Last week started in the constituency with the Bank Holiday on 8th May before travelling down on Tuesday 9th May in time for Westminster business. On Wednesday 10th May we had the usual Prime Minister’s Questions and then a number of drop-in events and a Westminster Hall debate.
The drop-in events, as usual, were quite varied and included: one on Dog-on-Dog attacks ahead of a Private Member’s Bill – the Animal Welfare (Responsibility for Dog Attacks) Bill, which is anticipated for its First Reading on 23rd May; one on Dying Matters run by the Department of Works and Pensions to raise awareness of the support available from the benefits system for people who are nearing the end of life; one on Acquired Brain Injuries and the campaign for better outcomes for people with a brain injury and a reception by Diabetes UK which emphasised the need for diabetes care and treatment to help people to stay well and prevent life-altering complications. These events have two different agendas, one is to bring their agenda to the attention of MPs to garner support for future legislation and the second is to use our networks to publicise their causes. It is always interesting to attend as many of these as possible as you always learn something new.
I have talked before about All Party Parliamentary Groups and this week I was pleased to form another one with Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington South. This one is on a cause I have campaigned consistently on, the Leamside Line. This is a train line from Ferryhill to Newcastle that should be invested in for many reasons, not least connectivity for education and employment opportunities. Coincidently on the same day (Wednesday 10th May) there was a debate in Westminster Hall on the East Coast Main Line (ECML). As this was only a 30-minute debate, only the proposer gets to make a speech. However, others are allowed to intervene, so I took the opportunity to engage and further promote the need for investment in Leamside and Ferryhill to support the capacity and resilience of the ECML. Then it was the 1922 Committee before getting a train home.
Thursday 11th May saw meetings with Durham County Council and their Transport and Investment team before some time in my Aycliffe office with the constituency office team and then heading to Durham School to talk to some students and after that event I attended the Fishburn Parish Council meeting.
Friday 12th May started in Trimdon meeting local Councillors and the Durham County Council team to encourage improvements to a junction where we have seen a recent fatality. I am pleased to say it appears we have been able to agree some actions to improve safety. Then it was back to the Aycliffe office again before St William’s Academy School in Trimdon to judge their Coronation doors and open the new Bike Shelter they had provided with a fund-raiser. The school kindly invited me to a Question-and-Answer session in their assembly, which was a lot of fun and indeed some of the questions were almost more challenging than my next session, the recording of BBC Politics North. This programme is typically recorded ‘live’ on a Friday around 4.00pm and then broadcast on Sunday Morning – 14th May. This week the subjects were Recycling, Train Services and Council Tax on Second Homes. Once this was finished, I went to Bishopton Parish Hall to meet residents concerned about the scale and siting of a potential solar farm.
Monday 15th May started with a hospital appointment at Darlington Memorial, then it was a meeting with Durham County Council about empty properties before a quick meeting with my staff in the Aycliffe office and then a train to London where I had a meeting with the Chief Whip and was able to attend a reception at No 10 with the Prime Minister.
Tuesday 16th May will see some Treasury Business both in the Chamber and in Westminster Hall as well as a meeting of my Left Behind Neighbourhoods APPG and a myriad of potential Drop-In sessions.
If you want me to drop in at your event or organisation, or just want a chat, please call me on Aycliffe 790580 or email me on Paul.Howell.MP@parliament.UK