CONTEXT
The mayor’s office should demonstrate grace and be mindful of upholding the Harrow council reputation and transparency.
Looks Harrow mayor Cllr Salim Chowdhury, a hotelier by trade and introduced as the ‘Harrow’s first British Bangladeshi Mayor’ by the Harrow council, has made some unusual choices.
Deputy mayor
The mayor notified the May 2024 council meeting that he had appointed the Conservative group elected Cllr Anjana Patel as deputy mayor for 2024-25, despite Cllr Patel’s divisive politics on the social media – some covered by the hard-hitting headlines(1). He could have distanced.
Later, deputy mayor incivility(2) showed up at the Harrow council meeting on 23rd October 2024 – heckling, banging the Mayor’s gavel on the bench, and harshly directing words as well as a finger towards a councillor. But “The Mayor is not offended by her actions”.
The Local Government Association Model Member Code of Conduct, published by the Local Government Association in May 2020, defines civility as the politeness and courtesy in behaviour, speech, and in the written word.
The page 40 of the Civic Ceremonial Handbook, History and Guidance for Mayors, Councillors and Officer(3) clearly says that “the deputy only has a civic, legal and Royal status in the absence of the Mayor”, and therefore the self-disciplined role of the deputy mayor sitting with the mayor at the council meeting, is to quietly observe.
Mayor’s charity
The mayor chose London’s Community Kitchen ‘L.C.K Reg Charity No. 1198839 (4)’ his charity which is a CIO not subject to company regulations whose accounts for the charity commission were overdue(5) at the time, and which has £45 reserves as per its financial accounts at the commission.
The convention is that the deputy mayor, being the potential mayor, informs the chosen charity months before, so that the soundness of the charity must be ascertained.
Furthermore, Harrow mayor’s webpage(6) on the Harrow council website has been less transparent in that it failed to provide the basic information about the charity, like its governance and charity number (now corrected 12/01/2025 after our intervention) [don’t see this information on the London’s Community Kitchen website(7) either].
Our probing worked and now (seven months after the mayor being in place) at least the ‘L.C.K Reg Charity No. 1198839 (4)’ has appeared on the mayor’s page – the L.C.K is not an abbreviation for London Community Kitchen but stands for the London’s Community Kitchen, a CIO.
However, still no such information could be found on the London Community Kitchen/ London’s Community Kitchen website(7) as of today.
According to the Charities Act 2011 the charity law requires publicising the charitable status of a registered charity(8), making sure that the charity number and name is displayed on the charity’s documents and website, so that members of the public are clear that they are dealing with a charity, and could check the charity, like its governance, accounts etc.
Uncertainty about the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund, makes some think whether their donation to this mayor’s fund are worth.
[the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund charity number 219034 (9) not displayed on the mayor’s webpage page(6)]
Mayor’s Charity Ball
This year, the Mayor’s Charity Ball, a Harrow civic feature, cancelled.
The mayor’s office should demonstrate grace and be mindful of upholding the Harrow council reputation and transparency.
Looks Harrow mayor Cllr Salim Chowdhury, a hotelier by trade and introduced as the ‘Harrow’s first British Bangladeshi Mayor’ by the Harrow council, has made some unusual choices.
Deputy mayor
The mayor notified the May 2024 council meeting that he had appointed the Conservative group elected Cllr Anjana Patel as deputy mayor for 2024-25, despite Cllr Patel’s divisive politics on the social media – some covered by the hard-hitting headlines(1). He could have distanced.
Later, deputy mayor incivility(2) showed up at the Harrow council meeting on 23rd October 2024 – heckling, banging the Mayor’s gavel on the bench, and harshly directing words as well as a finger towards a councillor. But “The Mayor is not offended by her actions”.
The Local Government Association Model Member Code of Conduct, published by the Local Government Association in May 2020, defines civility as the politeness and courtesy in behaviour, speech, and in the written word.
The page 40 of the Civic Ceremonial Handbook, History and Guidance for Mayors, Councillors and Officer(3) clearly says that “the deputy only has a civic, legal and Royal status in the absence of the Mayor”, and therefore the self-disciplined role of the deputy mayor sitting with the mayor at the council meeting, is to quietly observe.
Mayor’s charity
The mayor chose London’s Community Kitchen ‘L.C.K Reg Charity No. 1198839 (4)’ his charity which is a CIO not subject to company regulations whose accounts for the charity commission were overdue(5) at the time, and which has £45 reserves as per its financial accounts at the commission.
The convention is that the deputy mayor, being the potential mayor, informs the chosen charity months before, so that the soundness of the charity must be ascertained.
Furthermore, Harrow mayor’s webpage(6) on the Harrow council website has been less transparent in that it failed to provide the basic information about the charity, like its governance and charity number (now corrected 12/01/2025 after our intervention) [don’t see this information on the London’s Community Kitchen website(7) either].
Our probing worked and now (seven months after the mayor being in place) at least the ‘L.C.K Reg Charity No. 1198839 (4)’ has appeared on the mayor’s page – the L.C.K is not an abbreviation for London Community Kitchen but stands for the London’s Community Kitchen, a CIO.
However, still no such information could be found on the London Community Kitchen/ London’s Community Kitchen website(7) as of today.
According to the Charities Act 2011 the charity law requires publicising the charitable status of a registered charity(8), making sure that the charity number and name is displayed on the charity’s documents and website, so that members of the public are clear that they are dealing with a charity, and could check the charity, like its governance, accounts etc.
Uncertainty about the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund, makes some think whether their donation to this mayor’s fund are worth.
[the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity Fund charity number 219034 (9) not displayed on the mayor’s webpage page(6)]
Mayor’s Charity Ball
This year, the Mayor’s Charity Ball, a Harrow civic feature, cancelled.
Harrow Monitoring Group 
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