Islington Town Council has got some tough decisions to make to approve their budget for 2017-18.
Some of the proposals in the budget report include increasing council tax by 4.99%. Three per cent of that increase will go towards social care costs, with the rest going directly towards the day-to-day running of the council. However, the council have said that the 3% social care precept will still leave a £6 million gap in social care costs. We spoke to Islington Liberal Democrats leader Terry Stacy who said that low funds aren’t the council’s problem when it comes to social care provision. He thinks that the council have the money to cover social care costs but that they have gone for a more expensive care scheme option. He has urged the council to look for a better value care scheme.
Another proposal sees rent for social housing being decreased by 1%, which equates to £1.11 less in rent each week. This was a cut that was enforced by the national government under the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. However, a closer look at the council’s budget report showed that the council were making this money back by increasing the costs of other aspects of social housing; communal heating and service charges, for example. Georgia Constantinou, a former Islington housing estate manager, told CityNews that she felt the council were “double charging” social housing tenants and undermining the government’s initiative for lower rent.
The council have also got rid of council tax entirely for under 25s who have recently left care. Juno Schwarz of the care leavers charity Drive Foundation praised the proposal, saying that this provided a buffer that lessened the gap between living in care and independent living. She told CityNews that young people ended up in debt almost as soon as they leave care because of the financial demands of council tax.
In amongst all these proposals, however, is the council’s need to find £21.4 million in savings because of government cuts.
The meeting will take place tonight at the Town Hall at 7.30pm. Tune into CityNews at 4pm to see our reporter Alex Jennings live and speaking to an Islington councillor.
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HeadlineIslington Town Council Faces Tough Compromise on Budgets
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Islington Town Council has got some tough decisions to make to approve their budget for 2017-18.
Some of the proposals in the budget report include increasing council tax by 4.99%. Three per cent of that increase will go towards social care costs, with the rest going directly towards the day-to-day running of the council. However, the council have said that the 3% social care precept will still leave a £6 million gap in social care costs. We spoke to Islington Liberal Democrats leader Terry Stacy who said that low funds aren’t the council’s problem when it comes to social care provision. He thinks that the council have the money to cover social care costs but that they have gone for a more expensive care scheme option. He has urged the council to look for a better value care scheme.
Another proposal sees rent for social housing being decreased by 1%, which equates to £1.11 less in rent each week. This was a cut that was enforced by the national government under the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. However, a closer look at the council’s budget report showed that the council were making this money back by increasing the costs of other aspects of social housing; communal heating and service charges, for example. Georgia Constantinou, a former Islington housing estate manager, told CityNews that she felt the council were “double charging” social housing tenants and undermining the government’s initiative for lower rent.
The council have also got rid of council tax entirely for under 25s who have recently left care. Juno Schwarz of the care leavers charity Drive Foundation praised the proposal, saying that this provided a buffer that lessened the gap between living in care and independent living. She told CityNews that young people ended up in debt almost as soon as they leave care because of the financial demands of council tax.
In amongst all these proposals, however, is the council’s need to find £21.4 million in savings because of government cuts.
The meeting will take place tonight at the Town Hall at 7.30pm. Tune into CityNews at 4pm to see our reporter Alex Jennings live and speaking to an Islington councillor.
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