We know residents have a range of concerns about crime and community safety in the constituency and we have been trying to organise a meeting between key stakeholders in the borough at the Town Hall to ensure we have a joined-up strategy for tackling crime.

In the meantime, today my team and I had an extensive one-to-one meeting with our Borough Police Commander, Jason Gwillim, at Romford Police Station to discuss our current concerns about policing in the constituency, as raised with us by residents. This includes the desire for increased police visibility in our town centres of Hornchurch, Upminster, Elm Park and Hilldene, the full return of schools officers in our secondaries, particularly in Harold Wood, the safety of shopkeepers and the use of knives in recent muggings.

We discussed how best to deploy stop and search locally, the use of facial recognition technology and the number of officers available both to carry out patrols and to provide continuity in the investigation of crimes. My team will shortly be providing a more extensive note on these discussions to those constituents who have been in touch with us.