Wandsworth is in the top 5 for vaccination rates across London! This is a great step forward and I am proud of everyone here in Tooting who has taken the steps to protect themselves and others by receiving their jab. However, we still have a way to go before everyone is protected against coronavirus. We need to keep pushing to ensure that those who can do so, are vaccinated as soon as possible. Information on how to book your vaccination appointment can be found here. It is also vital that if, for any reason, you have to change or cancel your vaccine appointment that you let the GP surgery or vaccination centre that you appointment is booked with know. You can manage your vaccination appointment here. If you are still unsure about having the jab or have any questions, more information can be found on the vaccine and answers to many common concerns on Wandsworth Council’s website here. Several cases of the South African variant of Covid-19 has been found in Wandsworth, and the Council is encouraging everyone over the age of 11 who lives, works in, or travels through Wandsworth to book a PCR test – including those of us who have had the vaccine, even if you are not showing any symptoms.
PCR testing sites have opened across Wandsworth, including one at Tooting Leisure Centre by appointment only. Tests can also be ordered online, or collected without an appointment at Wandsworth Town Hall. Tests are also available on a strictly appointment-only basis at many local pharmacies. It is necessary to book a PCR test because although the widely available rapid lateral flow test can determine positivity for Covid-19, only the PCR test is able to detect specific variants. It is important that we are all tested because one-in-three people who have Covid-19 are asymptomatic, and could be spreading the virus without knowing it. Let’s all do our part to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 variant. Click here to order a home testing kit, or to book an appointment at a testing centre or local pharmacy. Today Muslims across the UK and around the world mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. As a proud Muslim, the period of reflection, prayer, and fasting is incredibly important to our Muslim community. Traditionally, Ramadan is a time for gathering and sharing Iftar with family and friends. Although, like last year, we are unable to come together and celebrate as we normally would, the spirit of Ramadan remains. To every Muslim nurse and doctor who have saved countless lives throughout this pandemic, to every volunteer and community leader in our Mosques and community centres who continue to support those most vulnerable, and to every Muslim in Tooting and across the country, I wish you all Ramadan Mubarak. In light of the recent tragic events, many residents have been in touch to share their concerns about the lighting in Tooting and Wandsworth Commons. Indeed, many women feel unable to use the Commons in the evening due to the poor lighting, whereby many of the paths are unlit. All our local residents, including women, should feel safe to access these vital green spaces, which is why I have written to Paul Chadwick, Director Environment and Community Services at Wandsworth Council, and Neil Blackley, Head of Parks at Enable, who manage Wandsworth’s green spaces on the Council’s behalf, calling for action to improve the lighting across both sites as quickly as possible. Please check back here for updates on the Council’s response. The inability to afford everyday hygiene and personal grooming essentials is sadly a growing problem. With people and families hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, hygiene poverty is a bigger problem than ever before - many are struggling to afford essential products like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, period products, and hand sanitiser. Here in Wandsworth, a new hygiene bank has opened to tackle this growing problem and alleviate the issue of hygiene poverty in our local area. As a volunteer-run project, all the money raised by the hygiene bank goes directly towards providing much-needed essentials for local residents, with all donated products distributed to local frontline organisations in the borough. To find out more about the Hygiene Bank Wandsworth, or to make a donation, see here. As you will know, a South African variant of Covid-19 has arrived in the UK. This new Covid variant has now been detected in CR4 (Merton). Residents in CR4 are no different to us in neighbouring Tooting (SW16 and SW17). We use the same shops, the same hospital, and the same parks, so if it’s there, it could very easily be here. This will be the same across all affected areas. As a matter of urgency, the Government needs to launch widespread testing in neighbouring postcodes. This is the only way to see how widespread these new variants are. I have written to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock MP, the Director of Public Health at Wandsworth Council, Shannon Katiyo, and the Chief Executive of Wandsworth Council, Paul Martin, to ask about plans to launch testing in neighbouring postcodes. While I press for action on this, we need to make sure we’re all doing everything we can to keep ourselves and each other safe. It’s absolutely vital that we minimise our social contact to prevent the spread of this new variant within our community. Please think twice before leaving home, and when you do leave, please continue to adhere to social distancing. Together, we will get through this. In light of the upcoming Fire Safety Bill, I would to thank every resident who has written to me with their concerns on this and for continuing to keep me updated on the cladding issues affecting their property. I recognise what an exceptionally difficult time this is and appreciate how much anxiety the cladding proposals are causing to many leaseholders.
On more than fifteen occasions, Ministers promised that leaseholders would not be landed with the costs of remedial works. Yet, people are still being put at risk, trapped in flammable buildings for a third lockdown, with leaseholders placed in an impossible position and promises broken. It is evident that the Government’s handling of the cladding crisis has lacked any sense of grip or urgency. For this reason, the Labour Party have tabled an Opposition Day Debate on cladding for Monday, which will subsequently bring forward a vote that will call for leaseholders to be protected from the costs of remediating their blocks with dangerous cladding. The party will also be tabling a number of amendments to the Fire Safety Bill that will aim to protect leaseholders from unfair costs through the power of the law. I am aware that many residents have been in touch to request that I support the McPartland and Smith amendment, which provides welcome clarity on the specific costs that would be prevented from being passed on to leaseholders. Labour has sought to go further on this. As currently drafted, the McPartland and Smith amendment would not have covered blocks like Grenfell - where flammable cladding has been added at some stage following the building of the block. It only applies to defects in the original design of buildings. The Labour Party’s amendment would ensure that the cost of fire safety problems from refurbishment jobs, like the cladding on Grenfell Tower, cannot be passed on to leaseholders. Labour’s amendments also include new clauses so that the Bill protects leaseholders from the day it comes into law, instead of an unknown date in the future. I would like to thank my colleagues in the Labour Party, Sarah Jones MP, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Thangam Debbonaire MP and Mike Amesbury MP for their hard work and commitment to addressing this large injustice on a national scale. If any residents have any further queries on this issue, please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss this further. In the meantime, I hope this post assures you of the steps myself and the Labour Party are taking to protect tenants and leaseholders during this cladding crisis. |
Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
|