London Borough of Hillingdon

❤️ Congratulations to our dedicated foster carers, who were presented with awards today in recognition of their outstanding commitment to children and young people. 🏆 Our Foster Carer Appreciation Event honoured carers with a combined total of 120 years of fostering experience. 🎉 The awards were presented by Cllr Heena Makwana, and Emma Kavanagh, our assistant director for corporate parenting and fostering, at the Battle of Britain Bunker Exhibition and Visitor Centre, Uxbridge. Find out more about our fostering service and offer for carers 👉 https://buff.ly/3GZ3NqC

Since the launch of our unprecedented payment and benefits package for foster carers in May - we've seen a 250% increase in fostering enquiries. With 347 children in our care - we need more dedicated carers to provide a stable home for vulnerable children. 👉 Watch and share our new video featuring Rachel and Damian - who started fostering a newborn baby when he was just four days old. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eVD2w-jF

We recently held our Stronger Families, Stronger Communities Partnership Event in Hayes.   It was an opportunity to gain a wider understanding of the support available for children, young people and their families across the borough, and build strong links with other community-based support teams.   The day was organised by our Family Hubs, Stronger Families and Youth Offer teams, and those attending included Cllr Susan O'Brien, our Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, and representatives from the voluntary, health and education sectors, faith groups and the police.   Check out our video from the event. 👇

We’ve launched a new Cycling Strategy which sets out our ambitious 10-year plan for making cycling in the borough safer and more accessible to all 🚲 The vision includes delivery of eight new, dedicated cycle routes. Read more and view the strategy ⬇️

This week, the council announced three new initiatives to protect older residents from government winter fuel allowance cuts: ✔️Assisting pensioners that may be entitled to Pension Credit to submit claims ✔️Prioritising pensioner tenants for energy efficiency improvements ✔️Creating a Pensioners' Support Fund Read more ⬇️

We're delighted to be attending the London Real Estate Forum 🏗 🏡 A fantastic opportunity for us to meet with partners and investors to discuss what Hillingdon has to offer and what the future of the borough could look like. Find out more about the opportunities in Hillingdon 👉https://lnkd.in/eSWnP2SJ #LREF2024

Thanks to work from our planning enforcement, private sector housing and legal teams, a rogue landlord from Hayes with a history of offending was ordered to pay £28,729 after being caught with double the number of tenants in his illegal house of multiple occupancy. Read more ⬇️

We’re continuing to deliver outstanding services to support vulnerable children with the construction of six new residential children’s homes.  A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday with Bugler Developments, who are delivering the project on our behalf. Once completed, the homes provide accommodation for 12 children, up to the age of 18, and will mean those young people can remain in the borough, continue to attend their schools or colleges and maintain links with their family, friends and support network.  A separate education centre for tuition, activities and games will be included on site, along with a multi-use games area.     Cllr Susan O'Brien, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education (L) and Cllr Jonathan Bianco, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Property, Highways and Transport (R) visited the site to find out more about the development.

No one deserves to live in fear of anti-social behaviour or illegal activity. This month, we have obtained two closure orders for properties in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Following reports from concerned residents, colleagues in our localities and anti-social behaviour team, housing, and legal services worked closely with the police and other partners to stamp out the problem. Find out more👇

Our trading standards team is cracking down on businesses that think they can operate by their own rules❌ A shopkeeper in Ruislip was recently prosecuted and ordered to pay more than £4,000 for selling illegal cigarettes and tobacco without the correct safety packaging and oversized vapes🚭 With the help of one of our super sniffer dogs, the team were able to seize the unsafe and illegal products during an unannounced raid 🐕 Read more 👇