Welcome to my July update. So far, we’ve had some fantastic weather this summer which has been great for events being held across Chester North &Neston. This month marks one year since the election of the current Labour Government. On my Facebook page, I posted a short video containing some of the highlights from the past 12 months, please give it a watch here.
I hope you find this email newsletter interesting.
As we approach the summer holidays, my diary has included several visits to our fantastic local schools. In Hoole, I visited St Werburgh’s & St Colomba’s Primary School, receiving a tour of the school from the Headteacher and meeting with the pupils who run their own school bank. This is a fantastic scheme supported by West Cheshire Credit Union, who support schools through this programme to help pupils learn about money and saving.
In Blacon, I visited The Arches Community Primary School to meet with the Headteacher and Governors to discuss support for SEND pupils, in the run up to the Government publishing a White Paper on this issue in Autumn. I also visited the History group and School Council at Blacon High School to talk about history, politics and careers post-High School for those with an interest in history and heritage.
In Parliament, it was great to join pupils from St Martin’s Academy, Hoole at the excellent Parliament Education Centre. This facility helps immerse pupils in the Parliamentary process and develop an understanding of the various functions of our democracy. I’d encourage all local schools to book a visit for the next academic year.
In my meeting with the Blacon High School History group, we also discussed how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful and historic area. I’m grateful to the Chester Visitor Information Centre team, and in particular the wonderful Isabel, for helping to facilitate my charity tour of the city, showcasing our unique heritage while raising money for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd. Thank you to the local residents who came along and supported it – I hope it was interesting. I’d also like to thank Chester Cathedral for inviting me to their heritage skills reception which highlighted their support for increasing skills in this crucial industry.
I’m immensely proud to represent our area in Parliament. There’s so many great local causes and groups to champion. This month I joined with my fellow MPs in celebrating the 97th anniversary of women winning the vote on equal terms. As the 560th woman elected to Parliament, I am honoured to follow in the footsteps of so many trailblazing women including my predecessor Christine Russell who was the first women MP to represent Chester. One of my highlights in Parliament this month, was to hear the fantastic speech about improving Anglo-French relations made to both Houses of Parliament by President Emmanuel Macron, during his state visit.
In Parliament, I’ve continued to meet with Ministers, charities and other key stakeholders to discuss the issues that matter most to our local residents, This month included a drop-in with Samaritans to discuss the importance of suicide prevention training for our emergency services who do avital job in difficult circumstances. I’d also like to pay tribute to our Armed Servicemen and women following Armed Forces Day late last month. Our area has strong connections with the Armed Forces with the Dale Barracks, HMS Albion and our Army, Sea and Air Cadet branches in Neston and Chester.
On the subject of emergency services, I was immensely proud to work with Government Ministers and our MPs on ensuring the Victims & Courts Bill made its way through Parliament. This Bill will help restore faith in our justice system by creating an express statutory power for judges to order offenders to attend their sentencing hearings so that these criminals have to face the consequences of their actions, providing victims with certainty about the routes available to receive information about an offender while they a reserving their sentence and strengthening the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner among other measures.
This month I attended a coffee morning at a Sanctuary Housing apartment block in Hoole, and in Parliament met with the senior leadership of Sanctuary Housing at my office. I raised the concerns of constituents who continue to contact me regarding their ongoing issues with Sanctuary and also pushed for more investment into the social housing in our area. This follows the announcement in last months spending review of a £39bn cash injection into social housing.
I also met with local representatives of FareShare who are the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors and support a number of projects across the constituency.
While Housing remains the main issue in my casework, this includes the infrastructure supplying our houses, as well as issues about leasehold and service charges, especially on new build estates. To help tackle these issues, I worked with Cllr Sherin Akhtar to host a residents’ surgery in Upton Dene to help. If you or someone you know lives on a estate with these kinds of problems, please get in touch.
It’s positive to see so many new businesses continues to open in Chester. I enjoyed opening the new Metro Bank on the corner of Frodsham Street and Foregate Street. When so many other towns across the country are being left without a single bank. It’s encouraging to see this ‘vote of confidence’ in our city’s high street. We continue to edge closer to the official opening of Harrods Beauty later this year which promises to be an exciting moment for our city. In the meantime, I would encourage all to follow the exceptional @ShitChester who continues to celebrate our beautiful city and is an excellent source of all the exciting new openings across our local area.
Our area continues to impress me with the great range of businesses who choose to make their home in our part of the world. For example, it was great to attend the open day at the Vines of Chester vineyard near Backford. We’ve had some fantastic weather of late and I’d encourage residents to visit on their next open day. I believe they may be looking for volunteers to help with the grape harvest in the autumn so keep your eyes peeled.
Finally, I’d like end this months newsletter by encouraging you to make the most of the summer. We have some amazing events across Chester, Neston, Parkgate and the villages this summer including the Midsummer Watch Parade. Recently, I enjoyed attending Blacon Festival which continues to be a popular event with hundreds of residents enjoying themselves at this annual event.
I’d also like to remind residents that our great local Councillors and I continue to hold surgeries and events in the constituency to help resolve issues raised by local residents. These can be booked through contacting my office.
As always, if you have any ideas or issues, please get in touch at samantha.dixon.mp@parliament.uk
With best wishes
Samantha Dixon MBE, MP
Chester North & Neston