Islington council has unveiled an “ambitious” plan to close the gap between the rich and poor in the borough.
The 54-point plan includes a commitment to pay the London Living Wage (currently £8.30) to all staff directly employed by the council and “to work towards making sure all contractors also pay it.”
The plan also commits the borough “to narrowing income inequality towards a 1:10 ratio, so the best-paid council employee earns no more than 10 times the salary of the lowest-paid.”
The proposals follow a report by the Islington Fairness Commission which made a number of recommendations for creating “a fairer Islington”.
Cllr Catherine West, Leader of Islington Council, said: “We’re on our residents’ side and determined to make Islington a fairer place for everyone who lives and works here.
“With huge divides between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, this is no easy task, but we’re committed to taking action now.
”This action plan lays out exactly what we’ll be doing and includes radical ideas that will make a real difference to our community.”
The full response to the Commission’s report can be downloaded here and will be tabled at the full meeting of Islington Council on October 6th.
richard says
October 10, 2011 at 2:08 pmOnly two types of people can bring up a family in Islington, the wealthy who pay for it themselves and the poorest who get it all paid for by everyone else. I’d love to buy a family home in Islington but because of the high taxes I have to pay to allow the poor to live there, I can’t afford it.
This policy is a joke. They should be helping the middle classes who contribute to society and stop giving hand outs to the lazy!