Leader’s
Notes
“It has been an incredibly tough
challenge – arguably the
toughest the council has faced.”
Councillor Julian Bell
Leader of the council
I will be writing to you all in the coming weeks once a decision
has been made on whether council tax needs to be raised for
the new financial year 2019/20.
Through careful financial management, Ealing Council has tried to
avoid placing too much of a burden on residents’ pockets during the
decade-long national economic crisis we have been living through. A
10-year freeze on core council tax rates in Ealing sadly had to come
to an end last year, however, because the pressures on our finances
became too great. I have seen how foodbanks have become the
hub of some people’s lives as they struggle to
make ends meet and put food on the table. Ealing
Foodbank provides you with a worthwhile way to
get involved in the community because its centres
in Northolt and Southall are in particular need of
new volunteers. The council is one of the foodbank’s
main referral partners and, last year, I took some
donations from council staff.
Since 2010 the council has seen its government grant reduced by
£143million – a cut of 64%. This means for every pound we used to get
from government we now only get 36p. At the same time, demand for
our services is higher than it has ever been. For example, £232,000 is
now being spent every day on adult social care alone. As you can read on pages 10-11, the foodbank is
a registered charity run by volunteers and relies on
donations to help feed the increasing number of
people finding it hard to make ends meet. Read the
article to find out how you might be able to help.
We explained in the last edition of Around Ealing (December) how the
council was discussing ways to close a funding gap of £57million. It has
been an incredibly tough challenge – arguably the toughest the council
has faced in its history.
This means changes to some services are, sadly, inevitable. To make sure
we are focusing our staff and the money we have on tackling inequality
and making the biggest difference to residents’ lives, we set up our
Future Ealing programme. I am sure you have read about it by now.
But the scale of the challenge we are facing means that we cannot do
this work alone. At our Talk Future Ealing roadshow in the summer and
autumn, almost two-thirds of people who filled in our survey said they
would be willing to help through activities such as volunteering and by
helping us support community‑run services.
You can see fantastic examples of such partnership work at Horsenden
Hill, where the Friends group is making a real difference. The council’s
new Parks Foundation aims to help recreate this kind of success
elsewhere (see page 16). Visit www.dosomethinggood.org.uk for
more community projects.
Brexit has been chaotic and who knows
where we will be with it all by the time you
read this? But I wanted to assure the tens of
thousands of EU citizens living and contributing to
the public life and economic wellbeing of our
borough that they are all welcome here. These are
our neighbours and colleagues; people who work
in all our public services, including the NHS,
schools, colleges, university and the council. And
the uncertainty they have had to endure has been
unacceptable. The council’s website has a
dedicated page with some guidance that might
help, at www.ealing.gov.uk/brexit
You can read what I wrote on the subject
previously at ealingnewsextra.co.uk/blog/
leaders-notes/brexit
By working together, we can keep Ealing a great place to live and work.
around ealing February 2019
5