From: Greg Hands MP news@greghands.

com
Subject: News Bulletin from Greg Hands MP #451
Date: 2 December 2015 at 12:17
To: news@greghands.com

Issue 451 - Wednesday 2nd December 2015

In this edition:

Since the last edition, Greg:

Greg Hands MPs Diary

Website of the week:
National Army Museum

Been a driving force, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer,

behind the delivery of the Conservative-majority Governments
Spending Review and Autumn Statement.
Appeared on Newsnight, Channel 4 News, Scotland 2015,
BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio London responding to
the Spending Review and Autumn Statement.
As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, welcomed the four best
entries from the Spending Review Public Sector Efficiency
Challenge to HM Treasury. For more, see photo below.
Met representatives of the No Crossrail in Chelsea
campaign. For more, see below.
Visited the National Army Museum to discuss the progress in
its redevelopment, as well as the Governments newly
announced 1 million grant from banking fines. For more, see
below.
Visited the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in order to pay his
respects to Baroness Thatcher, whose remains are interred in
the grounds there.
Met representatives of Chelsea-based EdAid, an education
FinTech company looking to bring crowd-sourced funding to
student loans.
Attended the Lady Margaret School Christmas Fair in
Parsons Green, Fulham.
Held a constituency surgery at Fulham Library. To make an
appointment to see Greg, email him at mail@greghands.com
or telephone 020 7219 5446.

Photo news:
Lady Margaret School
Christmas Fair 2015
Hands in the media:
Greg Hands discusses the
Autumn Statement on
Channel 4 News
Greg Hands delivers the
Spending Review with the
Chancellor
Greg Hands visits National
Army Museum in Chelsea
Photo news:
Eritrean diaspora
An Update on Crossrail 2
Photo news:
Lady Thatcher's grave in
Chelsea
Photo news:
Public Sector Efficiency
Challenge
7 ways to contact
Greg Hands

Website of the Week:

www.nam.ac.uk
The website of the Chelsea-based National Army Museum. The
museum was this week given a 1 million grant from the
Government from the proceeds of LIBOR/ banking fines. The
rebuilt museum will re-open to the public in 2016.

Photo news:

Lady Margaret School Christmas Fair 2015

Greg Hands MP at this year's Lady Margaret School Christmas

Fair with Emma & Eleanor Farquharson.

Greg Hands MP at this year's Lady Margaret School Christmas

Fair, with Headmistress Elisabeth Stevenson.

Hands in the media:

Greg Hands discusses the Autumn

Statement on Channel 4 News

Click on the image above to watch Greg's interview.

Greg Hands delivers the Spending Review

with the Chancellor
Greg Hands, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Member of
Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham, has welcomed the Conservative
Governments Spending Review and Autumn Statement as presented
to Parliament by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.
The Spending Review and Autumn Statement deliver on the
Conservative Partys promise to the British people to put their security
first by:

Protecting Britains economic security taking the difficult

decisions to live within our means and to bring our debts
down. The public spending plans set out in the Spending Review
mean Britain will reach a surplus of 10.1 billion in 2019/20 that
is higher than was forecast at the Budget and means Britain will
be out of the red and into the black.

Protecting Britains national security by defending our

countrys interests abroad and keeping our citizens safe at
home. The Spending Review announced that there will be no
cuts in the police budget, with real terms protection for police
funding, and it delivers on the Conservative Governments
commitment to spend 2 per cent of our national income on
defence.

In total, the Spending Review commits 4 trillion pounds over the next
five years. The Government knows that it has an obligation to make
sure that this huge commitment from the British taxpayers hardearned pay is well spent. The Conservatives approach is not simply
retrenchment, but to reform and rebuild, with:
Full funding of the Five Year Forward View put forward by the
NHS itself as the plan for its future, with the first 6 billion
delivered up-front next year.

The biggest real-terms rise in the basic State Pension in 15

years. Thanks to the Conservatives commitment to the triple
lock, next year the basic state pension will rise by 3.35 to
119.30 a week.

The biggest house building programme by any government

since the 1970s with a doubling of the housing budget to over 2
billion a year. The Conservative Governments bold plan to back
families who aspire to buy their own home will deliver 400,000
affordable new homes by the end of the decade.

The phasing out entirely of the local government grant. By the

end of the parliament, local government will keep all of the
revenue from business rates. The uniform business rate will be
abolished, so that councils will be able to cut rates to attract new
businesses, but because the amount government raises in
business rates is much greater than the amount it gives to local
councils through the local government grant, that grant will be
phased out entirely and additional responsibilities will be
devolved.

New apprenticeship levy to deliver 3 million apprenticeships.

This will ensure that large businesses share the cost of training,
but businesses with a wage bill below 3 million wont have to
pay. The Government will also increase funding for
apprenticeships to make sure that apprenticeships are of a high
quality.

Real terms protection of the schools budget. The Conservatives

will maintain funding for free infant school meals, protect rates for
the pupil premium, and increase the cash in the dedicated
schools grant. The Government is also going to open 500 new
free schools and University Technical Colleges, and invest 23
billion in school buildings and 600,000 new school places.

The largest ever investment in free childcare so that working

families get the help they need. From 2017, the Conservatives
will fund 30 hours of free childcare for working families with three
and four year olds. The Government will support 10,000 of
childcare costs tax-free and, to support nurseries delivering more
free places for parents, it will increase funding for the sector by
300 million.

The improvement in the nations finances used to help on tax

credits. Because of the improvement in the public finances, the
simplest thing to do is not to phase these changes in, but to avoid
them altogether. Tax credits are being phased out anyway,
universal credit is introduced.

Average saving of 30 from the projected energy bills of 24

million households by introducing a cheaper domestic energy
efficiency scheme.

Commenting after the Spending Review and Autumn Statement, Chief

Secretary to the Treasury and Member of Parliament for Chelsea &
Fulham, Greg Hands said: This Autumn Statement delivers on the
promise that the Conservatives made to working people here in
Chelsea & Fulham and across the country, that we would put the
British peoples security first.
This Conservative-majority Government is protecting our economic
security by taking the difficult decisions to live within our means and
bring our debts down. And were protecting our national security by
defending our countrys interests abroad and keeping our citizens safe
at home.
I have received a really positive response from across the political
spectrum, in fact here in Chelsea & Fulham, to the Spending Review
and Autumn Statement, and I look forward to continuing to serve my
constituents not only as their local MP, but also as Chief Secretary to
the Treasury.
The full text of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement can be
found here.

Greg Hands visits National Army Museum

in Chelsea

Greg Hands MP being shown around the building works at the

National Army Museum, Chelsea. The museum was awarded 1m
this week by the Government from banking fines.
On Friday, 27 November, Member of Parliament for Chelsea &
Fulham, Greg Hands, paid another visit to the National Army Museum
in Chelsea.
When the House of Commons is not sitting, it is customary for
Members of Parliament to spend Fridays out and about in their
constituencies, and this Friday was no different for Greg Hands MP. In
addition to meeting representatives of an education FinTech company
in Fulham, Greg Hands visited the National Army Museum in Chelsea.
Founded in 1960 by Royal Charter, the National Army Museum was
established to collect, preserve, and exhibit objects and records
relating to the Land Forces of the British Crown. The Museum is
located adjacent to the Royal Hospital, and is usually open to the
public every day of the year apart from Christmas Eve to Boxing
Day, and New Years Day. However, since 1 May 2014, it has been
closed for a major rebuilding programme after it received funding from
the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Museum is due to reopen in late 2016.
Greg Hands was grateful for the opportunity not only to discuss the
progress of the renovation with Janice Murray, Director General of the
National Army Museum, but also to see it first hand on a tour of the
site.
The visit proved fortuitous in the wake of the Spending Review and
Autumn Statement, in which Greg himself had been a driving force as
Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Indeed, earlier in the week on
Wednesday, 25 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George
Osborne, announced that the National Army Museum along with a
number of other military charities and good causes would benefit
from the Governments allocation of 25 million of banking fines over
the next three years. Specifically, the National Army Museum is due to
receive 1 million to facilitate a radical transformation ready for 21st
century audiences.
In light of the National Army Museums proximity to the Royal Hospital,
Greg also took the opportunity to pay his respects once more to
Baroness Thatcher, whose remains are interred in the grounds there
with those of her husband.
Speaking after the visit, Greg Hands said: Its great to see the
progress being made in the renovation of the National Army Museum
in Chelsea in my constituency, and Im so glad that the Government
has been able to contribute to the refurbishment out of the 25 million
of banking fines.
I would like to thank Janice Murray, Director General of the National
Army Museum, for welcoming me once again, and I wish her and her
team every success in the reopening of the Museum next year.
For the National Army Museums response to the Governments extra
contribution of 1m from banking fines, see here. For the Spending
Review and Autumn Statement, see here.

Photo news:

Eritrean diaspora

Greg Hands MP with a delegation of locals from the Eritrean

diaspora who came to see him this week to talk about problems
in their country of origin and the wider Horn of Africa.

An Update on Crossrail 2
Greg Hands welcomes his
constituents
and
local
stakeholders ongoing input into
the Crossrail 2 consultation.
On 29 June this year, Member
of Parliament for Chelsea &
Fulham, Greg Hands, held a
meeting with the Mayor of
London, Boris Johnson, to request a feasibility study into alternative
Crossrail 2 stations either at Imperial Wharf or Fulham Broadway.
Greg received the Mayors feasibility study on 28 October, two days
after Transport for London (TfL) started its current public consultation
on Crossrail 2.
Since then, Greg has been inviting his constituents to contact him with
their opinions on the project. Indeed, every day Greg continues
receiving letters, emails, and telephone calls from constituents and
local stakeholders expressing a variety of opinions on TfLs proposals
to bring a Crossrail 2 station to his constituency of Chelsea & Fulham.
Most recently, over the last week Greg has been interested to hear
that on Monday, 23 November, the Chelsea Society at its AGM
debated and voted on the motion that The Chelsea Society opposes
the plans to build a Crossrail Station and route in Chelsea. The vote
was carried by an overwhelming majority, with reports suggesting that
only seven members voted against the proposal. In light of this
outcome, the Chelsea Societys Council will now meet to prepare the
Societys response to TfLs consultation on Crossrail 2.
In addition, representatives of the No Crossrail in Chelsea campaign
had asked to meet Greg to discuss their concerns as constituents, and
accordingly Greg held a meeting with them on Friday, 27 November.
The meeting provided a helpful insight into both sides stances and
concerns, with discussion ranging from the formerly proposed
Chelsea-Hackney Line, to the likelihood of support for a Crossrail 2
station at Imperial Wharf.
Speaking after the Chelsea Societys vote and his meeting with No
Crossrail in Chelsea, Greg Hands said: Its been a really interesting
week for Crossrail 2 in my constituency, with the Chelsea Society
open meeting now having voted to oppose not only a station in
Chelsea but indeed a route under Chelsea. However, I am still inviting
constituents and local stakeholders to tell me their opinions on the
prospect of having Crossrail 2 come to the constituency of Chelsea &
Fulham in general.
Im keen to know: would local residents rather have a station at
Crossrail 2s preferred site on the Kings Road; at Imperial Wharf; or
Fulham Broadway? Or somewhere else? Or no station at all? I look
forward to receiving views before I make my own submission to TfLs
consultation.
To request a copy of the Mayor of Londons feasibility study into
alternative stations either at Imperial Wharf or Fulham Broadway, and
to convey your views, please contact Gregs office at
handsg@parliament.uk or 020 7219 8828.
Information from Crossrail 2 is here http://crossrail2.co.uk/ The
Chelsea Societys most recent statement can be found here, and the
No Crossrail in Chelsea campaign can be found here.

Photo news:

Lady Thatcher's grave in Chelsea

Greg Hands MP at the grave of Lady Thatcher in Chelsea this

week.

Photo news:

Public Sector Efficiency Challenge

Together with Chancellor George Osborne, Greg Hands MP

meets participants from the Public Sector Efficiency Challenge,
who submitted ideas as part of the Spending Review as to how
public services could be improved.

7 ways to contact Greg Hands MP:

By Phone:
By email:
By post:
In person:

020 7219 5448

mail@greghands.com
Greg Hands MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
Click here for details of how
to book an appointment at
Greg Handss weekly
surgery

www.greghands.com

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