I am pleased to share with residents that September '22 figures show that the number of people in Hornchurch & Upminster claiming unemployment-related benefits has fallen by 865 over the last year. This is thanks in part to the award-winning team at our local Jobcentre in Romford, with whom I put on a Job Fair at Queen's Theatre at the end of the summer. I updated Vision readers on that event in my last column, but I am pleased to say that over sixty people in the constituency have now secured either jobs or training places with local employers.
In the past few weeks, I have met the Chief Executives of Queen's Hospital and the London Ambulance Service to discuss health cases constituents have raised and to understand how our local NHS is preparing for winter. 700 new permanent staff have been recruited to our local health trust in the last two months, changes are being made to improve Queen's A&E and a new Physician Response Unit (PRU) is being rolled out to Havering. A PRU brings the Emergency Department to the patient by having a rapid response car, senior emergency medicine doctor and ambulance clinician attend emergency calls, helping people stay at home.
The 1970s Gallows Corner flyover has been listed in the government's Growth Plan to get accelerated improvement works, and TfL have begun a survey of the site. I have been campaigning for the flyover to be upgraded for several years, working with other local politicians. There will be a single lane closure overnight for survey works, which are due to be completed in early November. We have also had it confirmed that the Junction 28 M25 works - providing a new slip road from the A12 - have been expedited and residents may have noticed that construction workers are now already on site to get the project moving and provide us better road connections.
Last month, my team and I visited RG Care’s Lilliputs home on Wingletye Lane to meet manager, Vicki, and her team. The site contains several homes that offer supported living facilities to adults with learning disabilities. Vicki and her team are working hard to transform the Lilliputs site and the quality of care that is offered residents, and it was great to meet the young adults who live there as well as their carers.
We also visited the Fatling pub in Hornchurch to meet landlady, Sandy, where we discussed local issues such as the safety of the night time economy and the impact of government measures to tackle energy costs, freeze alcohol duty and extend draught relief to help pubs deal with economic pressures.
Residents may recall my campaign to keep the Emerson Park in the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency in the face of a plan to move it into the Romford seat at the next election. I can update constituents that the Boundary Commission will be publishing their revised proposals on 8 November.
Our campaign against this proposal has been a strong one and, with the help of 933 petitioners and 671 direct submissions from constituents, I have twice opposed these proposals at public consultations. During a public hearing in March I spoke in opposition to the proposals, drawing upon the comments I had received from constituents and my own remarks were reinforced by a large number of local residents, including Councillors, who also spoke against the plan.
Once their revised plan is published, it will be subject to a final round of public consultation which is currently scheduled to close on Monday 5 December. I do hope that the Commission will agree that Emerson Park’s removal from the Hornchurch & Upminster seat would severely disrupt community ties. I would encourage you to check the Boundary Commission’s website, using the below link, on the week commencing 7 November to ensure that you do not miss any announcements on this topic.
https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/
