Dear Resident
April Showers, Spring Sunshine and Happy Easter Holidays! This month we celebrated Easter, the end of Ramadan, Eid, Holi and The Tamil New Year and New Year for Sikh and Hindu religions around the world.
Mayoral Election May 2nd
And with just over 2 weeks to go until the Mayoral and GLA election on May 2nd, we can’t get you worried enough that Sadiq Khan thinks he has this election already in the bag! But as Rishi said this week “I’m just not seeing the polls on the doorstep” – and neither are we here in London. Whether it’s ULEZ drivers or crime victims or new housing for generation-rent, Outer Londoners are angry about how they have been taken for a ride. And if he’s elected again, he will bring in pay-by-mile.
Khan is using us drivers in S London to pay for his transport system in N London – and that’s not fair. He uses us because he can - because Outer London voters usually don’t vote at all. But this time we are going to have our say.
The only vote that will get Khan out is for Cllr Susan Hall, the Conservative Candidate who has been holding Khan to account in opposition for years. Susan has pledged to scrap ULEZ extension Day 1. She wants to recruit more police for borough-based policing and bring in a women’s commissioner. Watch Suzie’s campaign intro [ https://twitter.com/Councillorsuzie/status/1772292196890255406 ]
And Ron our energetic GLA SW London Assembly Member candidate has an incredible life story and through his work as a Cllr in Chiswick is campaigning for safer streets, youth and sport and scrapping ULEZ and getting London moving and building more homes. [ https://www.ronmushiso.org.uk ]
It’s time for a bolder, better, prouder, welcoming and upbeat London Vibe! If you want to stop ULEZ and the war on the motorist, stop crime and start building and you want to see a new Mayor of London – can you help us deliver a few brochures before the election to make sure people in your street know how important it will be for them to go out and vote? Can you help us on polling day?
Local Issues
Kingfisher Update and The Malden Centre
Helen Edward welcomes £70k investment for the Malden Centre from the Conservative Government. She said
"I'm in Kingston Hospital A&E every week volunteering and see the importance of health and fitness as a preventative measure for our elderly and our families. Since the tragic Kingfisher Leisure Centre closure in 2019, which will not reopen until 2027 at the earliest, we are more dependent than ever on the Malden Centre. The Malden Centre is the only pool in the Borough providing for over 2000 children and keeping our borough fit and healthy and out of A&E.
"When I met Marie O'Loughlin, Contract Manager for The Malden Centre and Kingston Places Leisure this week, she was brimming with enthusiasm for what the team had achieved turning around the customer service focus of the centre to provide a 'can do' vibe that encourages membership and engagement as well as community outreach and partnership with Kingston Hospital to offer rehab and cancer patient support as well as support for menopause and various health groups.”
Meanwhile The Kingfisher Centre moves to its next design stage as the Place Committee gives it the green light.
Kingston Hospital Patient Flow
A recent article in The Times highlighted the strain on ER departments across the country, exacerbated by demands on GPs and waiting time for an appointment, as well as the recent strikes now one step closer to resolution after consultants confirmed their acceptance of the governments pay offer.
I am delighted today after raising my concerns about ER patient waiting times and patient anxiety, to receive a letter from Chief Executive Jo Farrar addressing exactly this with a range of measures to increase capacity and flexibility. I very much look forward to working with the team in ER to reassure patients and offer them confidence in the triage and treatment.
CEO Jo Farrar said “It’s really important for our patients and local population that we take action to address issues of overcrowding and potential delays in receiving treatment, so I am committed to working with teams to give this the focus it needs.
“The issues we face are much broader than the emergency department alone and so we are working with our partners in the community and in primary care to find solutions. We all have a role to play in ensuring patients are being cared for in the right place and in a timely way – it’s our responsibility to keep patients safe by ensuring we are doing all we can to support patient flow.”
Hogsmill and Lib Dem Sewage Campaign
Following the usual sh-stirring Lib Dem campaign on sewage spills to discredit Thames Water and blame the Government and propose a new tax on water companies … I caught up with Thames Water to ask about Hogsmill water quality and hear their side of the story.
I was relieved to hear that Thames Water management are incredibly focused on water quality, have a robust plan to increase the storm tanks size at the Hogsmill Sewage Works to eliminate spills, that Thames Tideway upstream comes on line next year eliminating 95% of spills and that the poo-power plan to convert waste sewage into electricity is well under way, a potential source of power for the Kingfisher Pool in 2027.
You can read the letter from Thames Water here [ https://www.helenedward.uk/news/helen-talks-thames-water-london-about-hogsmill-water-quality ]
The water companies have been subject under the recent 2021 Environment Act, to high standards and penalties for failure to meet these regulated by Ofwat. It was the foresight of the Conservative Government back in 2013 that led to the mass roll out of storm overflow monitoring across England which has given us the necessary data to understand the issue of storm overflows and to then act through the Environment Act. As of December 2023, all storm overflows in England are now fitted with monitors. This figure is less than 4% in Scotland where Scottish Water, a public owned water company, operates.
While proposing to abolish Ofwat the water regulator, Ed Davey has not proposed an alternative. Ed Davey has called for a 16% sewage tax on water company profits of £2b but with the cost of elimination of sewage discharges estimated at £120-190 billion it would take more than 300 years to raise, leaving the unacceptable and unviable cost of or £4-6k per household falling on working people.
Up to £11 million in water company fines and penalties will be reinvested back into a new Water Restoration Fund (WRF), Environment Secretary Steve Barclay announced last week here
[ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crackdown-on-water-firms-sees-millions-invested-into-local-action ]
The recent problem is exacerbated by high levels of recent rainfall which has caused additional drainage and flooding problems as we have seen at Chessy FC as well as overspills.
In the meantime, the sector and the Government are making very significant investments in infrastructure including £4.3b in Thames Tideway, a Super Sewer under The Thames Upstream to intercept nasty spills and clean up our river for the good of London, our nature and our residents which will be complete next year and is expected to solve 95% of London overspills
Spring Budget 2024
April 1st brings a whole new fiscal agenda. Following the Spring Budget, we sought to make a new Conservative mark on the economic revival and growth imperative after a million workers checked out of work after covid. Here are the headlines.
Triple Lock Protected
Pensioners will be £900 and 8.5% better off on top of last year’s 10.1% protecting the triple lock. Thanks to the triple lock, which the Conservatives introduced, the state pension has increased by £3,700 since 2010. And it's helped lift 250,000 pensioners out of poverty. And we’ve already promised that the triple lock will stay into a next Conservative Parliament – while Labour will not say whether they will keep it.
Childcare Massively Increased
The biggest expansion of childcare in history going from 15hrs to 30hrs from next year for kids under 5 saving families £6900 pa and giving mums the chance to get back to their careers. This would have been a gamechanger for me – let me know your own story.
National Insurance Cut
NI for 27m working people has been cut from 10% to 8% making a substantial difference in peoples’ pockets which should look like £900 pa saving on an average £35k salary. See how much you will save
https://www.conservatives.com/our-plan/achievements/how-much-will-you-keep?deliveryName=DM39828
Living Wage Up
We've increased the National Living Wage from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour, an increase of 9.8% worth £1800 pa.
Freezing Business Rates and extending Hospitality and Leisure Relief protecting small businesses in our high streets and town centres.
Cutting VAT for small businesses.
Investing in apprenticeships £60m more.
Capping Energy Prices protecting families against cost-of-living increases.
Thanks for following all our news and please do get in touch with me to share your views on the upcoming local Mayoral election and ULEZ. I’d love to hear your views on childcare and water quality.
Very best wishes
Helen Edward
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton
Promoted by Gia Borg-Darcy on behalf of Kingston and Surbiton Conservative Association, both of 3 Bridle Close, Kingston, KT1 2JW
https://www.facebook.com/HelenEdwardCWO/
https://twitter.com/helenedwardcwo
https://www.kingstonconservatives.org.uk
Write to me
[email protected]
