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About us

Building more council housing is one of our priorities
Building more council housing is one of our priorities.

Islington Council, or more formally the London Borough of Islington, is a local authority serving over 206,000 inner London residents.

The council's primary aim is to deliver a fairer Islington, for the benefit of all our residents.

Our vision:

We’re determined to make Islington fairer. To create a place where everyone, whatever their background, has the opportunity to reach their potential and enjoy a good quality of life.

Our priorities for achieving a fairer Islington are:

  • Providing more council housing and supporting private renters
  • Helping residents who are out of work to find the right job
  • Helping residents cope with the rising cost of living
  • Making Islington a place where our residents have a good quality of life
  • Providing residents with good services on a tight budget

Since 2010 the Government has cut its funding to Islington Council by half – a reduction of £150 million - putting Islington in the top ten worst hit areas in the country and leaving every household in the borough £1,000 worse off. Despite these financial challenges, we are making progress delivering our fairness agenda.

Islington is proud to be a council that has fairness at its heart and puts local people first.

As an organisation we focus on delivering efficient and value for money services where our staff treat public money as if it were their own.

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Facts and Figures

  • Islington is one of 32 London boroughs.
  • Islington comprises 16 electoral wards, each represented by three elected councillors. The most recent council-wide election took place in May 2018 and returned 47 Labour councillors and one Green.
  • The council is therefore Labour-controlled, under council leader Cllr Richard Watts.
  • Despite its wealthy image, Islington is the 24th most deprived local authority area in England, with extremes of rich and poor. In 2010 the council created The Islington Fairness Commission (IFC) to look into ways to make the borough a fairer place – many other local authorities have since followed suit. The IFC report and recommendations were published in June 2011.
  • In 2012 Islington became the first local authority to be accredited as a London Living Wage employer.
  • Our key corporate documents – including our annual report and Corporate Plan 2015-19 can be read here.