The project is still in the early stages, but the council is already working with partners including regeneration body Finfuture, Homes for Islington, and social enterprise DigiBridge. The workshop and shop are expected to open in the Spring.

Collection points for broken electrical goods will be established around the borough in partnership with Homes for Islington.

Islington’s Liberal Democrat council has increased the amount of rubbish sent for recycling in the borough to 35%, up from just 3% when Labour ran the council. Furniture collected in the council’s bulky waste collection is already passed to the Homestore charity for reconditioning and reuse. But this is the first time in Islington that electrical waste is going to be reused and recycled – and is expected to become a model for London.

Waste electrical goods – from hairdryers to phones to washing machines – make up the fastest-growing waste problem in the UK, and in one year the amount of electrical waste we create in the UK would fill Wembley Stadium six times. Over 75% of discarded and broken electrical goods end up in landfill, where lead and other toxins can cause soil and water contamination.

The ‘Bright Sparks’ project will make Islington a leader in tackling this problem. The initiative is being set up by Liberal Democrat councillors working together with Islington’s Green councillor.

Lib Dem councillor Greg Foxsmith, Islington’s environment chief, commented:

“Our consumer society throws away vast amounts of electronic and electrical goods, most of which just goes to landfill. A lot of what goes in the bin could go to a good home. Even if it’s broken, it is often possible to mend it rather than just buying a new one. This is key to creating a more environmentally sustainable society.”

Warning from past

THE Tribune’s coverage of the GCSE results focused on a “warning” that too little had been done to improve results (You must do even better with GCSEs, January 15). But who was the “warning” from? I think it was just Labour Party politicians, who have made it their sole purpose to talk Islington’s young people down and be generally negative.

This year’s GCSE results were Islington’s best ever, and a credit to pupils, teachers and schools. Our schools are improving at double the national rate. In fact, only 11 places in the country are improving faster than Islington’s schools.

Islington schools used to be so bad because of the appalling way the same Labour politicians ran them when they controlled the council. When Labour councillor Phil Kelly was in charge of education in the 1990s, this is what the Government schools inspector had to say about Islington: “Overall, these are dismal findings, the worst encountered to date in any inspection.” And “The council as a whole has many problems, including a large budget deficit, from which education is not immune.”

Of the Labour council’s school support services, the inspector said: “If the local authority were able to do some of them a little less inadequately than it does at present, that would be a major advance.”

The fact that it’s taken ten years to get to where we are now is no criticism of Lib Dems or the schools or Cambridge Education, but testament to how appalling our schools were under Labour. Parents went out of their way to send their kids to schools outside the borough. Islington’s schools still need to get even better, but the people I would least trust to do that are the Labour Party politicians who completely wrecked them last time.

CLLR TRACY ISMAIL
Lib Dem, St George’s ward

You can download Islington Labour’s last Ofsted Education report from:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/la_download/(id)/622/(as)/LA/la_206_1999.pdf

In August 2007 there were 420 racks in Islington.  By August 2008 the council had doubled that number to 880.  Today there are over 1230 cycle racks on roads all around Islington – more than double the number than in neighbouring Labour-run Hackney.

A June 2009 report by the London Assembly found that 45% of people would cycle more if there was better cycle parking.  Research conducted by TfL showed that the availability of cycle parking and the security of parked bikes remain the two biggest cycling-related concerns.

Councillor Greg Foxsmith, Islington’s Liberal Democrat councillor responsible for transport and the environment, said:

“I cycle, and would recommend it as a great way to get around Islington.  The Liberal Democrats want to support people to take up cycling, and people need to know that they have somewhere secure to park their bike when they visit the shops, the doctor, church, or while they’re at work.

“That’s why this Liberal Democrat council has tripled the number of cycle racks on our streets in the last two years.  We’re committed to making Islington one of the most cycle-friendly boroughs in London.”

I’ve been writing to Finsbury Park’s Islington in Bloom winners today congratulating them on their prizes – but also thanking them for making our borough nicer for everyone.

Grafton Park Primary school got an award for its school grounds and the Enkel Arms got a gold award and second place for Best Blooming Pub. A container garden on Andover Road won a prestigious certificate of excellence in the London-wide London in Bloom competition too.

I was overjoyed that in ‘London in Bloom’ Islington won gold again this year, and was named the best London in Bloom entry. Islington represented London and the South East in ‘Britain in Bloom’ this year for the first time, and won a sliver-gilt award.

The Britain in Bloom judges said:

“The vibrancy generated by the young, ethnically diverse and crowded population of Islington is reflected in the enthusiasm of the borough council and its officers.

“They have been extraordinarily successful in engaging with significant sectors of the community to build a strong, forward-looking policy to make Islington a better place to live.

“With a shortage of green space, the use of imaginative schemes has succeeded in enhancing the environment beyond normal expectations and shows what can be achieved in challenging circumstances.”

The Liberal Democrats have worked hard to improve our parks for residents, and we are carrying out the biggest tree planting project in Islington in generations, and putting more flower displays along our streets than ever before.

But we could never have won any awards without the contribution made by our residents. It is Islington’s residents who make Islington what it is.

45 Falconer Walk, in Finsbury Park Ward, is an ex-council flat that has been empty since 2004.  19 Jackson Road, a terraced house in Highbury converted into flats, has been empty since February 2005.  The council will now force the owners to sell the properties, so that social landlords can repair and renovate them and bring them back into use as social housing.

Councillor Barbara Smith, executive councillor for housing, said:

“Abandoned houses are an eyesore, and a waste of housing that Islington needs.  We’d rather work with the owners to bring them back into use, but when they are prepared to let their properties sit empty and go to wrack and ruin, we are prepared to step in.”

If you know of any empty properties in Islington that could be brought back into use then please call the council’s free hotline 0800 953 6305 or email empty.property@islington.gov.uk.

If you have an empty property, the council can help with grants and advice so that your property can produce an income for you and, at the same time, a much needed home for a family.

Islington Council funds the North Islington Problem Solving Team – seven police officers – to support the local Safer Neighbourhood Teams in the north of the borough.  The team have been so successful that the Lib Dem Council is now funding seven new police officers to do the same job in the South of the borough and help deal with antisocial behaviour problems right across Islington.

The council is also putting extra funding in to pay for four new officers to support residents’ community safety priorities by promoting the community payback scheme (where perpetrators make good the damage they have caused), organising crime fighting courses, and supporting victims of crime and witnesses going to court.

You can get in touch with our local Safer Neighbourhood Team on:
020 7421 0554
FinsburyPark.SNT@met.police.uk

Please also get in touch with Barbara Smith, the Liberal Democrat executive councillor for community safety, if you have concerns about crime or antisocial behaviour in your neighbourhood, on:
barbara.smith@islington.gov.uk

As part of the refurbishment of the shopping centre, most of the seating was removed. This was hardest on the many older and disabled people who use the shops, who now struggle to find somewhere to rest their tired feet.

Councillor Tracy Ismail said:

“The owners of the shopping centre should listen to their customers and put more seating in. There’s a particular problem outside Morrison’s, where people have to sit in shifts on the few benches there.”

Council leader Terry Stacy has backed the campaign. He said:

“I recently held a surgery at the Nag’s Head as part of my campaign to get out of the Town Hall and talk face-to-face with people on the street. People told me about the problems with lack of seats, and I hope that the centre owners will listen to this campaign and take it on board.”

Shopper Maureen Hancock added:

“Local people using the Nag’s Head Centre really appreciated the old seating in the precinct. Please put back more similar seats so that the elderly, the disabled, families with children, and local shop and office workers have somewhere to rest whilst going about their business in this vibrant shopping area.”

OAPs and local residents joined Tracy, Terry and Maureen in protesting at the lack of seats in the shopping centre and in collecting signatures for a petition that Maureen plans to hand in to the private company, demanding additional seats.

The Freephone number provides advice on what benefits and tax credits local people may be eligible for and helps them claim the benefits. The helpline also advises local residents how they can get help with personal finances, debt, housing costs and finding a job.

The helpline is part of a £1m range of measures the Lib Dem council has taken to help local people which includes: providing 100 apprenticeships, putting £100,000 into the local Credit Union, advising on what benefits people are entitled to and helping people to cut their energy bills.

 Councillor Lucy Watt, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader of Islington Council, comments:

“The Liberal Democrats on the council have been doing so much to support local people during this recession – from launching 100 new apprenticeship places to funding a team of specialist advisers to make sure elderly people and families are claiming at the benefits that are available to them.

“But with so many new initiatives out there it can be confusing, so we’ve launched this new Freephone Credit Crunch Helpline to help people affected by the recession find out about what is there to support them during this difficult time. I’m pleased that so many local people have already been helped by calling this number.”