The LGPS in England and Wales has more than five million members and is made of 88 individual funds with assets estimated at £300bn. It has members in local government, education, police staff, the voluntary sector, environment agencies and private contractors".

Cockneyish Thought for Today

Even though I have lived and worked in the East End of London for some 30 years, I had to stop and think about this one for a little while....

Hat tip UNISON AGS Roger McKenzie. I suspect from a London Underground Station information board. 

Newham Council joins minutes silence in honour of fallen key workers

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz today led councillors, staff and officers of Newham Council in observing a minute’s silence.

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz today led councillors, staff and officers of Newham Council in observing a minute’s silence to honour the frontline NHS staff and key workers who have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The Mayor, who was at the Council’s Dockside offices in Beckton, had asked other staff working remotely, to join the tribute from wherever they were working.

More than a hundred health and social care workers have lost their lives to the disease since the start of the crisis, and there will be many more in key service areas like public transport who have, and continue to put themselves in harm’s way, so we can stay safe.

The Mayor said: “As a Council we wanted to pay our own tribute to the heroic workers who have lost their lives to Covid-19 as a result of serving their communities during this desperate time.

“It was a very moving moment where we could all come together, not physically, but emotionally to say thank you to those who have paid for their service with their lives. They will not be forgotten.”

hat tip Newham Council & photos Andrew Baker

Labour Leader Keir Starmer’s Workers’ Memorial Day Message