It’s hard to think of many jobs more important than providing care for our loved ones when they need it most. Yet for too long care workers have struggled by on poverty wages. In Islington, we’re determined to change that.
At last night’s Executive meeting, we took the first step by agreeing a procurement strategy for the Council’s existing Domiciliary Care Service contracts which expire in March 2014. Any new contracts will include a requirement to pay the Living Wage and we’ve pledged funding in our 2013-14 budget to help make this happen. Everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work and, while change doesn’t happen overnight, I’m proud that Islington is once again leading the way on this important issue.
We all hope we won’t need to call on the emergency services, but if we do we want to know our brave fire fighters will be there quickly. Instead, Clerkenwell and Kingsland fire stations, which both provide vital cover for businesses and residents in Islington, are threatened with closure under the Mayor of London’s plan to cut £45.4 million from the London Fire Brigade over two years.
All Islington’s Councillors are united against these plans, proposed without any prior assessment of safety risk, as we’re extremely concerned that losing these fire stations would affect cover and response times for Islington. Please join me in writing to the Mayor of London, Greater London Authority, City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AA or emailing mayor@london.gov.uk in support of our campaign to keep Clerkenwell and Kingsland fire stations open.
2012 will be remembered forever as the year the Olympics came to town. The world’s greatest event right on our doorstep and Islington was at the heart of the action, with over 200 of our community heroes awarded free tickets thanks to the generosity of local businesses.
Our fantastic summer of celebration, from the torch relay and community sports day on Highbury Fields to free swimming for under 16s, brought some cheer to a year that has been another tough one for our community. Government cuts are hitting hard and the call on our Citizens Advice Bureau is bigger than ever as people struggle with rising bills and worry about their families, jobs or business.
Sadly, April 2013 will bring more misery as the next round of government cuts will leave many of our lowest income families with even less in their pockets and could force some out of their homes and their community. We will continue doing everything we can to support those affected, and will press on with building desperately needed homes at a genuinely affordable rent of around one third of market value, not the 80 per cent of market rents the Mayor of London thinks is ‘affordable’ .
In these tough times, my promise to you is that this council will keep working hard to make our borough fairer. We’re supporting young people hit by the government’s decision to scrap Educational Maintenance Allowance with our new student bursary scheme of £300 per year - helping Islington students from low income families continue studying past 16. And we’re fighting back against rising fuel bills with the launch of Bunhill Heat & Power, a council-owned alternative to the private utilities that is providing cheaper, greener energy to more than 700 homes on local estates.
One of my proudest moments of 2012 was becoming one of the UK’s first accredited Living Wage councils and being named London Citizens’ local authority of the year for our work to make Islington a fairer borough. Thanks to our lead, an extra 760 Islington-based staff across all sectors are now earning a decent wage for a hard day’s work. Over the next year we’ll be focussing our attention on social care, where for too long people providing vital care for our loved ones have struggled on poverty pay.
There’s lots more to do and in 2013, we will continue to stand up for our borough by providing real help that makes a difference.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
