Here is my latest update from Harrow and
Westminster ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏


Dear John,

 

I hope you have had a good start to your October. As we embrace the
longer autumn nights, I’m looking forward to engaging with
communities during this festive season, I know many are currently
celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Navratri, with Diwali just around the
corner at the end of the month.

 

My update below will cover some of the work I am doing locally in
Harrow, on shoplifting in Wealdstone and South Harrow town centres and
other campaigns, as well as touching on some of the work I have been
doing nationally in my new role as a Minister covering Small Business,
Services and Exports.

 

Following the Electoral Commission’s changes to constituency
boundaries, I have been pleased to welcome Wealdstone residents to the
constituency, while also sadly bidding farewell to long-term
neighbours who have joined the Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
constituency. If you are not sure if I am still your MP, you can check
here

 

Whether you voted for me or not in July, I want you to know that I
will work tirelessly every day on your behalf. Fourteen years of
Conservative Government have taken a toll on our NHS, schools and
economy. As we move forward, we have a great deal of work ahead to
rebuild our nation.

 

Harrow is home to extraordinary people, and I am confident that our
best days are yet to come. Together, we can continue to enhance our
community and make it an even better place to live.

 

 

As always, through out the month, you can find regular updates from me
on FACEBOOK [[link removed]], TWITTER
[[link removed]] and INSTAGRAM
[[link removed]], OR IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE
YOU WOULD LIKE TO RAISE WITH ME, CONTACT ME ON
[email protected] OR 02072194243.

 

ACROSS HARROW

TOWN CENTRE POLICING

Last month, I attended a Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Walk
and Talk with members of the Greenhill Safer Neighbourhood Team.

 

I heard about their work to make the streets around Harrow-on-the-Hill
safer for everyone, particularly woman and girls.

 

I am delighted that the team has increased and now includes a
Sergeant, four Police Constables & three Police Community Support
Officers.

 

It was good to talk through the main areas of concern, including:
shoplifting, theft (particularly the snatching of mobile phones) &
anti-social behaviour.

 

Across the country, levels of violence and abuse towards retail
workers are unacceptably high, with a shoplifting epidemic plaguing
high streets. I welcome that the Government will bring in a new
offence of assaulting a retail worker and end the effective immunity
for shoplifting of goods below £200.

 

The Government will also put more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back
on the beat and introduce tougher powers to prevent repeat offending.

 

Here in Harrow, our local police do a great job but they need more
support, that’s why I will continue to campaign for a dedicated
police team for the town centre. You can support the campaign here:
[link removed]

NEW 32-BED UNIT AT NORTHWICK PARK:

After raising the issue in Parliament and petitioning hundreds of
local residents and
[[link removed]]
NHS workers,
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I was delighted to welcome the opening of a new 32-bed unit,

strategically built on top of the existing A&E department.

 

I am delighted to hear that our campaign for more investment at
Northwick Park Hospital has had a success. This new 32 bed unit is
already starting to make a difference.

 

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.

 

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 recent data, the intensive therapy unit (ITU) had
regularly averaged as high as 99% of its bed occupancy.

 

The new unit offers a consultant-led service seven days a week,
supported by occupational health, physiotherapy, and pharmacy teams.

SHOPLIFTING IN WEALDSTONE AND SOUTH HARROW

 

Recent data from the Met Police is showing a concerning rise in
shoplifting in South Harrow and Wealdstone town centres this year.
However, after speaking with local police and councillors, it's clear
that these figures appear to present only a fraction of the
shoplifting incidents taking place.

 

Underreporting of shoplifting is taking a toll on our local traders
and damaging the vibrancy of our high streets. I’ve written to the
regional managers of Aldi, Asda, Iceland, Wenzel's, and Poundland for
a meeting to discuss proactive measures we can take together to
improve reporting and tackle this issue head-on.

 

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS & TRADE

 

I'm delighted that the Prime Minister asked me to join the Department
of Business & Trade as Minister for Small Businesses, Services and
Exports.

 

Thank you for all the many messages and congratulations – it is
greatly appreciated.

 

The work has already started, and I am looking forward to working to
deliver for British businesses, workers and consumers.

 

Small businesses are the beating heart of our high streets, our
communities, and are essential to our economic success.

 

This new Government is committed to improving the business environment
for small businesses, by implementing Labour’s plan for small
business including tackling late payments; improving access to
finance; and rolling out banking hubs, to guarantee face-to-face
banking in every community boosting local high streets.

 

Listening to the needs of business is vital, which is why I have been
visiting small businesses across the country and talking about how we
can breathe new life into our high streets. I also attended a series
of events at the Labour Party Conference where I met with business and
industry leaders to discuss the barriers faced by their businesses and
our plans to drive through progress. One key issue is reforming the
current unfair business rates system to level the playing field
between the high streets and online giants.

 

Last month, we announced a three-pronged plan to tackle bad payment
practices by bigger firms towards their smaller suppliers.

 

I was pleased to join Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds
to launch the crackdown at a Federation for Small Businesses event. We
know this is an issue that impacts many small businesses in Harrow and
across the country.

 

The plan includes:

 

✅ New legislation on audit and audit committees of large companies

 

✅ Payment practices to be published in big businesses' annual
reports under strengthened legislation.

 

✅Replacing the Prompt Payment Code with a more rigorous Fair Payment
Code.

 

PARLIAMENT:

SCHOOLS UPDATE:

 

After a few months, it was a pleasure to meet Headteachers in my
constituency again.

 

They are brilliant and dedicated champions of Harrow’s future. We
discussed the unfairness of outer London teacher pay compared to inner
London, the SEN crisis, the need to invest in school buildings,
parking problems and much more.

 

This month, the Government has announced that single-word Ofsted
judgments for state schools would be scrapped with immediate effect.
They will be replaced with report cards aimed at improving standards
and helping parents to better understand schools’ strengths and
weaknesses.

 

I am committed to improving our school inspection regime. As a former
teacher and as a parent, I have long held the view that the system in
place under the previous Government was broken. Our children need an
accountability system that is fit for purpose.

 

I am also pleased by the announcement that school teachers and leaders
will receive a fully funded 5.5% pay uplift from September 2024,
helping to retain more teachers.

 

I welcome the Government’s pledge to break down barriers to
opportunity by recruiting 6,500 new teachers across the country in key
subjects, paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools. I also
look forward to seeing the benefits of greater access to arts and
music, as well as protecting time for physical education.

 

GB ENERGY

 

I am committed to making Britain a clean energy superpower and deliver
clean, homegrown electricity by 2030. I was therefore pleased to
support a Bill in Parliament that will deliver the first new national,
publicly owned energy generation company in our country for more than
75 years.

 

The Great British Energy Bill will create a new company, Great British
Energy, owned by and for British people, helping to make our country
energy independent, protecting us from volatile fossil fuel markets
and ensuring British taxpayers, bill payers and communities reap the
benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy. In this way, it will
help us take back control of the country’s energy, achieve energy
independence, create new jobs, save money for households and tackle
climate change.

 

 

GRENFELL TOWER INQUIRY

 

On 4 September, the final report of the Grenfell Tower inquiry was
published. The inquiry found that the 72 deaths that occurred were all
avoidable, and that those who lived in the tower were badly failed
over several years by those who were responsible for ensuring the
safety of the building and its occupants.

 

It is crucial that we demand responsibility for building safety both
from Government and from across the industry. Too many buildings still
have unsafe cladding, and the pace of remediation has been too slow.
We need more action from manufacturers, freeholders, developers and
others. I therefore welcome that the new Government has made
increasing the pace of remediation a priority, with plans to bring
forward a Remediation Acceleration Plan this autumn.

 

I also welcome the Government’s commitment to reforming the
construction products industry that made the fatal cladding. I look
forward to its forthcoming proposals to improve the fire safety and
evacuation of disabled/vulnerable residents in high-rise and
higher-risk residential buildings in England. Furthermore, I welcome
the progress it has made on delivering evacuation alert systems for
new buildings to reduce the likelihood and impact of future fires.

 

I am committed to ensuring that the Grenfell inquiry’s findings are
a catalyst for change, and that we deliver accountability and justice
for the victims of Grenfell.

 

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

 

The financial inheritance left behind by the previous Government is
unforgiveable. With taxes at a seventy year high and soaring debt, it
was already clear that things were bad. However, as the new Chancellor
has discovered, the situation is even worse than previously thought.

 

A Treasury spending audit has revealed £22 billion of unfunded
pledges inherited from the last Government, including the Rwanda
scheme, the Advanced British Standard in education and the New
Hospital Programme. The previous Government also failed to increase
departmental budgets to cover public sector pay settlements, which
were £11-12 billion higher than accounted for at the last spending
review.

 

I welcome that having exposed the scale and seriousness of what has
been uncovered, the Chancellor set out the immediate action she was
taking to deal with this inheritance and the Government’s
longer-term plans to fix the foundations of our economy.

 

She announced that she was tackling the last Government’s overspend
through £5.5 billion of savings this year and £8.1 billion next
year. This involved extremely difficult decisions, including on winter
fuel payments.

 

However, I am pleased that the Government have promised to protect the
pension triple lock, putting more money in pensioners’ pockets each
and every year.

 

The Chancellor announced that she will deliver a Budget on 30 October
2024. I know this will involve further difficult decisions, but it is
crucial to restore economic stability and fix the foundations of our
economy.

 

I welcome that the Chancellor has stuck to the pledge on which I was
elected, not to increase taxes on working people, with no increases in
income tax, National Insurance or VAT.

 

LOCAL CAMPAIGNS

 

SAVE FREE EVENING AND WEEKEND PARKING

SAVE OUR EVENING 🅿️ARKING AND HARROW’S EVENING ECONOMY - With
little consultation, local businesses, Trustees and residents are
being impacted by the loss of free evening parking in Harrow and
Wealdstone Town Centres.

 

In the same way as North Harrow car park, this move by
Conservative-run Harrow Council is having an impact on staff and
footfall for businesses like Trinity Bar, Taste Of Lahore,
McDonald’s and more.

 

✍️ Over 2200 people have signed the Harrow Labour petition so far
- be sure to sign and share this petition to ensure it is debated at
Harrow Council here
[[link removed]].

At the same time, free Saturday parking (which has been in place for
several years) was abruptly removed from NORTH HARROW last month,
IMPACTING TRADERS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS ALIKE.

 

It was good to meet with a few of the local businesses, Trustees and
residents impacted by this earlier this month. ✍️ Over 2200 people
have signed so far - be sure to sign and share this petition to ensure
it is debated at Harrow Council. chng.it/YBkb8fyCjN
[[link removed]]

SOUTH HARROW STEP-FREE ACCESS

During the election, I met with Majib, a local resident in South
Harrow who has been struggling for many years with the steps at South
Harrow station. Like many, this issue has been getting worse for him
with each year...

 

Majib has admired and supported our campaigns to secure step-free
access at Sudbury Hill, Harrow on the Hill and (soon) Northolt
stations but he expressed to me that South Harrow is long overdue. It
is worth recognising that step free access at these stations has taken
many years of campaigning alongside Assembly Members, local disability
rights groups, residents and more.

 

Last month, I was privileged to join Majib alongside local councillors
and a group of work experience students to begin petitioning residents
for step-free access. Please support our campaign and do sign & share
our petition calling for step-free access at South Harrow station:
https://
www.gareththomas.org.uk/petition-step-free-access-for-south-harrow-station/
[[link removed]]

 

GREENER NEWS

Welcome news from Ofwat last month, as water companies face £168m in
penalties for sewage dumping in our rivers and seas.  I know how
strongly people across Harrow feel about the scourge of sewage in
local rivers and brooks.  As promised, the Labour Government has
begun cleaning up our waterways.

💧 Last month, I reconvened the Environment Agency, Thames Water,
Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, Harrow Council and local residents
to discuss the issue of sewage in the Roxbourne brook.

 

Following our last meeting, we have seen some progress on missed
connections with Thames having surveyed 500 properties in the
catchment. 18 properties have been found to have issues with discharge
into rivers and 7 have been through enforcement with Harrow Council,
while 2 remain outstanding.

90% of blockages are currently caused by people misusing drains.
Agencies have identified a couple of areas and have now started work
with businesses and home owners to educate, with more visits and
educational work to be done.

There still remains unacceptable levels of sewage in the river and
soon, monitoring equipment for the Environmental Agency (now
installed) will be going live soon. Every 15 minutes, water quality
updates are going to be sent through, with triggers that should inform
the Environment Agency when there is an issue to raise with Thames
Water.

 

So far, testing has mostly focused on presence of ammonia/sewage but
other substances are being tested for too. In addition, the
Environment Agency also confirmed that any water samples collected by
Harrow Nature Conservation Forum will be tested. I will be convening
the group again later this year to check progress.

 

If you have been impacted by pollution at the Roxbourne Brook - please
do get in touch on [email protected] and I will be sure
to respond to your concerns and keep you updated on future meetings.

 

Promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party, Labour Central
Kings Manor, Newcastle, NE1 6PA, United Kingdom

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Promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party, Labour Central Kings Manor, Newcastle, NE1 6PA, United Kingdom
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