New faces welcomed to Islington Council’s Executive

Islington Council will welcome two experienced councillors to take up new roles on the Executive later this month.

Cllr Sue Lukes will be appointed to lead the newly-created portfolio for Community Safety while Cllr Nurullah Turan will become Executive Member for Health and Social Care.

The new portfolio encompasses responsibility for community safety and policing, public protection, hate crime, tackling domestic violence and abuse and supporting survivors, being a champion for victims of crime, and Coronavirus response.

Cllr Lukes, who has been a councillor since 2018, said: “The pandemic has reminded us all: no-one is safe unless everyone is safe. Islington people know that, and with them I hope to make a real difference.

“Together we can work to keep everyone safe and well. We can build on the real solidarity we created during lockdown.

“We also need to unravel and tackle the complex causes that fuel serious youth violence, gang crime and anti-social behaviour. It's a challenge and I'm looking forward to it."

Cllr Lukes leaves her positions as Vice-Chair of both the council’s Housing Scrutiny Committee and Audit Committee to take the Community Safety brief.

Cllr Turan, a councillor since 2014, said: “I am looking forward to leading the council’s health and social care agenda; I’ve benefitted from some considerable insight as chair of DERMAN, a mental health charity, and am proud to have been the council’s Mental Health Champion for the last year.

“I will also be bringing my experience of being a frontline NHS worker since 1999, and want to focus with our fantastic team on improving health and social care in Islington.

“I want to pay tribute to the work Cllr Burgess has done over the last decade, from protecting high-quality adult social care in the face of huge central government funding cuts, to securing the London Living Wage for domiciliary care staff.”

Cllr Turan leaves his post as Chair of the council’s Licensing Regulatory Committee to lead the Health and Social Care portfolio.

The move follows Cllr Janet Burgess’ decision to step down from both this role and that of Deputy Leader of the Council. She will continue working as a councillor for Junction ward. Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz will be appointed as Deputy Leader, retaining her role as Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families.

The appointments were made by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Richard Watts, and the councillors will take up their roles on 28 September.

The proposed appointments will be noted by the Annual Council meeting on September 24.