Islington spending £1 million a day making it happen for children, young people and families

We and our partners are determined to make Islington a more equal place, giving children and young people a stake in their future and helping them to reach their full potential, whatever their background.

Despite ever-increasing pressure on local government finances, we have consistently protected our investment in children’s services. Today, Islington leads the way in providing opportunity and protecting the vulnerable:

• A focus on innovation, early intervention and prevention work has led to Ofsted rating Islington’s Children’s Services ‘outstanding’ twice in a row, with inspectors noting we are “transforming children’s lives”.
• Our Youth Justice Service was also rated the best in London in 2024. Our relentless work to steer the most vulnerable towards more positive and fulfilling futures has seen the number of young people entering the justice system fall by 80% since 2016, and driven down reoffending rates to one of the lowest in England. Knife crime among under-25s in Islington has fallen by two-thirds in the last year. That means fewer victims and fewer lives affected.
• In education, we’re proud to be one of only 20 local authorities in the country to have every primary and secondary school rated either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.
• Free school meals are provided for every single child in our primary and nursery schools – and have been for the last 16 years. This saves families up to £550 per year, per child. Last year, our schools served nearly 1.8 million free, healthy meals to nearly 22,000 pupils and in 2023 the Mayor of London followed our lead to fund free meals for primary pupils across the capital.
• We’ve made sure our most vulnerable children don’t go hungry in the holidays, either. Last year we invested almost £1 million to provide 30,000 places on our brilliant Holiday Activities with Food programme, which returns this Easter. It offered over 170 activities during the school holidays to let children discover new hobbies, have fun and make new friends. We also provided £2.4 million in supermarket vouchers last year so families in need could feed their children healthy meals during the school holidays.
• Our amazing Summerversity programme provided more than 4,500 places for young people last year, offering kayaking, cycling, arts, crafts, cooking, music production, theatre, dance and much more.
• We laid on free cycle training for more than 2,000 children last year, and more than 3,000 children were offered places on our Learn To Swim course.
• We’ve invested more than £2 million in our parks, open spaces, and playgrounds – and will create more new green space in future.
• Also in schools, our pioneering Music Education Islington programme, delivered by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, has reached 4,500 pupils, opening up access to instruments and music-making, improving confidence and making a long-term impact. Meanwhile, more than 58,000 free cultural experiences have been delivered to pupils since 2019 through our 11 by 11 programme, ensuring culture is not a privilege but a meaningful part of everyday learning.
• We’ve helped our young people shape their futures, delivering hundreds of career activities and 100 work experience placements this year, offering insight into different jobs. And we’ve opened two Youth Employment Hubs for young people to get free, tailored employment support. More than 1,000 young people have already moved into work or apprenticeships because of council support.
• Since 2022, our Bright Start Family Hub Network has helped families get the high-quality support they need – at the right time, in the right place. Our 52 parent champions speak over 20 languages so we can engage families across communities. And our early intervention is improving speech and language for those who need it at the pivotal pre-school age.

Cllr Michelline Safi-Ngongo, Islington’s Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families, said: “We’re creating a more equal future in Islington by investing in the things that matter most.

“We’ve secured solid foundations for growing up, with Ofsted inspectors finding we offer an ‘exceptionally wide range of effective early help services and support’ that makes a ‘tangible difference to children’s and families’ lives’. All of our nurseries are judged ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, alongside 97% of all early years provision.

“In addition, every school is either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. We’ve ensured every child can have a decent meal in our nurseries and primaries, and we support them through the school holidays with amazing programmes that broaden their horizons.

“Our comprehensive family support provides the right help at the right time, and we’ve supported more than 1,000 young people into work and training, and many more have benefitted from support and advice at our two Youth Employment Hubs. We also safeguard the most vulnerable with truly innovative work that puts us among the best in the country.

“Children and young people are at the heart of everything we do – we’re making it happen so each and every one can reach their full potential, whatever their background. Because a more equal Islington is a better one for all of us.”