Newham Council's Cabinet has endorsed the establishment of eight Community Neighbourhoods
as a new borough-wide framework for neighbourhood working, aiming to foster greater resident participation and improve coordination between services and partners.
The initiative, driven by the Mayor's ambition, seeks to provide a consistent approach to coordinating local leadership, resident participation, and partnership working across the borough. The Community Neighbourhoods
framework is expected to strengthen relationships among residents, elected Members, Council services, and local partners, allowing local priorities to be addressed in closer proximity to the communities they impact. This approach is also intended to promote responsive, locally informed decision-making.
Each of the eight Community Neighbourhoods will have a dedicated profile and plan to identify local priorities and support coordinated delivery. These local priorities will be identified and shaped through a process that leverages resident feedback, community insights, service intelligence, and local data. Community Neighbourhood Plans will be informed by ongoing engagement with residents, Ward Councillors, community organisations, and local partners. Engagement will take place through existing forums and networks, community conversations, visits to local activities, and engagement in neighbourhood settings like libraries, community centres, and places of worship.
The new framework aims to ensure genuine and impactful resident participation by involving residents in the development of Community Neighbourhood Plans alongside Ward Councillors, partner organisations, and local stakeholders. The final plans will be presented to the Mayor, the Cabinet Member for Communities, and the corporate director for sign-off and adoption after consultation with residents, Ward Councillors, community organisations, partners, and political group leaders.
The Community Neighbourhoods
framework is also designed to facilitate partnership working by providing a practical structure for collaboration between the Council, residents, public services, local businesses, and the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise sector. The aim is to coordinate activity, share local intelligence, and make more effective use of resources around shared local priorities. Partners envisioned include the NHS, Metropolitan Police, housing providers, education settings, businesses, and the voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise sector. The framework will work alongside existing neighbourhood forums and partnerships, rather than creating new structures.
This model will operate within existing constitutional, financial, and governance arrangements, without establishing new committees or altering executive decision-making powers. Community Neighbourhood Lead Members will provide political leadership, supported by Ward Councillors, Lead Directors, and Area Managers.
The implementation of the Community Neighbourhood framework will be phased, making use of existing Council Officers, networks, and community assets wherever practicable. The framework itself is intended to provide a long-term approach to neighbourhood working. A review of the Community Neighbourhood Model is scheduled to take place in six months' time.
The effectiveness and success of these Community Neighbourhoods will be measured and evaluated over time. The framework will be reviewed every six months to assess progress against Community Neighbourhood priorities and evaluate the effectiveness of the framework, supporting transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. 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.