Rokhsana Fiaz has said she is “really proud” of what Newham Council had achieved during her time as Labour mayor.
The outgoing mayor used her final full council meeting on Monday (23 March) to list some her achievements and claim her council had “ushered in a different era in this borough”.
But opposition Green and Independent councillors said the council should also acknowledge its “failures”.
Fiaz presented a report to councillors on her administration’s work since she was elected as mayor for the second time in 2022.
She said she had made a “solid promise” to tackle the “deep inequalities” that the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed “in real visceral ways”.
The mayor highlighted the council’s ‘Our Newham’ project, which offers job-seeking support and training to residents.
She said: “We’ve actually supported thousands of people into training and skills acquisition.
“Did you know we’ve witnessed a 26 per cent increase in local jobs since 2018?”
Earlier in the meeting Fiaz also noted how the council’s children’s services Ofsted rating was upgraded from “inadequate” to “outstanding” earlier this year.
She also said the council had “tackled the housing crisis head on” having “started or completed thousands of council homes on land that we own”.
Fiaz added that the council had set a balanced budget this year and had kept council tax “amongst the lowest in London”.
She said: “We’ve proven that you can be passionate and fiscally responsible at the same time”.
However, opposition group leader Mehmood Mirza, of the Newham Independents group, criticised the council for tax increases.
He said: “It’s almost nearly £2,000 residents are paying. Residents were paying about 1,200 or 1,100 in 2018 – a significant increase.
“How is this fair to the residents? How is this fair to the residents that council rents have been increased? How is it fairer to the businesses that the council rate has been increased?”
Green party councillor Danny Keeling said it was “absolutely right” to acknowledge achievements.
However, they said the report also “downplays failure and dresses up decline”.
They said: “Newham is now the most deprived borough in London. Economic activity is falling sharply. Youth unemployment is rising. That’s not fairness improving – that’s hardship deepening”.
Cllr Keeling also said the report “glosses over” the C4 grading for the council’s housing service from the Regulator of Social Housing – “the lowest possible judgement”.
The Green councillor also highlighted the council’s now £2bn debt – saying money spent servicing it “is money not going to housing repairs, youth services or support for families”.
The meeting voted to endorse the report, with Labour councillors in favour, and Newham Independents and Green party councillors voting against.
