At an Ealing Full Council meeting yesterday (Tuesday 21st July) Ealing Labour proposed and passed a motion in support of Ealing Council staff, thanking them for their incredible commitment to our borough during the Covid-19 crisis. The full motion is below.

Ealing council staff have achieved amazing things in difficult circumstances, from setting up major new services like food delivery for thousands of shielding people through Ealing Together to adjusting very quickly to working from home.

Local government has been a crucial part of the response to Covid-19 nationwide, stepping in as our fourth emergency service. Our Labour council has pulled out all the stops to look after the vulnerable and keep essential services running as much as possible, despite losing 64p in every pound to Tory cuts over the last decade.

While it’s nice that Tory councillors are willing to support a motion thanking our staff, it would be more useful for them to join us in calling on their friends in Westminster to fund local government properly so we could give a pay rise to our brilliant staff.

It is not enough to say thank you and breathe a sigh of relief when council staff step up in a crisis. We’ve seen our funding cut by 64% since 2010 – losing 64p in every pound. It is only because of hard working council staff up and down this country that local services haven’t fallen apart during this crisis.

Council staff aren’t just here during a global pandemic. They serve our communities every day. It’s time that the Tories valued the everyday heroes who keep our country going by funding the essential services they provide all year round.