Lib Dems launch six new pledges for Islington

12.00.00am GMT Tue 26th Mar 2002

Islington Liberal Democrats this week launch their six new pledges for the people of Islington.

Cllr Steve Hitchins, Leader of Islington Lib Dem Council Group said:

"These are six things which we think the Council should be doing over the next four years - and if the Liberal Democrats are re-elected, it will.

"We have delivered on our previous pledges and residents know they can trust that if the Lib Dems pledge something then we will deliver it.

"We are asking residents to tell us what they think of the pledges - we want to know what residents want their Council to be doing for them."

Local Lib Dems will deliver more than 85,000 copies of the pledges to every household in the Borough. Residents will be asked to say which pledges they think are the most important, and also to write their own seventh pledge and send it back. A copy of the pledges leaflet is attached.

The pledges are:

We will keep your Council Tax below the London average while continuing to improve services. There is still more to do to improve services, but both residents and government inspectors know that Council services are no longer the disaster area they were under Labour.

We will make the Housing Repair Line into a freephone number this year. Charles Kennedy MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, opened the Housing Repair Line a year ago. It has been a huge success and has helped to transform the housing repair service. Now the Lib Dems promise to make it even easier to contact the Council about housing repairs.

We will upgrade all street lighting in Islington over the next five years Lighter streets mean safer streets. In addition to specific lighting improvements recently announced in areas like Highbury Fields, the Lib Dems will upgrade all street lighting in the Borough.

We will establish a new secondary school in Islington. Education in Islington is getting better, and more Islington parents are sending their children to secondary schools here than for many years. The Lib Dems want to continue this improvement by putting a new school at the heart of it.

Working with the police and residents we will tackle youth crime and anti-social behaviour extending successful ABCs (acceptable behaviour contracts) and other measures Anti-social behaviour, especially by young people, is a problem which concerns many residents. The Council has pioneered ABCs and they have been very successful where they have been used. ABCs are now national Liberal Democrat policy, and we will extend them locally.

We will set up a forum for Islingtonís older residents as part of involving older people in making Council services suit them. Older people are citizens too! They have paid taxes all their lives, and are entitled to expect that they will have a pleasant environment to live in. The Lib Dems pledge to set up a system to ensure older people are consulted about all services which affect them - not just the ones specially for older people!

Vote on-line Islington Liberal Democrat members will be delivering the letters explaining the pledges to every house in the Borough. Residents can also vote on the pledges online at www.islingtonfocus.com/pledges or email comments to pledges@islingtonfocus.com