Islington’s Labour-run council has announced details of the council budget for the coming year (2017-2018), with a commitment to continue to make a difference on Islington’s top priorities.
The budget includes £40 million of investment in new council homes, new funding for targeted support for young people most at risk of being involved in crime and protects the budget for services that help local unemployed people into work.
Continued cuts imposed by the Tory Government will mean that by 2020, the council will have lost 70 per cent of its central government funding in a decade. This year’s budget brings the total savings the council has been forced to make to £170 million since 2010.
Cllr Richard Watts, Leader of Islington Council, commented: “Despite another year of massive cuts from the Tory Government, I am proud that Islington Labour will deliver a budget for Islington’s top priorities.
“By 2020, the Tory Government will have cut funding to the council by 70 per cent in a decade.
“But our commitment to making a difference for working people in Islington means that we are continuing to deliver on the issues that matter most.”
This year’s budget will see a further £40million invested in delivering new council homes, as we work towards building 2,000 new genuinely affordable homes by 2019. The 131 council homes we will build this year will be the most built in Islington in a single year for 30 years.
Funding will be protected for services that help local people find decent and secure jobs, allowing the council to build on the success of our services that have seen 2,700 people helped into work since 2014, including 700 young people.
The budget will also help young people in Islington achieve their potential with further investment in targeted services, as well as protecting youth services budgets and our pioneering policy of free school meals for all primary school pupils.
Islington will, from April 2017, also scrap council tax for young people leaving care. This will help care leavers as they make the transition into adulthood and will mean that they will not have to pay council tax in Islington until they are aged 25.
The council budget can be viewed here and will be presented to the Full Council Meeting on 23rd February 2017.