Former Deputy Mayor presents his ‘5-Point Action Plan for A Safer Tower Hamlets’ and backs up with ‘5-key motions’ at Tower Hamlets Council asking the Mayor and Council to act urgently.

Former Deputy Mayor and current Shadow Cabinet Lead for Community Safety and Partnerships at London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Cllr Ohid Ahmed, backs up his ‘5-Point Action Plan for A Safer Tower Hamlets’ with ‘5-key motions’ at Tower Hamlets Council asking the Mayor and Council to act urgently. 

Cllr Ohid Ahmed presented a Five-Point Action Plan for A Safer Tower Hamlets at a press conference. He is now backing his proposal with five concrete motions asking the Mayor/Tower Hamlets to listen and show leadership.

Cllr Ohid Ahmed’s Five-Point Action Plan for A Safer Tower Hamlets:

1.  Establish a dedicated Tower Hamlets Hate Crime Commission.

2.  More youth workers, youth centres and provisions for our young people.

3.  Support for anti-drugs services and campaigns.

4.  Fire Safety & maintenance – Greater accountability from RSLs and others.

5.  More Police officers & THEOs on the beat. 

To back the plan, Cllr Ohid Ahmed, with his Independent Group colleagues, has submitted five important motions – accepted by the Monitoring officer and now appear on the official council agenda – for Tower Hamlets council public meeting scheduled for 19 July, dealing with some of the key issues:

1. Fire Safety in Tower Hamlets.

2. Acid Attacks, covering aspect of Islamophobia.

3. Local Sports participation, funding and Olympic legacy.

4. Youth Services provision & Closure of Youth Centres in Tower Hamlets.

5. Public Sector – including Emergency Workers – Pay Cap.

These important motions come on the back of strong Community Safety & Security concerns in Tower Hamlets among residents.

ACID ATTACKS: Tower Hamlets is the 3rd worst borough for acid attacks – 84 attacks. The number of incidents involving ‘corrosive substances’ in London alone jumped from 186 between 2014 and 2015 to 397 in 2016 and 2017.

FIRE SAFETY: At least 8 tower blocks and 1 school in the Borough are ‘high fire risk – 3 recent high-profile fires.

ANTI-MUSLIM HATE CRIME/GENERAL CRIME: Overall crime, particularly anti-Muslim hate crimes, knife crimes and drug related crimes have gone up sharply.

CHILDREN’S SERVICES FAILURE: Serious concerns about the safety of vulnerable children and leadership raised by Ofsted. Independent Ofsted report judged the performance of Tower Hamlets under Mayor John Biggs to be “inadequate” – the worst possible rating. The service was previously rated good with excellent features under former Mayor Lutfur Rahman.

YOUNG PEOPLE: 18 youth centres have been shut down in Tower Hamlets and a successful drug rehab project – Nafas – shut down.