Issue - meetings

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Claire Kober, gave the following “State of the Borough” address:

Madame Mayor I am proud to be making this state of the borough address, I would like to outline just some of the Council’s achievements this municipal year. I do hope that Members from all parties will join me in recognising the huge amount of progress that the Council and its officers have made in spite of very challenging circumstances.

In my address last year I touched on the looming recession and the impact it could have on Haringey residents. The Council has put in place a raft of measures over the year to support businesses and residents alike. I believe that the steps we have taken have made a real difference to the lives of the people living in this borough, and are a testament to the difference a Labour Council working with a Labour Government can make.

We recognise that the difficult economic climate has posed problems for many residents, and along with all the other Labour boroughs in London have pledged to freeze Council Tax. We hope that freezing council tax will relieve some of the pressure and ease the anxiety of rising bills. It has been through efficiency savings, and producing a costed budget that we have been able to achieve this. As Leader of this Council I could not stand here today and propose a Council Tax freeze without having fully scrutinised the numbers – we provide services that people rely on and cannot jeopardise them to make political gain.

I certainly hope the opposition won’t use this as a chance to scaremonger about the future of services under a Labour Administration. As a Labour Party we are committed to delivering the services that people rely on – yet I note the Liberal Democrat Leader has called for savage cuts. I think its time the opposition were honest about what they really have in store for residents.   

Haringey is home to a huge number of small businesses and we have taken a number of steps to safeguard their future. Over 2009-10, five town centre business partnerships have met and developed a range of local improvements including a loyalty parking scheme, Christmas events, local newsletters, loyalty shopping projects, local festivals and shop safely programmes across the borough.

The future of young people in our borough is an absolute priority and we have also worked with the Labour Government to secure £1.4 million for the future jobs fund to create 221 jobs in 2010 -11. Double what the Lib Dems have called for.

In addition £647k was won from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund to spend on job training and job brokerage. This again demonstrates what a Labour team working together can deliver – solid job and training opportunities, giving our young people the chance of a brighter future. The Borough’s main employment support programme, the Haringey Guarantee, is on target for delivering its 218 sustained jobs in 2009-10.

I am extremely  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7