Take to the streets – Rallying call to Islington residents as council announces a £52milion cuts programme

Published: 4th February, 2011
by TERRY MESSENGER

CAMPAIGNERS have called on residents to take to the streets in defence of “vital services” after the final package of planned Town Hall cuts – worth around £52million – was revealed.

Labour-run Islington Council this week published an official list of 200 cuts and savings set to be introduced from April in response to government demands to slash spending.

Services to be axed include Sotheby Mews Day Centre for old people in Highbury, Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) for primary schools, advice services for troubled teenagers, and help with shopping, laundry and cleaning for the elderly.

And up to 350 council posts will be chopped – 50 more than first thought and involving widespread compulsory redundancies.

At a press conference on Wednesday, council leader Catherine West and finance chief Richard Greening blamed the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government for withdrawing grants in “the biggest ever post-war cut in local government funding”.

Councillor West said: “We’ve done our best to provide a battered shield to protect the vital ser­vices people rely on. But the cuts required of us are just so big. 

“We haven’t been able to protect all the things we wanted to. 

“These are awful cuts because I believe in the role of the state and I believe people should be doing good things for others.”

Lib Dem opposition leader Cllr Terry Stacy is drawing up an alternative cuts programme to protect certain services which he said should be preserved, such as work to prevent anti-social behaviour among teen­agers, the services to the elderly and advice to businesses.

He said: “We will be making alternative savings proposals because we think some of the savings Labour are proposing are unjust.”

Cllr Stacy suggested axing the £180,000 per year post of chief executive, getting rid of universal free school meals, the ruling Labour group’s communications officer and the Homes for Islington outsourced housing management structure.

But he refused to be drawn on whether his package would be enough to cover the demands for cuts being ordered by the coalition government.

He said: “I’m not going to do Richard Greening’s job for him.   That’s what he got elec­ted to do. 

“The people of Islington elected the Labour council. They run Islington. I point out when I think their decisions are wrong and come up with alternatives.”  

He blamed Labour “for leaving the country in a mess”.

In reply, Cllr West claimed the speed and scale of the government’s slashing of public spending made it impossible to find all the savings demanded at Westminster through better efficiency and voluntary redundancies alone.

Islington Hands Off Our Public Services campaign (IHOOPS) is staging a protest march tomorrow (Saturday) from the Odeon cinema in Holloway Road to Islington Green, beginning at noon.

IHOOPS spokesman Ken Muller said: “If you want to make sure your hospital and children’s teachers will still be there in two years’ time, then you are going to have to fight to defend them.”

Council tax has been frozen in the annual budget but council rents will rise by 7 per cent, tenants’ charges will go up by 4.6 per cent and new charges will be introduced for some services for the elderly who are judged be able to afford them under a “fairer contributions policy”.

The package is due to be finally ratified at a meeting of the full council on February 17.