In July, Julia Lopez MP wrote to the Mayor of London to highlight concerns at the Met's placement within special measures and to press for further assurances on the future of Hornchurch Police Station. The site was first identified for disposal by the Mayor in 2017 however, following a strong local campaign supported by Julia, Havering Council secured the possibility to purchase the station and lease it back to the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) in order to retain a police presence in the area.

Progress on this work has stalled since the Council secured this option in 2018 so Julia has regularly pressed both Havering Council and MOPAC for updates on the situation and, more recently, queried whether the station may be retained in its current form given the Met currently enjoys its highest event compliment of officers. You can view more information on these representations here.

Julia has now received feedback from the Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime, Sophie Linden, has confirmed that the discussions to progress the sale continue with Havering Council and we have confirmed this separately with senior Council officers. The Deputy Mayor has also confirmed that, following the Government's commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers by 2023, the Metropolitan Police has more officers than it ever has and, locally, the East Area BCU serving Havering has an additional 350 full time officers since 2018. You can view the Deputy Mayor's response in full at the bottom of this webpage.

Julia Lopez MP will continue to liaise closely with local stakeholders in the police, Council and GLA to press for progress on the retention of a police presence in Hornchurch Police Station and an increased police presence across all of Hornchurch & Upminster.