Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

On Friday I attended a promotional party for Emloyability. This scheme, sponsored by National Grid as participating employer, helps people who have faced learning difficulties to enter the business as interns, with mentoring and support. After one year they may gain a job at National Grid, or may be better placed to win a job elsewhere. They are working with Addington School.

The scheme has done great work already, helping build confidence, improve skills and assist people into full time employment. I was impressed by its architects and sponsors, and by the presentation on what can be achieved. I urge others to join in.

On Thursday night I gave a talk to Council members in Earley at their request. I spoke about the lack of freedom and poor living standards under communism, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the amalgamation of the two Germanies, the currency union of the 2 Germanies, and the peaceful and easy break up of the rouble zone. This was by way of background to the disaster of the Exchange Rate Mechanism as a dry run for the Euro, the reasons I helped keep the pound, the problems facing Greece and other poorer countries within the Eurozone, and why if they want it to work the richer countries and parts of the zone will have to pay a lot more tax to send money to the poorer parts.

I have received a number of emails from constituents who are concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Europe and the Mediterranean.

Like many people I was shocked by the photograph of Aylan Kurdi’s body washed up on the beach, and deeply saddened by his story. His family fled from war torn Syria and wished to move on after living in Turkey for three years, to seek asylum in Canada. The case underlines the terror of the Syrian civil war and the criminal practices of the people smugglers organising the dangerous boat trips.

The Prime Minister has made clear that he too was greatly saddened by this case. He is planning to do more to help Syrian refugees and to tackle criminal gangs of people smugglers who put migrant and asylum seeker lives at risk. He has told us there is no simple or easy solution to this crisis. A long term solution will only be possible if peace and stability can brought to the Middle East and Africa. A comprehensive solution will require actions to resolve the problems in Syria.

The UK has been at the forefront of international diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria. The Foreign Secretary, Phillip Hammond has repeatedly called for President, Bashar al-Assad to step down to allow a political transition. The UK has been working with other countries to impose unilateral and bilateral sanctions on the regime in Syria. These include a travel ban and an asset freeze on specified Syrian officials. The government is also assisting the international effort to impede and challenge the brutal ISIL insurgency.

In addition, the Government is already acting to assist refugees from Syria. The UK has allocated £900 million since 2012 to meet needs of people in Syria and refugees in the region – the largest UK response to a humanitarian crisis. The money has gone to some 30 partners such the UN’s World Food Programme and the Red Cross, which have been able – under extremely difficult conditions – to deliver food and water inside Syria.

Almost half of Britain’s aid money for the Syria crisis goes to Syria itself – £440 million. Lebanon has been allocated £211 million and Jordan £177 million. According to the Department for International Development, from February 2012 to March 2015, British aid has provided 13 million food rations to Syrians and supported 224,972 children in formal and informal education.

In Jordan, which is hosting 600,000 Syrian refugees (1/10th of Jordan’s population) UK aid money is providing food, water and shelter to people across the country, as well as supporting basic services, such as education and healthcare.

Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, said in July: “Despite the difficult conditions they face, the many refugees I have met on my visits to the region say they just want to remain close to their homes. Our aid is helping those people – families whose normal lives have been turned upside down – cope with their shattered lives and stay safe.”

Alongside these efforts, the UK has also granted asylum to over 5,000 Syrians since 2011. This demonstrates that legal routes are available to refugees fleeing violence who are genuinely in need.

Since the election I remember being asked three times to appear on Radio Berkshire. Once was a request to comment on the expansion of Heathrow. This is a topic of interest to my constituents. I had to comment within minutes of the Heathrow report being published so I had not been able to get hold of a copy let alone read it. I have regularly worked on the issues of the airport, especially noise, but there have been no interviews about any of this.It was not difficult explaining I could not comment properly on something I had not read, but it was not informative or helpful radio for listeners.I tried to take the interview in the direction of what I have been doing on living with Heathrow.

The other two requests have been to discuss dead Conservatives/UKIP members who were not local figures. The topics were ones which no one else has written or talked to me about, so I declined. Radio Berkshire assure me there have been other invitations and they have apparently used clips of me in Parliament on other topics. I have asked them to send me details as they were not specific.

Radio Berkshire did come to see me at Westminster to discuss the coverage the BBC gives to England, and to Wokingham and Berkshire.I have written and spoken a lot about this, and raised it in the Commons. I continue to run my campaign of speaking for England. They tell me they do wish to take the issue of England seriously so I look forward to talking about that on their radio shows in due course.

Radio Berkshire similarly ignores the work I do on affordable homes, tax reductions to boost take home pay, improving local roads and transport, flooding and the many other local matters I highlight on this site and in my constituency work.They have a strange sense of the agenda and priorities of a busy local MP judging by their interview requests.

Dear Mr Redwood

Thank you for the constructive meeting last month. It was useful to discuss some of the issues raised by the recent Airports Commission recommendation as well as the airport’s operations today and how we can be a better neighbour to your constituents.

I am grateful for the constructive manner in which you have raised a number of important issues on behalf of your constituents. As a consequence of our engagement with you and other local Members of Parliament, Heathrow has developed a Blueprint for Noise Reduction which aims to address many of the concerns you have raised over the past 12 months. These are set out in the briefing paper I’ve attached.

At our meeting, we discussed the Government’s Future Airspace Strategy which seeks to make fundamental improvements to airspace structures in the longer term. The modernisation of airspace creates the potential to restructure airspace to reflect the capabilities of today’s modern aircraft. This will address some of the more significant changes to you want to see, including increasing aircraft altitudes on departure. Although these structural changes are a few years away, in the meantime, we will continue to work with NATS and the airlines to find innovative solutions to managing noise and continuing to reduce Heathrow’s noise footprint.

I will ensure that you are kept fully informed about any future trails or proposed changes to flight paths. Your continued input into this process would be very welcome.

Kind regards

Yours sincerely

John Holland-Kaye
Chief Executive Officer

 

Briefing for Rt Hon John Redwood, MP for Wokingham – Aircraft noise, Heathrow

Blueprint for Noise Reduction

Heathrow’s Blue print for Noise Reduction is a list of practical steps to reduce the impact of operations at the airport today on those living under flightpaths around the airport.  It was developed following engagement with local politicians and in response to concerns raised by local residents.

The relevant commitments Heathrow have made that will improve the noise climate for residents in Wokingham include:

Continuous Descent Approach

Aircraft approach airports in two stages.  The first part, which happens over areas such as Wokingham on easterly operations, is as aircraft make their way from the holding stacks to the final approach.  Pilots can make this stage less noisy by descending at a steady rate in what’s known as a continuous descent approach (CDA).  The alternative – coming down in steps with periods of level flying in between – is noisier because aircraft fly at low altitudes for longer.

The use of CDA has been increasing over the last few years and over the past 12 months Heathrow has been working with those airlines that perform below average.  This has seen some very encouraging results and last month saw the best ever performance of CDA with 89% of all arrivals at Heathrow using this procedure.  This is benefitting the Wokingham area by keeping these aircraft higher for longer.

Fitting Quiet Technology to A320s

The Airbus A320 family of aircraft accounts for 55 to 60% of the aircraft that use Heathrow.  They’re efficient aircraft but they emit a distinctive high pitched whistling sound when the aircraft are about 10 to 25 miles from touchdown, over areas such as Wokingham.  It’s now possible to retrofit a component that reduces the noise from each aircraft by around 6 decibels.

I have written to the Chief Executives of all airlines operating the A320 into Heathrow, encouraging them to adopt the new technology.  Some have already done so and 80% of the fleet is expected to be retrofitted in the next 18 months.

Early Phase-out of the Noisiest Planes

Some aircraft are noisier than others.  The oldest and noisiest are classified as ‘Chapter 3’ aircraft.  Airlines already pay ten times more to fly Chapter 3 planes to Heathrow than they pay for the quietest aircraft.  Although the number of ‘Chapter 3’ aircraft in use at Heathrow is decreasing each year, based on last year’s movements there are still around 3,600 of these aircraft which we know are disruptive to residents.

Heathrow aims to become the first large European airport to be completely free of ‘Chapter 3’ aircraft and we are working with the airlines that still use these aircraft to encourage an early phase-out.  We will be able to report progress against this later this year.

Late Running Aircraft

The last scheduled flight of the day leaves its stand at 22.50.  For a variety of reasons aircraft may leave later, which can be very disruptive for local communities.  Sometimes late departures are unavoidable.  We are working with NATS to reduce operational bottlenecks that lead to delays and late flights.

We are keeping a record of all late-departing aircraft so that we can track the least punctual airlines and are working with the airlines that run late most often to help them keep to schedule.

Segmented Approaches

While not officially included in the Blueprint, we have been working with British Airways to explore the concept of ‘segmented approaches’ which potentially offer additional noise benefits, particularly for communities further away from the airport such as the Wokingham area.

Segmented approaches are where the aircraft has an initial steeper approach path before transitioning to a lower angle for the final approach to the runway.  For example, this might be going from 4.5 degrees to 3 degrees.  This would mean aircraft would be higher over Wokingham than is the case today.

 

In the election I campaigned for Home ownership for the many. I am very well aware that a large number of younger people in their 20s and 30s are unable to afford their first home and have to rent, often sharing accommodation or renting small units to manage the bills.
I have held meetings with and had conversations with Ministers to promote and develop the Help to buy schemes which offer assistance with the deposit to buy. I have also now held meetings with Councillors and officers in Wokingham Borough, and had email exchanges with West Berkshire Councillors over the local response to the new scheme to provide more affordable homes for purchase, with a 20% discount on normal market prices for first time buyers. Ministers are working on the details this autumn, and I am keen to see a positive response in our area.
Over an adult lifetime it usually makes financial sense to own rather than to rent. Home ownership continues to rise amongst the over 45 s, so it is good news that more people can look forward to a retirement without having to fear and pay a rent bill. We now need to help Generation Rent, as we are going backwards on owner occupation for younger people.

In response to criticisms of the Earley peripheral and the A 329 cycleways Wokingham has installed, I have investigated and taken them up with the Council.

I was worried about possible conflict between pedestrians and cycles along the A 329 route, as the cycleway diverts cycles from the old highway to the pavement at several points along its route, usually where there is a pedestrian crossing point or pinch point on the highway. I am pleased to report that when I went on two occasions to see if there were problems there was no such difficulty.

On the first occasion I drove from Wokingham to Reading along the full stretch of the A 329. I saw two cyclists. One was a young man on a racing bike who appeared to be out for sport cycling, riding very fast. He chose to ride in the vehicle lane, not the cycleway. The second was a more elderly man who chose to ride on the pavement at a slow speed, so any pedestrian could see he was on the pavement all the time and adjust their route accordingly.

On the second occasion I drove from central Wokingham to Winnersh triangle along the A 329. I saw no cyclists at all. (mid morning)

The main criticisms to me have been the cost and the lack of use of these facilities. I am waiting for a reply to my enquiries about why the Council undertook these schemes, how the moving onto and off the pavement will be handled, and what they think the use levels are and are likely to be in the future.

Yesterday I made a speech to the Wokingham Constituency Conservative Lunch Club who invited me to their event.

I reminded them that together we campaigned for tax cuts for all. The government has promised to cut income tax for everyone by raising both the threshold before you pay tax, and raising the threshold at which you have to start paying 40% tax.

We campaigned for home ownership for the many. Help to Buy, affordable homes for sale, and Stamp Duty reform are part of a big package of measures to let more young people turn their dream of home ownership into reality.

We campaigned for justice for England. The government has promised to change the rules for setting Income Tax, for deciding English only spending and laws for England. Once Scotland sets her own Income Tax in Edinburgh, England should have the same rights through the votes and voices of English MPs.

We campaigned for a new relationship with the EU and a referendum on the result of the negotiation. Parliament is well advanced in putting through the necessary legislation, and the PM has started negotiations.

We campaigned for more and better jobs, and for it to always be worthwhile working. Since the election the government has announced higher incomes for the lower paid, general pay is going up in real terms again, and benefit reform is ensuring it is always wo0rthwhile working where jobs are available.

I have briefed Wokingham and West Berkshire Councillors on the new government’s policies to promote home ownership. I have offered both Councils my help in sorting out any details or difficult issues with the new policy outlines with Ministers.

The Councils need to include the Right to Buy offer in their wider social housing policy, and to work with developers and Housing Associations in putting forward more affordable homes for purchase.

A few constituents have expressed concerned about Right to Buy for Housing Association properties, asking if it means there will be fewer homes. On the contrary, there will be more homes overall as a result of Right to Buy, as the money from the sale can be spent on building an additional home. After a RTB sale there are still the same number of homes with the same people living in them, but there is extra cash to build more.

Since 2012 more than 36,000 new homeowners have been created through Right to Buy. The money freed can be reinvested. £850 million has been reinvested in affordable house building – with another £2 billion set to come in over the next two years. Under Right to Buy, every additional home sold will be replaced by a new affordable home to rent and local authorities are already delivering one for one replacements on additional sales.

With over 200,000 households helped into home ownership through Government schemes since 2010, this is part of our wider efforts to help anyone who works hard and wants to own their own home.