At a Full Council meeting in the Town Hall on February 26th Labour scored a massive victory. The occasion was the annual debate on the budget.
Labour put forward a budget that included free school meals for all children under 11, a pensioners’ rebate of £100 on the Council Tax, and free leisure and sports facilities for young people, paid for in part by reducing the over-inflated Lib Dem’s executive salaries. The Lib-Dems on the other hand, wanted to freeze the Council tax, and their high salaries. They then switched horses, and said they would put up the Council Taxto pay for some Green ideas, in an attempt to buy off the one Green vote on the Council.
Then, after agreeing to vote with the Lib Dems, the Green abstained on all the votes, leaving the Lib Dem administration doubly embarrassed, having changed their budget to suit the Green, and then losing when she didn’t vote with them.
The debate was a shambles in other ways as well, which you can see for yourself if you can bear to watch the ‘web-cast’ of the meeting. It lasted 4 hours, and for the last 40 minutes, no Lib-Dems were present, after they walked out, claiming they wanted a ‘recess’ to consider their loss of the vote. They didn’t return to the chamber to finish the meeting.
Providing free school meals for all primary and nursery school children is a fantastic thing for many reasons. In a place like Islington many families are living right on the poverty line, and whilst they just miss out on being eligible for free school meals, making ends meet is a constant struggle. For the average family with 2 kids, this measure will save them over £600 a year – all the while knowing that their children are guaranteed a warm and hearty school lunch every day. In families where parents are attempting to find work, or are considering taking up temporary work, the prospect of losing their kids’ entitlement to free school meals can sometimes lead them to question whether they’ll actually end up any better off financially. Thanks to this measure, this will no longer have to be a consideration, meaning free school means can help our local economy by making returning to work easier for parents.
If free school meals are good for parents and families, then they are great for Islington children. Various free school meal trial initiatives have taken place – from the Scottish Highlands to Hull- all of which have demonstrating the significant impact free school meals have on children’s futures. Implementing free, healthy school meals improves take up of school meals over packed lunches and it’s no exaggeration to say it can lead to a culture change. In islington, we have one of London’s highest rates of childhood obesity, with 24% of our ten year olds being classed as obese – that means that 1 in 4 of weighs 20% or more above what they should. But it’s been proven that free school meals can lead to children eating proper breakfasts, less sugary snacks, and whole family eating habits becoming more healthy.
And it’s not just about the future of our children’s health. In the three year trial that took place in Hull, classroom behaviour improved significantly with the introduction of free school meals, with children concentrating for longer and being less disruptive. Only a few months ago, the London wide exam results league table was published, and had Islington in last place, yet again. If we are serious about improving the education our kids get, it’s about time the lib Dem administration stopped merely tlking the talk, and realised that bold but proven effective methods, such as free school meals-can help us achieve this.
Labour still aren’t in power in islington, but even from the opposition benches we’re setting the agenda, with a budget that delivers for Islington families. Achieving that alongside my Islington Labour colleagues made sitting through a 4 hour council meeting full of cynical and irresponsible behaviour, and unsuccessful and immature tactics from the ruling Lib Dems, worthwhile.
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