Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats gives his end of year verdict of Labour-run Ealing Council as a scorecard and rating its performance across housing, protecting the environment, clean and safe streets, caring for residents and listening to locals.
“Liberal Democrats through this year have been listening to residents around the whole borough on what issues they are most concerned about and also what areas Ealing Council performs well or need to do more work.
“Many people have told us they are considering or have switched to the Lib Dems for the local elections in May 2026 as we take an interest in the issues that matter to them.
“The Liberal Democrats as the Official Opposition are holding Labour to account since 2022 and this year have been active to press the council on their plans to close 10 children’s centres, exposing the fraud of some of the council’s contractors, our dirty streets, issues caused in Lammas Park meaning vast sections have been closed for most of the year.
Looking at a few key areas of Ealing Council I have rated them like an OFSTED inspector might:
Housing: Fail (U)
Ealing Council has been failing over the last number of years with many housing issues such as damp, mould, large numbers of ombudsman complaints, not building enough truly affordable housing as well as having enough temporary housing, meaning they until recently spent about £5 million a year on housing tenants in hotels or bed & breakfasts.
Over three years ago the council was being investigated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and it took until last month when the regulator indicated some improvements had taken place. But why did it take over three years to fix some of these issues!
Liberal Democrats successfully took up complaints from residents of Meath and Marsdon Courts which were temporary accommodation for many vulnerable tenants and got them moved to safe and secure housing. Drugs, prostitution, violence (an attempted rape and attempted murder) and repairs were rife but now these residents are safe.
Protecting our environment and open spaces: C
Over the past two years Labour have tried to remove protections for our parks meaning that developments could take place. A successful Liberal Democrats campaign, working with many community groups, persuaded the council to change their view meaning the Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) protections were retained. This was confirmed earlier in the year.
Over the past year visitors of Lammas Park in West Ealing have been suffering due to the management of the council’s ‘SuDS’ scheme which has meant there are dangers present and residents could only access some of the park whilst works to reduce future flooding were being continued. Liberal Democrats set up a petition and called for a review on this topic so lessons can be learnt for future ‘SuDS’ schemes elsewhere in Ealing.
Clean and safe streets: E
The Ealing Liberal Democrats did a residents’ survey over Summer, and the second most important issue was dirty streets. So many streets covered in litter, dirty, fly tipped items or covered in leaves.
The Labour-run council, supported by the Conservatives, had made cuts to street cleansing frequencies which have led to dirtier streets over the last four years. At last, the Council recently launched a campaign against fly tipping but in my area, it seemed to have prompted more fly tipped waste to be dumped like mattresses or sofas.
Earlier in the year the Liberal Democrats found money in some council budgets to increase street cleaning but Labour chose not to implement the recommendations. Liberal Democrats have been working with LAGER Can to organise and attend many street clean-ups around Ealing. Liberal Democrats also want to see the Council fund skips to help more people recycle or dump waste without causing fly tips.
Caring for residents: F
Over the past year we have seen Labour press ahead with shocking plans to close TEN Children’s Centre which would have some very profound and bad effects for many children and parents in Ealing. Currently there is a legal challenge, but it seems Ealing Labour wish to press ahead regardless.
In addition to policies affecting children Labour in Ealing are also set to close an adult day centre in Acton, called Micheal Flanders. This means that day services for people with dementia will no longer take place. The process for doing this avoided scrutiny as opposition council were not allowed to challenge the decision. Essentially Labour are selling off our assets in a way that was not open or democratic.
Some have said that Labour in Ealing are the new nasty party. You decide!
Listening to you: D
Many people report that Ealing Council is an ivory tower and it is difficult to speak to a person who them solves their issues or get a ‘call back’ from some departments like the parking team when they get a parking ticket they did not expect. Also, this year the Labour-run council changed the rules to make it harder for residents to voice their opinions to the council and by ‘moving the goal posts’ it has shut up many people.
Liberal Democrats want the council to answer the phones quicker and also ensure that when residents need a ‘call back’ they get one. We should be encouraging residents to give their views so we can use their local knowledge to ensure projects are successful.
So next year when the council votes through a probable increase in council tax please remember whether you think they are doing the right thing. They seem to get the simple things wrong leaving us with dirty and dangerous streets especially at winter when it is dark. With Labour in government allowing prisoners to escape from prison or regionally the Mayor of London closing police stations or making cuts to opening hours of the Acton Police station counter, many people are now fed up with Labour.
So if you want councillors who are hard working for you, then vote Liberal Democrat at the next local elections in May 2026.
