St Charles Hospital is to get an upgrade, as part of the governments’ £750 million investment in local community hospitals. Over the next year, St Charles will have £8,900,000 spent on improving its facilities such as the Minor Injuries clinic and primary care. GPs services in Westminster have also just had another cash boost, with an extra £21 million to be spent next year.

Labour’s health promise includes:

• cutting to 18 weeks the longest anyone should wait from referral to treatment, by December
• half local GP practices to offer extended opening hours, by December
• a big shift towards screening and prevention, to tackle diseases such as diabetes and strokes.

People power has paid off for all those for voted for the Sustans (sustainable transport) lottery bid in the People’s Millions last month. The bid won and that means a new, safe and accessible footbridge across the railway between Westbourne Green and Bayswater.

Meanwhile, Labour councillors and Assembly Member Murad Qureshi have successfully lobbied for the money for a new pedestrian crossing by Royal Oak station. This crossing, for which transport for London are paying £675,000, will provide an alternative to the underpass under the Harrow Road which many people try to avoid after dark.

Energy companies are hiking their prices this winter, and while the Winter Fuel Allowance (opposed by the Conservatives) helps, we need to do more. This is especially true since many local dwellings- especially privately owned ones, are below the acceptable standard for cold.If you own your home, or are a private tenant, and on an income or disability benefit, Warm Front might be able to help.

750 households in this area have had help with central heating and insulation by Warm Front- and they also check your entitlements, so local people have had an increase in income averaging £55 a week.

Contact the Home Heat Helpline to get advice on what help is available on 0800 33 66 99- or contact Karen Buck by letter, phone or e-mail.

The British Medical Association has criticised the Conservatives for plans to throw 200,000 disabled people off benefits. The Conservatives are borrowing from tough American welfare ideas which have seen large numbers of people abandoned into homelessness and dependency on handouts by charities.

The Conservatives are turning back the clock to Margaret Thatcher’s welfare state, which caused so much misery for millions of people. Their plans would mean hundreds of disabled people locally losing £20 a week and others losing everything.

Disabled people and lone parents don’t need threats- they need practical support with finding and keeping work, such as help with childcare, skills training and covering housing costs. That is what Labour has been delivering with the New Deal, Jobcentre Plus, requirements on new benefit claimants to have work-focused interviews and more.

Want to know more about Labour’s skills offer; finding childcare or dealing with problems with tax credit or housing benefit? Get in touch with us…

Did you know:

• Jobseekers already lose their benefit if they refuse reasonable offers of work?
• The number of people on Incapacity benefit is falling-not rising?