A new policing team focused on tackling street crime in Barking and Dagenham has been unveiled. 

The Crime and Enforcement Taskforce will be based in the Barking Learning Centre and will be predominantly responsible for tackling crimes identified as a priority by the council, such as patrolling the borough’s housing estates, where they can utilise stop and search powers.

As well as this, the team will be tasked with:

Coming to Parsloes Park next weekend, we head back in time to the 80s with the One Borough Festival on Saturday 20 July before rocking your socks off, with the Roundhouse Music Festival on Sunday 21 July.

What is shaping up to be our biggest weekend of the year, we bring the borough not one, but two, FREE, fantastic festivals that will have something for everyone.

Manor Infants School has received a special invitation from Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, to become part of his Schools for Success programme. 

The Mayor has recognised that the school has done some fantastic work with students who joined the school behind their peers and have since made huge progress.

Barking and Dagenham residents who are on Universal Credit are being reminded that they will need to apply for their Council Tax Support separately.



People who currently receive Universal Credit or are soon to do so, will have to apply for to claim Council Tax Support from the council to prevent them going arrears and having extra costs to pay.

Barking and Dagenham Council will mark the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide with a special flag-raising event outside Barking Town Hall on Thursday 11 July.

As well as a minute’s silence, there will be speeches, prayers and artwork on display that has been created by local school children.

Barking and Dagenham Council paraded a float for the second year in a row as they celebrated this year’s Pride in London Parade on Saturday, 6 July.

Around 70 people from the borough joined thousands of revellers on the capital’s streets to represent the borough at London’s iconic parade, which started at Portland Place past Piccadilly Circus, Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square.

Students from All Saints Catholic School will have a last school week of the school year to remember as each pupil will have the opportunity to head into London to widen their cultural horizons. 

To do this the school runs Curiosity Week where each student will visit a cultural landmark in the capital to help improve their cultural knowledge. 

The venues will include the British Museum, Museum of London, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, National Gallery and the Tower of London.

A Barking and Dagenham school has scooped a prestigious national award for their work to improve the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff.

All Saints Catholic School achieved the silver Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools from Leeds Beckett University.

The award demonstrates that a school is excelling in providing policies and initiatives that work towards improving the emotional health and wellbeing for staff and pupils.

A black, four-foot-tall fibreglass dog has been standing guard in the halls of a Barking and Dagenham school as part of a campaign to encourage pupils to discuss their mental health.

Elvis the dog returned to Eastbury Community School after going on a UK-wide tour, which saw the statue visit various public spaces, as well as schools and universities.

The campaign is the idea of mental health charity SANE, which places sculptures of black dogs around the country to raise awareness of mental health issues.

Barking and Dagenham council’s housing company, Reside, now has a new board and recently appointed a Managing Director to take forward the ambitious plans to provide even more affordable homes for local people.

Since its launch in 2012, Reside is now a significant landlord in the borough with almost 900 properties, with over 70 shared ownership properties on its books. Over the next five years there is an opportunity to increase the number of homes by a further 3,000.