Boris has left a £4m financial hole in King’s Cross

By Theo Blackwell

A massive £4 million cut has been served on successful jobs and training schemes in the King’s Cross regeneration area in north London by Boris Johnson.

As a result of “new priorities” for the London Development Agency, budgets for King’s Cross Construction Training Centre and the Camden Working Job Brokerage – which helps out-of-work residents back into the jobs market – have been removed just when people need it most – and in an area ready to be regenerated.

Camden’s Tory/Lib Dem run council described Boris’ plans as leaving them with the need “to fill the financial hole left by the ending of the LDA area programme in March 2009.” So thanks to Boris, the Camden taxpayer now has to step in to protect these vital schemes, with £4 million of extra money – roughly equivalent to 2% extra on council tax a year for local households.

The cut is particularly pernicious, given that the area served by King’s Cross covers the most deprived wards in south Camden and Islington.

Since opening its doors in June 2004, King’s Cross Construction has registered approximately 4,000 people; more than 2,000 have gained a construction-related qualification and a further 1,000 have gained employment in the industry.

Perversely, a brand new construction centre is due to be opened on site on 23rd March. Labour believes that providing jobs and training for a strategic site like this should remain a London priority, and not just fall on the Camden taxpayer.

After all, King’s Cross is finally ready to be built after a generation of wait so it’s totally perverse that Boris Johnson is choosing this of all times to cut funding to such successful schemes serving communities in need of jobs and skills.

The Mayor should restore the funding to King’s Cross Construction to ensure that the new centre, just weeks away from opening, can be fully supported.