Parliament may be on summer recess but my team and I continue to work hard on complex casework and local campaigns. 

One of the trickiest issues to resolve has been of flat owners in cladded properties caught up in the building safety issues raised by the Grenfell fire. Too many local people have been unable to remortgage or sell their homes because their buildings have not been able to obtain an EWS1 safety certificate, leaving them in limbo and in fear of big remediation bills. Locally, my office has been working to get individual buildings through this requirement, while in Westminster I have met the most senior ministers to press for a clearer position on fire risk. These meetings resulted in a statement from the Housing Secretary last week that no property under eighteen metres in height should be expected to require an EWS1 and we hope this helps to get things moving for residents.

Flooding has been a real challenge for residents in several parts of the constituency, and this week I called a meeting with Network Rail, TfL, Thames Water and Havering Council to see how they might better work together to tackle the root causes of these floods.

After concerns were raised by constituents working at Ford Dagenham about the plant’s future, I met their new Chairman to discuss Ford’s plans for our region. The company remains committed to the area and we talked about how the new freeport in the Thames Estuary can create local job opportunities. 

We have also been working with the Havering Dementia Action Alliance to launch a new ‘dementia friendly’ sign for Hornchurch High Street, with designs drawn up by pupils at Langtons Junior School. I had the pleasure of presenting a prize for the winning logo to Sienna in Year 6 and we hope her winning design will be seen in shops from September.