Newham London Borough Council

Newham London Borough Council /ˈnjuːəm/ ^ⓘ also known as Newham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 1971. It has been led by a directly elected mayor since 2002. The council meets at Newham Town Hall in East Ham and at Stratford Town Hall, and has its main offices at 1000 Dockside Road, overlooking the Royal Albert Dock.

Newham London Borough Council Newham Council
Type
Type	London borough
Leadership
Chair	Rohima Rahman, Labour since 22 May 2023[1]
Mayor	Rokhsana Fiaz, Labour since 7 May 2018[2]
Opposition Leader	Cllr Mehmood Mirza / Cllr Nate Higgins, Independent / Green
Chief Executive	Abi Gbago since 11 September 2023[3]
Structure
Seats	66 councillors plus elected mayor[4]
Political groups	Administration (59)   Labour (59) Other parties (7)   Newham Independents (3)   Green (3)   Independent (1)
Joint committees	East London Waste Authority
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large voting
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Newham Town Hall, Barking Road, London, E6 2RP
Website
www.newham.gov.uk

History

The London Borough of Newham and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964.^[5] For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the area's outgoing authorities, principally being the two councils of the county boroughs of East Ham and West Ham, but also the borough councils of Woolwich (in respect of the North Woolwich area) and Barking (in respect of the Gallions Reach area).^[6] The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965, at which point the old boroughs and their councils were abolished.^[6]

The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Newham", but it styles itself Newham Council.^[7]

From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater London Council. The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Newham) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council Newham has been a local education authority since 1965. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees.^[8]

Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions.^[9]

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates.^[10] It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.^[11]

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 1971.

The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:^{[12][13][14][15]}

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1965–1968
	No overall control	1968–1971
	Labour	1971–present

Leadership

Prior to 2002, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 1985 to 2002 were:^[16][17]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Fred Jones		Labour	1985	1990
Stephen Timms		Labour	1990	1994
John Isted		Labour	1994	1995
Mike Brown		Labour	1995	1995
Robin Wales		Labour	1995	5 May 2002

In 2002 the council changed to having directly elected mayors. The mayors since 2002 have been:

Mayor	Party		From	To
Robin Wales		Labour	6 May 2002	6 May 2018
Rokhsana Fiaz		Labour	7 May 2018

Composition

The composition of the council (excluding the elected mayor's seat) as at 1 July 2024,^[18] after adjusting for one subsequent re-alignment from Labour to Green,^[19] is:

Party		Councillors
	Labour	55
	NIP	3
	Green	3
	Independent	1
	Vacant	4
Total		66

Of the independent councillors, three sit together as the 'Newham Independents' group.^[20] The "Newham Independents" became the principal opposition when Councillor Gulamussen for Plashet ward ^[21] defected causing Newham's first opposition, the Greens, to lose their status as the principal opposition. The other independent councillor, Belgica Guaña, had been a Labour candidate in 2022 but was suspended from the party after the deadline for changing party descriptions on ballot papers has passed. Therefore the electorate thought they had voted for a Labour candidate but was to sit as an independent in the chamber.^[22]

Elections

See also: Newham London Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 66 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years:^[23] the next election is due in May 2026.

Premises

1000 Dockside Road, London, E16 2QU: Council's main offices since 2010

Full council meetings are held in Stratford Town Hall, formerly the headquarters of West Ham Borough Council.^[24]

Most committees and scrutiny meetings are held in the purpose-built chamber which is not fit for purpose with the amount of councillors and the amount of public who attend based in East Ham. It was formerly known as East Ham Town Hall, completed in 1903 for the former East Ham Urban District Council, predecessor of East Ham Borough Council.^[25]

In 2010 the council consolidated most of its offices into a modern building at 1000 Dockside Road, which had been built in 2004 as part of attempts to regenerate the area around the Royal Docks in the south of the borough.^[26] The council bought the building for £92 million after the original developers were unable to find tenants for it.^[27]

Legal issues

In 2007 the Council's processes for the procurement of housing leased from private landlords were challenged by an unsuccessful tenderer, Lettings International Ltd., because, while the broad headings had been disclosed under which the Council would evaluate the tenders it received, such as price, compliance with the identified specification, and "the suitability of premises, staffing and working conditions", the relative weighting attached to various sub-criteria within these headings had not been disclosed so that tenderers could take them into account when preparing their tenders. In addition, the Council had allocated three marks out of five for tenders which met the identified specification, with higher marks only available to tenderers whose bids exceeded the specification. The High Court, in addressing the case, found that the Council had not acted with the degree of transparency required under EU and UK public procurement legislation.^[28]

A further legal case determined in 2013 between Squibb Group Ltd., London Pleasure Gardens Ltd and the Council highlighted that the Council had agreed to lend money to London Pleasure Gardens to fund the development of a site for the 2012 London Olympics, but when the London Pleasure Gardens business collapsed, the Council was able to show that neither the loan agreement nor their agreement to pay interim funding on two occasions had created a guarantee to cover missing payments due to the contractor for works completed.^[29]