Mayor's News - October 2008

Hackney’s diverse community is made up of residents with a very wide range of incomes, from the poorest to the more affluent families, as well as those running businesses in the borough. At the moment, everyone is concerned about how problems in the global economy might affect them and I’m determined that the Council should play its part in helping residents and not add to the problems we all face.

In terms of the Council managing its money, I’d first like to reassure readers that it had no investments in Icelandic banks. We haven’t taken out any new borrowing for six years and we will continue to keep a tight rein on finances to provide services at the best possible value for money. This has resulted in the Council freezing the Council Tax it charges you for the past three years running, while continuing to expand and improve services. Now I’m pushing the Council even harder to drive up efficiency, so that services can continue to improve without costs increasing. For instance, the Council has recently saved millions of pounds by driving down insurance costs – when things are run better, the insurance companies charge councils lower premiums. Efficiency doesn’t mean cutting services.

When times are harder, Council services become even more important to people’s quality of life, especially for poor or vulnerable members of our community. That‘s why investing in those services that people told us were most important will continue to be my priority. Services such as Hackney’s free swimming for under-18s during school holidays, its libraries, and free activities for young people all help take the strain off the family purse. The Carers’ Card, giving discounts at over 50 local shops and council leisure centres to those young and old with caring responsibilities, and investing more than £500,000 to help families with a disabled child, should make a difference to those with caring responsibilities.

With rising fuel prices, heating costs are also a growing concern for many residents, and so Hackney Homes, who manage the borough’s council housing stock, is working with energy companies to help residents reduce their energy usage while still keeping warm. Grants of up to £6,000 are also available for owner-occupiers on means-tested benefits, or for privately rented properties, to pay for measures including loft insulation and boiler replacement, which can help to reduce heating bills this winter.

Current conditions are making life harder for local businesses. The Council will use all the flexibility available to it to work with existing and potential businesses to trade and invest in the borough. I will also be doing all I can to promote Hackney as a place to visit, invest and do business in, now and in the future.

However long the current global economic problems last, I am determined that the Council should be doing what it’s there for: to be on your side.

Mayor Jules Pipe

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Page updated: 11 Nov 2008