Leader's update - Friday 6 February 2026
Published: 06 February 2026
As we start February there are a number of religious festivals and key dates to mark. There is Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday marking the start of Lent and Ramadan, a holy month of fasting, prayer and reflection. We also have Maha Shivarati, a festival worshiping Lord Shiva and celebrate the Chinese New Year. I wish everyone marking these important dates a peaceful and fulfilling time.
Last weekend, I attended the Community Activity Day in Seven Kings with Councillors, Council Officers and the local Police. It was a pleasure to meet so many residents and discuss what matters to them, including how important it was that Redbridge and our administration were protecting the Freedom Pass. We also had the Redbridge Healthy Bus on hand to give free health checks which was very popular.
This week, I visited Queen Victoria House (QVH) to see its transformation into a Business and Enterprise Hub. This project was part funded by the government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and has created workspaces and offices that will offer an opportunity for start-ups to launch and develop their business model, while being able to access business support.
On Wednesday, I attended the launch of the new Rapid Response Clean Team. It was a pleasure to meet the staff that will be out and about in the borough and to see the new vehicle. The additional service means local reports about urgent street scene issues including offensive graffiti, large fly-tips, and spills, can be responded to even faster and without taking other staff off their planned duties. Please use the council’s website report it function or the Love Clean Streets app to report issues. This is the quickest way for us to respond to these requests.
This week, I also visited South Woodford Library and Gym to see first-hand the progress of the refurbishment. I look forward to seeing it open this summer. In the meantime, we have relocated the gym and library to the nearby Redbridge Drama Centre for local people to use.
From next month, we will be restarting our free fortnightly Green Garden Waste collections. I am proud that we are one of very few local authorities who still provide this service free of charge. Week 1 Collections will start on Monday 2 March and run to Friday 13 November, and Week 2 Collections will start on Monday 9 March and run to Friday 20 November. You can present up to five bags on your collection day and you can also collect garden waste bags for just £2 (while stocks last!!) from all Redbridge Libraries. You can pay by contactless payment (including Apple Pay and Android Pay) at all libraries but if you can only pay by cash, then Central Library, in Ilford town centre, has that facility.
Have a good weekend.
Cllr Kam Rai,
Leader of the Council
