Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has issued the following update on some of her work to deliver on the plan for the constituency she set out at the general election. Theresa writes...
A key part of my plan for Barnet is delivering the best infrastructure for my constituents. So I welcome the continuing work to upgrade the tube to deliver faster, more frequent and more reliable services. We also need better broadband services in Barnet. Over 91% of premises can get fibre broadband, but I want to see more homes connected. I’m pressing BT to deliver that in their next round of fibre broadband upgrades. I am working with other London MPs to campaign for better broadband in the suburbs.
I will always be vigilant in defending the green belt. I have urged the Council to take action where green belt rules are broken, for example at Parklands in Hendon Wood Lane.
Supporting and improving the NHS will always be a high priority for me. I am backing East Barnet residents in their campaign to re-open East Barnet Health Centre.
Since the Conservatives went into government, there has been a significant fall in crime. Our reforms have saved 4.5m hours of police time since 2010. I will continue to support efforts to tackle crime in Barnet, working with Boris, Barnet Council, and the police.
Supporting our local economy and our high streets is another part of my plan for Barnet. Our high streets have had a difficult time over recent years because of intense competition from out-of-town and on-line retailers. As part of the Chipping Barnet Town Team, I backed the improvements to the Spires shopping centre which have recently been completed. I believe these give a welcome boost to the high street but Barnet Market continues to struggle. I would urge as many of my constituents as possible to shop local. I have also encouraged them to respond to the Government's Business Rates Review to put the case for reform of business rates to shift some of the burden away from small independent shops on to their big on-line rivals.
I have been working on my goal of securing the best education opportunities for my constituents. I took a group of constituents to see Education Minister, Nick Gibb, to lobby to save A Levels in Greek and other languages under threat of abolition. Losing Greek A Level would mean the closure of a number of successful Greek Saturday schools in my constituency which is why I am campaigning to save this qualification.