By Cllr Marc Francis (Bow East), Shadow Cabinet Member for Resources
Thanks to all those Bow East ward residents who came out to vote in this month’s by-election, especially those who voted for my friend and Labour’s candidate Abdi Mohammed. Thanks also to all those constituents for your kind wishes to Rachel on her election as a Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster. It goes without saying that we are delighted Abdi won and will now serve as a councillor here until the next local elections in May 2026. But I am particularly pleased that Amina and I are now joined by someone who was born and brought up in Bow, went to school here and has long been involved in local community groups.
Abdi’s win doesn’t just mean there is another Labour councillor to replace Rachel. He brings a whole new perspective to the role, including a younger person’s perspective (which is a good thing given how old I am now!). Having known Abdi’s family for nearly 20 years, I know he will do everything he can to help constituents with the problems they are having whether that be with Tower Hamlets Council, Clarion Housing Group or other public bodies. More importantly though, I know he will be a real asset in holding Mayor Lutfur Rahman and his Aspire Party councillors to account for the way they run Tower Hamlets Council.
The three successive elections mean we have not had too much opportunity to keep local residents updated what is happening in the Town Hall since the previous Government’s announcement of a ‘Best Value’ inspection back in February. The inspection team was originally due to report to Ministers at the end of May, but Rishi Sunak’s decision to call an early General Election meant the inspection continued through June and July as well. This was actually helpful in helping ensure the election here in Tower Hamlets was free and fair than it might otherwise have been, but also in ensuring better behaviour by Lutfur Rahman’s cheerleaders in council meetings
I obviously don’t know what the inspection team has reported back to Ministers, let alone what the Government will decide to do about it. But I was in a whole series of council meetings that they were witness to in which Tower Hamlets Council’s governance failings were plain to see even if the language was more temperate. And the word in the Town Hall is that they have been asking some very probing questions about what Mayor Rahman has chosen to spend taxpayers’ money on and the processes by which people have been appointed to senior roles.
The answer to a Written Parliamentary Question by our new MP, Uma Kumaran, has disclosed that Ministers now have the report and are considering what steps to take. I imagine that we will get an announcement in October. In the meantime, we know the Mayor and those closest to him have seen a copy of the inspectors’ report. And we also hear he has sought legal advice about it – which suggests might not be entirely complimentary! That might well be why one of Aspire’s councillors has already resigned from his Group and others are said to be considering following suite.
As the same time, Labour ourselves has to listen to what voters told us on the doorsteps, especially in the recent by-election campaign. Clarion Housing Group’s poor service obviously came up time and again. And we are working with Uma to try to ensure the Regulator finally does something about this in the months ahead. However, we also heard a how unhappy many residents were with Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to introduce a means-test for the Winter Fuel Payment.
I actually worked for our former MP, Oona King back in the late 1990s, when Gordon Brown first introduced the Winter Fuel Payment. That was a really important move back then to help the hundreds of thousands of pensioners struggling with their energy costs after more than a decade of the Basic State Pension having its value eroded. 25 years later, the value of the Basic State Pension is now protected by the ‘Triple Lock’. However, in the past two years, the costs of gas and electricity have skyrocketed because of the war in Ukraine. And so, the Winter Puel Payment is as important a part of most pensioners’ income as it ever was.
Unless the UK is completely broke, means-testing it is therefore not the right way forward. Up to 9,000 older people in Tower Hamlets who don’t currently get Pension Credit will lose out as a consequence. Some of those are actually eligible for Pension Credit. But most have small occupational pensions that take them just above the £13,000 a year income threshold. Those pensioners cannot be described as “wealthy”. They are the very people the Labour Party was founded to serve. That is why Tower Hamlets Labour councillors have written to the Prime Minister urging him to think again about this cut to the Winter Fuel Payment.
Meanwhile, we think Tower Hamlets Council itself could be doing more to support pensioners. Given just how much money is being wasted by Mayor Rahman on vanity projects and political advisers, we think there is more than enough in the council coffers to give pensioners who have lost out a locally-paid Winter Fuel Payment of £200 or £300 this year. That is why we are also bringing a motion to the next Full Council meeting calling for the Mayor to do just that. Labour doesn’t have a majority to force it through. But if all Opposition councillors vote with us and some disaffected Aspire ones do to, we will win and so help ensure all pensioners can keep their heating on this winter.
