LEADER’S
NOTES
“We have agreed on a
programme…called
Future Ealing.”
Councillor Julian Bell
Leader of the council
W
e are about to go on our Save
Our Hospitals march through the
borough and have a public rally.
The event on 30 September was arranged
to show the strength of feeling against the
planned decimation of vital health services.
Turn to page 11 for more on these plans. At a
time when Ealing’s population is growing and
the pressures on the local NHS are already so
acute, stripping away capacity is nonsensical.
A&E waiting times in north-west London are
already among the worst in the country and
these proposals threaten to make that worse.
I urge everyone to show their opposition by
signing our petition to the government, asking
it to think again and save services at Ealing and
Charing Cross hospitals.
W The petition is available online at
www.sohpetition.co.uk and will be there
until early next year – at which point it will
be delivered to the government. You can
also sign up to receive alerts on the Save our
Hospital campaign at www.ealing.gov.uk/soh
Even with the savage austerity cuts that have been forced on us I am
confident that Ealing has a bright future. I know that we are luckier than
many other areas. Ealing is a fantastic borough that is a great place to live
and somewhere I am proud to call home. R
ith less money to spend on services we have no option but to
change the way the council works and how services are delivered.
Therefore, as a council, we have agreed to focus our work in
order to best look after the borough’s interests. We have decided on nine
areas that will drive and inform our priorities. This programme is being called
Future Ealing. You can read more by turning over to pages six and seven.
Nevertheless, we will continue to lobby government for a fairer share of
funding for Ealing and a national solution to the social care crisis that is
threatening our financial stability.
And we will continue our efforts to grow our way out of the financial crisis by
strengthening our local economy and encouraging new investment in the
area and its infrastructure. This has already brought with it much needed
homes and jobs. We are working as hard as possible to ensure that as many
of these homes are affordable and that we help provide people with the
skills they need so they can progress in their choice of career.
emembrance Sunday and Armistice
Day in November are always moving
experiences. As ever, I will be in
Greenford for a service on the Sunday.
I recommend reading our article on page
30 and hope you will join me and others in
paying your respects to our armed forces,
past and present.
around ealing October 2017
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