Newham Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 19 December 2025

About Newham Council

Demographics

Newham Council is a London borough local authority with a population of 351,256. Situated in East London, it includes areas such as Stratford, Plaistow, Canning Town, Manor Park, Forest Gate, West Ham and East Ham. Canning Town and Custom House are the most deprived areas of Newham.

The population has an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 10 (1 is the least deprived; 10 is the most deprived) meaning it is one of the most deprived local authorities in England.

The population is predominantly people of working age with nearly 70% of people in Newham of working age compared to the England average of 59.4%. People aged 65 and over make up around 7% of the total population, but there is a growing ageing population in Newham. Newham is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the country. 45% of residents identify as Asian, 28% as White, 18% as Black, 5% as Mixed, and 4% identify within a ‘other’ category.

The Integrated Care System covers the North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB), which is part of the North East London Health and Care Partnership. Newham’s place partnership consists of East London NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, local Primary Care Networks and Newham Health Collaborative (GP Federation).

Newham Council is led by the Labour party since 1971, with 59 Labour councillors, 3 Green, 3 Newham Independent Party and 1 Independent. There has been a directly elected Mayor since 2002.

Financial facts

The Financial facts for Newham Council are: ​  

• The local authority estimated that in 2024/25, its total budget would be £676,651,000. Its actual spend for that year was £760,618,000 which was £83,967,000 more than estimated.
• The local authority estimated that it would spend £115,301,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2024/25. Its actual spend was £140,688,000, which was £25,387,000 more than estimated.
• In 2024/25, 18.50% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2024/25 with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through Adult Social Care precept varies from local authority to local authority.
• Approximately 4,880 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 910 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2023/24.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.