New Year Message from the Leader of the Council

12.00.00am GMT Tue 2nd Jan 2001

At this time last year, Islington Liberal Democrats got just what they wanted for Christmas. A win in the Hillrise by-election meant that in mid-January 2000, we took control of the Council. To many, control of Islington Council was a ëpoisoned chaliceí: the Council had had one of the worst reputations in the country. But to us it was the result of years of hard work and a chance to turn things around. That is exactly what we have started to do. We have cut council tax by 25, cut waste and bureaucracy, piloted Sunday opening at Central Library and improved school SAT and A Level results. We have 3.3m of new funding for school buildings and 853,000 for after school learning programmes, while our ëSummer Universityí - for pupils to brush-up on learning in the holidays - has attracted more pupils than ever. We have doubled Islingtonís recycling and tackled Islingtonís poor record on housing repairs. Now, if a repair hasnít been completed within 5 weeks, you can get an approved contractor to carry out the work instead. The Council has significantly speeded-up the removal of abandoned cars and increased prosecutions for fly-tipping and illegal trading. This week we agreed a new contract with ITNet to replace the weak contract signed by Labour. We have also been successful in making our estates and streets cleaner and our street-lights more reliable. The Government has just announced that it will give Islington the worst cash settlement in London next year. Even so, we are determined to deliver better value for money and cut council tax again in 2001. Other things we have planned include planting 500 new, appropriate trees, increasing books in libraries by 100 a week, offering pensioners free passes to Council leisure facilities and ensure all empty Council homes are brought back into use quicker. These are ambitious challenges. If we have a New Yearís resolution, itís to improve services to the Borough with even greater determination than this year.