The Leader of Islington Council, Cllr Richard Watts, has written to the Chancellor demanding action on vital issues affecting local people in upcoming Government Spending Review.  

Since 2010, Islington Council has lost 70% of its core central government funding and has had to make savings of £275 million from its budgets.  Across the country, councils have lost 60p out of every £1 of funding that the last Labour Government was spending on local government in 2010.

Cllr Watts has repeated calls for the Government to end austerity for local councils and public services, and to address the £8 billion funding gap facing local authorities by 2025.

In his letter to the Chancellor, Cllr Watts calls for urgent action to –

• Provide additional funding to local councils
• Support local authorities to build more new council homes and to tackle homelessness
• Keep young people safe by enabling early intervention and prevention
• Update national policies to tackle the environment and climate emergenc
• Give small businesses a fairer deal.

Cllr Richard Watts, Leader of Islington Council, said:

“Government-imposed austerity must end. Councils, including Islington, have faced massive cuts since 2010 and we need urgent investment to continue to provide vital services and to make a difference for local people.

 

“The Spending Review must not simply be a smokescreen to distract people from the consequences of a devastating Tory ‘no deal’ exit from the European Union. Instead, it must tackle the vital issues that affect Islington and people across the country, from building more counil homes, to keeping young people safe and tackling the climate emergency.

 

“The time for action is now, or the Government must get out of the way and allow a transformational Labour Government to make a difference on the issues that matter to the many, not the few.”