Islington Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Islington in Greater London, England. Islington is divided into 16 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is split into five directorates: Children’s Services; Corporate Resources; Environment and Regeneration; Finance; HASS (Housing). The council currently employs around 3100 staff although this will increase as additional contracted services will be coming in house. A significant proportion of the borough’s working age population is highly qualified, and in managerial, professional and technical jobs, while a large and increasing number of residents not only have few or no qualifications, but also are out of work. Islington also has the highest population density of local authorities in England and Wales - 13,875 people per km2. The total area of Islington is only 14.86 km2. Islington has almost 12,000 commercial companies of all types operating within the borough. However, Islington is the eighth most deprived borough in the country, with a large number of people out of work and dependent on benefits. A key theme of Islington's corporate plan is to enable safer and stronger communities. By working with the community and partners, we want to create a borough where people of all ages and backgrounds are safe, feel safe and respect each other. The council has made significant improvements in its effort to keep Islington’s streets clean and is committed to sweeping every street twice a week, removing fly-tips and graffiti within 24 hours of being reported. Islington has a wide variety of transportation services, with direct connections to the suburbs and the City and West End. Islington also has over 8 tube stations with connections by the tube to all around London.