Caroline's news

Caroline has written to the Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience, who is co-ordinating much of City Hall's COVID-19 response, asking several key questions on the support and protections being given to our brave healthcare workers in London at this time.

Clapping each week is a nice way for us to show our gratitude, but it is a token gesture. Practical and essential steps must be taken to protect our healthcare workers and indeed all of our key workers.

Specifically, Caroline asked:

Caroline Pidgeon has written to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to ask for assurances that, among its other important priorities, the Met will keep a focus on addressing fiancial crimes and fraud.

Caroline wrote:

Caroline has written to the Met Police Commissioner on the subject of potential police resources being used as part of the re-opening of household waste and recycling centres in some boroughs across London.

Caroline wrote:

One option that has been suggested and is being considered is that police officers could be deployed to patrol household waste and recycling centres to support staff in ensuring residents act and queue appropriately and maintain a safe distance.

Caroline has written to the Mayor of London about his support for small and medium-sized businesses in London. SMEs in London need support as a crucial part of our economy, not just now, but also as lockdown is eased and they face the next set of challenges. They have real worries about facing a cliff-edge when the furlough scheme ends, with businesses having to close and workers losing their jobs.

As a study by the Trust for London showed that 2.5 million Londoners were living in poverty even before the coronavirus crisis, Caroline Pidgeon said:

"This report makes for depressing reading.

"There is a huge chasm in the life chances facing those that are well off and those that come from a background of poverty.

"For far too long London has relied on its economic growth on the back of a growing number of low paid jobs."