Leader update: Councillor Gary Malcolm, Ealing Liberal Democrats

Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats shares his latest update.

The last local elections in Ealing took place in May 2022 and the Liberal Democrats were the second largest party and are now the Official Opposition for the first time. We have been scrutinising and challenging the current administration to address many of its mistakes to see if we can press them to cancel bad ideas, improve services which are failing or introduce new proposals which will help residents and businesses across the borough.

Only 72% of telephone calls made to the Council are answered within 5 minutes when their target is 80% This has been the trend for a long time and means many people are just being ignored.

In context we see Ealing Labour failing to keep our streets clean where they are 8% below their target for clearing fly tips.

Ealing Labour have consistently failed to work effectively with the police to bring down the levels of anti-social behaviour in the borough at 30 incidents per 1,000 which are above the average.

In a relatively short time, the Liberal Democrats have: 

1. Forced Labour-run Ealing Council to drop plans to develop on Warren Farm and caused over 20 endangered species to be destroyed.
2. Successfully campaigned to get Ealing Council to cancel their light dimming scheme which had led to streets which are lighter and safer for residents at night. 
3. Successfully campaigned for the tenants at Meath and Marston Court who had been suffering for many years with a range of ill-repaired homes and been at harm from the constant threat of crime issues to be move to other homes that were safer. This has helped to address the needs of about 100 families.
4. Challenged Ealing Council about a huge housing repair backlogs and poor tenant survey results – only about half (50%) of tenants were satisfied with the repair service. Dissatisfaction is mainly due to slowness of repairs, poor maintenance in communal areas and a lack of responsiveness to queries as well as many losses by Labour-run Ealing Council by the independent Ombudsman.
5. Stopped the Council reducing protection to our Green Belt and Open Spaces (MOLs) and helped to save Ealing Riding school.
6. Successfully pressed for Ealing Council to agree to hire a Conservation Officer. There is now an advert for recruitment being advertised.
7. Campaigned with residents to keep Victoria Hall a public space, exposed over £3m in wasted costs by Labour-run Ealing Council.
8. Showed Ealing Council how they can save over £1.5m by focusing on permanent recruitment rather than using agency staff and reducing printing costs that are not needed. These savings could be used to help provide better front-line services and more help to many vulnerable. 
9. Worked with the Police across the borough to reduce anti-social behaviour and crime at hot spots including Ealing Common Station and Hanwell. 
10. Robustly challenged the Careline decision and transition which exposed over 3000 vulnerable residents and resulted in 18 employees losing their jobs and many vulnerable users not being provided information about how they can have a proper service to help them become independent whilst being safe.

It is a huge honour to lead the Opposition in Ealing Council and help to either solve problems for residents directly or get the Council to provide a better service for residents and businesses.

Liberal Democrats want a clean and safe Ealing where residents are properly listened to. With only two years until the next local elections the Liberal Democrats will continue to be a thorn in the side of the Labour-run Ealing Council.