Plans by Islington's Labour council to cut funding for Trading Standards inspections will mean fewer shops selling knives to children getting caught, say local Liberal Democrats.

The council has boasted recently about crackdowns on knife crime in the borough after undercover inspections led to prosecutions of shopkeepers for dangerous knife sales to minors.

Islington streets could be plunged into darkness after secret plans to save cash by switching off street lights were exposed.

As part of the council's cost-cutting programme, Labour councillors have ordered a trial of dimming street lights. Other lights will have timers fitted which would allow them to come on later and go off earlier.

Complaints from residents about the council have soared by a third in the past year according to figures released this week by independent local government inspectors.

The Local Government Ombudsman, who investigates complaints and reports of malpractice from residents that the council's own complaints procedure cannot resolve, revealed that 227 complaints were received about Islington Council last year. This is an increase of a third over the previous year.

Liberal Democrats in Government have announced enhanced checks for all taxi and minicab drivers and private hire vehicles.

The move will ensure greater security and peace of mind for all Islington taxi users and will benefit vulnerable people and women travelling alone.

The tougher measures have been welcomed by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which campaigns for personal safety following the disappearance of 25 year-old estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who disappeared after she went to meet an unknown client. Her body has never been found but she has been presumed murdered.

Plans by Transport forLondonto cut the 236 night bus service have been slammed by Highbury Liberal Democrat campaigners.

The 236 bus route is a 24-hour service that runs betweenFinsburyParkstation and Hackney Wick and is used by 1,000 local residents a week at nights. It provides a vital link between Highbury and theHomertonHospital, used by Islington residents living in the east of the borough, and serves residents with some of the lowest car ownership levels inLondon.

More than 13,000 Islington children will qualify for the Government's Pupil Premium funding next year. Islington schools are set to benefit from nearly an extra £8million to support the borough's most disadvantaged children.

The Government is extending eligibility for Pupil Premium funding to cover any child registered for Free School Meals (FSM) in the past six years. Free school meals are a national indicator of child poverty. For 2012-13, the Pupil Premium will be worth £1.25 billion in total nationally.

Moves to save Islington resident lives and unite the borough's political parties were derailed last week after Labour councillors preferred instead to play politics.

Conservatives on the London Fire Authority - backed by Mayor Boris Johnson - are pushing to privatise the Fire Brigade Control Room that handles over 200,000 emergency 999 calls a year. They intend to push their controversial plan through before voters get a say in next May's Mayoral and London Assembly elections, when the controversial Conservative LFEPA boss, Brian Coleman, risks being ousted.

Islington residents will be put at risk if Conservative plans to privatise the Fire Brigade's 999 call-handling system go ahead, the borough's Liberal Democrat councillors have warned.

Conservative on the London Fire Authority - backed by Mayor Boris Johnson -propose to contract out the Fire Brigade Control Room that handles over 200,000 emergency 999 calls a year. They intend to push their controversial plan through before voters get a say in next May's Mayoral and London Assembly elections, when controversial Conservative LFEPA boss Cllr Brian Coleman risks being ousted.

Islington Council should give the money it saved on staff salaries during the industrial acion last week to local charities and elderly groups, Islington Liberal Democrats have urged.

As a result of the national industrial action last Wednesday over proposed reforms to public sector pensions, Islington Council saved around £51,000 on its wages bill. Liberal Democrat councillors have now called on the council to use this funding as a goodwill gesture in the run-up to Christmas to help local community groups and the voluntary sector in Islington.

Moves by the Labour council to charge residents more to use two of the borough's most popular leisure centres will lead to a two-tier service, Islington Liberal Democrats have warned.

At the last meeting of the council's Executive, Labour councillors nodded through a new policy to charge users of Highbury Pool and the new Ironmonger Row Baths - set to open next year - a premium rate significantly higher than other Islington leisure centre users.