|
Dear John,
I hope you have managed a restful summer so far and that you have some good plans for the remaining weeks. In Westminster, it felt like the Parliamentary term came to a close fairly early, with little of the Government’s agenda being taken up for debate in the House of Commons. Despite some rainy weeks of recent, I’m still enjoying summer in Harrow and its looking, fingers crossed, like this sunny spell might last for a short while longer. I’ve enjoyed joining many of the big summer fetes across town, including a return to my old primary school, Pinner Park. The weeks ahead will include more great summer activities; arts and crafts, international food, performances and much more across the constituency. See below for some recommended events for the family coming up across Harrow West –
This morning, alongside many Harrow residents and millions across the world, I will be cheering on the Lionesses as they make history as the first ever national senior England side to reach a major tournament final on foreign soil. C’mon England - here’s wishing our girls the very best! 🏴⚽ 🏴⚽ 🏴⚽ 🏴⚽ 🏴
Below is my newsletter covering some of my work in Parliament and locally in Harrow too – as always, through out the month, you can find regular updates from me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
|
|
|
|
TOURS, SURGERIES AND LITTER-PICKS
A pleasure to join the indefatigable Harrow Litter Pickers again last month for a huge collection across West Harrow and South Harrow roads. This particular litter-pick takes place every Wednesday morning from 9:30-10:30AM, meeting at Shaftesbury Circle McDonaldsand you might even get a free McDonald’s breakfast out of it! If you have a suggestion of where you would like me to organise/host a surgery or park clean-up, do please drop me a line.
My next walk-in surgery will take place at Trinity Church on Hindes Rd on Monday, 25th September from 10:30AM-12:30PM, no appointment needed. I also continue to run my regular appointment-based advice surgery, taking on casework at my constituency office at 132-134 Blenheim Road, appointments can be made by calling my parliamentary office on 020 7219 4243.
It has been a privilege to show a number of families around Parliament over the past few months – as always, great questions about political decisions in Westminster and the impact they have locally on people in Harrow. My Parliament Tour will return in September, if you would like to join a tour, please make a booking using one of the links below. This is on a first come first serve basis, so please book soon to ensure you do not miss out. If you are not able to join a September tour, please do fill out a form on my website and my staff will be sure to keep you in the loop with future dates, including during October Half Term: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/parliamentary-tours/
UPCOMING TOURS (reserve a place via the links below) Tues 12th September:
10-11:30am - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/parliament-tour-with-gareth-thomas-mp-tickets-690101992637?aff=oddtdtcreator
5:30-7pm - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/parliament-tour-with-gareth-thomas-mp-tickets-689447484987
Tues 19th September:
10-11:30am
|
|
|
|
CAMPAIGN SUCCESS: A NEW 32-BED WARD FOR NORTHWICK PARK HOSPITAL
I am delighted to hear that our campaign for more investment at Northwick Park Hospital has had a success! This new 32 bed ward will make a difference, but more investment is still essential if we’re to get our local healthcare services back to where they should be.
Thank you to every resident and NHS worker that has signed our petition and supported our campaign. More importantly, thank you to the incredible staff at Northwick Park past and present, who have been placed under such immense pressure pre, post and especially during the pandemic.
After raising the issue in Parliament and petitioning hundreds of local residents and NHS workers, Gareth Thomas MP has welcomed the announcement that Northwick Park Hospital will get a new ward providing 23 new beds as a result of a Government investment of £22.6 million.
This is part of a £250 million investment that will deliver 900 new hospital beds across England to help treat patients more quickly this winter. This funding has been awarded to NHS trusts to relieve pressures and help cut waiting times. 30 NHS organisations across England will benefit from the investment to help ease pressure in urgent and emergency care services. This includes developing or expanding five urgent treatment centres and four same-day emergency care services which will help patients to be seen more quickly, without being admitted to hospital. The NHS expects that the majority of schemes will be completed by January to help deal with winter pressures.
The A&E department in Harrow is one of London’s busiest and last winter was regularly experiencing a near total take-up of available beds. According to data from London Northwest Healthcare Trust and Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas, the intensive therapy unit (ITU) had regularly averaged as high as 99 per cent of its bed occupancy. |
|
|
|
LABOUR EDUCATION LEAD MEETS WITH HARROW HEADTEACHERS
It was a pleasure to welcome the Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to Harrow last month for a wide-ranging discussion with 24 Harrow headteachers.
In Harrow, we are blessed with remarkable headteachers and teachers, as well as impressive students. It was Thank A Teacher Day recently and I took the opportunity to thank all those teaching the young people of Harrow for their considerable efforts to educate the best of our borough. If I had any doubts about the considerable skill, hard work and professionalism required to be a teacher, trying to teach my own children in Lockdown reminded me yet again why teachers are so fundamental to all our hopes.
But we need a major change in how Whitehall and Westminster regard the teaching profession. Many of our schools are facing both real financial difficulties and significant challenges in recruiting teachers, many of whom are feeling overworked, overstretched and undervalued. The Government continues to miss its own recruitment targets and schools are struggling to retain teachers, with almost a third leaving the profession within five years.
It was therefore really helpful for Bridget, who leads on Labour’s education policy, to come to Harrow and hear from our headteachers about the number of significant concerns they have, including: staffing retention and workloads; but also on school budgets being squeezed; the content in the curriculum; Ofsted; the mental wellbeing of staff and students; as well as the huge need for another SEN school in Harrow.
HARROW SPECIAL SCHOOLS
As many parents will be all too aware, Government Ministers have rejected plans for a new special needs school in Harrow 3 times despite the urgent need in the borough. I recently took the opportunity to ask Ministers in Parliament for a meeting to discuss what progress can be made for a new special needs school and to address the severe funding pressures schools in Harrow are experiencing. I have also written to Harrow Council’s Managing Director. I hope we can make some progress on this vital issue so that parents can be confident the right level of support will be available for their children.
See my exchange in Parliament here: https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1679486959239188480?s=20 |
|
|
|
TOWN CENTRE POLICE TEAM CAMPAIGN
A week ago, another young man tragically lost his life to knife violence in Harrow. I'm grateful to the Tri-borough Commander and local police teams for the reassurance patrols taking place in the Town Centre. I am reassured too that officers believe there to be no wider risk to the community in Harrow. Like many residents in Harrow, I have been very concerned by the rise in violent crime across the borough - an increase of 17% in a matter of years.
Last month, I wrote formally to Sir Mark Rowley, Met Commissioner, to once again call for a Town Centre Police Team in Harrow, consisting of one inspector, three sergeants and 21 police constables, like the ones we have seen in Uxbridge and Wembley.
Hundreds of local residents have now signed my petition calling for a Town Centre Police Team in Harrow - please consider signing and sharing the petition to showcase the scale of support in Harrow: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/town-centre-police-team-campaign/
|
|
|
|
SOUTH HARROW BANK HUB CAMPAIGN
Last month, Barclays left Northolt Road after many years serving the community in South Harrow. This was just a couple of weeks after our last bank, Lloyds TSB closed shop. We have now heard from Barclays that after their closure in a couple of weeks, they will have a presence here (once a week, Thursdays at Pentax House, next to South Harrow station from 9:30AM-2:30PM).
What I would like from both banks though, as well as from Santander and Nationwide which have also left over the past decade - is their support for my application for a bank hub in South Harrow. We know that these banks have identified many hundreds of regular customers - many elderly or disabled bank users that regularly use their branches. A bank hub at least once a week will provide an opportunity to meet with their bank once a week.
YOU CAN SUPPORT MY CAMPAIGN HERE:https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/my_campaigns/2023/06/27/south-harrow-bank-hub-campaign/
|
|
|
|
MORTGAGE BOMBSHELL THREATENS THE DREAMS OF HARROW FAMILIES
The 14th consecutive rise in interest rates, to a 15-year high will be profoundly worrying for many people, particularly the many homeowners with a mortgage, but also those privately renting who are worried that their landlord might now put up their rents at a time when it is very difficult to find a genuinely affordable home to rent in Harrow.
Below is some guidance from MoneySavingExpert which can be found in detail here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/08/base-rate-bank-of-england-august/
Most mortgage holders in the UK are on fixed-rate mortgages – so won't see any immediate changes. Here are the key points:
Just last month, I spoke in the House of Commons about the estimated 18,000 households in Harrow facing an average increase in mortgage payments of between £450 and £580 a month.
Those figures are devastating for family finances. Ever more mortgage deals have been withdrawn by the banks; Moneyfacts data suggests that the typical rate on a two-year fixed rate loan have increased to almost 6%, double the rate of a year ago. The independent Resolution Foundation estimates that by 2026 some 6.5 million households across the country will have been affected by the rise in mortgage rates, caused in part by the Liz Truss mini-Budget.
I strongly support Labour’s plans to tackle this issue. Lenders should be required to play their part and while many banks and building societies are doing the right thing, the voluntary set of measures proposed by the Chancellor is just not good enough. The Government’s plan only covers 85% of the mortgage market, leaving more than one million families missing out. The Chancellor’s plan is a watered-down package that does not meet the task of dealing with the mortgage crisis. Homeowners in Harrow should not be suffering the ever-increasing burden of higher mortgage costs. I hope Ministers will do more to help and I will keep pushing for them to back Labour’s plan to help Harrow residents. My intervention in the House of Commons and full speech is available here: https://twitter.com/gareththomasmp/status/1674746065784913920?s=48&t=nu6RpXQhTDOtYpYZQdu0cg and https://parliamentlive.tv/Download/Index/85c3e2f7-a67b-42ac-8745-f3d9b68b2d4c
|
|
|
|
MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AND SUPPORT
More than a million people across England are waiting for mental health treatment. The Government said it is delivering record levels of investment. But too many are unable to access support early, resulting in more people presenting to A&E after their mental health has reached crisis point. Data from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests finds patients in mental health crisis spent more than 5.4 million hours in A&E last year.
Ministers had promised a 10-year plan for mental health. But this has been abandoned and replaced by a Major Conditions Strategy. I am concerned the record of this Government on mental health is delayed reviews and endless consultations when patients need action now. I believe mental and physical health should be put on an equal footing. I support a long-term, whole-Government plan to improve mental health outcomes, make early intervention a reality, and broaden the range of services to those with severe mental health illnesses. I support a new NHS standard to guarantee NHS mental health treatment within a month, prioritising a truly preventative plan for mental health services and putting patient care first.
In May we celebrated Mental Health Awareness Week – you can watch my discussion around Labour’s mental health policy with Harrow students here: https://fb.watch/l3lYcj1yHo/ |
|
|
|
ANIMAL WELFARE
In June, the Government announced that it was no longer going to pursue the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. Last month, Labour forced a debate in parliament, calling for the return of this important legislation. As many will have seen, a Government Minister, Zac Goldsmith resigned due in large part to the Government’s lack of desire to pursue this policy.
The Bill was originally intended to tackle the importation of cats, dogs and ferrets, the keeping of primates as pets, and the live export of animals for slaughter. It was last debated in November 2021 and had not been returned to Parliament for further scrutiny, despite promises to do so.
The Bill had previously had unanimous support across the House of Commons but, disappointingly, the Government voted down Labour’s attempts to bring back the Bill, giving the green light to puppy smuggling, puppy farming and pet theft. |
|
|
|
Gareth Thomas MP Harrow West |
|
