Hello everyone,

Summer has more or less drawn to a close - I did take a couple of weeks holiday earlier in August, but here's a flavour of what I've been up to since I got back:

Meeting with Lord Adonis about funding for local schools I finally got chance to meet with Lord Adonis to discuss getting funding - in particular for the Elliott School in West Putney.  The meeting which was also attended by five Department for Education and Skills officials.  It was very useful to be able to make the case for local funding face to face with the Minister and the  a full hour and it Elliott headteacher, Sharon Ferrell had given me some great background details to help demonstrate the school's challenges.  The next wave of DfES money will be agreed in December.  I wanted to make sure that the DfES is aware of how badly a school like Elliott needs investment in its building and what a difference it could make to have a building that students can be proud to walk into as their school.  Last year eight school days were lost because the building was either too hot or too cold, some at exam time.  We will wait to see whether our Council's bid gets funded - I very much hope so, and will keep in touch with our local council, Elliott's head and the DfES over the coming weeks.

Crime on the Longstaff Estate We've had a number of bad antisocial behaviour problems on the Longstaff Estate on West Hill.  I'm working with Cllr Leslie McDonnell and our local police to encourage residents to come forward and provide details about what's happening.  I know that crime is a problem across Putney, Roehampton and Southfields.  If you're reading this and there are problems in your road or your area, then let me know.  It may be that other residents are already in touch with me, but why take the chance.  I'm in weekly contact with Inspector Dollery of Putney Police and meet formally with her every month.  If you have a local crime issue, I will make sure it is flagged up and acted upon by our local police.

Out and About Last weekend I headed over to the Dover House Residents Estate summer barbeque.  It was great weather and around 350 local residents were there for a Sunday afternoon that was great fun.  I was hobbling around the barbeque in some pain, having that morning run the Hydroactive 5k challenge run in Hyde Park.  I was running to support the Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability.  It was an amazing experience running with 20,000 other women and I based on the numbers of trainers and shorts heading back on the tube, I could see that lots of other Putney and Southfields women had been there too.

Don't forget that my MP surgeries are weekly and you can contact me via email at greeningj@parliament.uk or by writing to the House of Commons, SW1A 0AA, or by calling 0208 944 0378.

Best Wishes,

Justine Greening MP

September 7, 2006