This week I was very sad to hear of the passing of two incredible ladies of politics the Rt Hon. Betty Boothroyd, Speaker of the House of Commons 1992 – 2000 and Beaty Bainbridge, the Chair of Durham County Council.
At 93, Betty Boothroyd’s was a life well lived, her warm and formidable presence in Westminster will be so greatly missed by all but her legacy will live on, she became respected nationally and indeed internationally and shattered the glass ceiling of ladies in UK politics. It was on the same day I was also deeply saddened to hear of the loss of, Councillor Beaty Bainbridge. Beaty was as important to me locally as Betty was to the nation. Beaty and her husband Allan were so supportive to me as a new councillor in 2017. Beaty was a wonderful person; a fully committed councillor, showing great dedication to her role in serving her community for 15 years and she will continue to be an inspiration for me. I would like to share my sincerest condolences with Allan and with Beaty’s wider family and loved ones at this incredibly sad time.
Last week I had the opportunity to spend almost all the week in the constituency and this included a range of really useful opportunities to speak with constituents.
This included a pop-up surgery in Tesco, Newton Aycliffe, which went well. I had the opportunity to meet and talk to a number of you with various issues raised for consideration. I am looking to plan other surgeries around the town and the wider constituency. Similarly, at the end of the week, I was also able to hold a pop-up surgery in the community centre at Trimdon Station (Deaf Hill) at the northern end of my constituency. These are opportunities to listen to constituents who don’t necessarily have an issue they feel is worth making an appointment to see me about but still want a chat – and I plan to hold more of these in the future.
On Tuesday I went to Arriva’s depot in Darlington to raise some of the concerns residents have brought to me about bus routes. If you have any feedback you want to share about buses, do let us know.
Later in the afternoon, I was pleased to go and meet the Chief Executive, and other senior officers, in person at Durham County Council and discussed a range of issues including Levelling Up, Devolution, schools, the North East Space Hub, buses, the Eden Arms and the Restoring Your Railways bid for Ferryhill.
On Wednesday, I called in at Siesta Coffee on Aycliffe Business Park who are a business looking to expand and later in the day went to the Ferryhill Ladder Centre. The Ladder do some great work helping people and, when I called, I had the privilege to join one of their Men’s Group sessions. In the evening I was able to attend the PACT (Police and Communities Together) meeting at the Big Club where many issues were raised including ASB (Anti-Social-Behaviour) and others, normally I would have been in Westminster on a Wednesday, so it was good to be able to attend this time.
Thursday was a morning of police briefings, first with the Darlington team and then with the Aycliffe Inspector for Neighbourhood policing. Afterwards I went to Blackwell Golf Club to congratulate them on their charity work for Prostate Cancer where they had raised over £6,700. It was then off to Ferryhill for a surgery session before returning to Darlington to join the special Council meeting where three ladies were given the Freedom of the Borough.
On Friday I started with a Business Breakfast meeting which Hitachi were kind enough to host and a number of Aycliffe businesses joined us. We discussed a range of issues affecting local businesses including things like high energy costs and difficulties with public transport
Later I went to meet the local NFU (National Farmers Union) and farmer Stewart Vernon who is involved in the drying and export of beans and other pulses globally from his farm near Heighington.
This week in Westminster starts with Oral questions to Education Secretary of State, Gillian Keegan MP, about the Lifelong Learning Bill. This will transform the skills agenda and ensure many can have access to train and retrain via short courses and modules. We will also have questions to the Secretaries of State for Energy, Wales, and Transport as well as the usual Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. We will also see debates in the name of the official opposition and it seems likely we will have a debate on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
I will miss part of Monday as the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Levelling up ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods – which I chair, is having a conference at Windsor so I will go there first and get into Westminster in the evening. I have a question allocated in Transport Orals so will probably raise Hitachi and/or Ferryhill Station.
If there is anything you want to raise with me, or want me to raise elsewhere, please get in touch at Paul.Howell.MP@parliament.uk or call 01325 790580.