Most Council meetings are open to the public. Going along and seeing your councillors perform is a good way to keep an eye on them and learn about what’s going on.
Tower Hamlets
Monday 15th June, 5.00pm: Health & Wellbeing Board This meeting concentrates very much on routine business. It will agree its Terms of Reference. It will look at how it will spend the Better Care Fund (government money which helps the NHS and Councils work together to get patients out of hospital and either back home or into non-medical care). It will look at the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, which it has to do every three years. Once it has established what the need for local pharmacies is, it can consider how to meet them.
Tuesday, 16th June, 6.30pm: Licensing Sub Committee
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar
Newham
Tuesday, 16th June, 3pm: Cabinet This is the important meeting of the week. Holding it at 3pm helps officers, who don’t get a late night home, but it is a stupid time if you want members of the public to attend. The Cabinet is only advisory, and all decisions are made by the Executive Mayor, but the Cabinet agenda shows you what important things are coming up. This meeting will look at some fairly dry, standard, technical items such as financial performance in 2025/26; what contracts the Council is planning to take out; and how it is going to maintain the highways. There’s also a quarterly update on how the Housing Services Improvement Programme is going; a look at the Little Ilford Pride in Place Programme; and how the Council is going to distribute government money intended to alleviate Cost of Living hardships.
Wednesday, 17th June, 10am: Licensing Sub-Committee There is one item on the agenda, concerning an application by a Tesco shop for a new licence. The timing of the meeting makes it hard for members of the public to attend, but some of the documents are restricted, so it’s probably not going to be a good show. Wednesday, 17th June, 6.30pm: Standards Committee This is a start-of-the year meeting, looking at the Member Induction and Development Programme, the Annual Report and the Work Programme for the year.
Friday, 19th June, 9.15am: Chief Officer Appointment Committee Again, this is meeting is timed for the convenience of officers rather than members of the public. The business is slight, consisting of setting up two appointment committees – one to appoint a Director of Public Health; the other to appoint a Chief Executive.
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar
Hackney
Monday 15th June, 7pm: Children and young people Scrutiny Commission There’s a little bit of start-of-the year business. The main items being scrutinised are Childhood immunisations and support for ”Vulnerable (Young Parents)”.
Tuesday, 16th June, 2pm: Licensing Sub-Committee An awkward time for members of the public to attend, but there’s only two licence applications on the agenda.
Wednesday, 17th June, 6.30pm: Audit Committee This is the please-no-one time for a dry meeting: it’s later than officers like, but early-ish for members of the public. The agenda has lots of corporate audit favourites, such as the External Audit Plan, the Treasury Management Update, the Corporate Risk Register, and… zzz.
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar
Barking & Dagenham
Tuesday, 16th June, 7pm: Cabinet Cabinet will be looking at last year’s finances; Enforcement Policy; Social Value in Procurement (Impact Report) and the Treasury Management Annual Review. There’s two Supplementary Planning Documents – Becontree and Dagenham Heathway. Service-related items include the Council’s Family Homes Development Programme, Broadway Theatre; and CCTV policy.
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar
Redbridge
Monday, 15th June, 7pm: Overview & Scrutiny Committee The Committee is looking at items going to the next Cabinet, particularly last year’s finances and the new Local Plan. It will also be planning its work for the year ahead.
Wednesday, 17th June, 10.30am: Pension Fund Committee Pension things can be very difficult for the ordinary members of the public to follow. The main agenda items here are the Administration of the LGPS function and a quarterly update on the Pension Fund. Documents relating to items on the agenda of Council meetings are supposed to be made available with the agenda a week before the meeting – and if they are not, a reason should be given for their late appearance. It looks as if the LGPS document was late (although it is now on the website) and the minutes of the April meeting are marked “to follow”. It is hard to see why the minutes should be late. Hmph.
Wednesday, 17th June, 10.30am: Licensing Sub-Committee Again, 10.30am is not a good time for members of the public to attend Council meetings. Licensing committees in many Councils take place during the day and they have become quite technical. As these committees are very much implementing what is procedurally correct, they could just be left as officer/councillor encounters. But meetings open to the public should really be operated with that in mind. The agenda includes “results of appeals”, without any detail (why?) and only one application, from the Ali Curry House in Ilford, which will be discussed in public but decided on in private.
Wednesday, 17th June, 7pm: Cabinet Do the minute takers in Redbridge have hurty fingers? The agenda begins with the minutes of the previous meeting – which are not supplied but marked “to follow”. This is bad practice and councillors should pick this up. There is then a “Forward Plan” which sets out the major items coming to Cabinet in the coming months. In some ways this is a good idea, but in others it makes Cabinet very slow, ponderous and unresponsive. The main agenda item is last year’s finances, but there are also discussions on fostering and preparing for a new Local Plan.
Thursday, 18th June, 7pm: Council The first part of the meeting deals with start-of-the-year business such as appointments. After that come questions from Councillors: the questions submitted will be tabled at the meeting, which does not sound helpful. After that there are motions: one on Carers Week and another on civility in public life, which mostly marks the murders of Jo Cox MP and Sir David Amess MP.
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar
Havering
Wednesday, 18th June, 2.30pm: Stage 3 Children’s Complaint Review Panel The website page for this item says that the agenda will be displayed a week before the meeting: it is therefore late.
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar
Waltham Forest
Wednesday, 17th June, 7pm: Communities and Public Protection Scrutiny Committee
To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting: Calendar