I was delighted so many residents, partners and council staff joined councillors and me at our annual meeting last Thursday. I thanked the people of Newham for putting their trust in me and our councillor team for the next four years.

These are tough times for people – stagnant wages, slashed benefits, the rising cost of living.

Together we can be optimistic and aspirational. We will stand up and fight for our borough.

We will work with local people to address our shared challenges through resilience, our blueprint for a fairer, more equal society. Resilience is all about building the capacity of residents, our community and our economy.

We have prioritised four major programmes for the years ahead.

Community hubs will transform our relationship with residents, providing local eyes and ears and greater opportunities for residents to get involved and come together.

Through better commissioning we will set out what we want to do for Newham and focus on making genuine impact. It is no longer acceptable to do something, hoping it will be the right thing to do or because it makes us feel good. We have to be clear what outcomes we want and how they will help residents.

Our small business programme will convert our services into leaner, less hierarchical, more effective businesses.

And Red Door Ventures will see us build or buy 3,500 new homes for rent, with up to half offered at subsidised rents.

My ambition over time is to make thousands more available as a sustainable way of meeting housing need and generating long-term income to invest in housing and public services.

At the same time we will introduce new initiatives, based on our election manifesto.

We will introduce Money Works, a place residents can go if they’re struggling financially or in need of affordable credit. It will bring together sustainable loans and savings products, with money and debt advice.

We will do this while continuing to become more efficient so we can protect the services residents say matter most including Newham’s Every Child Programme, additional police officers and cleaner streets.

We have already begun to deliver our plans for these tough times.