Last week we agreed our council budget for the coming year; it is a budget that invests in the priorities that Southwark residents have told us are important to you.
Supporting local people through the cost of living crisis, improving the vital public services that we all depend on and investing in our local environment.
It’s a budget that will deliver another new library, leisure centre and sports centre, more action to clean up fly tipping and graffiti, increased investment in social care for older residents and more work to tackle the climate emergency.
It includes bold action to end child hunger, by extending free school meals in our secondary schools.
Last weekend, the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan announced that he will be funding free school meals for all primary school children across the capital. I was delighted by this news. We have been providing healthy school meals for all primary school children in Southwark for over a decade. The evidence is clear. They have made a real difference to the health and learning of our children, and they have been a lifeline for hard-pressed families. Therefore, I was delighted to hear the Mayor had followed Southwark’s lead and that children across our city will benefit.
Council to set up free schools meals scheme for secondary school pupils
However, I also know that food poverty does not end when a child turns 11. That is why we announced last week that we will roll out an emergency one year programme to extend free school meals to young people from low-income families who are currently falling thorough the gaps.
With two in five London children living in poverty, this is vital help that we know will be an investment in young people’s health, learning and future. If we can do this in Southwark, after a decade of government cuts to our budget, the government has no excuse. That is why I’ve also joined Labour council leaders from across London in calling on the government to step up and provide free school meals for every child who needs them nationally.
It is not just our children that we are standing by, over the last year we have provided over £30 million of support to help Southwark residents through the cost of living crisis. I am very glad to say our budget for next year guarantees financial help for another 20,000 Southwark households. Plus more investment in our Southwark Energy Savers service to help you keep your bills down, and increased funding for local advice services so help is there when you need it.
An easy guide to the energy bills support available for Southwark residents
While it can often feel that the UK is going from crisis to crisis it’s vital that we don’t lose sight of building a better future. That is why we also announced our new £3 million Southwark 2030 fund. To invest in projects that will create a bright future for our borough, raising our ambition again on the fairer, greener and safer borough. These projects will be inspired by the needs and desires of residents as identified thorough the Southwark 2030 events we are currently running across the borough.
We also outlined a major £2 million investment into making our streets safer and easier to walk, scoot and cycle.
All this has been delivered against a backdrop of a Tory Government continuing to attack our council finances and their reckless economic management.
Despite the challenges, I am proud of the things this budget has protected. We are continuing the major investment into the services residents have told us are important to you. Like our £2.5m invested in highways maintenance, £40m into care homes, £96m into children’s social care, £7.95m into keeping our streets clean, £14.6m into parks, trees and open spaces, £7.4m spent on libraries, £4.3m on Community safety, £204m on Schools and £8m on Leisure and sports.
Now we need a Labour government with the same ambition for our country that we have here in Southwark for our borough.
A Government with a clear mission, a mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7, a mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, a mission to make Britain’s streets safe, a mission to build an NHS fit for the future, and a mission to break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage.
Southwark Census 2021 Results: The borough explained in ten facts