Dear Resident of Watford

Richard Harrington MP for Watford has welcomed the biggest reform of the state pension since it was created more than a century ago, alongside a major package of reforms to tax, pensions and savings to help workers which is coming into effect today. 

This Friday (1st April 2016) the new National Living Wage will become law. All workers aged 25 and over, who are not in the first year of an apprenticeship, will be legally entitled to the new minimum pay rate of £7.20 per hour. 

On 8th March 2016, in celebration of International Women’s Day 2016, Richard Harrington, MP for Watford, invited two Watford girls to shadow him in Parliament. Samantha Sibanda was chosen by her teachers at Francis Combe and Sophie Richards was chosen from Watford UTC.

As a result of Richard’s meeting with Rail Minister Claire Perry in November, it has now been announced that he was able to secure an extra service a day on the Abbey Line, which will provide an extra 3,400 seats a week. The last train will now leave Watford at around 10.20pm and the last train to leave St Albans Abbey will be at approximately 22.43. Importantly this will 7 days a week and should start in a year's time. 

Writing to the Secretary of State, Richard repeated his demands for a Passing loop to be built at Bricket Wood to allow for a train to run every half an hour and for through services to London from St Albans Abbey Station to give North Watford residents more transport choices.

Figures recently released by the Department for Work and Pensions show that unemployment has fallen again in Watford, this month showing that 43 people have moved off Job Seekers Allowance and into work.

  Last week, I had the great honour of hosting the Chief Inspectors of Watford and Three Rivers Police, Dave Wheatley and Deidre Dent, along with Inspector Nick Lillitou in Parliament. We discussed among other things, Inspector Lillitou’s recent prize for his outstanding contribution to public service and community focus. 

Richard Harrington, MP for Watford, has donated his pay to 20 local charities after appealing to charities to come forward. This funding comes from Richard Harrington's rejection of the move, this summer, by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) to increase MP pay by 10%. This rise was the result of IPSA's two year statutory review into MP Pay.

I was asked by BRE in Bucknalls Lane to officially open and introduce a new idea in housing. BRE’s Innovation Park trials, tests and demonstrates ideas like the Userhuus/Tigh Grian concept in housing.