IslingtonLife Blog

Welcome to the IslingtonLife Blog!

Welcome to the IslingtonLife Blog. The site will be updated frequently with the latest news and information from the council and around the borough. You can also keep in touch by following us on Twitter @IslingtonLife.

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May's message from council leader Catherine West

Congratulations to Rakhia Ismail who on Friday became Islington’s newest Councillor after winning the Holloway by-election.  I look forward to welcoming her to the council and know that she will be a great addition to the team.

I also want to congratulate Cllr Jilani Chowdhury, who will be sworn in at Annual Council on Thursday as first citizen of the borough and Islington’s first ever Bangladeshi Mayor. 

I have made some changes to Executive Member portfolios for the coming year, which will be confirmed at Annual Council on Thursday.

We’re on the side of our tenants and leaseholders and committed to making sure they have a strong voice.  With our social housing now back under direct council control, we’re putting in place new arrangements for resident engagement, including a new Housing Executive, Residents’ Improvement Taskforce and elected Resident Champions.  This work is incredibly important and Cllr Barbara Sidnell as the new Executive Member for Tenants, Residents and Communities will be able to devote her attention to taking it forward.  Barbara has been a tenant activist all of her adult life and will be a vocal, committed advocate for tenants and leaseholders.

Cllr James Murray as Executive Member for Housing & Development will be in charge of housing management and strategy.  Providing the new family sized social homes Islington so desperately needs is an absolute priority and in this new role Cllr Murray will continue to drive forward Islington’s biggest affordable house building programme for thirty years. 

Taking over the crucial role of Executive Member for Community Safety and continuing with our work to keep Islington safe and take tough action to tackle crime and anti social behaviour is Cllr Paul Convery.

Read the full list of Executive Member Portfolios 2012-13 here. 

Beware of telephone scams

Unfortunately fraudsters are out there. A couple of the latest telephone scams are detailed below – take a read to make sure you don’t get burnt!

Latest bank scam

The fraudster, claiming to be from your bank, says that they have spotted a fraudulent payment on your card or that your card is due to expire and needs replacing. You’re asked to call back using the telephone number on the back of your card – seems legitimate? However, the caller keeps the line open at their end so, when you make the call, you are unknowingly connected straight back to the fraudster.

In most cases you are asked to ‘cancel’ your existing card or ‘activate’ or ‘authorise’ a replacement card by keying your PIN into the handset of your phone.

The fraudster then poses as a bank representative who agrees to collect your card from your home, sometimes offering you a replacement card, which is a fake.

In some cases a genuine courier company is hired to pick up the card from your home address. The victim will have been asked to place the card into an envelope ready for collection – the fraudster now has your card and pin so they can start spending your money.

A variation of the scam involves the fraudster ringing the victim and claiming to be from the police – again with the aim of going to the victim’s home to collect the card and PIN.

To avoid being a victim of this scam, you should:

• Never hand your card to anyone - neither your bank nor the police would ever ring you and ask to come and collect your card 

• Never enter your PIN into the telephone handset - your bank will never ask you to do this

• Never share your PIN with anyone

If you think you have been a victim, you should:

• Ring the police immediately on 999 if the criminals are nearby, otherwise report the crime to your local police via 101.

• Call your bank or card company immediately

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) scam

The MoJ govern companies that are advertising to help people get back money from banks that misled them into buying payment protection insurance (PPI).

Scammers are phoning people claiming to be from the MoJ and asking them for a fee to be paid before the money can be released.  Usually the fee has to be paid by Ukash but sometimes the scammers ask for bank details. 
 
If you’ve been affected by this scam report it to:

1) National Fraud Authority (NFA) on 0300 123 2040 or via their website

2) If you have lost money, contact Ukash who can try to block payment. Call 00800 247 85274 (UK only, calls from landlines are free).

 

Solving a sticky problem...

Islington Council is one of only 15 local authorities taking part in the “Do your country proud…bin your gum” advertising campaign  which calls on everyone to play their part in creating a cleaner, better Britain ahead of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee by putting their gum in a bin.

The campaign, which is launched this week and will run in March and April, will see Islington Council working with local communities to encourage people to take responsibility for their litter, put their used gum in a bin and take pride in their streets.  By simply disposing of gum responsibly in a bin, everyone can help to reduce the litter and staining it causes.

Half of Londoners admit to dropping litter according to research by the Chewing Gum Action Group published this week.

The survey discovered that we are a capital of litter bugs as 51% of Londoners came clean about not binning their rubbish. It also found that over 1 in 3 people, who live in London or surrounding areas, don’t think the capital is clean and tidy.

Since 2005 the annual campaign has lead to reductions in chewing gum litter of up to 91%. 

The survey results also found that Londoners want to take more responsibility for their local areas, with 87% of respondents saying they would be willing to get involved in making their local community more attractive ahead of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the summer of 2012.

 Find out more and how you can get involved here.