Dear John,

I hope you have started your October off well – the parliamentary term has resumed albeit slowly in Westminster, as Political parties lay out their visions at our party conferences. As many know, here in Harrow I always aim to build campaigns around the issues that local workers, families, charities and businesses raise with me. Just before the end of summer recess, I was delighted to see that our campaign for more investment at Northwick Park Hospital had met some success. This would not have been possible without the support of thousands of Harrow residents and healthcare workers supporting the campaign. A new 32 bed ward will make a difference for patients, but more investment is still essential if we’re to get our local healthcare services back to where they should be.

Over the past couple of months, working through several hundred cases from Harrow residents, a few outstanding issues have been at the forefront of my local campaigns. For example, a consistently high number of pupils with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) cannot have their needs met in Harrow schools and are subsequently educated in independent schools at a high cost to Harrow Council. This is at the same time our existing special needs schools are underfunded and mainstream schools need more funding for special education needs teaching in their schools too. You can sign my petition to the Education Secretary here: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/my_campaigns/2023/10/02/more-funding-for-harrow-schools/

Following the success of our long-run campaigns for step-free access at Sudbury Hill and Harrow on the Hill stations, disability campaigners agree step-free access would be a great modernisation for so many passengers at our station in Rayners Lane. More on this in months to come, I am grateful to Transport for London for meeting with Krupesh Hirani AM and I to discuss feasibility studies taking place around step-free access at Rayners Lane.

With the closure of the last two bank branches in South Harrow, my campaign for a South Harrow bank hub has received hundreds of signatures. Following the closure of Barclays, the branch committed to me that they will continue to have a presence at Pentax House, Northolt Road, South Harrow, HA2 0DU on Thursdays but I have written to Barclays to ask for their support to serve customers again from a Bank Hub.

Analysis from the House of Commons Library has shown that the number of bank branches in Harrow have halved since 2010 with branches no longer existent across the South Harrow, Northolt, Rayners Lane and Sudbury areas.

You can sign my petition here: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/my_campaigns/2023/06/27/south-harrow-bank-hub-campaign/

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 Harrow Litter Pickers alongside the Friends of Harrow Rec last week for a big collection across Harrow Recreation Ground. This Friends Group host a regular litter-pick as well as many other excellent community events, you can find more here: https://www.harrowrec.org.uk/ as well as by searching them up on Facebook. If you have a suggestion of where you would like me to organise/host a surgery or park clean-up next, do please drop me a line!

My next walk-in surgery will take place at South Harrow Baptist Church on Northolt Road on Monday, 23^rd October from 9:15AM - 11:15AM, this is open to all Harrow West residents, 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.

If you would like to join a tour, please fill out the form on my website and my staff will be sure to keep you in the loop with future tour dates, including during October Half Term: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/parliamentary-tours/

CLOSURE OF HARROW CROWN COURT

Whilst schools in the Harrow have thankfully been able to avoid the closures that have occurred elsewhere, Harrow has been affected by the issues surrounding reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) as Harrow Crown Court has been closed since the end of August, when RAAC was found during improvement works.

Of course, safety must be our first priority. Guaranteeing that safety is ultimately the responsibility of Government Ministers, and I am concerned that their approach has left school buildings - and other public buildings such as Harrow Crown Court - in poor conditions.

Despite the risks of RAAC already being known in 2010, the Government cancelled the programme that was in place to help rebuild schools. When in July 2018, a school ceiling in Kent collapsed as RAAC gave way, it took Ministers almost four years to send out a survey about that type of concrete.

I challenged Ministers on this issue in the House of Commons earlier this year, you can see the clip here.  More recently, I asked Ministers for a timescale on when the court will be fully repaired and reopened. The current estimate is 6 – 9 months. Let’s hope it’s no longer. The backlog of criminal cases in London is already incredibly high with many victims of crime waiting years to see justice. I will continue to follow this issue very closely.

SHOW RACISM THE RED CARD

In Parliament this month I was pleased to join with MPs from all political parties alongside cricketing and footballing legends, Monty Panesar and Paul Elliot, and Scotland Rugby Union ace Andy Christie ahead of the 9th annual Wear Red Day on Friday, 20th October.

Every year, we wear red to show our opposition to racism and support for education initiatives aimed at tackling it. Discrimination of any kind, anywhere, is abhorrent and we must collectively work together to end the prevalence of racism in sport on and off the pitch.

WATER CHIEFS CONDEMNED OVER SEWAGE IN THAMES

Many people have been in touch with me about the state of our waterways. We are in a national dirty water emergency with sewage pollution affecting our rivers, lakes and beaches.

The cuts to the Environment Agency’s budget led to drastic cuts in monitoring, enforcement and prosecution and this has given rise to a drastic increase in illegal discharges, damage to nature and tourism and putting people’s health at risk.

I am aware of initial reports from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which indicate its belief that the Government and water companies may have broken the law over sewage in waterways. This is unprecedented, and I want to see action to put an end to this appalling situation, bring water companies in line and clean up our waterways. 

In London, our water bills have risen 11.6% this year and, if media reports are to be believed, Thames Water are hoping for a further 20% rise. I wrote recently to OFWAT to press them on how they intend to ensure Thames is more accountable to its customers in the future. 

In my view, OFWAT has treated Thames Water like a favourite child for too long, allowing excessive borrowing to fund dividends for its owners and shocking levels of pay and bonuses for its most senior staff. I hope to meet with OFWAT shortly to press this issue further.

You can view my letter here or read the coverage in the Evening Standard here.

ROXBOURNE BROOK

For a number of years, residents living along the Roxbourne Brook have been complaining about issues related to sewage, oil and other toxic discharges in the Brook. After our first public meeting, I’m hopeful for a bit of progress to begin untangling ownership of this issue and a plan for some resolution. If you are impacted by the stream in any way - please let me know via [email protected].

I was grateful to the Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, Thames Water, the Environment Agency, Harrow Council officers and local residents for joining my meeting last month and I hope that when we reconvene there will be a plan in place for cleaning the Brook.

LABOUR’S NEW BUSINESS & TRADE TEAM

I was delighted to be reappointed Shadow Minister for Trade in Labour’s new Business & Trade Team. Britain’s trading potential has been held back by this government for too long.

In Parliament this month, I asked Ministers to explain why everyone else is so much better at selling to our nearest neighbours. According to the IMF, UK exports to France (-14%) and Germany (-17%) are down, yet American, Canada and Italy's exports to France and Germany are all up by over 20%.

Instead of putting up trade barriers, pushing away investment and cutting business support, we need a government which backs British exporters. We also need to ensure exporters in every part of the UK benefit from trade deals and push for faster mutual recognition of qualifications, so our services professionals are able to work abroad more easily. You can see my speech in Parliament here.

FIREWORKS REGULATIONS

At this time of year, fireworks is always an issue that fills my postbag. In my view, fireworks displays run by local charities and organisations can provide a safe and organised way for people to enjoy fireworks, while promoting community cohesion and raising funds for local causes. 

However, I believe it is important to look at how we can better protect people, animals and the planet from the misuse of fireworks, and the stress and anxiety it can cause to smaller children, older people and those who suffer from mental health issues, as well as to pets.

Since January 2005, the sale of fireworks to the public has been prohibited, except for from licensed traders. However, fireworks can be sold by unlicensed traders for Chinese New Year, Diwali, Bonfire Night celebrations and new year.  

Under the Fireworks Regulations 2004, it is an offence to use fireworks after 11pm and before 7am without permission, except on permitted fireworks nights, when the times are extended. 

I believe it is clear that the law has not kept pace with developments, and the Government should look at the changing impact of fireworks and whether any changes are needed. Ministers need, for example, to consider the growing calls for fireworks use to be permitted only in public displays or at certain times of year, as well as to look at the current decibel level cap. 

As always, you can email me at [email protected] to let me know what you think.