7/30/2019 News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #379

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In this edition:

Greg Hands M.P.s DiaryWebsite of the Week:The website of Greg HandsM.P.Greg Hands M.P. opensTNT Post Fulham DeliveryUnitAn income tax cut for 25mpeoplePhoto news:Little Masters Art ExhibitionSuper Sewer Water BillDouble Whammy

Kensington & Chelseainvesting in the voluntarysectorSmall Business friendlyHammersmith & Fulhamwins awardH&F and K&C in newinitiative looks at ways ofsupporting children fromtroubled backgroundsHands in the papers:Holiday's over for Miliband

Hands in the papers:Constituency MatterscolumnHow to contactGreg Hands M.P.

Issue 379 Friday 6th September 2013

Since the last edition, Greg:

Attended the recall of Parliament, and voted in the House of

Commons for taking steps in Syria to seek to prevent the AssadGovernments use of chemical weapons, following Assads attackon his own people in Damascus with sarin gas that left more than1,400 people dead, including at least 426 children. The motionwas regrettably defeated.

Visited as a guest of the Head Teacher and the Chairowman ofGovernors Sulivan Primary School in Fulham. The Council iscurrently consulting on merging the school with nearby NewKings Primary. To find out more, and to have your say, clickhere.

Opened the new distribution centre forTNT Post in Michael Road,Fulham. TNBT is now doing regular daily deliveries throughout allparts of the Chelsea & Fulham constituency. For more informationand photo, see below.

Had a full schedule of activity as a Government Whip in andaround the chamber of the House of Commons, includingministerial meetings and organising votes and standingcommittees.

Conducted a number of surgeries over the summer for localChelsea and Fulham residents at Fulham Methodist Church.Gregs surgeries are generally weekly, on Monday mornings, ateither Fulham Methodist Church, Fulham Broadway, or PeterJones, Sloane Square. To make an appointment, email

mail@greghands.com or telephone 020 7219 5448.

Website of the Week:

www.greghands.comThe website of Greg Hands M.P., Government Treasury Whip andMember of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham.

Greg Hands M.P. opens TNT PostFulham Delivery Unit

MP celebrates creation of 75 jobs

Greg Hands M.P. opening the new TNT Post UK deliveryunit in Parsons Green.

Greg Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, has opened TNT Post UKsnew delivery unit in The Old Gas Works, Parsons Green, and met withsome of the 75 Posties who have been recently recruited following thecompanys expansion in to South West London.Operating as of June this year, Fulham joins five other new TNT Postdelivery units in the South West London area, providing a newdelivery service to local residents and businesses. Over 500 new jobshave been created since June, with many new Posties coming fromlong term unemployed backgrounds and recruited through the WorkProgramme, Remploy and local job centres.

While at the Parsons Green delivery unit, Greg was able to see TNTPosts new technology in action. Increasing efficiency and unique tothe TNT Post, every single letter delivered is scanned before beingposted through the letterbox.

TNT Post has created over 1000 jobs in the capital since beginning itsmail delivery trial last year, and has made a concerted commitment totackling youth and long-term unemployment. The company plans toextend its delivery service across the UK in the next five years, andaims to create 20,000 jobs.Following the visit, Greg Hands M.P. said: It is great to see my

constituents happy at work with TNT Post and to hear the Postiesshare their stories, particularly those from long term unemployedbackgrounds. It is important that new jobs are created for all sectionsof our community.Nick Wells, CEO TNT Post UK, commented: We are delighted thatGreg Hands MP has taken the time to meet with his local constituentsworking at TNT Post in Parsons Green. It was great for our Posties tomeet their local MP and show off the companys state-of-the-arttracking service for mail that we are using across the capital. At TNTPost, we pledge to continue to create many jobs for youths and longterm unemployed.

An income tax cut for 25m peopleWe are helping hardworking people with the cost of living

Weve cut income tax for 25 million people and lifted 2.4

million of the lowest earners out of income tax altogether

Weve helped councils freeze council tax

Mortgage rates are at a record low

Weve frozen fuel duty, saving you 13p a litre on petrol

Energy companies are being forced to put customers on the

lowest tariff

The basic state pension has been increased through the Triple

Lock, which makes sure it always rises by whichever of these

is the highest: inflation, earnings or 2.5%Same old LabourIn government, Labour raised taxes on hardworking people and nowtheir plans to borrow more would lead to hardworking families beingsqueezed.

Under Labour, council tax doubled

They raised the rate of fuel duty 12 times while in power

They hit the poorest hardest by abolishing the 10p tax rate

Now, they plan to borrow billions more pounds - which would

cause mortgage rates to rocket

Photo news:

Little Masters Art Exhibition

Greg Hands M.P. with children from All Saints Primary School atthe Little Masters Art Exhibition at Fulham Palace earlier this

summer.

Super Sewer Water Bill Double WhammyMillions of Thames Water customers face a double-whammy of one-off surcharges and annual bill hikes to pay for the companyscontroversial super sewer, it was revealed today.Just days after the company flooded south London, causing 4millionworth of damage, Thames Water announced that customers face anew surcharge of 29 on their bills next year to pay for cost overrunson the 4billion Thames tunnel.Company bosses said they need to rake in around 165million fromthe families and businesses it serves in London and the ThamesValley as land needed for the 15 mile long Thames Tunnel, or supersewer, is costing more than anticipated.Despite the fact that Thames Water admits that many of its customersare struggling to pay their bills, households will be asked to pay evenmore money next year if the proposals get the go-ahead from waterregulator Ofwat.

The one-off surcharge is on top of annual hikes of around 80-100that the company is proposing between 2015 and 2020.Cllr Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Leader, said: Thames Watersdouble-whammy of bill hikes at a time when household budgets arebeing squeezed like never before beggars belief.While most companies, and well run councils like ours, are trying tokeep costs down Thames Water just seems to pile more misery ontowater bill payers.The estimated cost of the Thames Tunnel has nearly tripled since itwas first proposed and its colossal cost no longer justifies the fairlymodest benefits especially when there are cheaper, greener, moremodern, more socially acceptable and less disruptive alternatives.The financial and human cost of the super sewer is too much to bearand the Government and Ofwat must now block the scheme in theinterests of 14million customers.The company says the rise is to cover the cost of preparing for theconstruction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. Thames Water is part-way through a price control period, which runs from 2010 to 2015 andwas agreed with Ofwat in 2009. However, the agreement allows firmsto ask for a price increase if they encounter costs that were not

expected or quantifiable at the time of the initial price-setting decision."We knew there would be costs, but we didn't know how much theywould be," admitted Richard Aylard, external affairs director atThames Water.The revelation comes after it emerged that Thames Water did not paya penny in corporation tax last year. It also got a 5million Treasuryrebate in the financial year when it made 549million and hitcustomers with a 6.7 per cent increase in bills.The body that represents water customers in England and Wales alsosays the rise is not justified and would make things harder for peoplealready struggling to pay their bills."The magnitude of the increase is not warranted in thesecircumstances,"said Sir Tony Redmond, from the Consumer Councilfor Water. "It is the only water company, of which we're aware, whichis actually planning to make this proposal to Ofwat. Some of the coststhat may well have been unanticipated during 2009 could have beenmanaged during the course of the whole period rather than facingthem now."H&F Council is warning that thousands of people on fixed incomes,including pensioners, will be driven into water poverty under the

current Thames tunnel proposals and is calling for cheaper solutionsthat will maintain the river's status as one of the cleanest in Europe.In 2011 Lord Selbornes Thames Tunnel Commission recommendedthat green infrastructure solutions, also known as sustainabledrainage systems (SuDS), should be considered instead of theThames Tunnel. But Thames Water ignored this advice, having spent5.5million on studies to support the choice of a tunnel solution, andspent just 12,000 researching SuDS projects that would ease thepressure on the underground sewers by soaking up rainwater before itflows into the pipes and forces sewage into the Thames.Thames Water argues that the tunnel is the best solution to stop

sewage being pumped into the Thames when it rains heavily.The Planning Inspectorate - a Government body that investigateslarge planning applications - has now started the process ofexamining Thames Waters planning application. A recommendationon whether to grant approval will be submitted to governmentministers - who are expected to make the final decision in autumn2014. If consent is granted, preparatory construction work isscheduled to start in 2015, with main tunnelling due to begin in 2016.Greg Hands M.P. added: "As a result of this latest shocking turn ofevents, Nick Botterill and I have contacted again to the Secretary of

State, Owen Paterson, asking him to review the whole scheme. Weawait his response."

Kensington & Chelsea investing in the

voluntary sectorThe Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is opening its yearlyfunding opportunity to local voluntary and community groups, as partof its Corporate Services Grants programme.

Over 2m is available to support priorities that demonstrate theCouncil's commitment to voluntary organisations and their role inimproving life opportunities for residents.The new grants round for funding in 2014-15 follows a call forapplications from voluntary groups for specific, innovative projects lastmonth.The Council is looking for proposals that address its main priorities inthe grants scheme which are: providing information and adviceservices to residents; support to smaller voluntary organisations andproviding community engagement opportunities.In addition, the Council is advertising Adult Social Care and Carers'services grants which will support services that help older people tostay active and involved in their community. Carers' services grantsare available for community-based support to informal unpaid adultcarers, aged 18 and over, to continue in their caring role for an adultresident of the Royal Borough.Bids for the cash have to be in by noon on Friday 6 September 2013and to succeed bidders will, amongst other things, need to be avoluntary, community or social enterprise organisation, and be basedin Kensington and Chelsea or have a demonstrable local connection.

Councillor Gerard Hargreaves, Cabinet Member for VoluntaryOrganisations and Resident Engagement said: "I am very pleasedthat, despite great pressures on the Council's finances ,we are able tomake 2m available to support the work of local voluntary andcommunity groups."The continuing efforts of those that work in the community andvoluntary sector bring great benefit to many people of all backgroundsin the borough. I would encourage those that run these services tolook carefully at our priorities and I look forward to the Council beingable to provide important funding to assist them in the coming year."

A drop-in session for organisations to discuss the funding and how toapply has been organised forWednesday 21 August, 11am to 4pm atKensington Town Hall, Committee Room 2. Organisations that wish toattend are asked to email communityengagement@rbkc.gov.uk tobook a time to meet with officers.For more information, including the criteria for the fund and how toapply, visit www.rbkc.gov.uk/communityfunding or call theCommunity Engagement Team on 020 7598 4633 or emailcommunityengagement@rbkc.gov.uk .

Small Business friendly Hammersmith &Fulham wins awardHammersmith & Fulham has won the highly commended award forbeing the best all round small business friendly borough in London.Describing Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) as offering amazingsupport to SMEs and high street businesses, the award was part ofthe inaugural 'Small Business Friendly Borough Awards' which areorganised by The Federation of Small Businesses and LondonCouncils.

In an award ceremony on 5th September H&F was highly commendedfor its programme of activities based on consultation with localbusinesses. The councils package of small business friendlymeasures includes a monthly entrepreneurs event, a quarterlybusiness e-newsletter (sign-up here) and an annual networkingevent.There are currently 19,000 businesses in the borough, employing126,000 people. Of these, 7,500 businesses are working from homeor self-employed with 3,500 new business start-ups within theborough.

Doing more to help businesses thrive in the borough, bringing jobsand prosperity to H&F, is the aim of the councils Business Champion,Councillor Robert Iggulden. He said: Winning the highly commendedaward is a fantastic achievement that highlights the hard work we are

putting in to encourage businesses to flourish, grow and invest here.With more than 19,000 businesses already based in Hammersmith &Fulham this council understands the importance of these wealthcreators to our local economy, particularly as the vast bulk ofbusinesses are SMEs and employ more than 75% of the boroughsworkforce.Under its H&F Means Business programme the council has advised

and supported more than 1,000 small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs) while there has been a 5% increase in the number of micro-businesses reported in 2012-13. High-street vacancy rates are downto 8.7% compared to a London average of 11%.Other small business friendly initiatives introduced by the councilinclude:

H&F Business Desk, which should be your first port of call if

you are an entrepreneur looking to establish a business in the

borough. Click here to find out more.

H&F Enterprise Club, a monthly entrepreneurs event.

Business Connects, a quarterly business-focused e-

newsletter. Sign up by emailing ehf@lbhf.gov.uk.

How to do Business with the Council, a guide for SMEs

wanting to supply the council.

H&F Means Business, an annual networking and expo with

40+ business support providers.

H&F Brilliant Business Awards, recognition for small

businesses drawing publicity and sponsorship. The closing

date for nominations for this year award is Monday 21 October.

To vote for your favourite business click here:

www.lbhf.gov.uk/businessawards .Greg Hands M.P. added: "I am pleased to see that both local Councilsin the constituency - H&F and K&C - offer really good support andadvice to local businesses. Well done to the Hammersmith & FulhamCouncil team!"

H&F and K&C in new initiative looks at

ways of supporting children from troubled

backgroundsThree central London boroughs have been chosen to take part in anew initiative to find out the best ways of giving children from troubledbackgrounds the social and emotional skills they need to thrive.The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster CityCouncil and Hammersmith & Fulham Council have been identified bythe Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) to join 19 places up and downthe country to focus on how children and families can be supportedbefore problems occur.Over the next 18 months councils will share knowledge with Police

and Crime Commissioners, Clinical Commissioning Groups andDirectors of Public Health to build up a picture of what interventionprogrammes have the most impact, thereby determining where moneycan most effectively be spent.

Andrew Christie, Tri-borough Executive Director of Children'sServices, said: "Our three boroughs are committed to giving ourchildren the very best start in life and supporting families before

problems arise is the best way of achieving this."We know that early intervention is more cost-effective and mostimportantly improves the outcomes for children at risk."

EIF CEO, Carey Oppenheim, said; "The EIF believes that addressingthe root causes of social problems, rather than trying to fix their after-effects, is better not only for individual children but for our society as awhole. Underpinned by robust evidence our mission is to change to a

predominant culture from costly late reaction to effective earlyintervention. This first wave of 20 pioneering places will ground thatmission in real life, giving us invaluable working examples of success."

Hands in the papers:

Holiday's over for MilibandThe Evening Standard

Monday 12th August 2013Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant was today forced to water down aspeech on immigration after Tesco and Next strongly rejected criticismof their employment of foreign workers.The shadow immigration minister was accused of "backtracking" andgetting his facts wrong over Eastern Europeans being recruited by thefirms.

He came under fire as Ed Miliband Enhanced Coverage LinkingEdMiliband -Search using:News, Most Recent 60 DaysBiographies PlusNewsreturned from holiday amid growing grumblings over Labour'sperformance during the summer.Tory MPs swiftly attacked the "shambles" over Mr Bryant's speech ashe faced a string of questions. In extracts pre-released over theweekend, Mr Bryant had highlighted two cases of how the firms hadrecruited Eastern Europeans instead of local people.But after angry denials from the companies, he told the BBC thismorning: "I fully accept that Next and Tesco often go the extra mile to

try and recruit local workers." However, he insisted that he wasstanding by his general point that more needed to be done to helplocal workers find jobs.Mr Bryant admitted the briefing of his speech had wrongly identified anew Tesco distribution centre as being in Kent when it was in fact inDagenham.He also amended a section claiming that staff at a distribution centrein Harlow were told they could only move to the new centre if theytook a pay cut - which allegedly led to a large proportion of itsworkforce ending up being Eastern Europeans.

Mr Bryant had also been set to claim that Next would "avoid" agencyworker regulations by recruiting staff from Poland for its Elmsallwarehouse in West Yorkshire.He pulled this allegation from his speech after the retailer denied it.Mr Bryant denied he had accused the companies of being"unscrupulous" employers, words he used to criticise other firmsexploiting foreign workers."The difficulty is, I would say, that the way we regulate our economyand the labour market in the UK has meant that sometimes there are

negative sides to migration in terms of the labour market, in particularfor those who are within spitting distance of the national minimumwage," he added, stressing there were nearly one million youngunemployed people in the UK.Tory MP Greg Hands tweeted: "Complete shambles from@ChrisBryantMP this morning. Fact is Labour have opposed everyone of our measures to cut immigration."However, Mr Bryant won support from Tory Harlow MP Robert Halfonover his criticism of Tesco's treatment of its local workers.With Labour seeing its poll lead being eroded, according to manysurveys, Mr Miliband will be keen to get the party back on the frontfoot, with a reshuffle being mooted within weeks.Former whip Graham Stringer became the latest backbencher to voiceconcerns over the party and the "lack of activity" by the shadowcabinet."The real worry is the almost deafening silence there has been fromthe shadow cabinet in a time of the year which is traditionally a ripetime for the Opposition to attack the Government," he told the BBCyesterday.

Hands in the papers:

Constituency Matters columnGreg Hands M.P., Hammersmith & Fulham Chronicle

Friday 6th September 2013Last month, the Governments new benefits cap came into effect inboth Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea. As one ofthe Governments Treasury Ministers, you would expect me to besupportive of this, which I am, as a way of delivering fairness in oursociety: no family should receive more in benefits than the averagefamily receives each year by working.The cap is set at 500 per week, or 26,000 for each year. Thosereceiving Disability Living Allowance are exempt, as are war widowsand other categories. The Labour Party, both locally and nationally,has bitterly opposed this measure, but judging from my constituencysurgery and from my Chelsea & Fulham constituents writing to me,most Chronicle readers strongly support the move. Indeed, I have hadmore people telling me that a maximum 500 per week in benefits istoo generous, than those telling me the cap is too harsh.

The benefits bill under the last Labour Government exploded,particularly in Housing Benefit, and particularly in London. Hugebenefit payments and the prospect of losing them when re-enteringthe workforce have deterred many from taking a job, and that hasbeen to the disbenefit of them, their families and the whole country.The Government has thankfully taken action.However, if you are affected by this change, local councils are onhand to help smooth the transition. You may well qualify fortransitional payments from your Council. Meanwhile, if you are keen tofind work contact Jobcentre Plus on 020 8210 8221, Work Programmeor Work Choice Advisers. You can also get hope from the councilsWork Zone recruitment facility on 020 8753 4695.These are important changes for local people. The policy is the rightone, but equally those affected may need some help in making thechange. Chelsea or Fulham residents can also make an appointmentto see me at one of my weekly surgeries by phoning 020 7219 5448.

5 ways to contact Greg Hands M.P.:

By Phone: 020 7219 5448

By email: mail@greghands.comBy post: Greg Hands M.P.House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA

In person: Click here for details of howto book an appointment atGreg Hands M.P.s weeklysurgery

www.greghands.com

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