I was so sad to hear that Honest John has retired due to his health, I gave him a call and he was his usual stoic self, chin up John you should be really proud of your contribution to the town over the last 12 years or so, you are an inspiration.

Last week Parliament was in recess which gave me the opportunity for a few days away but I arrived back just in time to join Darlington Borough Council in their approval of their Local Plan, this is a very important step in allowing the Council control, particularly over the actions of some speculative developers.

Friday saw me visiting a number of constituents in Aycliffe and Hurworth to discuss their concerns and for some initiatives they want to pursue, before then having a personal Police briefing, they are concerned about some of the keyboard warriors that are pestering me, and then later a meeting with the Leader of Darlington Borough Council.

Sunday saw me joining ‘In This Together’ for a walk and a talk, this was a pleasant walk along Woodham Burn and the area around for about an hour and is to encourage people to come and meet others. Whilst it is an opportunity for those who may be struggling with their problems to get out and talk to others, it was a very relaxing hour for everyone, so a big shout out to the organisers and it is being repeated on 8th March, check out their Facebook page.

Monday saw a fruitless trip to County Hall for the Aycliffe members meeting as, due to the heavy snow, only Scott Durham, Jim Atkinson and I made it through, so although for the first time Conservatives outnumbered Labour we were not quorate and the meeting was cancelled. Due to the snow I did have to cancel a proposed surgery in Trimdon, as not only could we not get there but it wouldn’t have been safe to ask people to try and get to us. We managed to rearrange it for Wednesday and although I will not get there as I will be in full Council at Durham, my staff will represent me. I then was able to fit in a visit to the GAMP team at the PCP before going for a chat at the Cricket Club in Moore Lane where they are doing some fabulous work but are needing to develop their facilities and I was shown their plans, good luck guys.

I have the opportunity this week for some more time locally so I went to Ferryhill Station to see the work the Community Action Team (CAT) are planning and also will get to the Full Council meeting at Durham on Wednesday, this is written late Tuesday so I will say more on this next week.

The Police Grant was debated in Parliament on Monday, this will result in an increase in funding to the police of £1.1 Billion and starts the recruitment of 20,000 new Police officers, it’s good to see us being able to talk and deliver on something other than Brexit.

I have an invitation to meet the new Chancellor of the Exchequer next Monday and will take the opportunity to shout up for Sedgefield.

Enjoy your week.

Paul Howell

Member of Parliament for Sedgefield.