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Winter 2014

Page 3

Page 3

ith the deficit soon

to be down by a
half, Britain has
been predicted to become the
fastest growing major
economy in the world.

In 2010, the UKs deficit amounted

to 11% of its GDP, and this is set to
fall to 5.5% by 2015.

arlow MP Robert
Halfon has welcomed
the news that crime is
falling in England and Essex.

Harlows Member of Parliament,

Robert Halfon has welcomed the
figures saying, This is great news
for our country and for Harlow.

The England Crime Survey, released

in October this year, shows that
between June 2010 and June 2014,
crime fell by an impressive 25%.

We have already seen

unemployment in our town
tumble by 46% since 2010 and
youth unemployment is down by
a hugely impressive 61%.

Overall, there were 2.3 million fewer

crimes across the country, including
160,000 fewer burglaries, and
413,000 fewer violent crimes.

As the economy continues to

grow, so can Britains businesses.
Earlier this month, Robert Halfon
visited the brand-new Poundland
Distribution Centre in Harlow,
with the Government Employment
Minister, Esther McVey.
Not long after the visit, the UKs
largest wholesale food distributor,
Brakes, announced that they
would also be moving to Harlow,
taking over the old Tesco depot
and bringing even more job
opportunities to the town.
As of August this year, the number
of people claiming Job Seekers
Allowance in Harlow fell from
2,634 to 1,499 and nationally,
there are 1.8 million more people
in work.

Robert Halfon MP with Employment Minister Esther McVey

at the new Poundland Distribution Centre
Opportunities for young Harlow
residents are also improving, with
the opening of a new state-of-theart University Technical College
(UTC) and a 106% rise in
apprenticeships.

Robert went on to say that there

was still work to do and hoped that
he would be able to hold a fourth
Harlow Jobs Fair next year.

Robert Halfon, who has hired three

Harlow College apprentices
himself, spent years successfully
campaigning for the new preapprentice school.

My last three Jobs Fairs have

been hugely successful, with
companies actively hiring people
at each event. I hope I will be
granted the opportunity to
organise another one in 2015.

When speaking about the Sir

Charles Kao UTC, which opened its
doors in September, Robert said,
Securing the pre-apprentice
school was a huge achievement for
Harlow.

I would like to congratulate

Robert Halfon on all the work
he does locally to promote
jobs, apprenticeships and
training

It will provide local students with

invaluable skills and opportunities
and represents a new era for
education in our town.

Promoted by Simon Carter on behalf of Harlow Conservatives, all of Kao Hockham House, Edinburgh Way, Harlow CM20 2NQ

On this issue Robert Halfon said,

Thanks to this Governments action
plan and the work of local police
officers, crime is down and Essex is
becoming an even safer place to live
and work.
That said, I understand Harlow
residents still have their concerns,
especially with the introduction of
part-night street lighting.
Im continuing to monitor this
situation and pressure the County
Council to move on this issue.

- David Cameron

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2 | Harlow Sun

Community News

hen Harlow Council

was run by the
Conservative group, prior to
2012, 100m was set aside to
refurbish and upgrade local
Council houses, as part of
the Modern Homes
Programme.
However the Conservative
caseworker in Sumners and
Kingsmoor, Clive Souter, has
raised concerns that the current
administration is not treating
tenants properly.
Clive says, From when the
contractors started the
refurbishment work, I and
tenant representatives in
Sumners and Kingsmoor have
received loads of calls about the
quality of the work.

T
and dont bother to phone and
reschedule.
Tenant representatives in
Sumners and Kingsmoor did try
to set up roundtable meetings
between local residents, Council
representatives and the
contractors, but the meetings
were stopped by Labour
Councillors.
Clive commented, The Modern
Homes Programme is good news
for tenants, and I was pleased to
introduce it when I was the lead
Councillor for Housing.
However, its a shame that
Labour have not delivered the
quality of service we demanded.

I have heard from people who

were left with an unfinished
kitchen for weeks and others
who had kitchen appliances left
in their lounge.
Missed appointments have also
meant that tenants have wasted
Conservative caseworker
a day waiting indoors for
Clive Souter (end right) with
contractors who fail to arrive
local volunteers.

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES
50 MILLION OF IMPROVEMENTS
FOR M11 JUNCTION 7!

he Conservative group at
Harlow Council have
slammed the ruling Labour
authority after a recent report
revealed that one third of
callers to Contact Harlow hang
up before someone answers
their call.
Contact Harlow is the main point of
communication between the Council
and local residents and yet one-inthree people simply cannot get
through.
Old Harlow Councillor Sue Livings
said, This is an appalling state of
affairs.

are important to them?

This is not a new issue, but it has
been getting worse over the past
year.
Harlow Labour have been doing
nothing to improve this flagship
service and cannot cope with the
number of complaints coming in.
This report comes on top of figures
released earlier in the year, which
showed that only 30% of residents
felt the authority provided good value
for money.

Some residents have told me that

when they try to report fly-tipping
over the phone, an answer machine
tells them that they are 14th in the
queue.
What are people supposed to do
when they need to inform the
Council of a change of circumstances
to their benefits? Or other issues that

reat Parndon Conservative

Councillor David Carter
says he has been working hard
over the past year to try and
control the growth of illegal
encampments in Harlow.
However, he feels that his efforts are
being hampered by the ruling Labour
authority at Harlow Council, as some
Labour Councillors are actively
encouraging people to come to
Harlow and park up illegally.
Harlows MP, Robert Halfon, has
been working closely with David to
try and tackle the unauthorised
encampments.
Robert Halfon said, So far I have
held crisis meetings with local
council and police officials, brought
the Government Minister responsible
for the Travelling Community to
Harlow and raised the issue in the

Old Harlow Councillor

Sue Livings (second left) with
other local Conservatives.

House of Commons.
David and I have also lobbied the
police to try and get the law applied
equally. We want to see a zero
tolerance approach taken towards
those who break the law, trespass on
public land and commit anti-social
behaviour.
Rest assured, I will continue
working on this issue until it is
resolved.
Meanwhile Harlow Conservative
Leader, Councillor Andrew Johnson,
revealed that Harlow Council has not
issued a single fine to any of the
encampments for littering or
fly-tipping.
David Carter finished by saying, So
far, this issue has cost local
taxpayers 50,000 and this sum is
rising every month.

This investment will help provide quicker

access to and from Harlow Town

It will help the thousands of Harlow

residents and businesses who rely on
these roads everyday

The situation is now so bad that

national and international media
are reporting it. What does that say
about the image of Harlow?

Part of the Government's 15bn plan to

increase the capacity and condition of
Englands roads.

During the summer, the Council ran

a consultation to see where they
could save money. Now we know
why they are having to make these
cuts to our local services.

An illegal encampment at the

old Passmores School site

Harlow Sun | 3 ..

n April this year Essex

County Council reported
that the number of potholes
and defects on Harlows
roads had increased to 632.
Since then, local MP Robert
Halfon has been working to
improve the state of roads in
his constituency.
On this issue Robert said, As a
Harlow resident myself, I knew
that potholes were becoming a
burden for an increasing number
of local residents.

Robert Halfon with NHS staff at the Harlow Dialysis Unit

ince 2010, the

National Health
Service has seen an
extra 12.7 billion
put into its budget
and Harlow is
seeing the benefits.
Over the last four
years, Princess
Alexandra Hospital has
received; a 1 million
upgrade to its eye
clinic, a new kidney
dialysis unit, a new
childrens Accident &
Emergency centre, an
upgraded maternity
unit and a brand new
Short Stay Assessment
centre at its A&E.
St Clare Hospice also
benefitted from a
427,000 grant.
David Cameron has
since pledged to

protect the NHS

budget across the next
Parliament, and give
everyone seven-day
access to a GP if the
Conservative Party
wins a full majority
next year.
Under Labour, 90% of
GPs stopped seeing
patients at evenings
and weekends and the
number of family
doctors was cut by
almost 800 in their last
year in office.
The Government
has also responded
to Robert Halfons
campaign to scrap
excessive hospital
car parking
charges.

These extortionate
charges, which were
forcing some patients
to pay over 500 a
week to park their car,
often had insufficient
and confusing
discounts for those
who had to visit the
hospital regularly.

This is why I stood up in the

House of Commons and asked the
Government what was being
done to address this issue across
the country.
The Leader of the House of
Commons, Andrew Lansley,
answered Roberts question by
saying the Government were
providing an extra 200 million
to local authorities specifically for
pothole repair in 2014.

Although I appreciated this

investment from the Government,
I wanted to make sure that
Harlow got its fair share from the
County Council remarked
Robert.
I started placing adverts in the
local media, asking residents to
make me aware of any potholes
in their area, and began passing
these individual cases on to the
Councils Highways Team.
Shortly after, the County Council
announced a 17.5 million effort
to fix over 700 urban roads across
Essex, including 100 in Harlow.
This is definitely a good start
and Im sure that residents who
live close to, or use these 100
roads will begin to see a
difference.
Please let me know if there are
any serious potholes near you
that you would like the Council to
deal with.

Roberts campaign
attracted the support
of over 100 MPs.
In response to this the
Government set out
new guidelines, saying
that charges should be
fair and that frequent
visitors, the disabled
and NHS staff should
receive heavily
discounted on-site
parking.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HELPING

ROBERT HALFON?

Robert Halfon speaks up in the House of Commons

on behalf of Harlows motorists

ver the past five years,

the Conservative-led
Government has taken a
number of steps to cap
immigration levels and make
sure that people come to
Britain for the right reasons.
So far, immigration has been cut
by one-third and overall nearly
70,000 fewer immigrants are
arriving in the UK each year.

GET IN TOUCH!
EMAIL: halfon4harlow@roberthalfon.com
TEL:
01279 312 195

COME AND JOIN ROBERT AND OTHER

HARLOW RESIDENTS AS THEY
CAMPAIGN ON IMPORTANT
LOCAL ISSUES!

David Cameron has unveiled new

proposals to curb EU migration by:

Preventing migrants from

claiming tax credits for their
first four years;
Removing those who do not
have a job within six months
from the UK;
Stopping migrants from
joining council house waiting
lists for their first four years;

In Harlow, the Council already

only accepts people on to the
waiting list if theyve been a
resident for five years or more.
The Government is also striving to
make it easier to deport foreign
criminals, with David Cameron
promising to scrap Labours
controversial Human Rights Act, if
re-elected with a full majority next
year. It would be replaced with a
British Bill of Rights.
Commenting on the planned
changes, Robert Halfon said, I
believe we should have an
immigration system that is fair to
both legitimate migrants and
British taxpayers.
These plans are on top of our
commitment to hold an In/Out EU
referendum, if we win that all
important majority at the next
election.

4 | Harlow Sun

Robert Halfon has made more of a mark on the

Commons than almost any MP from the 2010 intake.
- Standpoint Magazine
Big thanks to Robert Halfon for all his work &
efforts. Real MP working for the community.
- Paul Groves, local resident

If all constituencies had hard working MPs like

Robert it would be fantastic
- Kim Burns, local resident

Thanks Robert Halfon for supporting Lea Valley

Growers in Parliament today.
- Lea Valley Growers

ast month, local MP Robert Halfon

stood up in the House of Commons
and argued for much needed
improvements to Harlows rail services.
Robert spoke out about
the overcrowding many
Harlow residents
experience during their
early morning
commutes and
complained about the
poorly maintained
carriages and the need
for more
refurbishments at
Harlow Mill and
Roydon station.
The MP was also able
to secure a meeting
with the Minister for
Transport, Claire
Perry, so they can
discuss what steps can
be taken to improve the
West Anglia Main Line
that runs through
Harlow.

said in the House of

Commons, Many
commuters raise with
me the fact that it is
cheaper to travel by
London Underground
from Epping than by
train from Harlow.
We need better rolling
stock and a proper
move towards
introducing the Oyster
and the smart-card
systems that have been
promised to us in the
past.

The MP said he would

continue working hard
on this issue, but was
pleased to hear that
regulated fares would
not rise by more than
the rate of inflation
Robert, who has
under this
frequently met with the Government, offering
Greater Anglia
relief to local
management team,
commuters.

Robert Halfon at Harlow Town Station

ocal MP Robert Halfon has welcomed

the news that the Conservatives are
giving pensioners more freedom over
their pension pot and have increased the
state pension by 800 since 2010.
From next year,
pensioners will be able
to access as much or as
little of their defined
contribution as they
want, as well as pass
their hard earned
pension on to their
families tax free.
This comes on top of
the good work that the
Government has
already done to protect
pensioners, such as
increasing the state

pension for five years

in a row.
The Government has
also tied pensions to
earnings by ensuring
that state pension will
rise each year in line
with either wages,
prices or 2.5% whichever is highest.
This will remain after
the next election under
a Conservative
majority Government.

arlow MP Robert
Halfon has said he is
committed to grassroots
football and supports the
positive steps this
Government is taking to
help local teams.
As Sport England continues to
invest over 160 million into
the sector, Robert said,
Football is often a vital part
of a local community and
Harlow is no exception.

improve the lives and

opportunities of young
residents.
120 million of the
Governments investment will
go towards improving and
upgrading local facilities and
over 28 million will help fund
the Football Associations
Whole Sport Plan.
I am a huge football fan and
understand as well as anyone
how important this game can
be for families in Harlow.

I am a big supporter of
Harlow Town FC and have
huge admiration for all of the I will continue to support the
local teams and organisations Hawks in any way that I can
who use these facilities to
and if anyone has any

s hundreds of Harlow
residents are given
new opportunities to own
their own home, the
Government has said it is
committed to restoring
fairness to the housing
system.
For decades, there havent
been enough homes to meet
the needs of our growing and
ageing population. However,
the Conservative-led
Government has been
determined to reverse this
trend, with house building now
at its highest level since 2007.
Importantly, the availability of
affordable homes has been

questions about football in

Harlow, please get in touch.

Robert Halfon with the

Hawks at Harlow Town
Football Club

made the priority, and 23.3

billion has been set aside to
fund affordable housing
projects.

Halfon also launched

www.RightToBuyHarlow.com,
a website to help people
purchase their council house/
flat and achieve the dream of
125,000 affordable homes have home ownership.
already been built over the past
four years and this number is
due to reach 170,000 by next
year and 200,000 by 2020.
This comes alongside the
Governments Help to Buy
scheme, which has already
helped 50,000 people
purchase their own home, 82%
of whom were first time
buyers.
Last year, Harlow MP Robert

Robert Halfon launching

RightToBuyHarlow.com in
Harlow Town Centre

I would like to take this

opportunity to wish all
Harlow Sun readers a
very Happy Christmas
and the best of luck for
next year!

Robert Halfon meeting his first Father

Christmas of the year at the Harlow Lions Club
Promoted by Simon Carter on behalf of Harlow Conservatives, all of Kao Hockham House, Edinburgh Way, Harlow CM20 2NQ.
Printed by Mortons Media Group Ltd, of Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, LN9 6JR