news bulletin from greg hands mp #444

From: Greg Hands MP news@greghands.comSubject: News Bulletin from Greg Hands MP #444

Date: 13 September 2015 22:25To: news@greghands.com

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In this edition:

Greg Hands MPs Diary Website of the Week:Stephen Greenhalgh forLondon Labours new leader is athreat to our nationalsecurity, our economicsecurity and your familyssecurity Photo news:Promoting theConservatives OpenPrimary for London Mayorat Sloane Square Registration to vote closesMonday 14thSeptember:ConservativeLondon Mayoral Selection A message from DeputyMayor Stephen Greenhalgh Photo news:Job Centre Plus 'We'll pull out all the stopsto keep the UK a world-leading maritime centre',says Chief Secretary Excellent A-level results forborough pupils Royal Borough pupilsachieve top Key Stage 2results in the country Have your say on whenbuilding work can takeplace in Kensington &Chelsea 7 ways to contact Greg Hands

Issue 444 - Sunday 13th September 2015

Since the last edition, Greg:

Reacted with dismay to the Labour leadership selectionresults. For more, see below.Made a last call for Conservative Party supporters to sign up tothe Partys London mayoral selection process. Greg alsocalled on residents to vote for former H&F Council Leader andBoriss Deputy Mayor for Policing & Crime, StephenGreenhalgh.Voted against the Assisted Dying Bill (euthanasia) in theHouse of Commons. The Bill was defeated by 330 votes to 118.Addressed new Conservative Future members in theHammersmith constituency, along with Council Group Leader,Cllr. Greg Smith, for a fun evening of politics & networking.Was key-note speaker at the conference of LondonInternational Shipping Week, at the Grosvenor Hotel. Forphotos and the speech, see below.Joined teams from across Kensington, Chelsea & Fulham toleaflet commuters at Sloane Square station, with EducationSecretary Nicky Morgan, to advertise the ConservativesLondon Mayor primary election. For more, see below.Spent a day in Edinburgh on ministerial business, includingmeeting Scottish Government Finance Minister John Swinney,touring a local Job Centre Plus and holding a round table withthe Scottish Chambers of Commerce. For photo, see below.Attended both Cabinet and Political Cabinet at Number 10,Downing Street.Held a surgery at Fulham Library. Gregs surgeries aregenerally held weekly, and generally on Friday afternoons atFulham Library. To make an appointment, please emailmail@greghands.com or telephone 020 7219 5448.

Website of the Week:greenhalgh.london The campaign website of Deputy Mayor Stephen Greenhalgh,who is in the final four to be the Conservative candidate forMayor of London.

Photo news:Promoting the Conservatives Open Primaryfor London Mayor at Sloane Square

Greg Hands MP with Education Secretary Nicky Morgan at SloaneSquare tube station this week, advertising the Conservative

Partys Open Primary process for the selection of the next Mayorof London.

Registration to vote closes Monday 14th September:Conservative London Mayoral Selection The Conservative Party is holding an online primary to select itscandidate for the 2016 London Mayoral Election. Anyone in Londonwho is on the electoral roll can register to vote to help the partychoose who will stand for the Conservatives in the election nextyear. The current Mayor of London Boris Johnson was selected as theConservative candidate in 2007 using a primary and the party is againgiving all Londoners the opportunity to be involved in the process. Four candidates have been shortlisted to stand in the primary.Andrew Boff, Zac Goldsmith, Stephen Greenhalgh and SyedKamall will campaign across the capital over the summer and will takepart in official hustings in September. CLICK HERE to register without an access code. If you havent yetreceived an access code, you can still register to vote in the primary.There is a 1 fee to register. CLICK HERE to register with an access code. If youve alreadybeen sent an access code, you can quickly complete the registrationprocess by following this route. There is a 1 fee to register althoughthis is waived for Conservative Party Members. If you are a memberand have not received an access code click here.

A message from Deputy Mayor StephenGreenhalgh I am the only candidate who is currently a member of Boriss team inCity Hall. I have a proven track record of delivering for Londoners bothas Deputy Mayor for Policing & Crime and as a tax-cutting CouncilLeader in Hammersmith & Fulham. I have a plan to secure Londons future. As Mayor I vow to makeLondon less expensive for hard working people. The GreenhalghPlan4London will: 1. Cut tube and rail fares by 3% annually. This will save the averageZone 1-3 Travelcard holder 900 over 4 years. I will root out wasteand protect front-line investment. 2. Build 100,000 new homes for Londoners to own over 4 years. Iwill deliver 50,000 of these as affordable homes for essential cityworkers and build 50,000 starter homes for Londoners to own onTfL/GLA land. 3. Maintain a safe capital city on reduced budgets. I will usecouncil tax and growth from business rates to protect neighbourhoodpolicing with 5,000 dedicated officers. 4. Tackle the air pollution which blights our city. I will ban all dirtydiesel vehicles from central London as fast as humanly possible. I willensure faster substitution of the more polluting buses with the latesthybrid and hydrogen powered models and encourage the uptake ofelectric vehicles. 5. Improve the quality of London's bus service. I will ensure thatevery bus becomes a "jobs express" for shift workers whilst freezingbus fares for 4 years. When I promise, I deliver! Thank you,

Stephen Greenhalgh

Photo news:Job Centre Plus

Greg Hands MP being briefed by an Edinburgh Job Centre Plusmanager on the UK Governments success in expanding jobs in

Scotland.

'We'll pull out all the stops to keep the UKa world-leading maritime centre', saysChief Secretary

Greg Hands MP delivering the keynote speech at this weeksLondon International Shipping Week conference.

Greg Hands MPs speech at London International Shipping Week Good morning Im delighted to join you all, on behalf of thegovernment, at London International Shipping Week. And thank you,Alan, for that kind introduction. I am the Chief Secretary to the Treasury number 2 to GeorgeOsborne, and part of the team responsible for making sure thatBritains economy is in the best possible shape to meet the challengesof the 21st century. People dont necessarily think of the Thames as a working river but,of course, it is. We should never forget that our rivers and our portsare important economic assets. They let goods reach customers up and down the country. They deliver raw materials to our factories. And they help our companies succeed in global markets. Everyone knows about Britains proud history as a great maritimenation. Yesterday we celebrated a momentous point in our history: HM TheQueen overtaking Queen Victoria as the longest reigning Britishmonarch. The fact that the Thames played a major part in the celebrations, as itdid in the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, is significant: its been a realsource of British prestige throughout the years. Britains success, however, has always been derived from combiningthe best of the old and the new. We cant rest solely on the past. And in shipping, I believe the futurecan be equally glittering. And my very simple message today is that the British government willpull out all the stops to keep the UK a world-leading maritime centre. The past decade saw turbulent economic times globally. As we haveseen in recent weeks, we have not yet if youll excuse the maritimeexpression reached calmer waters. Falling oil prices, the slowdown in China, continued woes in theEurozone and instability in the Middle East are conspiring to make thisa tricky time: in all probability, a tricky decade. Britain, as an open and outward-facing trading nation, is not immuneto these risks. But there is a way to manage them; and that is to putour own house in order, and keep on concentrating on securing ourown economic recovery. Our philosophy as a government is that, if you are serious about long-term growth, there are several things you have to do. You have to boost job creation and enable growth all over thecountry. You have to seize opportunities as they arise particularly ininternational trade. You have to make yourself as globally competitive as you can be. And if youre lucky enough, as we in the UK are, to be a major playerin particular sectors, then you play to those strengths. Thats the basis on which the government has grounded the UKseconomic policy since 2010, and its the basis on which we willcontinue to govern. The maritime sector ticks all of these boxes. As a sector, it supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK with significant regional clusters of expertise, and major recent privatesector investments in Felixstowe, Southampton, London, Hull, andLiverpool. I mention Hull and Liverpool in particular because they willbe key to helping deliver our Northern Powerhouse, the programmefor rebalancing the British economy. As Ive alluded to, shipping facilitates the overwhelming majority of ourinternational trade. Its a growing industry: global seaborne trade is predicted to double by2030, most of it outside Europe. And its an area in which the UK is already world class. Our geography helps, of course: were an island nation, and ourlocation means we can do business with both sides of the world in thesame working day. But thats not even the half of it. Our quality flag, attractive tonnage tax regime, strong competitiveports, innovative engineers and world-class maritime trainingprogrammes, together with a stable regulatory framework and anattractive commercial environment all of these combine to make theUK a great place to do maritime business. Down the river, we have the City of London and Canary Wharf thebest places to do business in the world;

the worlds leading international financial marketglobally number 1 in trading foreign exchange and derivativesthe pre-eminent Western location for emerging Asian marketslike renminbi, Indian Rupees, other currencies and Islamicfinancea centre of excellence for insurance, for reinsurance, for assetand wealth management, and for a wide range of legal,accounting and other professional services

!As well as being a global financial powerhouse, the City is home to aone-stop shop of maritime professional and business services onwhich the global industry can continue to rely. And we are always looking at how we can make our offer evenstronger. Earlier this week, we published Lord Mountevans Maritime GrowthStudy report which sets out how government and industry can worktogether to keep the UK at the forefront of the global market. Well be responding formally in due course but one recommendationwe are already taking forward is the formation of a Ministerial WorkingGroup for Maritime Growth. Our Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, will bechairing its first meeting. This Working Group will drive forward the recommendations made bythe Maritime Growth Study, in parallel to the recommendations madefor industry. In particular, our officials will be looking at how to place governmentservices such as the UK Ship Register on a more commercial,customer-focused basis. So watch this space, and I know the WorkingGroup will be very keen to hear industry views. One of the key elements of maritime growth is, of course, marinetechnology. Many of the worlds most advanced and ambitiousmaritime projects originate here in the UK from sluices tosubmarines to superyachts. To make sure we keep ahead of the game, our Technology Roadmapwill set out our ambitions for the marine technology sector, onwards to2030. Already, we are investing in marine innovation: for example, by matchfunding 24.5 million of collaborative research since January 2013,and by providing 4 million of funding towards a Centre for MaritimeIntelligent Systems in Portsmouth. This roadmap will look at how we can maximise our capabilities andexpertise in the future and continue our traditions of excellence indesign, innovation, and build quality. Alongside this, we are committed to investing in the skills we need tokeep our maritime workforce world class. Were already home to thelargest number of maritime training institutions in Europe, but we knowwe can do more. Apprenticeships are key to this: were committed tosupporting three million apprenticeships across the UK, with particularemphasis on technology and engineering. So if you want a rapidly expanding, skilled, ambitious workforce, thenBritain is the place to be. My final point is that all this is part of our long-term economic plan. Crucial to this is improving our national productivity. Thats one of theareas we as a government are particularly interested in at themoment. Indeed, some of you might have come across ourProductivity Plan, which we published in July. In very broad terms, what youll be seeing over the next few years ismuch greater investment in our UK physical infrastructure; much moreeconomic regeneration beyond London and the south-east; a realdrive on boosting British exports; and a continued strong voice callingfor free trade worldwide. Of course, all of this creates opportunities in the shipping world. Better infrastructure means lower freight costs. Regional growthbreathes new life into our regional ports. And if were exporting moregoods overseas, then its on ships your ships that those goods willget there. So there are exciting times ahead and were making sure that Britainis best placed to make the most of them. I hope that this is a productive conference and that you will enjoyseeing what we in London and the UK have to offer, as a world-leading, dynamic maritime centre. Thank you very much.

!Excellent A-level results for borough pupils Students and teachers from schools in the Royal Borough ofKensington and Chelsea celebrated excellent A-level results onThursday 13 August. Overall the Royal Borough was well above the national average with13 per cent gaining A* (national average eight per cent), 45 per centgaining A* and A grades (national average 26 per cent), 76 per centA* to B (national average 53 per cent) and 92 per cent A* to C(national average 77 per cent). It was good news for students at Holland Park whose results farexceeded national averages for a fifth consecutive year. Passes atgrades A* to B were 73 per cent, passes at A* were 12 per cent and93 per cent of students achieved grades A* to C. Three of the schools students are Oxbridge-bound on the back ofthese results. One, Violet Smart, has been at the school from the ageof 11 and has long been recognised as a student of remarkable ability.Her four A*s (in Geography, English, Design and Religious Studies)are all the more impressive given that Violet taught herself religiousstudies and has now chosen to read Theology and Philosophy atChrist Church College, Oxford. Omar Sabbagh, who is off to read Law at Cambridge, achieved Asand A*s in all of his subjects: Mathematics, English and ReligiousStudies and his teachers at Holland Park are confident that he will bea formidable force at the bar in years to come. Future success seems likely as this year students taking AS examshave broken all records with more than 60 per cent achieving an A toB grade. Commenting on Holland Park Schools results Deputy Head, NicholasRobson, said: Students have achieved superbly well this year,winning enviable university places and scoring record-breakinggrades. We are delighted for their well-deserved success and arepleased to be sending them into the world eminently qualified! Todays results reveal another year of outstanding success for A-levelpupils at Cardinal Vaughan, with the school retaining its title as one ofthe highest attaining comprehensives in the country and 12 pupilsheading off to study at either Oxford or Cambridge. Headmaster, Paul Stubbings, said: I am delighted that our wonderfulstaff and pupils have once again produced the goods: not only are theresults top class, but we are bucking national trends and going fromstrength to strength. One pupil, Thomas King, did exceptionally well, achieving five A*grades in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and FurtherMathematics. He said: I am overjoyed with the results and am reallylooking forward to joining Oxford in October where I will be readingmedicine. I cant wait! Head Girl, Harriet Lea, said: I am really pleased I got my place atCambridge to study history. Its been such a great two years and Illreally miss everyone at the Vaughan. A-level pupils at The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School haveachieved double the national average of grades at A*, with 87 per centreceiving grades marked A* to B. Chelsea Academy is also celebrating after students achieved its bestresults with 53 per cent of grades at A* to B. The academy returnedparticularly excellent results in English, Mathematics, FurtherMathematics and languages. Chelsea Academy is funded by the Royal Borough of Kensington andChelsea and the Church of England; it specialises in science and anumber of this years highest performing students will now go on tostudy at prestigious Russell Group universities. Matt Williams, Principal of Chelsea Academy, said: I am delightedwith the outstanding success of our students A-level results. The workthat the students and staff have put in over the past two years haspaid off with the best set of A-level results we have seen at ChelseaAcademy. I am particularly pleased with the number of students that haveachieved top grades and are now prepared to succeed at university. These results show that Chelsea Academy is an outstanding place tocome and learn at post-16 level, especially for those studentsinterested in languages and the science, technology, engineering andmathematics subjects. Many congratulations to all of the students celebrating today and ahuge thank you to our talented staff for the support andencouragement they have given all of our students. Commenting on the results of the boroughs schools, Councillor EmmaWill, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelseas Cabinet Memberfor Education, said: This is a fantastic set of results with some reallywonderful individual achievements amongst them. They are testamentto the dedication and professionalism of the teachers and the hardwork of the students. I wish all the students leaving our schools to go on to university, ortheir first jobs, the very best of luck in the future.

Royal Borough pupils achieve top KeyStage 2 results in the country Royal Borough pupils have achieved the best results in the country forKey Stage 2 (age 11) performance. Provisional results, published on Thursday 27 August by the DfE,show that 90 per cent of children in Kensington and Chelsea schoolsachieved the expected Level 4+ in Key Stage 2 reading, writing andmathematics. This is ten percentage points above the nationalaverage and eight points above the average for London schools. Kensington and Chelsea is also the top performing local authority forthe proportion of children making expected progress from Key Stage 1to 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. Commenting on the results Councillor Emma Will, the Royal Boroughof Kensington and Chelseas Cabinet Member for Education, said:This is excellent news for parents who send their children to a RoyalBorough school. This high standard could not be achieved without alot of dedication and hard work by our head teachers and teachersand I thank them for all their efforts.

Have your say on when building work cantake place in Kensington & Chelsea The Council is asking for peoples views on its proposals to limit thenumber of hours noisy construction work can take place in Kensingtonand Chelsea during the week. It is also proposing to prohibit noisybuilding work on Saturdays which will mean contractors would nolonger be able to carry out activities such as demolition work, piling ordrilling, which can be heard at the site boundary, on the weekend. These are just two of the proposals contained in a draft Code ofConstruction Practice produced by the Royal Borough of Kensingtonand Chelsea, which also urges construction companies to improve theway they communicate with neighbours who will be disturbed by noisyand dusty works. If the Code is adopted the permitted hours for noisy construction work,defined as work audible at the site boundary, would be reduced by 30-minutes on weekdays with work expected to finish at 6pm. At present construction work is allowed on a Saturday between 8amand 1pm in Kensington and Chelsea. If the Code is adopted afterconsultation any work that can be heard at a site boundary would beprohibited on Saturdays. Comments on the draft Code of Construction Practice can be madeuntil Wednesday 21 October 2015. At the end of the consultationperiod, all responses will be considered and the Code amended asappropriate prior to its formal adoption later this year. For more information about the draft Code of Construction Practiceand to comment go to www.rbkc.gov.uk/draftcode

7 ways to contact Greg Hands:

By Phone: 020 7219 5448By email: mail@greghands.comBy post: Greg Hands

House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA

In person: Click here for details of howto book an appointment atGreg Handss weeklysurgery

www.greghands.com

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