I hope Recorder readers had a great Christmas and New Year break.

My team and I start the year planning our next Jobs Fair at Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch on Friday 9 February. More details will be published soon on my website, and we hope it is as successful as our last event in Harold Hill, which saw 27 local residents secure job offers and a further 56 get training.

On crime, we look forward to the results of the Met’s Clear, Hold, Build operation in Harold Hill. I attended its launch just before Christmas as the operation is part of a Home Office crack down on shop lifting and antisocial behaviour and organised criminality. A week or two before, I had brought Home Secretary, James Cleverly, to Upminster where Havering residents got to ask him questions about crime, immigration and security.

This week I met Local Government Minister, Simon Hoare, in parliament to discuss Havering Council’s concerns about how to manage their budget. I was glad to receive a letter from Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, to say that Havering will get at least £10.4m in new funding over ten years to fill pot holes and resurface roads after I and fellow London Conservative MPs persuaded him to give the cash directly to boroughs rather than Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. So constituents see rapid improvements to the road network, Havering is expected to receive £333,000 before April and the same again in the next financial year. Please let me know if you think there are any particular roads in my constituency that need resurfacing and I can share with the council.

I enjoyed hosting local business group, Hornchurch Plus, in parliament before Christmas and followed up with a business drop-in in Hornchurch Library for them and the Havering Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI). Finally, I got the chance to present resident, Greg Mangham, with a Point of Light Award from the Prime Minister for his incredible work setting up charity, Only a Pavement Away. Greg’s charity places homeless people and veterans into jobs in the hospitality industry and has been a huge success, changing the lives of hundreds of people. 

Initiatives like Greg’s, alongside the hard work of our local JobCentre team and the efforts my team put into our Job & Apprenticeship Fairs are designed to give residents more options, confidence and independence through the dignity of work. Here is to 2024 being a year of hope and opportunity.