This month, our local schools are welcoming the full return of children from all age groups, and over the summer I joined Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a visit to St Joseph’s Primary and Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ School in Upminster to see the safety measures they have put in place. It was brilliant to showcase to the PM the hard work of the local school community after such a difficult year. I also welcomed the chance to catch up with St Joseph’s head, Mrs Matthews, and meet incoming Sacred Heart head, Mrs Qurrey, following the retirement of Kim O’Neill after two decades’ incredible service.
At last year’s election, I promised to increase per-pupil funding for schools across our constituency, and I talked to the PM about the government’s recent school funding announcements. Core funding for Hornchurch and Upminster’s schools will grow by 4.2% this year, ensuring that every primary receives at least £4,000 per pupil, and every secondary at least £5,150 per pupil. Ten schools across our constituency have also received Condition Improvement Funds (CIF) to support essential building projects, including Sanders in Hornchurch.
I wanted to thank all those residents who supported local restaurants, pubs and cafes last month as part of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. My team had been out in Hornchurch encouraging businesses to sign up to the scheme and surveying them about their experiences during the pandemic. Alongside a cut in VAT for hospitality businesses to 5 per cent, local restauranteurs told us that Eat Out proved a vital lifeline during this extraordinarily difficult period.
As our minds turn to the autumn and winter months, I know residents will want to be assured that our local health service is prepared for any further coronavirus outbreaks. Last month our NHS Trust, BHRUT, received an additional £4,100,000 in order to support A&E capacity ahead of the winter months and put enhanced infection prevention and control measures in place. BHRUT want to use this time prior to winter to treat as many non-Covid patients as possible. I would therefore encourage everyone to use our local health services should you need – it is exceptionally important that residents know that our NHS is open to them.
On policing, I had a very good meeting with Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, and her team to raise residents’ crime concerns and I shall be meeting our local Borough Commander, Stephen Clayman, this month as a follow-up. The Prime Minister’s recruitment campaign across the Met is ahead of schedule and the Commissioner has been very happy with the quality of those applying to join the police force. I once again made the point that we want to see Havering get its fair share of new recruits. We also discussed the police handling of public order issues over the summer. I am pleased to say that arrests for drugs offences have gone up forty per cent in recent months and tremendous progress was made during the pandemic to crack a lot of the crime gangs behind the drugs trade. Thanks to extra cash from the Home Office, the Met have managed to close down 120 county lines.
I also pressed the Met Commissioner on residents’ concerns over illegal migration and the extent to which London police are helping the Home Secretary tackle human trafficking and exploitation gangs. I later joined a meeting of MPs with Priti Patel to hear about the work underway to stop illegal Channel crossings and address worries about the number of people making that perilous journey.
Information on all these stories and more can be found on my website, www.julialopez.co.uk
As ever, if you need our help, do drop me and my team a line.
