Newham Council's Cabinet has approved the establishment of eight Community Neighbourhoods
across the borough, a new model designed to enhance local leadership, resident participation, and partnership working.
The decision, made at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, aims to provide a consistent approach to neighbourhood engagement, building on existing community assets and strengths.
Under the new model, each of the eight Community Neighbourhoods will have a dedicated profile and plan to identify local priorities and support coordinated service delivery. Political leadership for each neighbourhood will be provided by Community Neighbourhood Lead Members, who will be identified by the Mayor. These roles will be referred to as Community Neighbourhood Lead Members for public-facing purposes. They will provide visible political leadership, champion local priorities, support engagement with residents and Ward Councillors, and help strengthen relationships between the Council and local partners. These roles will be advisory and strategic, and will not exercise executive decision-making powers or replace the democratic role of Ward Councillors.
The Community Neighbourhoods
initiative is driven by the Mayor's ambition to foster a more place-based approach to council services. The framework will operate within existing constitutional, financial, and governance arrangements, without creating new committees or altering executive decision-making powers.
Cabinet also agreed to the preparation of these profiles and plans for each neighbourhood. The Community Neighbourhood framework will be reviewed every six months to assess progress against Community Neighbourhood priorities and the effectiveness of the framework. Initial activity will focus on confirming governance arrangements, establishing Community Neighbourhood leadership arrangements, and finalising the operational framework for each of the eight Community Neighbourhoods. Community Neighbourhood Profiles will then be developed, followed by Community Neighbourhood Plans, which will be prepared with residents, Ward Councillors, partner organisations, and local stakeholders. Draft plans will be shared with Group Leaders for consultation before finalisation.
Success will be assessed through a combination of resident feedback, delivery against Community Neighbourhood Plan priorities, partnership collaboration, local intelligence, and ongoing review of neighbourhood outcomes. A Community Neighbourhood performance framework and scorecard will be developed to support consistent monitoring of progress across all eight Community Neighbourhoods and to inform future reviews of the framework.
The Community Neighbourhoods model aims to build on existing neighbourhood activity and assets rather than create additional structures. This includes libraries, community centres, parks, cultural venues, faith settings, and other trusted local spaces, which provide opportunities for residents to meet, access information, participate in local activities, and build relationships within their communities. The model also complements wider developments across public services, including neighbourhood-based working within the NHS and other strategic partnerships.
The Community Neighbourhoods model will support continued collaboration with residents, public service partners, local businesses, and the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise sector in developing, delivering, and reviewing Community Neighbourhood Plans. Engagement will take place through existing local forums and networks, including Safer Neighbourhood Panels and housing forums, as well as community conversations, visits to local activities, and engagement through libraries, community centres, youth and leisure settings, parks, places of worship, and voluntary and community organisations. This will provide different opportunities for residents to participate and help inform Community Neighbourhood priorities.
The Community Neighbourhood Plans may identify future opportunities for investment or service improvement. Any proposals with financial implications will be subject to separate business case development and approval through the Council's established financial and governance arrangements. The Community Neighbourhoods will not replace the governance, eligibility criteria, or decision-making arrangements that apply to individual funding programmes. People Powered Places is being phased out, with future community grant activity moving to the Mayor's Community Grant programme, while learning and resident insight from People Powered Places will inform Community Neighbourhood priorities.
Further details on the meeting can be found in the Public reports pack and Decisions documents from the Cabinet meeting on September 15, 2026.