IslingtonLife Blog

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. 

March's message from council leader Catherine West

International Women’s Day on 8 March is a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come over the past hundred years and how much we still need to do. Sadly, women seem to be bearing much of the burden of unfair government cuts and this year’s IWD falls at a time when female unemployment is at its highest for 25 years. Over 6,000 Islington women are searching for work and a higher percentage of working-age women are unemployed in Islington than men. 

We’re on the side of our community and determined to help women get the skills, training and support they need. In this year’s budget we’ve pledged an extra £450,000 for affordable childcare to help people get back into work and on Thursday 8 March we’ll be marking International Women’s Day with a free drop-in careers event in our Assembly Hall from 11am-3pm.

Featuring eight workshops, including interview preparation and starting your own business as well as more than 25 stalls from employers, council services and community organisations, it’s a chance to boost your employment skills and find out about new opportunities. 

In the evening, you can join me at our panel discussion with the Fawcett Society and Emily Thornberry MP on ‘Women’s employment – overcoming the barriers’.

You can find out more here.

In the picture: Celebrating Islington women - it was a year ago that I unveiled a People's Plaque to Mary Wollstonecraft. You can find out more about what Mary did for the people of Islington, and other Plaque winners, here.

February's message from council leader Catherine West

Making savings
For a second year Islington faces a painful budget. Despite being one of the most deprived London boroughs, central government cuts mean we have to find a massive £102 million of savings over four years - £52 million last year, another £18.2 million this year.

The budget we will be recommending on 28 February sets out how we plan to do this. We’re on the side of our community and I am proud that almost 90% of the savings we have to make this year will come from cost cutting, such as sharing services and re-negotiating contracts. 

Doing this means we can focus on protecting the things that make a real difference to residents, like building more family sized affordable homes, keeping our libraries and children’s centres open, helping our young people find decently paid work, and launching a new 24-hour anti social behaviour hotline to better tackle a problem that blights too many people’s lives.

Council tax freeze
We know it’s a tough time right now so we’re also freezing council tax this year and continuing our popular £100 older people’s discount. The whole budget package is now open for comment and is available online. We will be listening carefully to residents before a final budget is agreed later this month.

LGBT History Month
Islington’s strength is its diversity, and I’m delighted that for the first time we’ll be flying the rainbow flag over the Town Hall to mark February’s LGBT History Month. Visit our website to find out about a whole range of events taking place in Islington and Camden throughout the month.

January's message from council leader Catherine West

CAB is my highlight
I hope you managed to use some of Islington’s wonderful local shops at Christmas, and maybe picked up some January sales bargains too! As our resident roamer celebrates its first year (offering free parking to Islington permit holders between 11am-3pm), it’s now even easier to support our hard working traders.

But for me the highlight of Upper Street isn’t one of our fantastic shops or restaurants – it’s our Citizens Advice Bureau. We promised to bring a CAB back to Islington and in April we fulfilled this pledge. I wish nobody in our community needed its services, but with government cuts biting hard, over 1,000 people are walking through its doors every single month for free, independent advice. 

Last year, I wrote about the damage these government cuts would bring for Islington – for our families with less money in their pockets, for our young people struggling to find work and for our council services facing cuts of £100 million.

On the side of our residents
These are tough times, but we’re on the side of our community and determined to build a fairer Islington. We’re keeping all our libraries and children’s centres open, protecting our youth services, paying the London Living Wage, introducing 20 mph limits on all our roads and embarking on Islington’s biggest affordable house building programme for thirty years.

I fear 2012 will be even tougher as the next round of Government cuts bite and the recession these cuts are causing becomes deeper. But we’ll continue to stand up for our community – introducing new services to tackle anti-social behaviour, electing the first Youth Mayor and Council, opening new facilities for our young people and announcing new apprenticeships. We’ll keep working to make the council more efficient and improve the quality of the services you receive.

Most excitingly, we’ll soon be announcing how you can nominate your community hero to attend the Olympics – thanks to the generosity of local businesses. What a great way to say thank you to someone who’s really making a difference in your local area. Watch this space to find out more...

 

December's message from council leader Catherine West

In support of the day of action
Everyone deserves a decent retirement, which is why I supported the local government workers defending their pension scheme in last week’s day of action.  The proposed changes place an extra tax on workers already hit by pay freezes and the rising cost of living – and run a real risk of forcing thousands of people on low incomes to drop out of the scheme altogether. 

That worries me because there are already too many older people in Islington living in poverty.  It is unacceptable that people who have made such a contribution to our neighbourhoods should have to struggle through their old age. It’s the reason why, despite massive government cuts, we’ve kept our £100 council tax discount for older people and are now one of only 22 councils in the country funding social service provision for those with moderate needs. Our successful battle with the Mayor of London this year means that the Plus Bus, a vital lifeline for elderly and disabled people, is still running.

Festive feast for older people
I want to see older people valued for what they bring to our community and next week, for the second year running, I’ll be serving meals for over 100 people at our Pensioners’ Christmas Party.  I scrapped the usual Leader’s Party for the ‘great and the good’ when I became Leader, because I think we should be using our scarce resources to bring some festive cheer to the people who most need our help.  Our pensioners deserve something back.

If you would like to help make a difference in our community over the Christmas period, there are lots of volunteering opportunities on the Islington Giving website – from helping at the Centre 404 Kids Christmas Party to hosting your own Dinner4Good dinner party. 

My best wishes to you all for a happy Christmas and a relaxing and enjoyable festive break.

November's message from council leader Catherine West

Remembering our Heroes
At 11 o’clock this morning we stood in silence on Islington’s Town Hall steps to remember the brave men and women who have given their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. We owe so much to those who serve in our Armed Forces and this week is our chance to say thank you. There are many Remembrance events taking place in Islington this Sunday and I hope people across Islington will come and join me as we honour our heroes.    

Congratulations
Congratulations to Gary Poole who last night became Islington’s newest Councillor after winning the St Mary’s by-election. 

Congratulations too for our Children’s Services, who are this week celebrating becoming one of only 28 councils in the country to receive an ‘excellent’ rating from Ofsted. It’s a fantastic achievement and one we need to build on over the year ahead so we keep improving and ensuring that all our young people, whatever their background, achieves their full potential and all leave school with the skills they need to succeed in life.

Creating a true Olympic legacy
I’m delighted that since my last Leader’s Column, the Mayor of London has backed down and agreed that we can spend the majority of the £50,000 Olympic money on events for young people. I couldn’t have stomached seeing it all wasted on throwaway flags, so we’re already making plans for a mini Olympics in Highbury Fields, a school sports torch relay, and dance participation and demonstrations with Sadlers Wells. The Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our borough, and I want everyone in Islington to have the opportunity to get involved! 

My next pop-up surgery is at Hillside Clubhouse, 29-30 North Road, Holloway on Thursday 17 November from 12pm-1.30pm.  Please come along if you’ve got any issues you’d like to discuss with me.   

 

September's message from council leader Catherine West

Giving our children the best start in life
Congratulations to everyone who received their GCSE or A-level results this summer. 

I was with young people across the borough as they heard the news, and the results are a real testament to the hard work of students, staff, parents and governors at Islington’s schools. Seventy-five percent of our students are now achieving 5 or more A* to C grade GCSEs and as our schools continue to improve I’m proud that we’re offering our local children the good education they need to succeed. 

Some of the students celebrating at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson have spoken about how Michelle Obama’s visit to the school inspired them to achieve. I want all our young people to feel similarly inspired by the 2012 Games. London won the bid on the back of our young people, and the promise to use it as a focus of hope and fulfilment for the young. Sadly, as the games draw nearer and government cuts hit harder, it feels like we’re reading more about sports facilities being closed down or having their funding slashed than we are about our young athletes.

Standing up for our young people
That’s why I’ve told Sebastian Coe that I don’t want the Mayor’s Office giving us £50,000 but telling us we have to spend it on flags and bunting we could make ourselves. I’m on the side of our community and want to be able to use that £50,000 to put on a mini Olympics with local sports clubs and youth clubs that will get our young people passionate about the Games. If we can inspire them now, like the First Lady inspired the girls at EGA, some of them might be our Olympic athletes in 2016, 2020 and beyond. That seems to me to be a lot more important than some disposable dressing. 

Last year, Islington elected the youngest councillor in the country, Cllr Faye Whaley, at just 18 years old. Later this month, we’ll be launching our Young Mayor and Youth Council. Young people themselves are the best judges of the kind of services they need and through these new initiatives we’ll be giving young people a bigger voice, a specific budget, and a key role to play in procuring the council’s youth services. It’s an exciting opportunity for young people to have their say and see what politics is all about – and there’ll be full details on our website as soon as they’re available. 

Giving our young people the opportunities they need to succeed is at the heart of our vision for a fairer Islington. I hope lots of our under 18s will feel inspired to get involved. 

July's message from council leader Catherine West

Improving Archway is one of our priorities. As one of the most deprived parts of the borough, it’s too often been neglected in the past. We’re committed to changing that and ensuring it receives the attention it deserves. That’s why at last night’s Executive (Tuesday 5 July) we agreed funding of £2million to deliver a whole range of improvements in the area over the next two or three years.

Like all Archway’s residents, I want to see the gyratory removed, but the £6-8 million cost has to come from Transport for London and so far they’re refusing. It’s disappointing and short sighted, but we’ll continue to put pressure on them to carry out this essential work. We’ll also use some of our own resources to continue the feasibility studies – so that when TfL change their mind we’re ready to go.

But we’re not going to hold back on other improvements that will benefit all Archway’s residents, businesses, and visitors right now while we wait for that to happen. Our £2 million investment will:

• Fund public space improvements at Archway Close and Flowers Mews
• Replace and improve run down shop fronts
• Boost local businesses, through the Archway Town Centre Management Group and other business support
• Support the arts, with £200,000 for projects in Archway as part of Creative Islington’s Animating Communities initiative, and £50,000 to help bring a derelict building back into use as a 200-seat Community Arts Theatre.

We’re on Archway’s side. It’s a wonderful part of our borough, but it needs our support, and this £2 million will make a real and visible difference. At a time when government cuts are causing huge damage to our creative industries, I’m also proud that our investment recognises the value of the arts and its power to transform communities.

My next ‘pop up’ surgery will be at Chapel Market Farmers Market from 11am-12.30pm on Sunday 14 August. If you’re in the area come along and say hello.

June's message from council leader Catherine West

It’s now a year since I became leader of your council and it has been a challenging one. 

It’s a year where we’ve had to deal with the impact of massive government cuts and set a budget that takes £52 million away over the next year alone. I don’t believe it’s fair that the government has chosen to hit deprived areas like ours hardest and these cuts will be deeply felt by our community. But by renegotiating multi-million pound contracts, slashing the new Chief Executive’s salary, and finding ways to save money on everything from office buildings to paper supplies, I can promise we’ve done everything possible to shield residents from the full brunt of the cuts.

We have less money now but what we do have we’re targeting at those who need it most. I’m proud that in these tough twelve months we’ve been able to:
• Introduce the London Living Wage of £8.30 per hour for all directly employed council staff, including 150 building cleaners, so that no one is expected to do a hard day’s work for less than they can afford to live on.
• Bring a Citizens Advice Bureau back to the borough, offering free face to face advice and support on debt, welfare and housing benefit changes just when our residents need it most.
• Become the first London borough to say no to the government’s new (non) affordable rents and fulfil our pledge to review the future of housing management.
• Cushion our voluntary and community sector partners from the full impact of the government’s cuts with a £1 million voluntary sector rescue fund.
• Keep Sotheby Mews Day Centre open and secure a long-term future for the much loved Highbury Roundhouse on its existing site. 
• Hold a Safer Islington Crime debate and work with the police to make Islington a safer place for everyone.
• Protect our older residents by keeping the £100 council tax discount that’s so highly valued.

What next?  
A fairer Islington is better for everyone and at our 30 June council meeting we'll be debating the Islington Fairness Commission’s recommendations which will guide our work over the coming year. It’s a public meeting, and I hope to see some of you there – joining the 500+ residents who have already taken part since the commission was established. 

Or you might want to come along to my next ‘pop up’ surgery at St Luke’s Centre on Central Street from 1.30-2.30pm on Friday 17 June. I’m trying to visit every corner of the borough so if you’d like to suggest somewhere for me to hold one of my ‘pop ups’ just drop me a line. 

May's message from council leader Catherine West

Last week (Thursday 28 April) saw the final public meeting of our Islington Fairness Commission. There’s understandable scepticism about how we can create a fairer society at the same time as we deal with government cuts that are so visibly unfair. I share that concern, but in my eyes that only makes this work even more important. We can apply our fairness test in all the decisions we’re being forced to make and we can use our influence to lead by example.

That’s why last year we brought our council cleaning contract in-house, ensuring all our cleaners receive the London Living Wage at no additional cost to the tax-payer. One of the Fairness Commission’s recommendations is that no-one in Islington does a hard day’s work for less than they can live on. We’re already achieving this with all our directly employed staff, and yesterday I collected a commendation from London Citizens on behalf of the council for our work over the past year. 

But there’s still more to do and over the coming months we’ll be seeking to encourage contractors, partners and local businesses to openly publish their pay differentials and pay all their employees the Living Wage.

Read the Fairness Commission’s 20 recommendations for creating a fairer Islington here.