The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) issued Newham Council a non-statutory Best Value Notice, highlighting the need for improvement in key areas of governance and service delivery. This notice serves as a mechanism for the department to monitor the Council’s progress in meeting its statutory Best Value Duty, outlining expectations for advancement over the following 12 months.
While the notice does not impact the Council’s daily operations, it identifies three priority areas for improvement:
- Value for Money issues around governance, identified by the External Auditors’ report.
- Cultural and Governance issues identified in a review of scrutiny arrangements by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny in 2023 and an LGA Peer review of October 2023.
- Concerns about the delivery of some Council programmes, particularly following the Regulator of Social Housing C4 rating in October 2024.
