Last week I attended a packed parliamentary debate about the funding of further education colleges to highlight the challenges facing standalone sixth forms like Havering Sixth Form College in my constituency.

This morning I received confirmation from Education Minister, Lord Agnew, that a number of bids from our schools for improvement funds have been successful! The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) received requests for more than 4,500 projects to this year’s round.

I know that a number of constituents, particularly those involved in IT contracting, are concerned about HMRC's Loan Charge. I attended the parliamentary debate this afternoon on the Loan Charge that had been tabled by my colleague, Ross Thomson, and had prepared a speech (below) to make.

I sent the following reply to those constituents who emailed me about critical votes in the week beginning 25 March, which included a round of so-called indicative votes on alternative options to the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement, and a third vote on the Withdrawal Agreement itself. 

Petition debates occur within parliament when online public petitions reach 100 000 signatures. Our constituency contributed the greatest number of signatures to a petition calling for tougher knife crime sentences.

Big things are happening in the Eastern London/Essex/Estuary region, with expanding ports, more homes and new transport infrastructure.

Dear Resident,

Thank you for your correspondence on Brexit.

The whole community will share my distress over the utterly senseless loss of a 17 year-old girl from a fatal stabbing in Harold Hill at 9.25pm last night.

My team and I arranged for Environment Secretary, Michael Gove MP to visit Thames Chase Community Forest in Upminster this morning to see first-hand the fantastic work of local volunteers in restoring London’s lost landscapes and making green spaces accessible to all.

This afternoon, the Prime Minister made a statement to the House advising MPs that we shall have a further meaningful vote on her Withdrawal Agreement by 12 March.