Welcome to the July edition of my newsletter


** WELCOME TO MY JULY NEWSLETTER
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Dear ,

Welcome back to my newsletter, I hope you have all been keeping well and safe in the heat.

This Friday I will be hosting the first of my themed Coffee Afternoons. On 7th July at 2:30-4pm, I have invited Chief Inspector Mahmood to come to the Barking Leaning Centre Conference Hall where we will be discussing policing, crime, and community safety in the Borough. All residents are welcome if you have any concerns.

In the meantime, please read on to see what I have been focusing on this month in Barking and Parliament:
In the local area I have been working on:
Street Meetings

I have been holding my regular Street Meetings around the Borough this month:
* At St. Anns in Gascoigne we talked about the current state of the outside spaces in two of the blocks. In 184-198 St. Anns, the Council said they would look at clearing the overgrown back gardens as long as residents took good care of them afterwards. And in 116-121 it was agreed that the derelict land on the corner of Ketch Street would be put to better use, taking residents opinions on board. This will help to prevent any more fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour in that space.

* At William Street Quarter I had a follow-up meeting for issues with Reside's management of the block. The Managing Director of Reside and the police were there and helped to come up with some answers to the anti-social behaviour and rough sleepers problem the area has been facing. I will be hosting another meeting to make sure these work. And if you still have any separate outstanding repair issues, please do write to me.

* And in Parsloes Park we met to talk about the mounds which have been put up in front of resident's houses. Council officers and the police took away the concerns raised and will be looking into crime prevention solutions, as well as the possibility of shifting the mounds further into the park. I will again be holding another meeting to make sure residents are happy with these actions.

You can read full writebacks from these meetings on my website ([link removed]) . If you have a local issue you would like to hold a meeting about, please do get in touch with my office on the details at the bottom of this email.
Beckton Sewage Treatment Works Visit
This month I was invited to visit Beckton Sewage Treatment Works which serves our community. I was able to see the massive infrastructure they have in place, and talked about how they can use this to convert waste product into green gas to sell back to the grid. We know how important it is to be aware of our carbon footprint so both Thames Water and the Government need to find the resources to retrofit the site and contribute positively to our climate challenge.

Barking Train Station

I know how important accessibility is in the Borough, but current plans for Barking Station's redevelopment will leave it with only one lift. This is insufficient and totally unacceptable. What happens if this lift breaks down? Or during rush hour?

So this month I had a further meeting with the c2c Property Director to see if we could come up with some solutions together. I have written to the Rail Minister, Mayor's Office, and TfL to see if we can get the funding and physical space to get more lifts put in. I will keep you all updated as I continue to work on this.

And in Westminster:
Economic Crime Bill
Economic crime and fraud are huge issues which continues to affect local people in Barking and Dagenham and right across the country. I know that many of you have been the victims of fraud. I have acted on an outrageous number of cases over the years after residents got in touch with me.

That is why I have continued to work on toughening up the Economic Crime Bill. Last month we saw some real progress, with a number of government concessions. We also won key votes including on increased transparency to property ownership and better accountability for companies that facilitate fraud. I will continue to fight on this until we are all better protected from the scourge of dirty money.
Privileges Committee Vote
Earlier last month I spoke in the chamber on the debate on the Privileges Committee report which found that Boris Johnson had deliberately misled the House of Commons.

I spoke and voted in favour of the report. Everything we do in Westminster and our constituencies as your elected representatives can only succeed if we have trust from the communities we serve. We earn that trust by maintaining honesty and integrity which Boris Johnson failed to do. And the fact some MPs criticised those on the Committee trying to uphold that honesty and integrity is utterly shameful.

It seemed clear to me that a vote for the report was a vote for our democracy. You can see my speech here ([link removed]) .
Holocaust Memorial Bill
I also spoke last month in the Holocaust Memorial Bill debate. It is far too easy for history to be forgotten. Last year, the UK saw a record high level of anti-Jewish hate. This is appalling. In total, almost a quarter of religious hate crimes were antisemitic.

So I fully support putting up a memorial so that we never forget all those murdered in the Holocaust. I spoke in the chamber on how important it is we now move on from the argument around the location of this memorial. The current location puts it in the heart of London where the most people can see it and access it. This is exactly what we need if we are to tackle the rise in antisemitism.

You can see my intervention here. ([link removed])
Many of these issues are ongoing and I will make sure to keep you informed of any developments as regularly as possible.

I am using Facebook, Twitter, and my website to keep constituents up to date with all my work. Please follow me using the buttons below. If you have something you need help with or a concern you wish to raise, then please do get in touch with me.

If you have not already done so, please consider filling in my Healthcare Survey ([link removed]) to help in the work I am doing in the Borough.

With all best wishes,
Margaret

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