7/31/2019 News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #347

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In this edition:

Greg Hands M.P.s DiaryWebsite of the Week:Support Our SoldiersGreg Hands M.P.sresponse to theShaping a HealthierFuture consultationPhoto news:Opening of West LondonBreast Cancer screeningserviceHands: Apprenticeshipnumbers more than doublein Chelsea & Fulham

Photo news:Welcoming guests from StLucia to Conservative PartyConferenceThames Waters 5,000water bill life sentencePhoto news:H&F at Conservative PartyConferenceH&F Council rips up socialhousing rule book

Royal Borough calls fornominations for volunteersHands in the papers:Evict Hamza's wife from1m home, says MPHands in the papers:Abu Hamza's wife 'shouldbe kicked out of her 1mcouncil house' now hatepreacher has beenextradited to the US, saysMPHands in the papers:Possible A&E changes -Charing Cross likely toclose. Waiting timesquestionedHands in the papers:Greg Hands welcomesBoris Bikes to FulhamHow to contactGreg Hands M.P.

Issue 347 - Sunday 14th October 2012

Since the last edition, Greg:

Made a detailed submission to the NHS consultation on the

future of local A&E services, protesting at the proposed

downgrading of local hospitals. For Gregs submission, see

below.

Attended the opening of the new West London breast cancer

screening service at Charing Cross Hospital. The service,

which is very welcome, nevertheless replaces an acute surgical

ward, for a service lost to another hospital. For photo, see

below.

Attended all four days ofConservative Party Conference in

Birmingham, including welcoming international visitors to theconference, attending events of both the Kensington, Chelsea

& Fulham Conservatives, and the Hammersmith & Fulham

Conservatives. For photos, see below.

Packed and dispatched a food parcel for British forces in

Afghanistan. For photo, see below.

Website of the Week:

www.supportoursoldiers.co.uk

Since their launch in March 2003 over 100,000 morale boostingcare parcels have been sent to those on the front line inAfghanistan and Iraq. Support Our Soldiers supports our menand women throughout their tour, every day, not just atChristmas! Greg this week packed a parcel for British forcesserving in Afghanistan. Why not send a parcel to our troopstoday?

Greg Hands M.P. packs a food parcel for British forces in

Afghanistan.

Greg Hands M.P.s response to the

Shaping a Healthier Future consultation1. Introduction

As the Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, I have closeconnections with both Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and CharingCross Hospital. Like any other resident, having lived in the

constituency since 1990, I have unexpectedly found myself at bothA&E departments over the years. My daughter was born at Chelsea &Westminster Hospital in 2006, and my son at Queen CharlottesHospital in 2007. I campaigned hard against previous plans todowngrade services at Charing Cross, which emerged when I was stilla local Councillor, and have been a member of the hospitals Friendsgroup for fourteen years. Likewise, I am one of the vice presidents ofthe Chelsea & Westminster Friends group. My constituents are heavyusers of both Chelsea & Westminster and Charing Cross Hospitals.2. Consultation structure

The purpose of the proposed changes is to reduce the number of

Accident and Emergency units in North West London from ninehospitals to five. At the outset, I believe this to be a very substantialchange, effectively halving the number of A&Es. Whilst each A&E canbe assessed in isolation, the critical factor must also be the cumulativeimpact of closures, especially the impact of the four closures on theremaining five units. My belief is that, given the radical nature of thechange, this would be almost reckless to carry it out in one process,without any proper assessment of the impact of so many closures onthe surviving A&E units.The other general point I would make is that for local people, hospitalreconfigurations and reorganisations have come and gone in our area,but what counts for local people is the excellent quality of care in this

area of London, which has been the case since at least 1990. Indeed,NHS North West London, who are leading the consultation, is itself onthe point of abolition. Hammersmith Hospitals Trust has similarly hada shortened life, and the future of Imperial College Healthcare NHSTrust appears very much in question, only a few years after itsestablishment. For local people, what counts is their hospitals andtheir facilities, particularly A&E, which should remain at both Chelsea& Westminster and Charing Cross.Returning to the local configuration, given my close association withboth Charing Cross and Chelsea & Westminster, I am appalled thatthe consultation gives no consideration to allowing both to continue as

major hospitals. The premise of the option structure is that one or theother must be downgraded, with a clear preference expressed forOption A, which reduces Charing Cross to a small local hospital,shorn of its accident and emergency department and all majorservices.I am not making a judgement on the clinical case for having morespecialisms on fewer sites, but I note the concerns expressed in theRideout report commissioned by Hammersmith & Fulham Councilregarding both out of hospital care and the sequential 'funnel' used inthe options appraisal, which does not make allowance for the size andquality of the hospitals placed in pairs. A binary choice betweenChelsea & Westminster and Charing Cross is a false choice. Because

they are paired, no analysis has been undertaken of the ability to meetthe stated clinical objectives while keeping both open as majorhospitals.The out of hospital strategy, although welcome, appears insufficientlydeveloped to be replied upon to take demand away from a smallernumber of accident and emergency departments. Until it has beenimplemented and shown to be successful, it would be premature toplan the closure of entire sites. Equally, some of the assumptionsaround urgent care centres seem speculative and do not reflectknown patient preferences.

Regarding the need to find savings, I recognise that the so-calledNicholson challenge began under the last government, and that allparties are committed to finding 20 billion of efficiencies to meet thedemands of a growing, and ageing, population. This is balanced bythe rising budget for NHS North West London, reflecting the presentgovernment's ring-fence around NHS spending. Efficiencies andclinical improvements can go together. I am not persuaded, however,that Option A will deliver improvements for my constituents.3. Chelsea & Westminster under Option A

It is essential that Chelsea & Westminster should remain a majorhospital with a full accident and emergency department. Nevertheless,

Option A fails to reflect the impact on Chelsea & Westminster shouldthe A&E at Charing Cross close, even if capital costs are incurred byexpanding the current site. That site is severely constrained, placing alimit on what can be added. The numbers also assume that the urgentcare centre at Charing Cross will continue to take as many patients asit does presently. This seems unrealistic, as the UCC operates bychannelling patients away from the accident and emergencydepartment; many go there intending to access the A&E, or becausethey want the reassurance that it is available on site, and suchpatients are likely to travel to Chelsea & Westminster instead. I fearthat the influx from Fulham, Hammersmith, and beyond, would createdetrimental pressure on the service provided at Chelsea &Westminster under Option A. Chelsea & Westminster have stated that

they will cope with the additional admissions, and have outlined plansto expand their A&E on their rather constricted site, but when I metwith management there in September, I did not find the argumentsparticularly convincing, other than Chelsea & Westminster needing tosay they could cope, otherwise their lack of confidence would be seenas an argument for Option B.4. Charing Cross under Option A

Charing Cross Hospital is a world-class research and teaching facility.It is one of the few hospitals to have a sufficient number of beds underthe consultation criteria and hosts regionally important services suchas the hyper acute stroke unit. Given its size and quality, it seemsextraordinary for it to be downgraded to become a minor localhospital, unrecognisable from the facility that exists today.It is hard to ignore the underlying financial motives of Imperial CollegeHealthcare NHS Trust, which has been struggling with a large deficitand has made persistent attempts to remove services from theCharing Cross site. The most recent saw the loss of vascular surgery.I was first elected to Parliament after highlighting the previous threatto the hospital, in 2005, and it is not hard to discern the reason forImperial's hostility. Its finances would be significantly improved byoperating on two sites rather than three, not to mention unlocking asubstantial capital receipt from any land disposal. Imperial would

retain all these proceeds if its ambition to become a foundation trust isrealised.The extent of the proposed downgrade can be seen in the pre-consultation business case documents. Of the 5.38 hectare CharingCross site, a mere one hectare would be retained for use as a localhospital and urgent care centre. An illustrative map shows that only asmall corner of the site would be required and the main building wouldbe entirely vacated. Given the height of this building and of theaccommodation blocks nearby, both of which form a significantprecedent in planning terms, the listed disposal value of 10.2 millionper hectare massively understates the true market value. It disguisesthe fact that Imperial could expect to receive a receipt in the hundreds

of millions, yet have provided no indication of the purpose for which areceipt higher than 44.6 million would be used.

Although the loss of services beyond the A&E is referred to in theconsultation document, it does not make clear that the entire sitewould be redeveloped and the hospital, as it is known, closed. This isregrettable and calls into question whether the consultation hasengaged frankly with the public.The nearest accident and emergency departments would be atChelsea & Westminster and St Mary's, Paddington. It is not clear thatincreases in either 'blue light' or 'private' travel times have been

properly considered. The analysis is derived from averages in theHSTAT database, and average travel times in central London can behighly misleading because of the variable nature of congestion, whichcan bring streets to a standstill. No predicted routes have beenprovided, suggesting that the impact of route restrictions on matchdays at Chelsea FC, and from emergency roadworks on arterialroutes, is unknown. Ambulances need to reach a patient swiftly beforethey can be stabilised and then have a defined window of time inwhich to reach an A&E before patient outcomes deteriorate. Thelimited travel analysis does not allow one to conclude that Option A issafe.Overall, there is a disproportionate impact on Hammersmith &

Fulham, which will be left without any accident and emergencyprovision of its own. The worrying gaps in the consultation materialare also demonstrated by the Rideout report's inability to determinewhether the 20,000 extra homes planned for the borough are includedin the demographic assessments made by NHS North West London.5. The four tests

The government has been clear that plans for hospital reorganisationshould be developed locally, by PCTs and the emergingcommissioning groups; consulted on; and only then be referred forapproval. When asked, ministers have explicitly affirmed that nodecision has been taken on the Shaping a Healthier Future proposals,which will be judged against four tests. These tests were set out bythe former Secretary of State for Health, namely that:

There must be clarity about the clinical evidence base

underpinning the proposals.

They must have the support of the local commissioners

involved.

They must genuinely promote choice for patients.

The process must have genuinely engaged the public, patients

and local authorities.

I have already raised doubts in relation to the first test and will returnto the second. While the development of out of hospital care willpromote choice, the choice between major hospitals will obviously bereduced. It is perhaps wrong to speak of having a 'choice' betweenaccident and emergency departments as, in an emergency, thenearest is always preferred; however, the further distance isdetrimental for all those who use Charing Cross. A choice ismaintained between hospital trusts, but it is unclear why sites run byone trust could not be transferred to another, if this would enable moreto remain open.NHS North West London has engaged to some degree with thepublic, appearing at meetings and running events, but awareness has

rested on the efforts of local authorities and campaigners. Local presscoverage, while welcome, is restricted by limited circulation andadverts in the press are not equivalent to direct mail. Moreover, theopaqueness of much of the consultation material, and the impressionit creates of a foregone conclusion, makes the genuineness of thisengagement process questionable. I am also informed that healthscrutiny committees on the local authorities affected have found itdifficult to get proper answers to their questions.6. GP Commissioners

There has been an unsatisfactory blurring of the distinction betweenthe primary care trusts and the shadow clinical commissioning groups,which assume PCT responsibilities next year. While it appears thatthis will be solved by a reconstitution of the JCPCT, the Hammersmithand Fulham CCG has been unable to clarify whether its membersserve as delegates or representatives of GP practices, and how itsstance should reflect the wider views of general practitioners in thelocality. It seems this is a problem common to all eight CCGs involved.Despite this ambiguity, there appears to be no mechanism to surveythe views of ordinary GPs within the consultation, although some havebeen forthright in opposing the plans. This must call into question theability of the proposals to pass the second test.7. Conclusion

I urge NHS North West London to think again. There are optionsavailable that have yet to be examined, but which allow both Chelsea& Westminster and Charing Cross to continue as major hospitals. Asolution should not be compromised by the particular organisationaldifficulties faced by Imperial, or by its desire for a substantial capitalreceipt from the disposal of the Charing Cross site.The halving of A&E units in North West London is simply too abruptand radical a change. The impact of the closures on the survivingunits has not been properly assessed.Like me, my constituents use and rely on our local NHS hospitals. It is

clear they do not want to travel further to an accident and emergencydepartment, and they are right to be unpersuaded by the case thatNHS North West London has made during the consultation. Patientsafety must come first.Greg Hands M.P.Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham

Photo news:

Opening of West London Breast Cancer

screening service

Greg Hands M.P. with EastEnders actress and breast cancersurvivor Laila Morse at the opening of the West London BreastCancer screening service at Charing Cross Hospital this week.

Hands: Apprenticeship numbers more thandouble in Chelsea & FulhamGreg Hands M.P. has welcomed the huge increase in the number ofapprenticeships in Chelsea & Fulham.The Conservatives have delivered a record number of apprenticeshipsin England, with half a million people starting an apprenticeship lastyear. Thanks to the Governments investment, 142 more youngpeople in England are starting an apprenticeship every single day, anincrease of 80 per cent. The number of people starting an Advancedapprenticeship increased by 105 per cent, while the number starting a

Higher (or degree-level) apprenticeship increased by 133 per centIn Chelsea & Fulham:

220 people started an apprenticeship last year.

Only 100 people began an apprenticeship in Labours last year

in power.

The Government has delivered a 120 per cent increase in just

two years.

Commenting, Greg Hands M.P. said: It is fantastic that 220 people inChelsea & Fulham started an apprenticeship last year. More than

double the previous number of people are now benefiting fromapprenticeships thanks to the Conservatives.We are getting behind people who work hard and want to get on inlife. Apprenticeships are a great way to help people get the skills theyneed to make a better future for themselves.I want many more local people to have the chance to earn and learnat the same time as an apprentice.Information on the many opportunities now available can be found onthe apprenticeships website.

Photo news:

Welcoming guests from St Lucia to

Conservative Party Conference

Greg Hands M.P. with visitors from St Lucia, including theisland's Leader of the Opposition, at Conservative Party

Conference this week.

Thames Waters 5,000

water bill life sentenceThames Water customers face a 5,000 water bill life sentence if thecompany is allowed to bulldoze its controversial Thames TidewayTunnel plans through, a flagship council warned today.Thames Water has issued glossy leaflets to tell customers they facebeing charged an extra 70-80 each year to pay for the controversial20 mile long pipe under the River Thames.13.8million Thames Water customers from Essex to Gloucestershire,including Londoners, will be charged a premium on top of current billsfor the rest of their lives to fund the 4.1billion project which isofficially called the Thames Tideway Tunnel but has informally beendubbed the super sewer.

An 18-year-old living to the current life expectancy of 81-years-old

would pay an extra 5,040 in water rates during their lifetime.The estimated construction cost of the sewage storage tank under theriver bed has more than doubled since the scheme was first mooted in2002. Increasing numbers of residents are questioning whether thehuge financial costs combined with seven years of construction workseven days a week, 24-hours-a-day are worth the relatively smallbenefits the tunnel will bring.Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has warned that many peopleon fixed incomes, for example pensioners, will be driven into waterpoverty under the current proposals and is calling for cheaper andgreener solutions that will maintain the river's status as one of thecleanest in Europe.Cllr Nicholas Botterill, H&F Council Leader, says: The cost of thissewage storage tank under the river threatens to create a water billlife sentence - especially for pensioners and residents on fixedincomes. The cost of this huge engineering project is phenomenalcompared to the modest benefits it will bring. Other cities have madetheir rivers cleaner using much cheaper and more environmentallyfriendly solutions.At a time when the budgets for the Police, the armed forces, schools,transport and a whole range of local services are all being squeezed

are we really going to spend 4.1 billion on a gold-plated stink pipe?Thames Water stands to make a colossal 162million a year inadditional revenue from the tunnel which will be similar in size to theChannel Tunnel due to a perverse incentive in the way the waterindustry is financed, according to a national expert on watereconomics.Current regulations encourage water companies to build their way outof problems rather than consider greener, more sustainable options,according to Professor Colin Green who is based at MiddlesexUniversity.

Professor Green says that customers will be ripped-off under thecurrent plans as the current price system creates a strong incentive topour concrete rather than explore green alternatives that dont makemoney.The problem arises as water companies are allowed to borrow moneycheaply on the bond markets to pay for capital projects, like theThames Tideway Tunnel, but water regulator Ofwat allows ThamesWater to charge customers 4.5% per annum to service its borrowingand to pay dividends to its shareholders.The current system encourages water companies to borrow money to

spend on large capital projects, says Professor Green. There is astrong incentive to pour concrete as for every pound Thames Waterborrows, to pay for large projects like sewers or reservoirs, they makea handsome return off their customers.It is not the first time Thames Water has faced accusation of capexbias. A public enquiry into Thames Water's proposed 1billionreservoir at Steventon in Oxfordshire, which would have been as bigas Gatwick Airport, found that the case for the reservoir had not beenadequately made and that Thames Water had not considered othermore sustainable options.Cllr Botterill concludes: The Thames Tunnel is the story of corporate

greed encouraged by the UK's flawed regulatory system, overzealousinterpretation of EU law and successive Governments which have notyet understood the huge environmental, social and economic costs while ignoring the cheaper and greener alternatives.In 2011 Lord Selbornes Thames Tunnel Commission recommendedthat green infrastructure solutions like SUDS, which minimise theamount of fresh rain water entering the sewerage system, should beconsidered instead of the super sewer particularly in light of new EUlegislation on environmental sustainability.Original architect of the sewer Chris Binnie, who was employed by

Thames Water to come up with solutions to pollution in the Thamesbetween 2000-2006, now says a revised cost benefit analysis of the4.1billion pipe means the benefits no longer justify the cost.

Photo news:

H&F at Conservative Party Conference

Greg Hands M.P. with London M.E.P.s and local activists at theHammersmith & Fulham Conservatives lunch at Conservative

Party Conference in Birmingham last week.

H&F Council rips upsocial housing rule bookTrailblazing Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council is to be the firstlocal authority in the country to simultaneously introduce fixed termsocial housing tenancies and a maximum income cap for peoplewishing to access the housing register.The flagship council will be ripping up the social housing rule bookfrom April 2013 when it will introduce a number of radical policieswhich seek to increase low-cost homeownership, tackle the social andeconomic divide in the borough and give a far greater priority for

council housing to people who are making a community contribution.H&F, has the fourth highest property prices in the UK and one of thehighest proportions of social housing in London as a proportion of totalhousing, with around 34 per cent social rented.That compares to a London average of 25 per cent and a WestLondon average of 21.5 per cent. Just over two per cent of theboroughs housing is intermediate.H&F is also one of the first councils in the country to get back intobuilding homes, after a 30 year absence. These properties are sold at

a discounted market rate to those on low to middle incomes who liveor work in the borough and might struggle otherwise to get onto theproperty ladder.The bold new measures which have been praised by the new HousingMinister, Mark Prisk MP, are due to be rubber-stamped at a meetingof the councils Cabinet on Monday, October 15. Highlights include:

Preventing households earning more than 40,200 from

accessing the housing register.

Prioritising local, working residents, members of the armed

forces and those who make a community contribution for social

housing lettings.Ending the notion of a council house for life by introducing five

year fixed-term tenancies, with two years for those aged 18-25.

Secure tenancies will still be available for the most vulnerable

residents.

Ending the notion of an inherited welfare benefit by preventing

the children of tenants inheriting their council property.

Promoting local lettings plans to produce more mixed,

balanced and sustainable communities.

Breaking the link between a homelessness application and a

social housing tenancy and removing the perverse incentives

the current system can create.

Cllr Andrew Johnson, cabinet member for housing said: Today weare leading the way in ushering in a new era for social housing in thiscountry. We are saying that the current system, whereby anyone canapply for a council home irrespective of housing need, has failed. Webelieve that the notion of a tenancy for life is outdated and that itswrong to expect to inherit a welfare benefit in the form of a subsidisedhouse irrespective of housing need.Instead, we want to give honest, hard-working, local residents on lowto middle incomes, who make a positive contribution to their local

communities, the opportunity to access social housing."The old, antiquated system has created disadvantaged communitiesby producing concentrations of people on benefits withdisproportionately high levels of unemployment and sometimes socialbreakdown."In its place, we want to create neighbourhoods where a broad mix ofsocial households all live side-by-side.Housing Minister Mark Prisk said: Social housing is a valuableresource, but one that has been trapped in a system that helps farfewer people than it should and led to a doubling in waiting lists in theten years from 1997."Hammersmith & Fulham are taking firm action to ensure that theirhomes are reserved for those who genuinely need and deserve themthe most. They are using their new local powers to cut waiting lists,and giving greater priority to the Armed Forces, local residents andfoster carers. By doing this they are making the most of our commonsense reforms to make the social housing system fairer and moreresponsive."The council has a strong track record of protecting local, vulnerableadults, such as people with dependency issues and victims of

domestic violence. The council is committed to further developing astrategic approach to meet the housing needs of these residents.Greg Hands M.P. added: "I have campaigned for years for reforms tosocial housing allocations, and we need to do more both for localfamilies priced out and for lower cost homes to buy. Put simply, myconstituency is currently too polarised between rich and poor, and weneed more in the middle."Allocation of council housing

The new scheme of allocation will give a greater priority to those whoare working, those in training leading to employment and those

making a significant contribution to the community, eg ex-servicepersonnel and foster carers. In a recent consultation 61 per cent ofrespondents said they supported this policy.The council will also only consider granting tenancies for those with afive-year local connection to the borough who are in clear housingneed. Those who do not qualify will still be given a package of adviceand assistance about their housing options.Those households earning above 40,200 will generally not be eligibleto access the housing register. Instead, they will be offered advice onother housing options including joining the Councils HomeBuyRegister.This new way of working will replace an antiquated and inefficientsystem that created false hopes and expectations.That is because anyone from any part of the country, and indeedoverseas, can today apply to go onto the register, which currentlystands at 10,300 people. These people are graded according topriority but with resources so scarce and 94 per cent of people on thelist on the lowest priority bands, the chance of ever getting socialhousing is very small. In fact, one person has been on the waiting listin Hammersmith & Fulham for 36 years.

Resources are so stretched that last year only 470 new lettings weremade. The year before, a total of 131,000 bids were received forsocial housing and on average each three bedroom property attracted157 bids.Tenancies

Currently most social housing tenants have the right to stay for lifeunless the tenancy is brought to an end because of a breach. Oncethe tenant passes away, the right of succession passes onto a familymember even if the housing need of the individual is less than otherpotential applicants.

The council believes that this does not promote personal aspiration orprovide tenants with any incentive to try to move into home-ownershipand fails to take into account the fact that a households need forsocial housing may be temporary.From next year, the council will issue fixed-term tenancies of fiveyears for new social housing lettings. This would be reduced to twoyears in certain cases.Existing tenants will be unaffected by the new proposals. Newtenancies in sheltered accommodation and for those with specialhousing or health needs will still be on a secure basis.Two year tenancies will be issued for those with a history of antisocialbehaviour and for those between the ages of 18 to 25.The proposal to offer two year fixed-term tenancies to youngerhouseholds was supported by 53 per cent at the recent consultation.The council believes that young people tend to be less experiencedthan others in managing a tenancy and that the council should be ableto review how things are going after a relatively short period and thatparticular incentives need to be in place to encourage tenants tomanage their tenancies well. The council will also be encouragingyounger people to look for housing in the private rented sector.

The new system will give the council the opportunity to review whetherthe rationale for granting the tenancy in the first place is still there andwill also encourage good behaviour and greater contributions tocommunity life and the local economy.Local Lettings Plans

The Council intends to adopt a number of Local Lettings Plans forspecific areas so that no one single tenure dominates.Local Lettings Plans offer an opportunity to deliver area-specificoutcomes and will help the council to tackle economic and social

polarisation by being able to diversify the income and wealth levels ofhouseholds receiving affordable accommodation.This will help the council to create mixed, balanced and sustainablecommunities where people of differing ages, ethnicities, incomes andfamily sizes all live side by side.This approach represents a break from the planning attitudes of thepast, when all social rented housing was concentrated in largeestates.Homelessness

The council will continue to provide accommodation for vulnerablehomeless people but there will no longer be an automatic link betweena homelessness application and a social housing tenancy. Instead,the council will assist homeless people into the private housing sector,be it inside or outside of the borough.The council believes that the current system can create a number ofperverse incentives because people know that if they are accepted ashomeless they are guaranteed a council home. For example, aroundone third of homelessness applications are from people who havebeen asked to leave by their family or friends. Evidence has shownthat some people chose to make themselves homeless as they know

that the council will be awarded with a council home.

Royal Borough calls for nominationsfor volunteersLondon's summer of 2012 will be long remembered for the festivitiesthat accompanied the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the fantasticOlympic and Paralympic Games.

At the heart of these inspiring events were the volunteers who gave

their time and expertise to welcome visitors from all over the world toLondon and the Royal Borough.It is widely acknowledged that all those who volunteered made amagnificent and defining contribution to the summer's events.The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensingtonand Chelsea plan to show their appreciation to the volunteers with areception at the Mayor's Parlour, Kensington Town Hall on

Wednesday 7th November.If you know of someone who helped make this summer so memorable

for fellow residents and visitors we want to know. You can nominate avolunteer to attend the reception by contacting the Mayor's Office onmayor@rbkc.gov.uk or 020 7361 3659.So whether it's a person who helped to organise a street party tocelebrate the Diamond Jubilee or a hardworking London 2012 GamesMaker or Ambassador from the borough, the Mayor and DeputyMayor want to say thank you.Cllr Christopher Buckmaster, the Mayor of the Royal Borough ofKensington and Chelsea, said: "The volunteers who worked so hard tohelp us all celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic andParalympic Games did us proud. I think that their efforts made this

summer a very special one and it is right that we should thank themfor all their hard work and good humour."

Hands in the papers:

Evict Hamza's wife from 1m home,

says MPRichard Alleyne, Duncan Gardham and Jennifer O'MahonyThe Daily Telegraph

Monday 8th October 2012

Abu Hamza's wife should be evicted from her taxpayer-funded 1mhome as most of her children have moved out, her local MPsuggested last night.Najat Mostafa, 53, Hamzas second wife, has lived in a five-bedroomcouncil house for more than 15 years bringing up the couples eightchildren.

All but two have moved out according to neighbours in the upmarketarea of west London and several have council properties of their own.Her husband was extradited to America last Friday.Hamza, 54, has been in custody since 2004 and is facing a hearing inNew York tomorrow to answer charges of terrorist activities in theUnited States and Yemen.Now Mrs Mostafa, whose neighbours include two former governmentministers and a television presenter, faces calls for her eviction.Greg Hands, a local Tory MP, said: I would strongly welcome anymove by the council to take a look at Hamzas wifes status and thelarge council house in one of Londons wealthiest neighbourhoods to

see whether something might be done to move Hamzas family on.The immediate neighbour is the former Labour cabinet minister JohnHutton.Other neighbours include bankers and television producers.Hamza never officially lived in the home in Shepherds Bush, whichhis Moroccan-born wife moved into in 1995 after claiming they hadseparated.But neighbours said he was often seen at the house until his arrest in

August 2004 for incitement to murder and racial hatred. In 2006 hewas jailed for seven years.Police raided his council-owned house in 2004 and found thousandsof video and audio tapes, ready for distribution, in which he called onfollowers to launch a holy war against non-believers.Despite living on benefits, Hamza bought a former council flat nearbyand then sold it for a 125,000 profit.

A 280,000 house belonging to him was seized to pay legal bills.Neighbours said that Mrs Mostafa barely spoke to anyone in the street

and never stopped to speak to neighbours.People feel that they should find lesser accommodation, that it wouldbe best if they made a clean break from the neighbourhood, said one.There must only be three or four people living there. Hammersmithand Fulham council, which has spent tens of thousands of pounds onthe property while Hamzas family have been living there, announcedlast week that it would rip up the social housing rule book from April2013.

After that it would introduce a number of radical policies that wouldgive a far greater priority for council housing to people who aremaking a community contribution.

But a council spokesman said the rule change would apply only tonew tenants from next April and there was little it could do with a long-term tenant such as Mrs Mostafa if she chose to stay in the property.

Hands in the papers:

Abu Hamza's wife 'should be kicked out of

her 1m council house' now hate preacher

has been extradited to the US, says MPDaily Mail

Monday 8th October 2012The wife of hate preacher Abu Hamza should be evicted from hertaxpayer-funded 1million council house, her local MP said last night.Hamza's second wife Moroccan-born Najat Mostafa, 53, has lived inthe five-bedroom property for more than 15 years, bringing up thecouple's eight children.But most of them have now moved out, with just two living there

according to neighbours in west London.The former imam at the Finsbury Park mosque, who has been incustody since 2004, was extradited to America for trial last Friday.Tomorrow he faces a hearing in New York to answer charges ofterrorist activities in the U.S. and Yemen.Greg Hands, the Conservative MP for Fulham and Chelsea, told TheDaily Telegraph: 'I would strongly welcome any move by the council totake a look at Hamza's wife's status and the large council house inone of London's wealthiest neighbourhoods to see whether something

might be done to move Hamza's family on.'One of the family's neighbours is former Labour cabinet minister JohnHutton while others include bankers and television producers.Hamza, who is missing both hands and an eye, never officially lived inthe Shepherd's Bush house but was often seen there by neighboursbefore his arrest in August 2004 for incitement to murder and racialhatred.In 2006 he was jailed for seven years. His wife moved into it in 1995after claiming they had separated.

Police raided his council-owned house in 2004 and found thousandsof extremist video and audio tapes ready for distribution.In 2006 it emerged he had bought a four-bedroom semi in Greenfordfor 220,000 cash while in prison.

At the same time the Islamist extremist was running up a legal aid billwhich had then cost the taxpayer 250,000, and the property waslater seized to claw back some of the cash.Neighbours said Mrs Mostafa barely spoke to anyone in the street andnever stopped to speak to people living there.Hamza faces 11 charges in the U.S., that include conspiring withSeattle men to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and helpingabduct 16 hostages, two of them American tourists, in Yemen in 1998.If found guilty the 55-year-old is likely to die behind bars.The Islamist fanatic lost the last of his countless appeals in a legalfarce that has seen him thwart extradition for more than eight years ata cost to taxpayers of millions of pounds.

Hands in the papers:Possible A&E changes - Charing Crosslikely to close. Waiting times questionedAemun Reza and Tim Arbabzadah,Felix (The Imperial College Student Newspaper)

Friday 5th October 2012Plans have been made to close the Accident and Emergencydepartments of both Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals.Instead, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital will be made the main

A&E department for the area and will be expanded to handle the extrapatients from the borough. Other hospitals that will be affected bythese changes are Ealing, Central Middlesex, and West Middlesex.Charing Cross hospital is well known for its hyper-acute stroke unitwhich will be moved to St. Marys as NHS bosses say that they needto site hyper acute stroke units evenly across London to minimise

journey times. Hammersmith and Fulham Councils community carecabinet member Marcus Ginn said Moving the world class stroke unitfrom Charing Cross to St Marys is madness.In a public consultation that began July 2nd and will end October 6th,people can vote out of three choices. As shown in the picture on page4, the three options show that Hammersmith will become a specialisthospital. Option A and Option C show Charing Cross becoming a localhospital and Chelsea and Westminster becoming a Major hospital. Atthis point, it seems that Option A may be most likely.If these changes go ahead it is would leave 700,000 people without an

A&E in their area. The Chelsea and Fulham MP, Greg Hands, statedhis concerns about how this would affect patient care. Talking to Felix,he said its difficult to see how the Chelsea and Westminster hospitalwill cope with a massive influx of patients and getting to Chelseamay be difficult and, potentially, life-threatening for many of myconstituents in Fulham. Traffic in our part of London is bad at the best

of times, but we all know how gridlocked things can become. Whathappens when the roads are closed for football at Chelsea FC isanyones guess. We know that ambulances will take longer to reachpatients and longer to get them to a hospital with the right specialism.For stroke, that will involve going all the way to St Marys.Opposition to the move called Save our Hospitals that have beenorganising events and meet-ups, will be marching tomorrow Saturday6th October from Shepherds Bush to Charing Cross to protest againstthe closure of West Londons A&Es. Other opposition groups havestarted online petitions that have gathered up to 6216 signatures tosave Charing Cross Hospital and 1499 signatures to saveHammersmith hospital.

Hammersmith and Fulhams Labour MP, Andy Slaughter, said on hiswebsite that he was told the unbelievable news that Chelsea andWestminster Hospital is campaigning for closure of Charing Cross. Iam writing to the Chair to ask him stop immediately. I know of no otherinstance of a hospital actively campaigning to have another hospitalclosed. The trust is actually distributing postcards, asking patients tovote for Option A which closes Charing Cross! He mentioned hisdisapproval over the proposed changes as they are ruining the NHSand that the damage had already gone too far and must be resisted.

If the Imperial NHS Trust becomes a Foundation Trust, they can sell

most of Charing Cross for hundreds of millions. The land value forCharing Cross Hospital is exceedingly large as anyone who buys theland will be able to build up to the same height as the building thatthey knock down, which would be fourteen stories for Charing CrossHospital.The Imperial NHS trust has already been under fire over its recordhandling and this questions the competence of the trust as a wholeand its ability to manage such dramatic changes to patient care. GregHands said that the whole process is in danger of being driven byland values and the Trusts ambitions instead of the best care forpatients across West London.

Greg Hands continued on to say that making sure there is 24/7 coverfrom consultants is obviously good; leaving an entire London boroughwithout an A&E is not. At the moment, this seems to be about ImperialNHS Trusts needs, not patients needs. I am fighting hard to changethat.Medical students of Imperial College London use both hospitals forteaching, and concerns have been made as to how this will affectImperial medics. If the plans go through Charing Cross will no longerbe a teaching hospital, which will have a big impact on the waymedicine is taught at Imperial. ICSM President, Shiv Vohra,commented saying: At the moment students are in the dark as to

what the proposals will mean for their future education, and would liketo be kept in the loop about the planned changes and how it will affectthem. Particularly in relation to the Charing Cross hospital, which isthe hub of the medical school.Felix asked a spokeswoman from Imperial College Healthcare NHSTrust, about whether the changes would have a positive or negativeeffect on education. In her response she mentioned that, the threeoptions will affect the Trust in differing ways and as a consultee theTrust is considering what the proposals mean for our services, staffand sites. We have agreed with Imperial College London that we willformulate a joint response as an Academic Health Science Centre(AHSC) as it is crucial that the feedback includes how these proposals

will affect the AHSCs tripartite mission of vastly improving healthcarethrough service, education and research.With the public consultation ending on 6th October and the proposedchanges taking up to three years to be implemented, it could be awhile before the exact effects to medical students and patients isknown.

Hands in the papers:

Greg Hands welcomes Boris Bikes

to FulhamThe Evening Standards Capital Live blog

Monday 8th October 2012Boris bikes have come to Fulham! There is now a stand near ParsonsGreen station. MP Greg Hands has been campaigning for this.

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