Westminster Update

The big news from Parliament has been the Spending Review. There was lots in the Chancellor’s statement, with £29 billion per year going to the NHS. Our local hospitals are some of the biggest winners, with £115 million to be spent this year on improving conditions at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals in advance of the planned rebuilding.

Spending on the Police and justice system has also had its first substantial rise in 14 years, and there is £39 Billion over the next 10 years for new social housing.

Free school meals will be available to many more children as part of funding increases for schools, which will include much needed money for maintenance and improvement.

A major part of the announcement was the £725 Billion budget to be spent over the next decade to repair crumbling infrastructure that was starved of investment under the previous government.

This week, a further announcement was made for a new structures fund to repair bridges, tunnels and flyovers across the UK.

Obviously this is of significant interest to residents of west London given the ongoing closure of Hammersmith bridge and the struggle to secure funding for its repair. I have made an urgent enquiry to Ministers at the DfT to learn more about these funds and whether there is the potential to secure funding for Hammersmith bridge and I raised it on Wednesday in the Commons with the Secretary of State for Transport.

Justice Committee

Chairing the Justice Committee is particularly busy at the moment, with a lot of investigations, reports and legislation. Our inquiry into the Criminal Cases Review Commission and its failure to properly address miscarriages of justice attracted a lot of attention and I made a statement about this in Parliament.

This week we questioned the former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke, on his radical proposals for sentencing, which will see a transfer of up to 10,000 people from prison to community punishments, and a whole new regime inside prisons.

The aim is both to deal with the overcrowding crisis left by the Tories and to rehabilitate offenders more effectively and curb the ridiculously high reoffending rates we have in the UK.

On Wednesday I spoke in the Crime and Policing Bill debate on the problems with the criminal justice system and also specifically on the Safer Knives Group proposals for reducing deaths and serious injuries from knife crime.

Palestine

I have been continuing to speak in Parliament on the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the wider Middle East.

Earlier this month the Government imposed sanctions on Israeli Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Both are among the loudest and most extreme voices calling for the annexation of the West Bank.

While it is welcome news that they have been sanctioned, settlement building & forced displacement are accelerating. I raised in parliament that it is time to recognise Palestinian sovereignty – you can see my full comments here.

With other Labour politicians, I published a letter on recognition. The war between Israel and Iran and the increasingly bizarre statements from Trump make the whole Middle East a dangerous place, but is important not to forget the mass killings still going on in Gaza.

Grenfell

On Saturday 14 June, I joined west London residents on the Silent Walk to mark the eighth anniversary of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower that took 72 lives in the most horrific circumstances.

This year’s walk was all the more poignant as it will be the last walk to take place with the tower still standing.

Demolition work begins this autumn, with mixed feelings among residents. There is a fear that with the tower gone, it will be easier for the authorities involved to let the issue fall by the wayside. This is all the more concerning given the slow progress of the inquiry.

The government has said it will implement all the recommendations of the inquiry, which is good news. We will continue to hold them to that.

Shepherds Bush petition

Nearly 2,500 local residents have signed a petition to Hammersmith and Fulham Council calling for more to be done to clean up Uxbridge Road.

Residents are concerned that the street has become neglected, and that this has been coupled with a worrying increase in anti-social behaviour in the area.

I have met with some of the residents leading this campaign and have taken up their concerns with the Council. Residents are calling for the Council to provide a single point of contact for residents to raise concerns and are calling for a meeting of the Council to discuss the petition and hear from residents.

The Council has responded with a number of actions to begin the process of revitalising the street, including a deep clean of the pavements, working with operators to removed unused phone boxes and decluttering street furniture.

Jan Kattein Architects, which has delivered shopfront improvements in Deptford and Leyton, was commissioned by the Council to provide an analysis of the shopfronts on Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road, and their report has provided the Council with a number of options for interventions to improve the look of these streets.

Both the Police and the Council’s Law Enforcement Team are increasing patrols to discourage and deal with crime and anti-social behaviour.

Chiswick Post Office

I have been contacted by a number of concerned residents in Chiswick who were shocked by the closure of Chiswick Post Office last month. This closure happened without warning, leaving people unable to access Post Office services.

I took this up with Post Office Ltd and met with Laura Tarling, their External Affairs Manager, and had a frank discussion about the importance of the post office to the local community and the plans for its reopening.

I have been assured that this is a temporary closure and that Post Office Ltd want to get the post office up and running again as soon as possible.

I also raised the issue in Parliament and I will let residents know once I hear of any further updates.

Local roundup

Jack Tizard school in Shepherds Bush received a surprise guest when the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, visited the school to learn about the work the Council has been doing as part of the Hammersmith and Fulham Community Energy project. Last summer, the school had solar panels fitted to the roof which is already saving them around £2000 a year on energy bills. This work is being supported by the Government’s Community Energy Fund and Great British Energy and there are plans for similar projects on community sites across the Borough.

The Sulgrave Youth Club, which will be celebrating its 100th birthday next year, is launching a time-sensitive fundraising campaign as part of The Big Give’s Small Charities Week.

All donations made between 12pm on 23 June and 12pm on 30 June will be doubled, up to £5, 000, and the funds will contribute to the club’s work for local young people.

As part of their fundraising, the Sulgrave Club is hosting an English Wine Tasting event on the evening of Wednesday 25 June. This will be hosted at the Askew gallery, and tickets can be bought here.

Another charity that is hoping to benefit from the Big Give’s Small Charity Week is the Baron’s Court Project in Hammersmith.

Barons Court Project is a lifeline for people most affected by the cost-of-living crisis. As a trusted one-stop shop, the Day Centre meets guests’ basic needs — food, showers, laundry, and support — while helping them rebuild their lives, improve their mental health, and reduce social isolation. For many, it’s a home for those who do not have one.

Again, any donations made between 23-30 June will be match funded. More information about how to donate can be found here.

At the beginning of June, I met with two local entrepreneurial women, part of the team at Zzjimi. The team have created an innovative website to address two serious challenges facing society: Loneliness and Social Isolation, which are ongoing, growing concerns, affecting individuals of any age or in any situation, and often going unnoticed.

The Zzjimi team set about developing a platform which matches the activities provided by various organisations working to reduce loneliness and curb social isolation, to the specific needs set by the users experiencing them.

The team are now looking for organisations or groups to upload their events, becoming part of a growing network helping to reduce loneliness and isolation. Zzjimi aims to provide a site where anyone can easily find activities, fundraising and volunteering opportunities from charities, community groups, organisations or commercial entities all under one umbrella.

I was delighted to speak at the opening of Culture House, a new Somalian arts and culture centre in Shepherds Bush.

I attended the opening events of the Bedford Park festival, which this year is marking the 150th anniversary of Britain’s first garden suburb, and last week, as the rain held off for the most part, I spent some enjoyable hours at Green Days at Turnham Green.

Recently, I visited the William Hogarth School, to see the brand new play equipment provided by Hounslow Council.

Summer is always busy in the constituency, but do let me know of any other local events.

Finally, let me plug a couple of forthcoming musical events. Fulham Symphony Orchestra will be performing Mahler’s Seventh Symphony and Alma’s Songs Without Words by Roxanna Panufnik on 21 June at 7:30pm. The concert will be held in Smith Square Hall and tickets can be bought here.

The Addison Singer’s Summer Concert is being held on 12 July at 7:30pm with the choir performing a wide variety of choral music encompassing songs, part-songs and madrigals. The concert is at St Michael and All Angels in Chiswick and tickets are available here.

Mayor news

I was delighted to attend Hounslow Council’s Annual General Meeting where Chiswick Councillor, Amy Croft, was confirmed as the new Mayor of Hounslow.

Amy has been a hard-working and energetic local Councillor, and I know she will serve the Borough well as its new Mayor.

At the same meeting there was a very pleasant surprise when Cllr Ranjit Gill, a Conservative Councillor since 2018, crossed the floor and joined the Labour Party group.

He cited “disunity” within the Conservative party, and revealed his move had “been on the cards for sometime”.

I know he will be welcomed by the Labour Councillors and will continue to serve his constituents well.

Meanwhile, Sharon Holder has been elected Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham. A friend for over 30 years, Sharon is Fulham through and through and will be a wonderful servant of the Borough.