November Monthly Report 2025

HACKNEY'S HIDDEN GEM

Free children’s Lego and chess club at Dalston Library

Every weekend, Dalston CLR James Library (which is close to Dalston Junction station at E8 3BQ) is home to a quiet treasure for all families: free children’s Lego and chess clubs. The chess club takes place every Sunday from 2-3pm and is open to children at all levels (although it is best suited for those aged seven and above).

And on Saturdays between 2-3:30pm, The library also hosts a children’s Lego club. The club is also open to everyone (although it is best suited for those aged six and above). There’s no need to book for either session, you can just drop in.

PARLIAMENT

Budget

In the face of an uncertain global economic climate, the Chancellor has unveiled her Autumn Budget. I was particularly pleased to see her committing to removing the two-child benefit limit from April 2026 – the quickest way to lift the most children out of poverty. This is something I have been pressing for, and it will help around 15,740 families in Hackney – the majority of whom are working families.

To help with the cost of living, she announced the freezing of train fares (on mainline rail – tube and TfL fares are a matter for the Mayor of London) and prescription charges and the scrapping of the energy company obligation scheme, which will reduce energy bills by £150 next year. She is also putting more money into young people’s pockets by increasing the minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds from £10 to £10.85. The national minimum wage will also go up to £12.71.

She also laid out a number of measures to raise income, including a council tax surcharge on houses valued at £2 million or more. Major taxes including VAT, income tax and National Insurance are staying as they are. See here for my full speech.

As Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, I will be scrutinising the Chancellor on 10 December.

Immigration

Earlier this year the Government announced plans to reform indefinite leave to remain.

I am clear that our immigration system needs to have clear rules so that people can have certainty over what they need to do to secure residency or citizenship and that we should welcome people who qualify to be here including refugees. Over the 20 years I have been an MP I have seen too many people caught up in a system that is complex and slow.

I have also been pressing Ministers for clarity for those residents who are yet to receive settled status, or who are in the process of getting visas.

I met with the Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, to raise constituents’ uncertainty surrounding immigration changes. I also highlighted delays in processing visa applications, including for urgent cases. I also met with the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

This month the Home Secretary explained in more detail these plans and opened a consultation. She outlined that the qualifying period for those who have not yet been given settled status is going to change. It will no longer apply automatically after five years.

Generally, settlement will now be granted after 10 years, alongside criteria including a clean criminal record, A-Level standard English and paying National Insurance Contributions. There will be some cases where settlement is granted earlier, and some where it takes longer. These are part of what the consultation covers.

The Home Secretary was very clear that there will be no changes for people who already have settled status, or who are here under EU or Windrush settlement schemes. I raised my concerns about the complexity of the leave to remain application process to the Home Secretary – see here.

The Government is consulting on some aspects of its proposals to change the criteria for qualifying for settled status. I urge you to submit your views to this, which you can do here. It closes on 12 February 2026.

Food waste

Reducing the amount of food that goes to waste is vital for the planet and for saving businesses money. Hackney is home to two business champions against food waste: Too Good To Go and Winnow Solutions. I asked the Minister if she will consider mandatory food waste reporting for large businesses. Most businesses see a financial benefit as they can see where food is wasted and become more efficient. The Government is committed to halving food waste by 2030 - digital waste tracking will be in place from April 2026 and will be mandatory from October for waste receivers. The Minister explained that the circular economy taskforce is looking at more ways to tackle food waste, including the potential benefits of mandatory food waste reporting.

Housebuilding in London

I raised in Parliament, again, the housing crisis in Hackney and the desperate need for more affordable homes. The extremes remain as stark as ever: high value homes cheek by jowl with homes where some families have triple bunkbeds and mattresses squeezed on the floor. More than 3,400 Hackney households now live in temporary accommodation and there over 8,500 are on the council’s housing waiting list. If you need a three-bedroom home you can now expect to wait over a decade.

Hackney Council is leading the way with nearly one thousand new council homes for social rent built or in the pipeline since the last local elections in 2022. But there are real challenges. Construction costs are now around £5,000 per square metre compared with £1,000 to £1,500 a decade ago. It can cost around £450,000 to build a new social rented home in Hackney (a significant chunk of this due to the value of the land). Because of this land value, if Hackney Council wants to build a home then, simply put, it has to build one for private sale to pay for the one that is for intermediate or social rent. It is a similar story for much of London and means that it is often cheaper to buy back a leasehold property on a council estate than it is to build a new one.

I called on the Minister to look seriously at the grey belt (pockets of land, such as car parks, that are classified as green land but which, in reality, aren't very green) as well as action on overseas buyers and short-term lets that drain homes out of the Hackney market. See here to watch my contribution in full. 

Justice Questions

During my time on the Public Accounts Committee, we frequently looked at the issues facing the justice system and how prisons, probation services and courts were being poorly managed. I raised my concerns about this with the Minister. She assured me that the Government is committed to restoring the public’s confidence in the justice system, including through committing an additional £450 million to the courts system.

Leasehold and service charges

There are several issues that Hackney’s leaseholders face, from difficulties obtaining insurance to poor maintenance to inadvertently increasing your own costs through betterment. I raised these and more in a debate in the House of Commons, where I advocated for better communication between managing agents and leaseholders, as well as seeking a commitment to better maintenance standards.

Infected blood

The infected blood scandal is one of the most serious state failures in public health ever. Between the 1970s and early 1990s, thousands of people were given blood transfusions through the NHS that were unknowingly contaminated with HIV or Hepatitis C. There has been a national Infected Blood Inquiry and since this concluded, I have repeatedly pressed Ministers to learn lessons from previous compensation schemes (and the work by the National Audit Office on this) as well as to keep up with the national campaign encouraging anyone who received a blood transfusion in that period to get tested.

The Government has made important and vital steps in putting the compensation scheme into place. I raised concerns about the implications around inheritance tax for recipients of compensation who die shortly after. See here to watch my question in full. And good news - the Chancellor has since announced that these payments will be exempt from inheritance tax.

COMMITTEES

I chair the Treasury Select Committee, which examines the expenditure, administration and policy of HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs, and associated public bodies, such as the Bank of England.

Budget

In the run-up to the Budget, we held a number of evidence sessions exploring potential avenues for the Chancellor. This included looking at property taxes, a potential increase in tax on online gaming where funds could be used to lift children out of poverty, and hearing from former Chancellor George Osborne. I challenged him on his introduction of the two-child benefit limit, which I have been pressing for the Government to lift – and it’s good news that this has now happened.

The Chancellor has also announced that remote betting, including high-risk online casino games, will now be taxed in line with the harm it causes. We will be scrutinising these and other Budget decisions in the coming weeks – see here for more information.

Cryptocurrency

We also held a one-off session exploring cryptocurrency and its potential benefits and risks. We discussed regulation and how to protect vulnerable consumers – see here for more.

HACKNEY

Bridge Academy visit

It was a pleasure to meet the young people from Bridge Academy who visited Parliament for an educational trip. As ever, they asked insightful and impressive questions about knife crime, education, and the climate emergency.

Choice in Hackney visit

I visited Choice in Hackney, an organisation run by disabled people, for disabled people, which provides resources, advice, advocacy and training. We were particularly discussing their work supporting people into stable employment. Their Advocacy Training and Employment course has been running since 2009 and has supported more than 500 trainees. It is great to see Hackney leading the way on access and inclusion, and I am raising this excellent example with Ministers to model in other areas. You can find out more about Choice in Hackney here.

Remembrance Sunday

I attended the annual Remembrance service at St John at Hackney, on Lower Clapton Road. It is so important we remember those who gave their lives for our peace and security. It was particularly encouraging to see many young people paying their respects, including from the Scouts, Cadets, and other uniformed groups.

Homerton elective care centre

It was an honour to officially open Homerton Hospital’s new Elective Centre. As part of a wider upgrade of the hospital’s day stay unit, the centre brings two new state-of-the-art theatre suites, a 10-bed ward, and new diagnostic hubs for gynaecology and urology. Together these additions strengthen the hospital’s surgical hub and will help bring down waiting times even more. Homerton’s rate of productivity improvement is at a trailblazing 11.3 per cent year on year – the best rate in London, and fourth in the country.

Community policing event

Local residents joined the Deputy Commissioner of the Met Police, the local Borough Commander and many of our neighbourhood police officers for a community conversation about the New Met for London. Lots of important topics came up, including what the police are doing to engage with young people, efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour and drug dealing, e-bikes and scooters, and how the Met is changing to better reflect the communities it serves. To feed in, and to get to know your neighbourhood policing team, see here.

Have your say on bus routes

Transport for London are proposing to make changes to bus route 38 which runs between Victoria station through the heart of Hackney and Clapton. It is also proposing to introduce a new route to be provisionally numbered 10 to run between Mildmay Park and Battersea Bridge. It is consulting on these proposals – see here for more information, and to submit your views.

Fundraiser for Isabel Rose

I am working to support one of my constituents who is currently stuck in Hong Kong fighting for justice. She is currently on trial and unable to work to support herself whilst she is awaiting her court hearing in Hong Kong. She has started a GoFundMe page to support her throughout the process and to share her story – see here. Please note that her page contains sensitive information about sexual assault.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The Government regularly consults on its policy proposals. Below are a few areas it is currently seeking opinions on. Click on each option to find out more and to share your thoughts.

·         Pay in adult social care – closes 16 January.

·         Down Syndrome Act 2022 draft statutory guidance - GOV.UK (Easy read version: Down Syndrome Act 2022 draft statutory guidance (easy read) - GOV.UK). Closes 28 January.

·         Earned settlement - GOV.UK - Closes 12 February.

·         Significant water management issues - Environment Agency - Citizen Space - Closes 20 May 2026.

HOW TO CONTACT ME

Via email on meg.hillier.mp@parliament.uk or you can call me on 020 7219 5325. The main phone line is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm.   

Visiting Parliament and Prime Minister’s Questions 

Tours of the Houses of Parliament can be arranged for groups of up to 20 people. Tours last up to 75 minutes and start between 9am and 12pm Monday to Wednesday, and between 9am-1:30pm and 3.30pm-5pm on Fridays. MPs are also given a very limited number of tickets for Prime Minister’s Questions. I operate a ballot system each month. The ballot is now open to attend PMQs in January. 

To apply for a tour, or be entered onto the ballot, please send your name, and full postal address (you must live in Hackney South and Shoreditch) to meg.hillier.mp@parliament.uk.    

If you would like to enter the PMQs ballot, please also supply a contact number.        

It is easier to arrange viewing tickets for other departmental question times or debates. To see what's on click here.