Dear John,

It’s the first week of April and signs of spring are certainly here – golden daffodils being the first real splash of colour, followed by plenty of beautiful cherry blossoms across the borough.

This month sees some of the holiest dates in the calendars of the three Abrahamic faiths. Chag Pesach Sameach to Jewish friends and neighbours marking the beginning of Passover tonight and for our Muslim friends and neighbours observing the holy month, Ramadan Mubarak. As we approach the Easter weekend, my wishes to friends and neighbours too for a blessed and holy Easter. Lastly, a belated Happy Mahavir Jayanti to our large Jain community in Harrow, a Happy Vaisakhi to our Sikh readers and a Happy Vesak to Buddhist readers, as well as a Happy Nepali and Asian New Year to all those that are celebrating.

Below is my newsletter covering some of my work in Parliament and locally in Harrow too – through out the month, you can find regular updates from me on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram.

SURGERIES & TOURS 

I’m grateful to be holding my next walk-in surgery at Rayners Lane’s iconic Zoroastrian Centre, from 10:30AM - 12:30PM today on Wednesday, 5th April. This is open to all Harrow West residents, so please drop by if you have any concerns or issues that you would like to raise with me!

Last year, I held at least one walk-in surgery in every ward of Harrow West, collecting hundreds of cases in surgeries across local churches, temples, mosques and community centres.

If you have a suggestion of where you would like me to host a surgery in 2023, do please drop me a line. I also run my regular advice surgery, taking on casework at my constituency office at 132-134 Blenheim Road, this surgery is appointment-based and appointments can be made by calling my parliamentary office on 020 7219 4243.

It was a privilege to show a number of families around Parliament over the last month – as always, great questions about political decisions in Westminster and the impact they have locally on people in Harrow.

A reminder that anyone living in Harrow West and wanting to join a tour of your House of Commons, please feel free to let me know by filling out a form here: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/parliamentary-tours/

SEWAGE DISCHARGED INTO HARROW RIVERS

Last week, the Environment Agency revealed that raw sewage had been discharged into English rivers 825 times a day in 2022. This includes several hours of sewage discharge into rivers serving Harrow, such as the Yeading Brook, Wealdstone Brook and Kenton Brook. People in Harrow and across the country rightly value our local rivers and lakes - but since 2016, this Conservative Government have allowed over 1000 years’ worth of sewage to be dumped into our waters.

As a coastal nation and a country of beauty, our waters are vital for quality of life and livelihoods. Only a Labour Government will clean up the water industry and work in the national interest by ending the Tory Sewage scandal. Locally, I believe there is much we can do with this information and I believe it is important we receive as much information about sewage discharges as possible – I have now written the below letter to the Chief Executive of Thames Water:

PARLIAMENT ROUND-UP

The Budget

It was hugely disappointing budget that leaves the British people suffering the worst hit to their living standards since records began and the Budget confirmed that the Government does not have a serious long-term plan to put that right.

The government has dismal record on economic growth over the past 13 years, taxes are at record levels and living standards are falling, typical incomes are higher in Ireland than in the UK by 6%, in France by 10% & in Germany by 19% , Yet the Chancellor did nothing to address the slow growth that Britain has experienced over the last decade.

What was even more striking was that there was nothing for in the Budget on funding for schools, on the NHS and not a mention of extra investment in policing . According to Independent Crime Statistics, since 2010, crime has risen by 15% in Harrow. Our Town Centre is definitely in need of its own inspector, three sergeants and 21 police constables. If you haven't already - sign and/or share my petition calling on the Met Commissioner to support us with a Town Centre team: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/town-centre-police-team-campaign/

I will aim to present another letter to Sir Mark Rowley after further discussions on this campaign with local police.

·       https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1636342814500855809

Northwick Park and ICU Provision

Early in the month I took the opportunity to push the Under-secretary of State for Health for a response to a letter I had sent almost one month previous r egarding the desperate need for new intensive care investment at Northwick Park Hospital. A couple of weeks after my chase I finally received a response from the Minister which acknowledged my letter and the conversations within  London Northwest University Healthcare NHS Trust about potential work on a business case to improve ICU configuration and environment, but unfortunately did not commit to anything. This is an issue I continue to watch closely and continue to speak with healthcare professionals about - the Accident & Emergency service at Northwick Park continues to be the busiest in London and one of the busiest in the country. This campaign is far from over.

·       https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1633083264167469057

The All-Party Group for British Gujaratis

I was delighted to be elected as Chair for the all-part Parliamentary group for British Gujaratis.  There are an estimated 800,000 British Gujaratis; mostly concentrated in metropolitan areas like Greater London, Midlands, Lancashire & Yorkshire.

Gujaratis of all faiths have made a huge contribution to our country, setting up successful businesses, creating huge numbers of jobs, and offering thousands and thousands of hours of community service.

The APPG will be able to engage on issues in education, well-being, bilateral trade with the State of Gujarat and economic development here in the U.K.

The inaugural meeting was well attended by MPs and Peers from across the House and I look forward to the positive and important work the group engage in going forward.

Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill

The final stages of the trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand reached the House of Common’s this month and whilst I welcome these deals with our close allies, the slapdash nature in which these deals have been cobbled together by Government Ministers exposes the inadequacies and incompetence of this Conservative Government.

As Shadow Minister for International Trade, it was incumbent on me to re-inform the House how Government  Ministers have thrown British farmers under the bus in the details of these deals, ignoring the concerns of the NFU and how M inisters excluded trade unions from the negotiations, disregarded the interests of our devolved nations & regions, & failed to negotiate commitments on climate change.

Government Ministers must learn lessons from their Mistakes, even those from their own benches recognise the significant issues with these deals. The former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has told the House that “we gave away far too much for far too little” and whilst the Current PM has conceded that the deals are “one-sided”.

·       https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1638851122390597634

Support for Cooperative and Mutuals 

This week I introduced a Bill to the House of Common which would be a huge step towards helping to secure and double the size of the Cooperative and Mutual Sector in the UK.

My Bill will, through the introduction of permanent mutual shares help to provide finance to tackle environmental, economic and social challenges.

If we want a new wave of sustainable investment & new projects for social value in renewables, social care or affordable housing, then permanent mutual shares, are essential. This proposal is a sensible, pro-business measure, which would be good for the economy .

Further the measures in my Bill would help secure the mutual future of the John Lewis Partnership and by providing them with an avenue to rasie much-needed capital without altering their governance, whilst still being owned and  answerable to their customer members here in the UK.

·       https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1641448688030732291

Attack on the Indian High-Commission 

I raised the vandalism and attacks on staff at the Indian High Commission and sought assurances from the Home Office, in the House and via correspondence, that they would work with the Met Police and will ensure that there isn’t a repeat. there should be no place in our country for such behaviour, and that the Indian high commissioner and his staff should be able to go about their diplomatic duties without fear of such events happening.

·       https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1638889641616048131

·       https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1638622820874723355

HARROW LITTER PICKERS TAKE ON WEALDSTONE

Over the past two weeks, the indefatigable group of Harrow Litter Pickers have set upon clearing up every road in south Wealdstone. During the full 16 days of the ‘British Spring Clean’, this group has contributed 205 volunteer hours, collecting over 372 bags of rubbish and 150 unbaggables.

A huge thank you to all the Harrow Litter Pickers on a truly phenomenal effort. This is a group that is comprised of many backgrounds, from the corners of South Harrow, to Pinner, to Stanmore and even Ealing – together they are united in making Harrow a much nicer place to live. You can get involved with the Harrow Litter Pickers and join the group’s Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3756420717703707

After 16 days, Casey Dalton and Keith Hewant have written a report to summarise and breakdown the group’s experiences cleaning litter in South Wealdstone. The lessons and future considerations from the report can be found below. There is certainly a lot for council officers, councillors and local residents alike to learn from.

“This has been the first event conducted by the Harrow Litter Pickers volunteer group to concentrate on a specific area for a prolonged period, and we were pleased to see such positive results.  In removing a significant amount of historical rubbish from the Ward, we were also delighted to have such strong support from Council clearance teams, who provided a constant presence and acted proactively in removing the collected rubbish – often loading bags on board Council lorries virtually as soon as bags were filled.  It has been extremely helpful to work in such close co-operation with Council clearance teams to ensure collections were quickly removed, minimising any potential disruption or health hazard, and we would like to convey our sincere thanks to those teams and managers involved.

We also wish to thank the individual street cleaners who combat the daily amounts of litter deposited on the streets, and it was very noticeable which streets had been recently cleaned.  We noted too that much of the rubbish we collected had been deposited in areas which were (purposely) out of immediate sight or thrown into inaccessible areas such as thick (thorny) bushes, where it might be extremely difficult to remove by a single worker.  Working in small teams proved a positive advantage during this event, with it often being necessary to work from different areas in order to reach some items.

We consider close co-operation between volunteers and Council teams is essential to improving the local environment and helping restore a sense of pride in the Borough.  We therefore invite Harrow Council to consider how the Harrow Litter Pickers volunteer group might assist and work more directly with appropriate key Council Managers in order to achieve this, in particular through improved liaison with Street Cleaning and Enforcement Managers.”

HARROW COUNCIL

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE OUR SOCIAL CARE WORKERS 

At the Harrow Full Council Meeting on Thursday 23rd February, Conservative Councillors running the Council voted through ‘dangerous’ budget cuts to social care in our community whilst at the same time increasing Council Tax by 12% despite three quarters of residents (75%) opposing the budget proposals during consultation.

Conservative Councillors have announced mass staffing reductions of up to 21 posts to Harrow’s social care and supervisory oversight workers responsible for keeping safe the most vulnerable children at risk in our borough. With rapidly increasing caseloads the Council are cutting in half the budget which is a staffing reduction of £1.5m to redesign the support on offer to local families potentially leaving protection at a ‘dangerous risk rating’.

Adult Social Care and Mental Health Services have not avoided the Conservative budget cuts where the Council are cutting £4.5m from vital services over three years – Services cut back or closed include;

·       Domiciliary and dementia care

·       Care packages and increased client contributions

·       Safeguarding teams.

·       Local neighbourhood resource centres

·       The new Bentley and Wiseworks day care centres

Very little information has been made public with no mention of how residents will be impacted. This mass staffing cut is likely to see a further 24 local adult social care and supervisory oversight workers lose their jobs. This is a kick in the stomach to hard working staff at the Council. This will make access to Council support even harder.

The Harrow Conservative Councillors have also decided to invest £700k in more PR, Spin Doctors and political messaging at the Council over the next 3 years whilst at the same time cutting huge numbers of local social care workers demonstrates they have the wrong priorities at the wrong time.

The Harrow Labour Party is joining up with local residents and concerned community groups to petition against these dangerous proposals and call for them to be reversed.

Please sign the petition. The more signatories, the more our voice will be heard.

The Leader of the Labour Group, Councillor David Perry said:

“I am deeply concerned that these savage cuts by the local Conservatives to vital support for our most at risk vulnerable adults and children in Harrow will badly impact service users and their families. Having reviewed the Council budget documentation, I fear local services are going to be left in a dangerous position as the mitigations identified in the savings proposals are weak in comparison to the significant risks identified. This must be stopped”.

SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE OUR SOCIAL CARE WORKERS HERE

Bin collections will be slightly different during the Easter period. This may mean leaving bins out on both days until collected:

• Monday 3 April: Normal collections
• Tuesday 4 April: Normal collections
• Wednesday 5 April: Normal collections
• Thursday 6 April : Normal collections
• Friday 7 April : Bank holiday, no collections taking place. Collections instead take place Saturday 8 April
  • Monday 10 April : Bank holiday, no collections taking place. Leave bins out on Tuesday
  • Tuesday 11 April: Leave bins out Tuesday and Wednesday
  • Wednesday 12 April: Leave bins out Wednesday and Thursday
  • Thursday 13 April: Leave bins out Thursday and Friday
  • Friday 14 April: Leave bins out Friday and Saturday

MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIP FOR HARROW

The excellent Young Harrow Foundation has created a suite of FREE new mental health services and resources for young people aged 5-25. The services are designed to help empower young people to take control of their emotional health, before the crisis point. School based services for teachers and Community-based services open for referrals from parents, schools, GPs, and other professionals working with young people. 

Visit the suite here: https://youngharrowfoundation.org/HarrowMHP

London’s Community Kitchen:

London's Community Kitchen (based at The Bridge, next to Harrow Leisure Centre) run a Free Surplus Food Market open to everyone every Friday from 3-5PM. At the height of the pandemic, this operation served over 10,000 people across Harrow and London. Please consider donating or getting involved in any way that you can with this incredible Harrow-wide response to the cost of living crisis:  https://www.londonscommunitykitchen.com/home-1

If you’re ever in need of their support, the Community Kitchen want to help - they won’t ask you for any details, or anything in return, just turn up and they will provide you with food.