Islington Lib Dems win Council Group of the Year

12.00.00am GMT Wed 21st Mar 2001

Islington Liberal Democrats have won the title of ëCouncil Group of the Year 2000í awarded by the Local Government Association (LGA). The annual award was presented to Council Leader, Steve Hitchins, at the Partyís Spring Conference in Torquay. The award was presented by leader of the Liberal Democrats on the LGA, Sir David Williams and Lord Dholokia. The award is open to any Liberal Democrat Group in power or in opposition. Liberal Democrats currently control 34 councils and have 4,444 councillors. The award came following a fifty-page submission by the Liberal Democrat Group that outlines their success in turning around a failing Authority which had the highest council tax in London and some of the worst services. Islington Liberal Democrats are proud of their achievements in their first year of control which focused on putting people of the Borough first. Leader, Cllr Steve Hitchins has said, ìThis award is a tremendous achievement for Islingtonís Liberal Democrat Group. ìWe have brought innovation, great energy and tremendous commitment to providing best value services provided by Islington Council. We have made a difference. ìThis award demonstrates that in 2000 we made an excellent start. Thereís still a great deal more to do and Iím delighted with our achievements so far.î The submission document also described how Islingtonís Liberal Democrat Group has changed the culture and focus of the organisation, putting performance management, environmental sustainability and regeneration at the heart of their change programme. The Group has also focused on getting right the basic services that all residents use. There are many achievements described in the document, they include: - Once the highest in London, Islington Liberal Democrats have cut Islingtonís council tax for two years running - council tax is now mid-table for London - Spread door-to-door recycling borough-wide - Been put at the top of the Audit Commission performance tables for having one of the best refuse collection services and cleanest streets in London - Extended library opening hours, started Sunday opening and increasing library stock by 100 books a week - Shown innovation by developing Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) for 14-19 year olds and built IT Kiosks - Cut 5m of Town Hall waste and unnecessary red tape - Tackled the difficult issues head-on such as an appealingly weak contract with ITNet and a social services budget spiralling out of control. - Speeded up the time it takes to re-let council property (where no major work is required). It took over 5 months in 1998/9 and in December 2000 the Liberal Democrats had reduced this to 9 weeks. - Introduced a housing repair line for tenants and a guarantee that if the Council hasnít carried out an approved repair within 5 weeks, a tenants could call in another company(from an approved list) to carry out the work. Runners-up for the Liberal Democrat ëCouncil of the Yearí award were Sheffield City Council and third, was North Devon District Council. Last yearís winner was Liverpool City Council.