Dear friend,

As we continue to deal with the many challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, it is so promising to see so many members of the Croydon community stepping up and helping others. This latest update includes recent work that I have been doing in Croydon and Parliament. This week’s labour market statistics told us that in the second quarter of this year, our economy has entered the steepest decline of any G7 nation. We are at the beginning of a jobs crisis that was avoidable, and I am deeply concerned to hear from constituents who are getting into financial difficulty as the furlough scheme winds down and job losses increase. As Shadow Minister for Policing and Fire Services, I have been supporting the Government where they get things right but challenging them where more work needs to be done. As we continue to ease out of lockdown, I will keep working hard to hold the Government’s actions to account to protect your livelihoods through this difficult period. 

Please continue to stay safe. 

Best wishes, 

Sarah 

Sarah Jones

Member of Parliament for Croydon Central

Shadow Minister for Policing and the Fire Service

Exam Results 

Calling out the Tories’ decade long failure to tackle knife crime 

Knife crime has risen in every single police force in England and Wales during the 10 years of this Government and hit record high before coronavirus lockdown. In a third of police forces, knife crime has more than doubled. Robberies at knife point are up one third and homicides involving a knife are up 18%. There is no doubt that the double blow of cuts to policing and cuts to prevention services have caused this increase. The Government must be clear how it is going to tackle this epidemic which has happened on its watch. Click on the image below to watch a clip of my interview on Sky News. 

Calling on the Government to plug the police funding gap 

At Home Office questions, I raised concerns about reports of police forces facing up to 15% cuts, despite the Prime Minister hailing an end to austerity and promising 20,000 frontline police officers. In my role as Shadow Policing Minister, I have heard that essential police staff jobs will have to be cut, meaning that frontline police officers will end up covering non-frontline roles. This is the opposite of what the Prime Minister intends. After 10 years of cuts and the additional pressures of the Covid-19 crisis, the government’s funding for police recruitment is not enough to repair the damage.  

Read my response to recent ONS crime statistics and the impact of police cuts here. 

Read an article I wrote with Holly Lynch MP for The Yorkshire Post on why our police forces deserve more funding and resources. 

Holding the Government to account on the ‘Test and Trace’ system

It is very clear that the Government has failed with its ‘Test and Trace’ system. I recently spoke about the Government’s failures on this and in their economic response to Kay Burley on Sky News. It is astonishing that under the Government’s contract with SERCO, who are delivering the contract tracing system, they are charging the taxpayer £900 for every person contacted. The Government must ramp up their efforts and do much more if the UK is going to recover from the coronavirus crisis. Watch a clip from the interview by clicking on the image below. 

Holding the Home Secretary to account on diversity in the Home Office 

It is extraordinary that since Croydon’s own Cllr Carlton Young was appointed to the Home Office twenty years ago, the department have not appointed a single other Black senior civil servant. On 21 July, at the Home Secretary’s statement on Wendy Williams’ review of the lessons learned from the Windrush scandal, I called on the Home Secretary to act swiftly to address this failure.  

Campaigning to end disproportionality in the criminal justice system 

In Croydon this month, of the 10 children in custody, 9 were black. I have been working with charity Transform Justice to understand the causes of this disproportionality and I raised the issue in the Parliament with the Home Secretary. 

This issue is one of the key concerns that Croydon’s youth offending service has identified and there is a lack of support for vulnerable children before they become criminalised. A lot of young people who come into contact with the justice system but do not end up being charged with any offences, often have experienced significant problems, whether with trauma, abuse or bereavement. It is absolutely vital that there are interventions for these vulnerable young people at their time of need, so that they are supported through alternative paths away from being criminalised. 
   

At Justice questions, I urged the Government to provide more support to children and young people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.   

Action teams to support young black people in Croydon

Every Friday since the death of George Floyd, the police, community leaders, and youth offending teams in Croydon have come together to change things. Led by local leader Anthony King, the meetings have led to a series of actions including jobs for some vulnerable young men, funding for community actions and really good work with the police to build relationships with the community.
 

Casework and Campaigns

While, sadly, I am still unable to hold face-to-face surgeries, I have continued to assist my constituents over the past months. Alongside regular issues (housing, waste disposal, anti-social behaviour) there has been a marked increase in the numbers of people getting in touch with me worried about their job security, having issues drawing benefits or receiving their furlough payments and concern over general economic uncertainty – particularly on behalf of small business owners. Given the recent economic news, we’re far from out of the woods yet and I will continue to assist those I can whilst pushing this government to provide support for affected individuals and to set the conditions for a very necessary economic resurgence.

I have also been contacted by many people passionate about a variety of issues. Particularly popular have been concern over the environmental impact of overfishing, protecting food standards in the event of any potential trade deal with the USA or elsewhere, concern or support for the recent changes to abortion legislation, a desire to see an end to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and ensuring that those in the NHS who have worked so hard for the UK are fairly rewarded with decent pay and conditions. I endeavour to provide a response to every email I get and will continue to value the input of my constituents when formulating my priorities for both voting in the House of Commons and campaigning.

Reminder of volunteering opportunities

If you are able to please consider signing up to volunteer here with Croydon Voluntary Action. They are undertaking a significant operation across the community ensuring that those who need support the most are able to access it, from food to offering emotional support via phonecalls. They have established a centralised helpline for vulnerable people to contact should they need it which is 020 8253 7076. 
 

Atop of this, Croydon Mutual Aid continues to offer an informal volunteering service across Croydon. You can find out more information about this group and how to get involved here.
 

Finally, foodbanks across Croydon continue to need donations, the full list of which can be found on my coronavirus hub here.

My office and getting in touch