At the full council meeting held last night at the Town Hall in Whitechapel, we heard three petitions all raising similar issues. All three were organisations occupying council-owned buildings. All three had either they had been subject to rent reviews, or were trying to formalise their lease.
Mayor Rahman has made it clear in previous statements that he does not want to see the so-called ‘peppercorn’ or very low rents, enjoyed by many voluntary and community sector organisations across the borough, continue. He states that the council needs to start charging more rent in order to get more value from its assets and protect its finances in the long term.
I agree that we need to safeguard the council’s finances and realise the value from our community assets. I fundamentally disagree, however, with the Mayor’s sudden imposition of these rent reviews and his approach in the council meeting last night.
What we saw last night was evidence that the Mayor has instructed officers to act and then failed to interact with the organisations his decision impacted. All three organisations contacted the Mayor and none of them had meaningful responses back.
However, what was worse in my opinion was that the organisations who presented last night were treated differently.
Mayor Rahman will have seen the valuable work that Mudchute Farm does on his visits over the years and it is good that he is talking directly to workers and service users. I hope he will make time to also see first hand the other groups which feel under threat and engage with their staff and users. Leila’s Shop and Setpoint London East meet the needs of many local residents in rich ways, as do countless organisations in council assets across the borough.
The council, as a public body, has to be transparent and evidence led in its decision making and have a clear policy applying to rents given to voluntary and community sector organisations.
A perceived culture of patronage in Tower Hamlets was highlighted in the Government’s recent Best Value inspection report and is a subject of improvement work currently being undertaken in the council.
If the Mayor applies his graces to some and not others, he risks perpetuating the rumours of the patronage the organisation already suffers from.
Furthermore, the Mayor’s decision to increase rents on our assets risks destroying the valued work of our voluntary and community sector. The council must treat these organisations as equal partners, communicate with them fairly and recognise that the valuable work they do adds to the rich fabric of Tower Hamlets and reduces the burden on council services.