This weekend is Remembrance Sunday and I am privileged to be joining the service at St Clare’s Church, Newton Aycliffe and laying a wreath on behalf of my constituents. I will attend a number of services around the constituency starting at Teesside Airport on Friday morning for the Middleton St George Memorial Association which is focused on the RAF. I will also visit as many as possible of the War graves and Memorials throughout the Sedgefield constituency. Visiting these memorials and seeing the huge number of names on some of them, reminds us of how devastating it must have been for the villages they came from and the incredible service they all gave to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today. Please can I encourage you all to support the Royal British Legion in their fundraising. The support they deliver to our veterans is something special. I was also delighted to join the team selling Poppies at Morrisons, Morton Park, Darlington. The border between the Sedgefield and Darlington Parliamentary constituencies means that this Morrisons is actually in the Sedgefield constituency!
Monday this week has seen the latest draft of the proposed boundary changes for Parliamentary constituencies, they see the Sedgefield constituency borders changing and being renamed as Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor.
In Westminster we see, every week, many organisations coming to promote their causes and asking us to support their messages. Last week a particularly relevant one was the Children’s Brain Injury Trusts (CBIT) helping MPs understand the devastating consequences on the injured child and their family, as well as the difference CBIT makes and how their support helps to improve lives. They remind us that at this time of year, with darker nights and mornings, there are many more car accidents with children and we need to make sure we remind young people to wear reflective clothing and glow in the dark, to be seen.
Most days in Westminster, when the House is sitting, follows a similar order. We start with Prayers, then it will be questions to a particular Secretary of State. On Wednesdays we then do Questions to the Prime Minister. After Questions we then have any Urgent Questions (UQs) or Statements and then we go into the legislative business of the day. UQs are when an MP has asked the Speaker to call a Minister to the House to answer a specific question where something has arisen. The Statements are when a Minister is doing something, or something has happened, that they should inform the House about. These are only determined on the morning before business starts.
Last week this column finished referring to me being scheduled to ask a Question in International Trade Orals last Thursday, this I did and reminded the Minister of the importance of having international envoys supporting our farmers specifically as they enter new markets. When I was waiting to go to the Chamber for International Trade Questions, we were advised that a UQ had been granted as regards Abuse and Deaths in Secure Mental Health Units. This was stimulated by the report published last week on the failings at Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation trust which were seen as contributory in deaths of three young ladies, Christie, Nadia and Emily. Christie’s family, as you may be aware, are constituents in Newton Aycliffe. I am normally okay when speaking in the Chamber but speaking last week, to support the families calls for a Public Inquiry, was one of the most difficult things I have done. Having read the report and trying to convey the gravitas of the failures was very emotional and I hope I did the families justice.
Friday saw me first supporting the campaign to reopen the Leamside Line and invest in our local railway infrastructure before heading back to see an incredible business in the process of relocating into Aycliffe who I am told ‘make the best E-Type Jaguars in the UK’. They take parts of an old E-Type and create a modern equivalent that is of an amazing quality. Yet another outstanding business right here in our midst. After the visit it was off to Durham to meet the Council Leaders and other MPs for our regular catch up. We were also joined by the Fire Chief, Stuart Errington, to discuss the challenges facing Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service. It was then back home before returning to Durham for the County Durham Civic Dinner.
As always, if there is anything I can help with, call me on 01325 790580 or drop me an email at paul.howell.mp@parliament.uk
Paul Howell, MP for Sedgefield

Sedgefield Parliamentary seat set to be renamed Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor following boundary review

The Sedgefield Parliamentary seat is set to see significant changes and be renamed Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor following the boundary review proposals.
Paul Howell, Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, shares the proposals published by the Boundary Commission for England (BC) to disband the Sedgefield constituency and rename it ‘Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor’.
The Boundary Commission for England has issued details of its latest round of proposals for changes to the make-up of constituencies across England. The Commission has been tasked by Parliament to undertake an independent and impartial review of all constituencies in England to give each MP a roughly similar number of voters. Constituency sizes currently vary from 53,210 to 109,246 electors due to population changes since the last boundary review.
The new map proposed by the Commission will make sure each constituency has between 69,724 and 77,062 electors, so that each MP represents roughly the same number of people.
Recommendations by the Commission will alter the structure of the constituency. Previously, the Sedgefield constituency encircled Darlington and stretched North reaching communities such as Wheatly Hill, Wingate and Thornley. With the implementation of the proposed boundaries, areas such as Tudhoe, Coxhoe, Croxdale and Bowburn will be integrated into the newly named Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor constituency. Whereas Heighington, Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Sadberge & Middleton St. George from the Darlington area, and Thornley and Wingate from Durham will be lost.
These changes mean that 12,000 electors in Darlington, as well as 8,000 in the Thornley to Station Town area have been reallocated into neighbouring constituencies, while the additions will add 27,000 electors— a net increase of 7,000— moving the constituency from 64,000 electors to 71,000 and into the required range.
As part of the independent process, the commission has taken into consideration more than 45,000 comments sent in by the public during the previous two stages of public consultation.
A further public consultation on the plans runs until 5 December and the Commission will then analyse the responses and submit the final recommendations to Parliament by 1 July 2023. MPs do not get to vote on the final proposals. The Boundary Commission for England has invited the public to visit bcereviews.org.uk and comment on the proposals via the website, email or letter to the Boundary Commission for England, 35 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BQ.
Paul Howell MP: “The proposals published today by the Boundary Commission mark a significant step in the effort to make parliamentary representation fairer and more equal. As the major population centre, Newton Aycliffe is the heart of our constituency and it is only right that it has been officially recognised in these new proposals. While I am naturally saddened to lose villages like Middleton St George, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, Sadberge and Wingate, I am delighted to gain the likes of Spennymoor and Tudhoe, both of which I have strong family connections and know very well. Sedgefield is iconic for so many reasons and this will no doubt continue. I would like to remind all of my constituents that these changes are proposed for the next election and I will continue to strongly represent each town and village within the current boundary, as I have done since my election three years ago.”