Last Monday, 7th August, started with a trip to Trimdon Village Hall. I met members of the Village Hall Committee to discuss some anti-social behaviour (ASB) issues they are having. It is of great concern to me that ASB continues to disturb the joyful and hard-working communities of the many small towns and villages which are at the heart of my constituency. I am continuing to engage with residents and other local organisations, including the Police, to look at ways of improving the situation.
Regarding addressing policing issues within the Sedgefield Constituency – I continue to pursue with the County Durham and Darlington Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) the need for the Police team to stay in Newton Aycliffe. This is also important for my constituents further afield in Sedgefield and the Trimdons, who are serviced by the same team.
During the week I also caught up with an organisation called Cash Access UK who are working to deliver a banking hub into our town centre. I am pleased to say that good progress is being made. A preferred location has been identified and contractual discussions continue. I can’t say more at this stage, but I will, of course, keep you informed as soon as I have any further news.
After this I headed to NETPark in Sedgefield where I spent the afternoon hosting Minister Paul Scully. Paul is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy. I was supported in the visit by the team from Business Durham as we promoted NETPark, Co Durham and the fantastic businesses on the park. We met Kromek, Filtronic and Pragmatic, who are involved in a range of exciting projects often involving next generation integrated circuits and diverse work including on satellites and in RAF Jets.
Kromek Group plc started out with two people in an office in County Durham and over the last 20 years has expanded as an international technology group, with its global Head Quarters in the UK and offices and manufacturing facilities in the US. Filtronic demonstrate the strength of the semiconductor sector here in County Durham and are a leading player in advanced Radio Frequency (RF) communications. We also met representatives of Pragmatic who launched here and are continuing to expand from a nearby site in Durham, where the minister also visited. I am proud to see a cluster of businesses developing here that are specialising around building more powerful integrated circuits than ever before.
I was then in London for a few days where I hosted people in Westminster and caught up with one of the Treasury Ministers who I assist in my role as a Parliamentary Private Secretary.
As Parliament is still in recess, I thought I would continue with our information tour of the history of Parliament. After writing about Westminster Hall, this week we can move to St Stephen’s Hall. Just before you enter the Hall, there is a beautiful stained-glass window with all the battles and wars that the UK has been involved in. St Stephen’s Hall is a remarkable hallway lined with statues of past Prime Ministers, featuring notable characters such as Sir Robert Walpole who was the first Prime Minister as well as William Pitt the Younger, who is the youngest ever Prime Minister at age 24.
St Stephen’s Hall used to be the original chamber where the MPs would sit and debate. However, after a fire in 1834, the chamber was completely destroyed and the whole Palace except for Westminster Hall – which was left unscathed by the fire – was rebuilt in an architectural project led by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin. A note to this being the original hall are the four golden emblems on the floor as you approach Central Lobby which displayed where the Speaker’s Chair used to be.
St Stephen’s Hall was used again after World War II when renovations were being made to today’s chamber after it was destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs. If you have a visit to Parliament, have a look at the broken spur on the statue of Viscount Falkland – this was broken after a Suffragette chained herself to it in 1909 and was then dragged off it.
I travelled north on Saturday and was then able to visit the Sedgefield show which largely escaped the rain, but we did see a few very heavy showers! The show is a great event and I would recommend putting it in your diaries for next year. I then headed to Aycliffe for the petting zoo etc in the town centre. Unfortunately, I had made a diary error and only arrived just as they were closing. I met the former Mayor and Mayoress of Newton Aycliffe, Cllr Ken Robson and his wife Elaine, who told me that it had been a successful event.
This Monday, week commencing 14th August, starts with a meeting with Livin at their offices in DurhamGate to discuss issues across the constituency including tackling ASB and letting policy.
If you have any questions about Parliament or Constituency matters, you can always reach my office by phone on Aycliffe 01325 790580 or by sending an email to paul.howell.mp@parliament.uk