Newham Council is issuing regular e-bulletins to residents about what’s happening at the Council and in the borough, including the latest information about how we are responding to Covid-19.
Read the latest message from Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz:
Hello Everyone,
I hope you and your loved ones are well during what has been a really blistering week of hot weather, and I’ve been especially worried for our most vulnerable residents coping with the extreme heat, as well as the on-going challenge of living with Covid-19.
That’s why I am pleased with the major news announced by the Government today, that Newham has been selected to pilot the new NHS Test and Trace mobile phone app ahead of a national roll-out in September. As part of a three-week ‘early adopter’ phase, every Newham resident will be sent an email or letter with a unique code to allow them to easily install the app on their SMART phone.
The app includes a range of easy to use features including ‘infection spike’ alerts based on postcode, a digital tool that allows you to scan a ‘QR’ code (quick response) when you check-in at venues such as a restaurant, a symptom checker and easy to access test booking. It will also be available in multiple languages, including English, Urdu, Punjabi Gujarati and Bangla, and has the highest standards of data privacy and data security.
Importantly, the app will work alongside enhanced local contact tracing and testing already offered within Newham and driven by the Council’s public health team to help minimise the spread of Covid-19 in Newham, and it will help people to understand if they are at risk of infection so they can take action to protect themselves and their communities.
The launch of the app in Newham is important, given we have experienced some of the most significant, and distressing effects of Covid-19 due to the health inequalities and vulnerabilities in our communities, and where we know our residents are particularly at risk to both the health and the economic effects of the virus.
That’s why, in close collaboration with all our local health partners, all our Covid-19 interventions in Newham are driven by the absolute focus to support our diverse communities in navigating the challenges of living with the risks of Covid-19 and mitigate the spread of the virus in the borough.
Being part of this ‘early adopter’ phase, prior to the national roll-out, offers us the opportunity to add another resource to reduce the risk of Covid-19 exposure with our communities and enhances the great work being done by the public health team here in Newham with our health partners. You can read about the app announcement here.
Today we have seen the A-level results announced. I remember the horrible tension of results days and the feelings my friends and I had when we did or didn’t quite make the grades hoped for. Whether young people achieve their best, or not, it’s important to remember that life offers new chances and possibilities to a brighter future. This year grades are being determined using a combination of teachers’ assessments and reports, alongside comparisons with individual school results and national averages of results in England from the previous three years. There have been concerns about this approach, because exam results are largely being set by a computer algorithm based on their school’s prior attainment.
We are supporting pupils and our schools who feel they have been disadvantaged by the grading system. Our education and youth empowerment services teams have advice and guidance if any pupil feels things have not gone the way they had hoped.
There’s been an important milestone this week in delivering much-needed houses through the Affordable Homes for Newham programme, which I set up to build thousands of high-quality, energy-efficient homes for our residents. On Tuesday I performed the topping-out brick-laying ceremony at the £35.8m Didsbury development in East Ham, being delivered by the Council’s housing delivery company Populo Living. The Didsbury will have 148 high-quality, energy efficient homes when complete, including 77 private rented and 71 affordable homes. This development is part of the initial target of 1,000 starts by March 2022, with Populo Living ensuring that 50% of the thousands of homes it will build are genuinely affordable.
More good news on the housing front is my announcement this week that the Council intends to transfer back into Council management around 250 properties currently leased to the property management company Mears Group. It effectively means the end of Mears’ role as landlord to the tenants. You can read the announcement here.
As we approach the weekend I can promise you an action-packed weekend of exciting dance showcases featuring talented local performers and others popping up in everyday locations and streamed online.
Surveillance: Dance Like No-one is Watching, is taking place from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening as part of Newham Unlocked, our new-look cultural festival of events and activities across the summer and beyond that highlights the rich and diverse mix of creativity that exists in the borough.
Finally tomorrow and Saturday sees the respective independence days of Pakistan and India. We’ll be flying the flags at our town halls, and if you are celebrating, have fun and do it safely. We still need to be doing everything we can to prevent a second spike of Covid-19 in Newham.
Best wishes,
Rokhsana Fiaz OBE
Mayor of Newham
Read more Covid-19 updates from Mayor Fiaz or follow her on Twitter @rokhsanafiaz