Petition details
Stop the closing of the Tower Hamlets Community Languages Service
This Petition ran from 07/02/2020 to 07/02/2020 and has now finished.
1300 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Response to Petition presented to the Council meeting on 19th February 2020.
The council is committed to supporting community language provision in Tower Hamlets. Following the Council’s meeting on 19 February 2020, the decision was made to close the Community Language Service and to provide time-limited funding to the voluntary sector community language providers to run mother tongue classes.
This is in the context of a reduction in government funding to the council of £148m since 2010 and the need to save another £44m in the next three years. The decision will enable the voluntary sector to be supported to continue the provision of community languages in Tower Hamlets with a high-quality and sustainable teaching model delivered in a more cost-effective manner.
The council recognises the importance of protecting the heritage of the many different languages that are spoken in the borough and of the particular role language played in the Bangladeshi struggle for independence. As such, community languages can play a valuable part in celebrating the diversity of our borough and the council is committed to supporting mother tongue teaching in Tower Hamlets through the voluntary sector.
Judith St. John
Divisional Director, Sports, Leisure and Culture