Legal News

The London Borough of Islington (LBI) is claiming that government cuts have impacted more on Islington than on any other council in the UK.

Housing news publisher 24Dash.com reports that Islington Council is claiming that every household in the borough is now £1,000 a year worse off because of coalition government cuts – putting the borough in the Top 10 of local councils worse hit because of the coalition’s austerity cuts.

LBI says that the government’s cuts between 2010 and 2016 will halve its funding – despite Islington’s image of being a wealthy area.

The council has sold off several social housing blocks for student accommodation – and central Islington has become largely known as an area for clubs and bars.

Islington has been heavily marketed as having a 24/7 culture with a burgeoning night time economy – and has the second highest number of licensed premises in London after Westminster. There is also one of the highest densities of bars and licensed premises in the UK in the borough, according to a 2013-2017 LBI licensing report.

However, despite being marketed as a centre for clubbing, shopping and nightlife, Islington is officially the fourteenth most deprived local authority area in the UK. Islington also has the second highest rate of child poverty in the UK.

Since 2010, LBI has been forced to slash £112 million from its annual budget – and must make a further £37m in savings in the year 2015-2016. Council leader Richard Watts said that 2015 would be one of the toughest ever for LBI:

“Our priority is to protect the services on which many of Islington’s 206,000 residents rely, “ said Cllr Watts.

“ We have managed for now to safeguard all our libraries, leisure centres, swimming pools and children’s centres – as well as crucial services like school crossing patrols and adult social care.

“My fear is that we will not be able to sustain these vital services if government cuts continue on this scale.”

LBI is increasing council tax by 1.99% in 2015-2016, as well as cutting back on waste collection lorries and losing more than 200 council jobs.

Executive member for finance Cllr Andy Hull said:

“We have not increased council tax for five years in Islington, meaning it is lower here than in neighbouring boroughs.

“Now though – in order to protect important services that support some of the most vulnerable in our community – we are proposing an increase in council tax of just 40p a week for the average Islington property, still keeping it well below council tax in most of London.

“The government has just cut critical funding for local welfare provision – but we are determined to continue Islington’s Resident Support Scheme, which offers a lifeline for those residents who find themselves in desperate need.

“In order to pay for this, we need to save money on our recycling services by using fewer lorries, so we’ll be looking at more communal recycling collections on estates and for kitchen and green waste.”

In October 2014, the council announced that it was aiming to buy back 20 council properties sold off under Right-to-Buy when they came back onto the market at affordable prices. An estimated £6 million has been set aside to re-buy council homes sold off to the private sector to provide more social housing.

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