James Wharton MP

I was pleased to see that the Gazette have run a story on the Parkview consultation. 

I am fully behind the campaign to keep Parkview open and anything that can be done to raise the profile of this issue has got to be a good thing.  As many people as possible need to contribute to the consultation exercise:

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2008/01/31/future-of-home-in-spotlight-84229-20415610/

Today’s Northern Echo printed my letter about the government’s cuts to the Probation Service:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/letters/display.var.2007886.0.probation_cuts.php

Saturday was the North East Conservatives’ Regional Forum, at King’s Academy in Middlesbrough.

The forum was attended by well over 100 Party members from across Teesside.  I led the debate on Crime and Antisocial behaviour, with a number of valuable contributions from the floor and from my fellow candidates across the region.  This was followed by a speech by William Hague.  William is always a pleasure to listen too, mixing wise words with a touch of humour; he even found time to take a few questions at the end.

All in all it was a superb event and is just one example of the difference that the new Northern Board is making to our organisation locally.

Last night I attended a fundraiser for ‘A Way Out’ a charity in Stockton which helps young people and particularly young women out of drugs and prostitution.  This organisation is having a real, positive and tangible impact on the people who come to it for assistance.  It is run by Jessie Jacobs, from Hartburn, who has dedicated years of her life to the project.  A few months ago I took Francis Maude MP to visit the A Way Out centre in Skinner Street and he was impressed with what he say.  They do so well because they measure outcomes rather than output.  They do not simply aim to “tick the boxes” to get the funding they need but instead they concentrate on actually helping those people who most need it.  Their growing success speaks for itself.

Last night they launched a new project “Sarah” to help women find support and long term solutions to the problems of low self esteem, drugs and abuse.

I look forward to continuing to support the good work that A Way Out does and to seeing some of its ideas implemented on a wider scale by the next Conservative government.

Tonight I attended the Conservative Group meeting.   It was a good opportunity to catch up with what is going on in some of the wards with Conservative Councillors from across Stockton South.

I raised a number of issues with the Group including Garden Grabbing, Council Tax and Parkview care home and the consultation process regarding its future.

There is a lot going on in the Borough and it is important that all sides are heard before decisions are taken.  I hope that some of the information I was able to bring along to tonight’s meeting will help to inform the direction that the Conservative Councillors take Stockton over the coming months.  It was a good opportunity to feed in the findings of the surveys that I have been distributing in some parts of Stockton South.  Having hard evidence by way of survey returns really helps to drive a point home and ensures that I am able to put resident’s real priorities first.