As ever, 2023/24 was a busy year. The council has hundreds of services and works hard with ever less money to do the best it can. It’s impossible to list everything that has happened, but let’s take a snapshot at some of the things it promised to do…

Against the backdrop of the national housing crisis, homelessness is a big concern. The council has:

• spent £20million in 2 years on various types of support and working with voluntary groups
• provided 40 new places to give rough sleepers a bed and support
• developed a plan to spend £150million on new temporary accommodation (see page 12)
• The council helped create 2,441 new job roles in the borough, plus:
• set up 500 new apprenticeships
• helped 3,355 people find employment who had faced barriers to getting back into work (exceeding a target of 2,000)
• helped 67 local employers become accredited as London Living Wage payers – with more planned in the year ahead

Also this year, there are plans to add a further 3 learning zones in Ealing, Greenford, and Perivale – to add to the one already in Northolt.

2023/24 saw work and consultation come to a close on a new local plan to shape the borough for the next 15 years. It is due to be implemented this year.

Talking of plans, Ealing ranked as the best performing planning authority in London, for processing applications and keeping projects moving.

A planning application, meanwhile, has gone in for a new and improved Gurnell Leisure Centre.

It was announced that Warren Farm will be allowed to be retained as a rewilded open space for wildlife, while a new sports ground will be built next to it.

Meanwhile, the new Pear Tree Park was opened in Perivale this summer and the council is making progress on finding a preferred location for a large, new regional park as a ‘green lung’ for London, and a new destination for days out.

Recycling rates in the borough remained in the top 3 in London, while an impressive 20,500 trees were planted as the council’s ‘greening’ strategy took root.

Greener forms of travel were backed with new cycle paths, school streets projects and more, including:

• 105 new bike hangars
• electric vehicle charge points increased to 658
• banning of vehicle ‘idling’ – when a car is running despite being stationary. Civil enforcement officers can now issue penalty charge notices to drivers if they refuse to switch off.

Close to 1,000 residents took part in the ‘Your Voice, Your Town’ process, aimed at getting more local people involved in the decisions made about the places where they live. And these are set to become regular forums.

The new Ealing culture news and events website was set up to provide a one-stop place for people to find what arts, music and fun events and activities are going on in the borough – and let others know about their own.

Financial support has been provided to many households across the borough, struggling in the cost of living crisis:

• this includes 14,400 families eligible for free school meals
• all 4 of the council’s community hubs (at Acton, Ealing, Northolt and Southall libraries) have issued more than 200 free data SIM cards (for smart phones) to eligible residents
• meanwhile, the scheme to reduce council tax for those in need has been improved, meaning there is now a maximum discount of 80%

In education, 98% of council-run schools are now rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted; while 78 new SEND places were created at local schools – meaning 128 new places over the past 2 years, comfortably exceeding the 4-year plan of 70 places.

Meanwhile, an Ofsted inspection of children’s services rated them as Good, the council published an action plan to support care leavers even further and, in the year ahead, there are plans to open a new youth activity centre.

Another action plan, this time for crime – targeting male violence against women and girls – was published to set out how the council and partner organisations would work together to tackle the problem, both in terms of making the streets safer, and in terms of making it easier to report incidents and find help.

Investment came in the form of £3.25million to fight anti-social behaviour, burglary, violent crime, and violence against women. And £1.2million on schemes aimed at preventing youth violence.