COUNCILLORS have condemned playground directors for slashing staff salaries in a move that they say could put play services in Islington at risk of collapse.

Caledonian councillors threw their support behind a 1,000 person-strong petition to stop pay cuts at the Islington Play Association, an independent charity commissioned by the Town Hall to run five adventure playgrounds and a children’s centre in the borough.

As previously reported in the Tribune, IPA has told playground staffers to take a 20 per cent pay cut or lose their jobs as the organisation tries to redress a £170,000 hole in its budget.

Cllr Sara Hyde said: “Fire and re-hire is the worst kind of employment practice and one that we utterly condemn. Whenever a voluntary group faces financial difficulty it should not adopt such aggressive tactics. Far better to be fully transparent with its employees and negotiate a solution in good faith.”

Islington Council provides almost £1 million a year in grants to IPA, the vast majority of the organisation’s income, to run playgrounds including Caledonian’s Crumbles Castle and Lumpy Hill, where children can play for free under the supervision of expert play workers.

Islington’s funding for the IPA adventure playgrounds increased by 7.6 per cent in 2024 to account for inflation.

Fellow Caledonian councillor Paul Convery told the Tribune that a lot of people are “very, very upset” about the pay cuts.

“There’s something about Crumbles in particular. It grew out of a slum demolition site – parents, activists, and students came together and helped build it.

“It evokes a moment of working class activism here, so it’s dear to a lot of people’s hearts. If we did this in the council, we’d be in an employment tribunal the next morning.”

Wendy Jeeves, managing director of Islington Play Association, said: “Rising costs due to the cost of living have made these measures unavoidable in order to maintain a balanced budget and meet our contractual obligations with Islington Council.

“We deeply regret the impact on our staff, and we tried to avoid taking this course of action but these decisions are essential to continue providing a consistent and reliable service for the children and families of Islington.”