Constituency Matters

Dr Onkar Sahota, London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon

THE New Year has been a busy one in City Hall.

Not only have we seen the launch of the Mayor’s campaign for gender equality, Behind Every Great City, in the Health Committee we have been investigating how London’s children can get the healthiest start in life.

In January, the Mayor announced plans to make North Ealing, Northolt, Ruislip, Hanger Lane and Park Royal stations step free.

This is a fantastic step towards making our transport network more accessible for all residents in Ealing and Hillingdon.

I’ll continue to urge the Mayor to make all stations step-free and assist those travelling with sight or hearing loss as well.

I was also delighted to attend the Parliamentary launch of the National Sikh War Memorial Trust last month. The Trust will be responsible for fundraising and finding a suitable site in our capital city as a permanent memorial to the 83,000 Sikh Soldiers who laid their lives for the United Kingdom during the First World War. We owe them a great debt and this memorial will recognise their contributions to the war effort.

February began with Time to Talk Day. I have been proud to support this important campaign for many years. Mental illness faces stigma and misunderstanding, and this needs to change.

Furthermore, the reality under the current Government is that funding for mental health services has been cut again and again, leaving many people without the support they need.

I’m pleased the Mayor has included mental health as one of his priorities in his upcoming health inequalities strategy. One of my key focuses over the next few months will be ensuring that the strategy contains concrete measures to enable Londoners to get help when and if they need it.

Hearing from and representing constituents remains my favourite part of my role, as well as the most important. If you have any questions, thoughts or comments on the work we are doing in City Hall, please do feel free to get in touch via onkar.sahota@london.gov.uk