In her drive to radically rebalance the power relationship between councils and citizens, with residents placed firmly at the heart of decision making, Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz welcomed the publication of an independent report. The Commission’s report includes ten core recommendations, which will now be considered in detail by the Mayor, Cabinet colleagues and the Council.
Included in them were recommendations for a two-term limit for the directly elected mayor, and a permanent citizens’ assembly, meeting at least twice a year, to respond to and act on important, emerging local issues – the first of its kind in England.
The Mayor has reaffirmed her manifesto commitment to hold a referendum on the Council’s future model of governance and having a Directly Elected Mayor. The Council will bring forward timetabling options as well as the need to consider an alternative option to be presented to residents in that referendum.
In preparing its findings, the Commission consulted residents, councillors, and wider academics. It was supported by the Centre for Public Scrutiny, a charity with expertise on local authority governance, and The Democratic Society, a non-profit organisation working for greater participation and dialogue in democracy. Views of residents were gathered in face-to-face engagement sessions in 23 locations, speaking to 350 people who live in or have links to the borough. Events were held at English as a Second Language classes, a youth hub, a Community Forum meeting, and in public spaces including a Tube station and a supermarket. An online platform also allowed people to provide comments to the Commission.
Mayor Fiaz said: “We look forward to hearing residents’ and councillors’ feedback on the report as it gets digested across the borough in the coming weeks. And we too would like to have further conversations with our residents, including our young people, to understand what they think about the recommendations that have been made, as we carve a path towards bringing participatory democracy to life in Newham.”