The Council of Newham Council approved two motions, one regarding the establishment of a special task force to examine the causes of and possible solutions to the borough's temporary accommodation crisis, and one in support of the Labour government's national house building agenda. A motion calling on the council to adopt a number of policies advocated by the Green Party, including ending right to buy, introducing rent controls, and reforming council tax, was defeated.

Newham's Temporary Accommodation Crisis

The Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, updated the meeting on the unprecedented pressure on the council's housing services. She reminded attendees that a recent report by the Regulator for Social Housing found that the council was falling significantly short of the standards expected for its tenants, a situation she described as deeply troubling . The Mayor went on to outline the work the council is doing in response to the crisis, including initiatives to prevent and relieve homelessness, maximise housing supply, and reduce the cost of temporary accommodation. Councillor Shaban Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Housing Management & Modernisation; Housing Needs, Homelessness and Private Rented Sector, provided a further update on the temporary accommodation crisis, confirming that Newham has the highest number of people in temporary accommodation in England: nearly 6,700 households. He announced a series of actions that the council had already taken to address the situation, and confirmed that they would continue to lobby central government for greater funding.

The scale and impact of the temporary accommodation crisis was a prominent theme throughout the remainder of the meeting, with several members of the council referencing it in their questions, speeches and motions. For example, in a speech focusing on the impact of homelessness on children, Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Education, said:

Children in temporary accommodation don't have the right to thrive. They're often in one small room. They share a bed. They have no floor space, but most importantly, they have no access to a kitchen .

Councillor Ruiz urged the council to support the Magpie Project, a charity that supports homeless mothers and children under 5 in Newham, in its campaign to ensure that families living in temporary accommodation have access to cooking facilities.

Councillor Tony McAlmont, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, also referenced the impact of the crisis on the council's budget. He highlighted an overspend on temporary accommodation of £31 million in the current financial year, and confirmed that this was driving £100 million of the £175 million budget gap the council faces over the next three years.

Councillor John Gray, proposer of a motion on the temporary accommodation crisis, argued that the council must find new and different ways to address the crisis, rather than simply accepting it as inevitable:

Too often, TA in Newham is just seen as being in the too difficult box. Oh, we've had a crisis for decades and that's just the way it is in Newham. This is wrong .

Following debate, Councillor Gray's motion was carried, as amended by the Green Party. This established a task force, led by the council's scrutiny chairs, to examine the causes of and possible solutions to the crisis.

Other Topics

The council also approved a motion in support of the national house building agenda announced by the recently elected Labour government. Proposed by Councillor John Morris, the motion highlighted the scale of the housing crisis both nationally and in Newham. He noted the ambitious plans announced by the government, including building 1.5 million homes nationwide in the next five years, and urged the council to support the government's programme. Councillor Blossom Young, seconding the motion, described the government's plans as providing an opportunity to deliver a programme of homes, affordable homes, for those that need them, which we have not seen for generations . Following debate, the motion was carried.

A motion calling for the council to introduce a number of policies advocated by the Green Party, including ending right to buy, introducing rent controls, and reforming council tax, was defeated. Proposed by Councillor Nate Higgins, the motion highlighted the impact of the right to buy scheme on the availability of social housing, and argued that the council has been stripped of the tools it needs to support its residents. Councillor Danny Keeling, in his speech supporting the motion, argued that scrapping right to buy was not a controversial proposal:

This is not a controversial motion. It calls for necessary action, and to vote against it is to vote against the interests of Newham's residents.

However, the motion was defeated, with all 37 Labour members of the council voting against it.