Hello everyone,

It's been especially hectic over the past fortnight in Parliament.  The emergency legislation that the government had to bring through Parliament to nationalise Northern Rock had to be debated through the Lords and the Commons in the space of 3 days.  We've now got £110bn of taxpayers money on the line - the question is whether we'll get it all back, and when.  It came in the same fortnight that the Heathrow consultation ended and a fresh consultation was launched shutting local post offices, so I've been kept very busy!

Post Office Closures
A public meeting is organised for Thursday 13th March at St Mary's Church on Putney Bridge.  After meeting with the Post Office management, I've been talking with residents, shopkeepers and the post offices concerned about the impact these closures will have on our local community.  Many constituents have contacted me with their concerns.  Having seen half of our local post offices shut just since 2003, it is galling to see even more threatened with closure. Last week in Parliament I asked for a debate on post office closures across London but no still time is being given by Ministers for MPs to raise issues. Click here.

Hypocritically, although cabinet ministers campaign locally against their own decisions in power, the bottom line is that when it comes to giving time in Parliament for myself as an MP to formally raise my constituents' concerns with Ministers, they simply refuse.  It is no wonder people switch off politics - the cynicism and self-serving political opportunism is breathtaking.

Frankly, alongside the government plans to have all day flights over our area, we're left wondering what aspect of our local life will be threatened next.  I can assure all PutneySW15 readers that I'll be doing everything I can as MP to represent our concerns to Ministers and the Post Office and to stop these two closures from going ahead.  If you are concerned, come along to the public meeting, email me on greeningj@parliament.uk and make sure you respond to the consultation by emailing consultation@postoffice.co.uk.

Heathrow Expansion Consultation closes
The public consultation into Heathrow expansion closed on Wednesday.  I went to the DfT to hand in postcards and petitions signed by nearly 2,500 local people and my email has been inundated with other residents copying me into their consultation responses.  I spoke at the Westminster Rally organised by HACAN which was amazing - nearly 4,000 people were there to say how against these proposals all of our communities are.

I also saw Jim Fitzpatrick, the Aviation Minister this week to once again tell him just how dismayed we are with these plans and the way the consultation has been carried out by the government.  Many PutneySW15 readers will know that I've been trying to get environmental information out of the DfT using the Freedom of Information act.  When I wasn't given the full information, I formally complained.  My complaint was upheld and the DfT have to provide me with more information, but have still so far failed to do so - something I raised with Mr Fitzpatrick. I've now formally complained to the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas asking him to investigate because we need this environmental data in the public domain to make sure the right decisions are made.  Again, the cynicism of Ministers in stopping an MP using the FOI laws that they themselves introduced is breathtaking, but it doesn't put me off!

Supporting regeneration in Roehampton
With a new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell in place, I decided to use his first trip to do Work and Pensions questions in the Commons to raise the issue of having better on site support for helping people in Roehampton who want to get back into work. Click here  

It is good to know that my concerns about supporting Roehampton are getting through to Ministers, but I am now contacting the Secretary of State so that I can make the case for Roehampton and will also be again asking him for a meeting so that I can discuss these issues face to face.  We've got the Roehampton Employers Fair coming up in May which I'm involved with and I'm working closely with other groups like Regenerate.com which work with young people on the Alton estate and others locally.  There are a lot of positive things happening and I'm doing my best to play my part as a local MP and when I can, support other people also involved.

Don't forget, I have a weekly MP surgery either on a Saturday morning, or a Monday morning, and it's held in public libraries or community centres in Roehampton, Putney and Southfields and West Hill, so whether you work weekdays or weekends, wherever you live, there's hopefully be a time and location that you can get to - just call 0208 9440378 to find out where to go.  If you want to email me, I'm on greeningj@parliament.uk or you can write to me at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

Best wishes

 

Justine Greening MP

February 29, 2008