The Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2025, now at Report Stage in the House of Lords, raises continuing concerns about centralisation, weakened environmental safeguards, and reduced local accountability. These issues are particularly relevant to Harrow, where local planning capacity, green infrastructure, and community participation are central to shaping sustainable development.As the Bill is expected to completeContinue reading “Harrow impact as Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2025 nears finalisation”
Category Archives: editorial
From budgets to better streets: the positive impact of joined-up thinking in Harrow
At a time when local authorities across the country are grappling with limited resources, mounting infrastructure backlogs, and increasing demands for transparency and efficiency, the alignment between a cabinet member’s expertise and their area of responsibility has never been more crucial. In Harrow, Councillor David Ashton provides one of the clearest examples of how such alignmentContinue reading “From budgets to better streets: the positive impact of joined-up thinking in Harrow”
Harrow children’s services still in recovery
Harrow’s latest HMI monitoring visit paints a picture of a service on the mend – but not yet out of intensive care. Inspectors found that the Leaving Care Service has made “significant progress” since January, with leaders showing honesty, determination, and a renewed focus on caring for their young people. Yet beneath the optimism liesContinue reading “Harrow children’s services still in recovery”
Best Start Grants: ambitious plans, modest means
Best Start grants are delivering £150,000 of funding to Harrow as part of a £12 million national investment, marking what ministers call a transformative step in early education and childcare. The Best Start initiative promises to roll out 30 hours of government-funded childcare for working parents, saving families up to £7,500 per child per year.Continue reading “Best Start Grants: ambitious plans, modest means”
Riding in the Dark: Harrow’s stations feel safe only on paper
Recent national headlines have underscored a grim reality: reports of sexual assaults and harassment on trains have surged by more than a third over the past decade. A BBC investigation, reported on 14 October 2025, revealed 2,661 incidents last year across England, Scotland and Wales – and one in ten victims was a child, someContinue reading “Riding in the Dark: Harrow’s stations feel safe only on paper”
Local power, national decline: the Harrow Conservative paradox
Harrow’s political landscape presents a striking paradox: enduring Conservative strength at the local level amid national decline. According to YouGov, only 10% of the public believe Kemi Badenoch looks like a prime minister in waiting, and twenty Conservative councillors defected to Reform UK during the party’s own conference. Yet, confidence in the Harrow Conservatives – particularlyContinue reading “Local power, national decline: the Harrow Conservative paradox”
Harrow Monitoring Group 