Firstly, I’d like to wish you and your family a happy new year and I’d like to thank all those working in retail, hospitality, the NHS, our posties and delivery drivers and especially those serving in our emergency services like the police, ambulance and fire and rescue services over the festive period.
Welcome to my December round up where you can read all about what I’ve been up to over the festive month of December. It’s been another busy calendar of events in Parliament and across Chester North & Neston. At the end of this newsletter, you’ll find the link to the summary of my 2024 as Member of Parliament for Chester North & Neston.
As your MP, I’ve continued to work on various issues raised by fellow residents via email, telephone, at my surgeries across the constituency.
As always, if you have any issues or questions about Government policies I can help with, please drop me a line at samantha.dixon.mp@parliament.uk
Every December we celebrate Small Business Saturday. We have so many amazing small businesses across Chester North and Neston. This year, I visited Ian’s 5 a day in Blacon, a fantastic local greengrocers with a great range of fresh produce, perfect for new healthy eating resolutions at the start of the year. I dedicated one of my recent Chester Standard columns to celebrating our local small businesses who continue to enrich our area.
I also welcome the encouraging news that Harrods Beauty plans to occupy part of the former Browns of Chester store. The Chester high street continues to see new businesses opening despite the difficulties experienced by high streets across the country.
On the subject of fresh food, I welcome the recent move by the Government to finally ban the use of bee-harming neonicotinoid pesticides. Bees are a vital part of the food web and ensure our area is rich in biodiversity. In March last year, I led a Westminster Hall Debate about this and made my first ever contribution to a Westminster Hall Debate on this issue in February 2023. I welcome that this has finally been introduced and would like to thank Chester Zoo for their work on this issue.
I’d like to thank everyone who entered my Christmas Card competition. I was able to present the winning design to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, and used this for my Christmas cards to fellow MPs and key stakeholders across Chester North and Neston. We have some really talented young people in Chester North & Neston and it was great to celebrate this with Mr Speaker.
This year, I had the honour of delivering one of the readings at Chester Cathedral as part of their programme of Christmas events. The Cathedral is central to our city and a fantastic place to visit at Christmas time and throughout the year.
Road safety continues to be an important issue across the Country. Too many lives are cut tragically short by accidents on our roads. I’d therefore link to thank Highways England and Cheshire West and Chester Council for their work improving the safety of the A550, you can find out more about the scheme here. Potholes continue to blight roads in Neston, Chester and around the country so I welcome the £1.6bn the Government has committed to fund pothole repairs.
This month I filmed a video to highlight some of the recent positive announcements made by the Government that will deliver the change our country so desperately needs, you can watch this here.
In Parliament, I was proud to support the measures outlined by the Government in the Water (Special Measures) Bill to ensure our water companies are better regulated to ensure the infrastructure invests we need to stop sewage dumping are put ahead of bonuses. The Bill will ban bonuses for polluting water bosses, bring criminal charges against lawbreakers and force water companies to cover the costs of enforcement action.
In Hooton, it was great to have a tour and officially open the new Rivacre Brook School. The new school supports children who have special educational needs and social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It was great to meet the pupils who provided an impressive musical and dance display which was enjoyed by parents, friends of the school and me.
In December we received the good news that the Government plans to buy back the military homes sold in 1996. This includes 200 homes in Chester North and Neston. The standard of housing for our armed forces personnel and their families has left a lot to be desired with years of underinvestment. The decision to buy back the military housing estate will save the taxpayer £230 million a year in rent.
I’d like to end this newsletter by highlighting the surgeries I continue to host across Chester North and Neston. Being the Member of Parliament for our amazing area is truly an honour, the help my team and I’ve been able to provide to local residents continues to be a highlight and was the focus of my 2024 wrapped, which you can view here.
Thank you again for taking the time to read this update. I hope it was interesting and informative as to the work I’ve been undertaking for you this last month, and please share these newsletters with your friends and family members.
As always, if you have any ideas or issues, please get in touch at samantha.dixon.mp@parliament.uk
I hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Samantha Dixon MBE, MP
Chester North & Neston