This is going to be a big year for Dagenham with huge investment making its way into the area.

Earlier this month the council and UCL (University College London) kickstarted the year by signing contracts for a state-of-the-art research laboratory at Dagenham East on the former Sanofi site.

The PEARL (Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory) will be UCL's first net zero carbon building and will facilitate research in a wide range of fields. This investment follows on from Coventry University establishing themselves at the former Civic Centre, and paves the way for other universities to follow suit and locate campuses in Dagenham.

These new local university campuses, London's first Youth Zone and the three historic covered markets - which are on their way - are key building blocks in making Dagenham a hub of opportunity.

The relocation of Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield markets near Dagenham Dock is a monumental move that will deliver a training school to develop local skills, and will have a knock-on effect in the surrounding area - bringing more fresh investment to benefit local residents.

This move will also bring with it a welcome boost to the local economy which in turn will have a positive impact on employment rates, delivering well paid secure jobs across sectors - be that creative, service or trade. As always, I will work to ensure that these are local jobs for local people.

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the council ahead of what will undoubtedly be another landmark year.