Turning the page on 20 years in local government

I’ve reached the end of my time as a Local Councillor, having decided to stand down after 20 years’ service on?Westminster City Council.??I am not standing as a candidate in the May 2022 local elections.??I have reached my ‘goldilocks moment’ as I hand in my council ID badge with pride and satisfaction!??

I have enjoyed a memorable and enlightening journey during two decades as a local councillor in the heart of London.??Looking back, I was incredibly na?ve going into local politics in 2002, largely due to the unique experience of being a representative of your ward and as a local politician.??For which there is no playbook.??

Being a local councillor is a window on a hidden world.?

I have been privileged to be part of some incredible and historic major events, given the geography of Westminster in central London, including one Royal Wedding, two Royal Jubilees and the 2012 Olympics – who would have imagined that Westminster would play host to beach volleyball on Horse Guards Parade Ground???And more particularly, it’s been a privilege to represent my local community alongside so many talented and committed colleagues, both council officers and members, including the much-missed Sir Simon Milton who was Leader of Westminster Council when I was first elected in 2002, and more recently former Council Leader Nickie Aiken who is now?MP for the Cities of London and Westminster.??

There are also memories of a darker shade, including the atrocities carried out in the summer of 2005 which brought local communities together as Westminster Council set up an inter-faith exchange in response to the bombings inflicted on innocent people in July of that year.??There was also the killing of PC Keith Palmer at the Palace of Westminster in March 2017; the impact on local communities of the Grenfell Tower fire in neighbouring Kensington & Chelsea three months later; and the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Yousef Beker in broad daylight on Edgware Road in September 2019.??Yousef was a student at City of Westminster College, where I served as a Governor for nearly ten years.

Scrutinising local services is a wide-ranging task, and I led a number of public investigations.

Being a local councillor is a window on a hidden world.??I’m not talking about the stacks of paperwork you receive through your weekly despatch, the constant stream of emails from constituents and stakeholders, or late-night meetings at Westminster City Hall; rather it’s gaining an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that present themselves when serving the interests of local residents and the wider community.??

I had the honour to hold some senior positions on Westminster Council, including as Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Licensing.??I also chaired the council’s Scrutiny Commission, which examines the work of the Council’s CEO and Leader.??And I contributed to a?national study by the Local Government Group?about involving children and young people more in local decision-making.??Scrutinising local services is a wide-ranging task, and I led a number of public investigations as Chair of various Policy and Scrutiny Committees at Westminster Council, including on?exploding pavements,?fire station closures?and?better broadband.??

My brief as Cabinet Member for Adult Services was timely as it was just as local authorities were mandated to have separate governance structures in place to support their children’s services in the wake of the Victoria Climbie enquiry and by also having separate governance of corresponding services for older people, which I headed up between 2005-08.??Themes which were current then remain so today, not least around greater collaboration and integration with local NHS services, joint working to keep older people out of hospital, and giving individuals more freedom over their in-home care through personalised budgets which I introduced as one of the first pilots in the country.??

My public protection Cabinet brief was dominated by my heading up a campaign against unregulated short-term lets – which I referred to as happening in Westminster on an ‘industrial scale’.??Working closely with talented press officers, the council succeeded in generating prominent media coverage for our campaign, both locally and in national titles like The Financial Times and?Economist.??That campaign continues today under my successor and I remain hopeful that government will introduce legislation to give more powers to local authorities to regulate short-term lettings in their communities.??

I also launched a community outreach scheme called?Soho Angels, whose volunteers patrolled the streets of the West End at weekends, working with the licensed trade, the LGBT Foundation and St John’s Ambulance to support vulnerable revellers.??The initiative succeeded in avoiding unnecessary ambulance callouts and won funding from NHS England as a result.??

My public protection brief also included working with colleagues in the community and voluntary sector to help address concerns caused by people sleeping on the streets.??While Westminster historically spends more than any other local authority on services for rough sleepers, around ￡7m per year, including on outreach and hostel accommodation, central London remains a magnet for people sleeping rough.??Concerningly, around one in four under-25s who arrives on the streets of Westminster identifies as LGBT+, often having become estranged from their families when coming out.??

I learnt that it’s essential to engage with new arrivals within their first few days of living on the streets through specialist outreach teams, in order to divert people safely off the streets.??I commissioned Stonewall Housing, a specialist LGBT+ housing charity, to train frontline staff at Westminster Council to deal appropriately with LGBT+ people who report as homeless to the council’s housing service.??I also travelled to Helsinki in 2018 as part of an official Westminster Council delegation to see for myself the successful approach to ‘housing first’ in Finland, where homeless people are offered accommodation and wraparound support without pre-conditions, to encourage them off the streets.??

For me, 2017-18 was a remarkable year when I was elected to serve as the Lord Mayor of Westminster, with my husband, Christopher, serving alongside me as Lord Mayoral Consort –?the first same-sex couple to undertake this civic duty.??Among the year’s highlights were being the?first Lord Mayor to head the London Pride parade?watched by more than a million spectators; representing Westminster as First Citizen during a state visit by the King Filipe of Spain; and?travelling to Oslo to help ‘chop down’ the famous Christmas tree which was erected in Trafalgar Square in December 2017, an annual gift from the people of Norway following World War Two.??Plus attendance at a special service at Westminster Abbey, marking the 100th?anniversary of Armistice Day.??

On one occasion, a pupil at St Peter’s Primary School asked if I was the King!

One particularly memorable exchange occurred at Westminster Abbey, where the Lord Mayor holds the honorary title of Deputy High Steward.??Following a service to commemorate the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Dean of Westminster Abbey introduced me and Christopher to the Archbishop of Canterbury, saying how our presence at the Abbey had helped to promote a sense of social inclusion.??More locally, I enjoyed attending many other events as Lord Mayor in schools, care homes and different places of worship.??On one occasion, a pupil at St Peter’s Primary School, Maida Vale asked if I was the King when he saw me in my blue and gold mayoral robe!?

After ending my year as Lord Mayor in May 2018, I served as Westminster Council’s LGBT+ Lead Member, championing social inclusion on behalf of the local community, helping to celebrate?LGBT+ History Month?and?remembering victims of the bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho.??In 2018, 2019 and 2020 I was honoured to be named an OUTstanding LGBT+ role model by The Financial Times and by?Yahoo Finance.??And was flattered to be cited by Nickie Aiken MP in the?House of Commons?during Pride Month 2021.

On stepping down from Westminster Council, I shall miss the camaraderie and friendships which can transcend party political loyalties.??And wider relationships that form in local communities and beyond.??I’ve also enjoyed support from my employers who have understood the importance of giving staff time off to carry out civic duties throughout my time as a local councillor, especially during my year serving as Lord Mayor.??

Turning to my next chapter following Westminster Council, I am pleased to have been co-opted onto a number of charity boards recently, all concerned with promoting social justice: as Vice-Chair of?Single Homeless Project, a London-wide homelessness charity; as a Trustee of?Unite Foundation, which supports care leavers and family estranged students with free university accommodation; and as a Trustee of the?Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, a UK-wide EDI non-profit consultancy.??I also remain a Trustee of?London Handel Festival,?Age UK Westminster?and the?Musical Boroughs Trust, which supports music-making by young people living in central and West London.??

Finally, to all candidates standing in the 2022 local elections, may I wish you well.

? Ian Adams 2022