Labour wants Islington Council to be rude and perform badly again

12.00.00am GMT Tue 23rd Mar 2004

Islington Lib Dems have slammed proposals from the Labour Group to amend the Council's budget and abolish senior Councillors responsible for Performance, Customer Focus, and Communities. During the 1980s and 1990s residents grew used to the Council under Labour being unable to carry out the most basic tasks, and failing to respond to the needs of residents and the many different communities in Islington. Since the Lib Dems took control of the Council in 2000, they have been proud to make turning around the culture of a failing and unresponsive Council their priority. Leading this transformation has been the Executive, including the Executive Members for Customer Focus, Performance and Communities. The Council's improvements have been praised by the Audit Commission and by the Government. It is no surprise to hear that Labour do not believe in ensuring Islington Council performs well, is helpful to residents, or has a sense of community. Responding to the alternative Budget proposals put forward by Islington's Labour Group, Cllr Steve Hitchins, Leader of the Council, said "The Liberal Democrats have put forward responsible plans, which set a moderate level of Council Tax, but will see millions of pounds of investment in additional services, which will directly help residents. "Labour's proposed changes are backward-looking, and about trying to preserve the past. The Liberal Democrats' plans look to the future, and how the Council can provide new and better services to residents over the next few years. "We are making some changes to the services we provide next year, which will provide a better service to more people. And for every pound of funding to frontline services which we are changing, the Council has saved 3 pounds in efficiency savings." Arthur Simpson Library ? re-opening the old Arthur Simpson Library again would require further ongoing annual costs of £200,000, and capital investment of £250,000 (to make it compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act). ? In addition, the proceeds from the sale of the site are a significant contribution to the cost of the new N4 Library; if they are proposing not to sell the site, the Labour group would need to find this money from somewhere else ? Islington has nine public libraries - more than most London boroughs for its size. Since the opening of the new N4 Library, no-one in Islington lives more than three-quarters of a mile from a public library. Crime and Grime ? This is a very welcome endorsement of the Council's "A1 Borough" strategy, which is focussed exactly on improving the physical environment in the borough, and giving residents a greater sense of pride in Islington's appearance ? The A1 Borough plan includes a whole range of improvements to Islington's roads, pavements and public spaces. But unlike Labour's plans this investment does not require cuts in other services, because we are working with partners ? The Council already has a range of officers responsible for ensuring streets are tidy and reporting any problems. Islington also has an innovative and award-winning Eyes for Islington scheme, which involves local people in reporting any problems in their streets. Executive Posts ? Reducing both the number of Executive posts, and staff support for members, is in the Council's current Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for year 3 (2006-7). ? Accepting Labour's amendments at this stage would also make the budget round in future years even more difficult, since we would have to make further savings. Changes to funding of services ? These are genuine changes to funding to reconfigure services provide a better service. For every pound that is being changed as a result of these changes to frontline services, the Council has saved 3 pounds from efficiency and bureaucracy savings. These are among the smallest changes to frontline services of any London Council. What others have said The Government Monitoring Board, made up of around a dozen statutory government inspectors, like Ofsted and the Social Services Inspectorate, said that "Islington has made good progress". The District Auditor, says "The Council has had a successful year" and that this year's Budget calls for "difficult decisions. This council should not shirk from making them to secure a more stable future financial platform" Labour Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford MP has written to Cllr Hitchins to congratulate Islington on keeping Council Tax below the London average, and on the consultation which Islington has carried out in advance of setting the Budget. Ends