Agenda item

 

Question (1) from Cllr Poyser to Cllr Gill, Executive Member for Finance & Performance:   

 

The Boxing Club in Elthorne Park was temporary many years ago and is now dilapidated. As I have said many times before in full Council, organised boxing has been shown to be a proactive solution to all sorts of youth issues where the Council has been active. The Club is particularly supportive of women boxers.

 

The Boxing Club are doing excellent work trying to renew their premises – following the ‘Queensberry Rules’. It would be knock-out if Council help kick-start Round One of this project

 

Could you outline the support the Council has given the rebuilding?

 

Response:

 

Thank you for your question. The Council is focused on improving facilities for local people to take part in exercise and sport, as well as supporting local community organisations. The Boxing Club has plans to replace its current building with a new extended club building. This will enable the Boxing Club to provide better facilities for its members. So far the Council has contributed £34,500 to support the club in developing these plans; this funding has mainly come from the Hillrise ward councillors, but St Mary's and Junction ward councillors have also contributed from their local funds. Senior Planning officers have also met with the Boxing Club on a couple of occasions and provided the club with some extensive pre-application advice.  We understand the planning application for the new building will be submitted shortly and I wish them all the best in their future fundraising efforts.

 

 

Question (2) from Cllr Poole to Cllr Ngongo, Executive Member for Children, Young People & Families:  

 

As Her Majesty The Queen prepares to pass an historic milestone and celebrate her Platinum Jubilee next year, will the Executive Member for Children, Young People & Families tell the Council what plans are being formulated for Islington Schools to celebrate this great event?

 

Response:

 

Thank you for your question. The Platinum Jubilee next year is a wonderful landmark for our borough and the country. This Council is planning to work with our schools to make sure our children get fully involved, because it is a good opportunity for them to learn about the history of our country and the reign of our Queen. The government has announced that all schoolchildren are going to receive a free book, which will allow them to learn more about the monarchy and to understand in details the meaning of the jubilee. That is why we are putting resources in place for our young people to get involved. We know this is going to be a good and remarkable Jubilee next year; and we are going to make sure our children and young people learn about and celebrate the jubilee. Thank you.

 

Supplementary:

 

Thank you for that very encouraging answer. One thing that could be done is to secure and save the Royal Northern War Memorial as a fitting tribute to our Majesty.

Response:

 

Thank you. We will be celebrating our achievements. 

 

 

Question (3) from Cllr Ismail to Cllr Turan, Executive Member for Health & Social Care:    

 

Before coronavirus disease, black women over 50 suffered loneliness, isolation, depression, and language barriers. Now, with the current Omicron looming, what support is in place to combat further loneliness and isolation for Black women?

 

As Cllr Turan was not able to attend the meeting the question was answered by Cllr Comer-Schwartz, Leader of the Council:

 

Thank you for your question. We are very much aware that of the health inequalities that affect this Borough and our society, especially the inequalities in mental health and how that this has widened during the pandemic.

 

Women, especially those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, are one of the groups that have been most deeply affected by this.

 

We know that loneliness increased due to the pandemic and the changes brought about because of it. This has led to increased isolation, depression and anxiety. The Council is working with our partners and our local community to tackle these issues head on.

 

The health and wellbeing services within the Borough quickly moved to a remote approach to ensure that they were able to continue to support local people while keeping within the Covid regulations. This has meant that services were able to continue both within buildings, but also through a range of remote options, including telephone.

 

We have offered digital training and equipment to support residents with accessing these services. Community services continue to operate on a flexible basis, both face to face and virtually, to support residents in a way they prefer.

 

There are a number of organisations in Islington that engage with local people on health concerns. Where the Council and the NHS cannot reach them and we recognise the value of the voluntary sector in this regard. Working collaboratively with these organisations is vital to ensure that we support as many people as possible.mThis is why we work with Manor Gardens, an organisation that helps people whose first language isn’t English, providing access for social workers and other professionals, as well as finding support through other residents and improving access to community groups.

 

Islington Mind is also a large mental health provider within the Borough and a reputable voluntary community sector organisation. It provides a range of practical and emotional support to over 850 residents in 2020/21, We know that in 2019, 18%  those people attending Mind services described themselves as either Black African,

Black Caribbean or Black British. In Quarter 1 of 2021, this has increased to 21%. However, while the Council and the NHS continue to seek to offer support to as many people as possible, this becomes much harder while continuing to be held back by government austerity. Mental health services continue to be under-funded, which has been an issue for the last decade. This Council continues to try and fill the gaps, although we have had to make £250million in budget savings since 2010. We can only tackle these deep-rooted issues by working together and by central government properly funding mental health services.

 

Supplementary question:

 

Thank you. Neighbouring boroughs such as Camden, Hackney and Tower Hamlets run culturally sensitive luncheon clubs. How many luncheon clubs that are sensitive to culture and faith are run by the Council? I think it would be good to know, as these would help to address loneliness and support mental health. When I talk to relatives and friends in neighbouring boroughs, they have culturally sensitive luncheon clubs that are run by the council, or by the local community with council funding. How many of those do we have in Islington?

 

Response:

 

I would have to get you a specific number and I’m very happy to do that for you.

 

I'm very aware, as you are, that there are many culturally appropriate organisations up and down this borough. I can think of many, especially that support women, including at Nafsiyat and the Westbourne Community Centre. Only this week, at the launch of our Let’s Talk Islington open mass diagloue, I met a wonderful woman who has set up a charity within Cally to support more Black Women facing isolation. There are many fabulous women of all ethnicities in this borough supporting each other through really difficult mental health challenges. Thank you again for your question.

 

Question (4) from Cllr Ismail to Cllr Lukes, Executive Member for Community Safety:

 

Since the stabbing of Sir David Amess MP, the Somali community has suffered badly from islamophobia, as reported on BBC London, Sunday Politics and the Guardian Newspaper. Have you engaged with the Somali community with any support and reassurances; and how and when?

 

Response:

 

Thank you for your question. Our Council is determined to make our borough the safest it can be and root out all types of hate crime. In the aftermath of the tragic death of Sir David Amess, the Leader and I both contacted a range of community leaders across the borough to send a clear message that the Council stands together with our communities and against hate crime.

 

Since then, the Council has used Islamophobia Awareness Month to send a clear message that Islamophobia of any kind will not be tolerated in our borough. As you know, we have a thriving and diverse Muslim community in here in Islington, who contribute a great deal to our borough. Those activities during Islamophobia Awareness Month enabled us to showcase the work that our mosques and Muslim communities have done in providing a great deal of support to residents throughout the pandemic; feeding those on lower incomes, helping the homeless, and helping people get vaccinated.

 

We were involved in delivering an event called Islington Against Islamophobia at Finsbury Park Mosque on 26^th November which was attended by over 70 people. I was delighted to be one speakers there to reinforce that message. The event was also an opportunity to listen to our local communities and hear their thoughts on how we can make Islington even more welcoming and diverse. We looked at the experiences of different groups, including the experiences of Black and Somali Muslims, young Muslims and Muslim women.  Councillor Ibrahim spoke about his experiences of being a Black Muslim from a Somali background, and how events in the news can trigger phobias towards certain communities.

We discussed how we can make our borough a safe place. The Council supports the independent Islington Hate Crime Forum, which is committed to working with the Police and community organisations, including Somali organisations, to tackle hate crime, reduce the risk of it taking place, support victims, and improve reporting.

 

I was inspired at that event by the young Muslim women I met who spoke movingly of the impact of Islamophobic hate crime and their determination to oppose it. I wonder what they think of the Prime Minister, a man who says they look like letter boxes and bank robbers, a comment that Tell Mama linked to a 375% increase in Islamophobic incidents. Luckily for those young women, they live in Islington, and we take hate crime seriously and we oppose Islamophobia.

 

Supplementary question:

 

Islamophobia and hate crime is a crime to all humanity. The stabbing of Sir David Amess has triggered Islamophobia and hate crime, particularly with the Somali community, and particularly against those who look like me, wearing a hijab. Have you been in touch with our local Somali mosque? I recently attended and there were 400 women all complaining about Islamophobia. Have you contacted them, and have you made in arrangements, because that was a very serious moment, particularly for the Somali community.

 

Response:

 

Both the Leader and I contacted a whole range of faith and community organisations immediately after the stabbing. We also maintain contact with the Police in order to check on whether there was any increase in reporting of any kind of Islamophobic hate crime in the wake of that event. I'm very glad to report that Police data indicates that there had been no increase in numbers. Islamophobic hate crime is an absolute stain on our borough and we're working very hard to try and tackle it, including through education. We work with a whole range of Somali and other Muslim communities, and we rely on those communities to report hate crime, so we can identify and bring to account the perpetrators, and also to learn from that.

 

The Hate Crime Forum is a very active organisation and was also involved in some of the reaching out in the immediate wake of that of that murder, as with any other incident which might increase any type of hate crime in the borough. We have been very active we continue to be. I'm very glad to meet with anybody who wants to talk to me about how we can improve that practice because it is a priority of mine.

 

Question (5) from Cllr Russell to Cllr Gill, Executive Member for Finance & Performance:

 

How many residents are eligible for the council tax reduction scheme this year and how many of these are in arrears with their council tax this year?

 

Response:

 

Thank you for your question. As you know, we're discussing this topic very soon.  Islington Council continues to provide the maximum amount of support possible for those on low-income. Our Resident Support Scheme is one of the most generous in the country. I'm proud tonight that we are proposing to increase the Council Tax Support Scheme to 95%; an investment in the most vulnerable people in the borough. The total number of Islington residents receiving support through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme is currently 26,150, but this total does vary during the year. The number of households in arrears for Council Tax, who receive support  through the scheme this year, is 1,354 as of last week. This would equate to about 5% of those accessing the scheme. We continue to support those people in arrears, so that they can clear their arrears and return to a stable financial footing.

 

Supplementary question:

 

Thank you. I wonder how many of those 1,354 in arrears, have arrears that have accrued from previous years? 

 

Response:

 

Thank you. I don’t have that information to hand, but I will look at it and share it with you.

 

Question (6) from Cllr Russell to Cllr Ward, Executive Member for Housing & Development: 

 

How many repairs have been requested in Islington to fix mould in residents’ homes each year across the last five years? Please supply aggregated annual Islington figures at the meeting for the last five years and supply a table in writing separately broken down by ward and housing type (estate or street property and building construction type if you hold that data).

 

Response:

 

Islington Council is determined to provide safe secure and genuinely affordable homes for local people. A vital part of that is ensuring that our current housing stock is kept the highest possible standard. We've taken a comprehensive approach to damp and condensation works on our estates. We will fix leaks, but where there's mould due to condensation, we carry out mould washes and we work with residents to maintain a mould free home. We know that damp and condensation occurs more in homes that are not well heated, and our programme of energy efficiency works will also very importantly help to address problems of damp and condensation in some properties. I will supply the full information to you following the meeting, but the number of homes in which we have undertaken mould treatment works has remained broadly stable over recent years, aside from 2020 when there were fewer reports and people did not want others to work in their homes. There have been 2,687 homes visited for mould since 2017. We don't hold ward level information, but I will write to you with further information.

 

Supplementary question:

 

I completely agree with you about the importance of tackling mould. I think ventilation as well as good insulation is a really important element of this. Of those 2,687 cases of mould, how many of them were repeat requests?

 

Response:

 

I’m afraid that I don’t have that information to hand, but I’m very happy to speak to senior officers about this.

 

Question (7) from Cllr Williamson to Cllr Turan, Executive Member for Health & Social Care:

 

There was already a crisis in young people’s mental health and support services before Covid-19, but the pandemic has made the situation worse.

 

Before the pandemic waiting times were long for CAMHS. But with an even bigger growth in demand for mental health and support services, and the escalating NHS recruitment crisis caused by a Tory government asleep at the wheel, we are witnessing a perfect storm – with disastrous effects for our young people. One of my own young constituents has already spent over a year of his childhood waiting to be assessed by CAMHS, and is expected to still wait another year before getting assessed.  Waiting times are now at roughly 30 months. While we know the Tory government rhetoric of parity of esteem for mental health services needs to be matched with reality – with real funding and serious work to bring down waiting times, what is the CCG doing locally to reduce waiting times for CAMHS?

 

Response:

 

Thank you highlighting this very important topic. The current situation with waiting times for autistic spectrum disorder assessments in Islington and the indeed across the whole of North Central London is a high priority for this Council and all our partners in the sector. I'm all too aware that the current position is unacceptable

and we are committed to working in partnership to address the challenges and develop a model for children and young people that reduces delay.

 

Senior leaders in Whittington Health and the North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group are working to ensure a clear plan to reduce waiting times to 18 weeks and clear the current backlogs across North Central London by 2023. The plan includes provision for additional funding for Islington's neurodevelopment pathway with an additional funded programme in place to reduce the backlog. Islington Council has also been working with Whittington Health to put in place a programme of therapeutic and family support that young people can access while they are on the waiting list. Parents are advised to visit Islington's CAMHS page on the Whittington Health website.

 

On the wider issue of children and young people's mental health, we have a range of services on offer to support young people's mental health, including CAMHS mental health support teams in schools and online counselling services. However, as we come out of this pandemic, it is vital that the government finally acts on its promises and properly funds mental health support services. 

 

Supplementary question:

 

A lot of the issues with CAMHS services is to do with a massive lack of funding and a recruitment crisis caused by the government. First, can the council campaign on this issue, and second, can we work with the CCG to ensure that any child is seen within a certain time frame, for example before 30 months? My constituents are telling me  that waiting lists are getting longer and longer, which is causing despair for families.  Can we work with CCG to make sure no one's going beyond 30 months and that clear waiting times are given at the point of initial referrals?

 

Response:

 

I would be incredibly proud to join you on that campaign, and I am sure that fellow councillors would be too. This is clearly an important issue to our residents. I meet with the CCG regularly and will continue to push this issue, particularly around giving families realistic waiting times.