My very best wishes for a Happy New Year to all readers of the Newton News.
I hope you had a relaxing Christmas.
After a busy year in Parliament I was pleased to have a nice Christmas at my home in Aycliffe with my family and friends. Over the festive period, it was also great to join community Christmas events in Aycliffe and across our constituency. We have a very strong sense of community in Newton Aycliffe and Aycliffe Village, which was clearer than ever over Christmas.
I’ve been reading the Newton News – or the Newtonian, as I was brought up to call it – since I was a kid growing up on the town and it’s a pleasure to contribute this column again for 2026.
I’m looking forward to continuing working hard to stand up for our area in the year ahead.
The latest figures show that, in 2025, I secured nearly £80,000 for local residents by working with my team to fight for local people who had been shortchanged by utilities companies, pension providers, the benefits system and other organisations. That’s an incredible amount of money to return to local families and shows the value of a visible, active Member of Parliament not taking no for an answer when residents have been let down.
Working to support our business community, I was delighted to secure a £160,000 tax refund for a really prominent family-run manufacturing business on the industrial estate. After the company raised concerns with me that officials had got their bills wrong, I met with the relevant government minister in Whitehall to point out the areas where I felt mistakes had been made and ask for an urgent review. This led to a major correction and I’m glad to have secured this win for one of our brilliant local businesses.
In the year ahead I’ll continue to push for improved public services, building on the additional police officers that have been funded and the reductions in NHS waiting lists that we’ve seen since the election. I was also very pleased that Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a full statutory public inquiry into the appalling treatment received by some residents from the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Mental Health Trust. The last government failed to act. This government is cracking down on failure in the NHS and those who failed vulnerable young people with mental health issues.
Another priority is to keep campaigning for action to tackle the cost of living. I’m proud that the government has doubled free childcare from 15 to 30 hours, saving local families with young kids thousands of pounds a year; capped the cost of school uniforms, increased the minimum wage and living wage and increased the state pension by another £575 this year. All of this will put money in people’s pockets.
It’s been a privilege to pick up thousands of constituency cases for residents since I was elected and I’m proud to have held 50 constituency surgeries at community venues across the constituency. These are opportunities for residents to sit down with me to discuss in detail particular problems or issues – if you’d like to book a surgery appointment for the coming weeks, you can email me: alan.strickland.mp@parliament.uk or call my office in Aycliffe on 01325 344185.
I’ve also launched an e-mail newsletter for 2026. To sign-up, drop me an email.
Thank you to the many Aycliffe residents who supported me and my hardworking team in 2025. I look forward to serving our community in the year ahead. Please get in touch if there’s an issue, affecting you or your family, you’d like my help with.