FINANCE

Transform or fail

Andy Hull describes how Islington LBC is reacting to the scale and speed of funding cuts, and what implications residents will face if change can’t be effected

Since 2010, the Government has cut its funding to Islington LBC in half: a reduction of £150m, putting Islington in the top ten worst hit areas in the country and leaving every household in the borough £1,000 worse off. In the 14th most deprived local authority area in the country, with the highest level of children growing up in workless households, these cuts threaten to divide an already unequal community.

Despite having to make unprecedented savings, we are still finding ways to make a difference. For example, Islington's GCSE results have jumped from 143rd out of 151 local authorities in 2010 to 34th now. We have seen more than 1,800 new affordable homes built in the borough since 2010. We have secured a big fall in youth unemployment and helped hundreds of parents back into work.

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