Opinion: Ealing Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Steed shares his thoughts on what is happening in Ealing.
Very recently there was one of the more important dates in the Civic calendar with the election of the new Mayor. Councillor Hitesh Tailor, who was originally elected for East Acton Ward in 2010, becomes the First Citizen of the Borough.
He is one of the most experienced Ealing Councillors and is also the youngest Mayor we have had for as long as I can remember. He takes up the non-partisan role immediately and we wish him congratulations and best wishes. He is Luton born so will be justifiably delighted that ‘The Hatters’ have won promotion to the Premier League recently.
As is traditional, the new civic year means appointments are made to the various committees and panels. This year there was also a shake-up of the Ealing Council’s Cabinet Committee with two new Councillors taking on responsibility for Decent Living Incomes and Thriving Communities. This coincides with various new officers in the Strategic Team, the top echelon of officers at Ealing.
All organisations need new blood sometimes but the hiring, firing or early retiring of officers will not have come cheaply. By adding the pre-fix ‘Strategic’ to a job title sounds great, but it undoubtedly has a cost and few people know what it actually means.
On this, many people ask Councillors where to find relevant bits of information on the Council’s website or who they should contact about a particular matter they are concerned with.
Liberals Democrats have commented that Local Government finance is still woeful and unnecessarily complicated. The Governments recent settlement was slightly more generous than in previous years, but it remains the case that annual settlements make it difficult for Councils to plan. After years of rising costs and low levels of Government funding most Councils are pretty hard up.
One of my areas of responsibility is scrutinising Health and Social Services. Officers in Ealing have recently produced a number of reports: a new Health of the Borough Report and a Health and Wellbeing Strategy Paper. These are ambitious reports, full of interesting data, with laudable intentions. But currently there is no new money to action the various plans.
Liberals Democrats often see and commented that these areas are already under immense pressure and the departments go over-budget year after year. How will the new plans be financed?
Some of the funding may come from external partners, be it the NHS or grants from the Mayor of London and/or central Government. Liberal Democrats say that long term funding is necessary to tackle the underlying issues.
Councillor Andrew Steed is Ealing Liberal Democrat Opposition Spokesperson for Caring Services
