Local news

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets has backed a new campaign from the homelessness charity Crisis, calling for the government to urgently address the gap between Local Housing Allowance rates and private sector rents. Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are set by the government and are used to calculate Housing Benefit for tenants renting from private landlords. LHA rates were created ...

  Extra places available for affordable holiday scheme for October half term. Record attendance at summer holiday schemes. Ofsted has rated a Tower Hamlets summer holiday scheme as good following an unannounced inspection last month. On one of the busiest days of the summer programme, Ofsted visited as 230 children were attending the scheme, which also included two trips to ...

Projects to support future young leaders and transform a community garden among the successful bids. A total of 13 local community projects and thousands of residents are set to benefit from almost £45,000 funding announced as part of Tower Hamlets Council’s Small Grants Fund (SGF). The fund was agreed last year to support mainly small scale community projects with one ...

Ansar Ahmed Ullah: In a petition dated 10 September UK based Campaign for the Protection of Religious Minorities in Bangladesh (CPRMB) draws British Anne Main MP’s attention to the sufferings of the minorities in Bangladesh. The petition goes on to say Hindus are the minority in Bangladesh, and they are leaving Bangladesh in thousands according to the census of Bangladesh ...

A unique hexagonal shape design solution has won three students from the University of East London the Sustainability Prize in a concrete competition run by the Concrete Centre. This is the third year that the University has won an award in the Concrete Centre’s Structural Concrete student competition, having come top last year and also in 2016 in the main ...

Professor Charles Egbu, the University of East London’s pro vice-chancellor (education and experience) welcomes news of government proposals that international students will be allowed to stay in the UK for two years after graduation. Professor Egbu said the move will have the support of the UK higher education sector. “The new proposals clearly indicate the importance attached to international students and ...

The ‘Bangabandhu Corner’ has added a ‘new dimension’ to the annual ‘Bangladesh book fair’ in London. The Bangladesh High Commission set up the corner that what it said became a ‘centre point’ for the book lovers. The Sammilita Sahitya O Sangskritik Parishad, UK organised the two-day fair in Brady Arts Centre in East London. It ended on Monday.With deep interest, ...

  A shop has been fined after a bread knife was sold to teenage girls during a joint operation between Tower Hamlets Council and the police. Razzak Miah, 39, of Chipka Street, Isle of Dogs, pleaded guilty to selling a knife to a person under the age of 18 when he appeared at Thames Magistrates Court on 18 July. John ...

  New analysis of official government projections shows that the total interest being racked up by graduates on their student loan debt is set to rise to £8.6 billion in 2024, an increase of £4.2 billion. Figures published by the Department for Education on student loan repayments show that almost all the rise in accrued interest will come from the ...

  Get your litter pickers ready – the Big Clean Up is back in town. Throughout September, residents and businesses from across Tower Hamlets will be mucking in to take part in clean-ups in Whitechapel, Victoria Park, Poplar and Bethnal Green. John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets said: “Our Big Clean Up events are a great way to engage local residents ...