Our Borough

Newham is a vibrant and developing part of east London with a flourishing youth population – almost a quarter (86,000) of our residents are under-18.

We are proud to be the most diverse local authority area in the UK, with more than 100 languages spoken in our borough.

As well as the London Stadium (now home to West Ham United) and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (boasting the London Aquatic Centre, the AccelorMittal Orbit and award-winning parkland), Newham is also home to the ExCel Centre, London City Airport, Westfield Stratford City, and the northern bank of the Thames barrier.

Newham enjoys excellent transport links, with the bustling hub at Stratford serving Tube and rail links in to central London and out to the east of England. Just 15 minutes from the heart of London on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and Central Line, and served by the Jubilee; Hammersmith and City; District and Overground lines. The Emirates Airline cable cars cross the borough, while Crossrail will boost links even further with an Elizabeth Line stop coming to Custom House.

Flowers in bloom in the parkland's area of the Olympic Park looking towards the Olympic Stadium.

Newham Key Facts

Newham is one of the fastest growing, young, and diverse boroughs in the country. Our average age is almost four years below London’s and nine years below England. Children make up a quarter of our population, compared to just over a fifth in the UK. As of 2023, we have over 351,000 people living in Newham. We are the third fastest growing borough in London.

 

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Despite our rich and diverse culture, our residents face high levels of deprivation. More than half of children in Newham live in poverty; almost one-third of working-age residents are unemployed (pre-Covid numbers), and economic indicators of need are greater than the London average.

The last five years have seen signs of improvement that we are determined to build on, with children's social care playing an essential role in safeguarding children and ensuring they have the support, education and opportunities to fulfil their potential.

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Our Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Plan sets out how Newham Council will help residents through tough times and live happy, healthy and well.

The Plan sets out the eight priorities that the Council commits to delivering on for our communities:

 

  1. A healthier Newham and ageing well
  2. Newham’s inclusive economy to support you in these hard times
  3. Your neighbourhood
  4. Safer Newham
  5. Homes for our residents
  6. Supporting our young people
  7. People powered Newham and widening participation
  8. A campaigning Council

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Our population is highly diverse, with more than 70% of residents in Newham from an Asian, Black or Mixed heritage, compared with 55% in Greater London and 20% of the wider UK. Many different faiths, languages and cultures are represented in our community.

Children's Social Care mirrors Newham, with 68% of our permanent workforce identifying as having a non-white background in the recent 2020 social work census.

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Newham’s children deserve skilled and dedicated Social Workers. We want to transform children’s life chances, and improve family relationships to achieve better outcomes for children and young people. If you share our belief that social workers can be agents of change for the better, we’d love to hear from you.

 

We offer a relocation package for those moving to the area. Please contact our recruitment support for further information.