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Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, has been contacted by many residents to step in and help tackle some of the worst potholes in Stevenage.

Stephen McPartland MP said, “The potholes on Fulton Close, which are at the entrance to the Leisure Park are some of the worst I have seen. They make the road an obstacle course and lots of local people who use this entrance to access the facilities on the Leisure Park have contacted me. They asked me to step in after their pleas to the Council failed.

“I discovered that most of the road is owned by Imperial Tobacco Pension Trustees Ltd and contacted them. They quickly agreed to resurface the road with the work starting on Monday 13th March and will be done overnight to reduce disruption. There was some confusion over the ownership, as Legal & General own the Leisure Park, but they have sorted it out amongst themselves to deal with resurfacing as fast as possible.

“I am delighted I was able to help, and will always stand up for my constituents. Remember if you have a problem you feel I can help with, want me to visit an event or your facility then please do contact me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. “

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Local volunteer Sarah Kingham is helping to spearhead the 70/30 Campaign, backed by the WAVE Trust, to eradicate the maltreatment of children in the UK and met with Stephen McPartland MP to help raise awareness of the issue.

Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, said "It is shocking that so many children suffer maltreatment during their lifetime through neglect or other abuse. I welcome the work that Sarah is doing as part of the WAVE Trust's 70/30 Campaign to help tackle the underlying causes: such as mental health issues, substance misuse, domestic problems. I am pleased to support her role as an ambassador for the campaign to help raise awareness of the issue."

The WAVE Trust is a UK charity and aims to reduce the maltreatment of children by 70% by the year 2030 through its 70/30 Campaign. To find out more about the 70/30 Campaign or to find out how you can get involved, visit www.70-30.org.uk or call 020 8688 3773.

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Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, has teamed up with Boots and the National Literacy Trust to focus on children's eye health.

Stephen McPartland MP, said, "We have joined forces to find the estimated one million children undiagnosed with an eye health condition. An undiagnosed eye health problem at a young age could be a huge barrier to enjoying reading, which is a vital part of a child’s literacy development.

"The team at Boots Opticians Stevenage would be delighted to visit your school and present to your pupils about the importance of good eye health and literacy in either an assembly or individual classes. I know some Primary Schools have already taken advantage of this as part of a Science week."

Boots Opticians are also offering schools the chance to receive their own free Vision Screening Toolkit to help support schools to quickly and easily check the vision of their children. It is aimed primarily at Foundation and Key Stage 1 children (aged 4-7) but can be used through primary school. To register for a full support package containing everything needed to carry out the vision screen and curriculum based lesson plans which help to bring to life the importance of good eye health go to http://www.bootsvisionscreen.co.uk/

If you would like to take up the offer of a school visit, please contact Rita Khagram, Practice Manager on 01438 356038 or email Stephen to pass on your details.

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Stage 2 of Stevenage's Local Plan starts today. Read my statement to the Planning Inspector here:

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Entrepreneurs and representatives from other Stevenage businesses, small and large, held a business breakfast with local MP Stephen McPartland as part of their support for the Twin Town cyclists in their effort to raise £100,000 for the Lister Hospital.

The event was hosted by the Cromwell Hotel and gave the opportunity to hear the success of work already done, and some of the activities planned by TT1000 and their supporters over the next few months. During his speech, Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, said, "It's amazing the enthusiasm coming from the business community to support such an ambitious target of raising £1000,000 for the Lister Hospital.  I'm proud to be working alongside them to help them reach their target."

TT1000 team captain, Steve Watkins, who is also BBC Radio's Stevenage FC reporter, said, "The business breakfast was a fantastic event.  A big thank you to everyone who came to learn more, it's so important to keep spreading the word."

The cycle ride is named ‘Twin Towns 1000’ as the route is over 1,000 kms and the team will be cycling from Harwich in the UK to the towns of Ingelheim in Germany and Autun in France, both towns twinned with Stevenage.

Further information can be found at: www.twintowns1000.bike or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Twintowns1000/ or Twitter: twitter.com/twintowns1000 A Just Giving page has also been set up: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/twintowns1000

If you would like any further information about how to get involved in raising funds for the team’s efforts, please contact Sam Skipp, Fundraiser at East and North Herts Hospitals Charity via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Aston St Mary's Church of England Primary School recently held elections for their School Council and invited their local Member of Parliament, Stephen McPartland, along to meet the pupils and present them with their badges at a special school assembly.

Stephen McPartland MP said, "I was delighted to award the newly elected School Councillors with their badges and look forward to working with them. It is always very important to me that each year group has their own elected class representatives, as it helps them drive forward the ideas from their own classes."

Head teacher, Julie Winwood, added,  "As in all schools that have a School Council, we are teaching our pupils one of our British values - democracy.  School Councils give pupils a voice and helps them understand how democracy can influence decision making at all levels."

The School Councillors are elected by their class to represent their views and work together to make improvements to the school.  The School Councillors work together with Julie and volunteer, Dennis Preston, who help guide the children, and their first project is focused on reviewing the school's lunch menu.

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Sir Oliver Heald MP, Peter Lilley MP and Stephen McPartland MP met with the Lister Hospital's Chief Executive and Chairman in Parliament. The meeting was to discuss progress on the campaigns for specialised surgical services and a satellite Radiotherapy Unit to be based in Stevenage at the Lister Hospital.

Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, said, "It was a fantastic meeting and I am delighted that business cases for both campaigns are now completed and will be considered shortly by NHS England and the Board of the East & North Herts Hospital Trust, which manages the Lister Hospital."

Peter Lilley, Member of Parliament for Hitchin & Harpenden, said, "It was great news that the Trust is making progress on bringing both a radiotherapy unit and vascular surgery services to the Lister.  These could transform the lives of patients in my constituency."

Sir Oliver Heald, Member of Parliament for North East Hertfordshire, added, "North East Herts residents have had to travel long distances to access radiotherapy and specialist artery surgery. They have strongly supported our campaign to bring these to the Lister and I was encouraged by the progress being made by the Trust. I will continue to press for action."

If successful, Specialised Vascular Surgical Services will be located at the Lister Hospital instead of Watford. A satellite Radiotherapy Unit based locally would mean thousands of local people would no longer have to travel to Mount Vernon in Hillingdon for routine Radiotherapy Treatment. A campaign the three local Members of Parliament launched together to help bring cancer Services closer to patients' homes.

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The Government has announced £19 million funding to help drive forward the regeneration of Stevenage town centre, but rejected the current plans and demanded Stevenage First be abolished. A new organisation will replace Stevenage First, which has failed to regenerate our town centre, Stevenage train station will not be moved and the money cannot be used to close Lytton Way.

Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, said, “I love Stevenage, but its town centre is not fit for purpose. It needs regenerating and bringing forward into the 21st century, and it needs to reflect the growing aspirations of the people who live here, but do not shop here. However, the latest regeneration plan was painful to read, totally undeliverable and a billion-pound joke on local people. The ridiculous proposal included moving the existing railway station, relied on by 35,000 commuters a day, closing Lytton Way, demolishing the Gordon Craig theatre and building 1,300 flats on the leisure park to wipe out our community facilities.

“The plans fail to regenerate the town centre, as they do not include the shops in Queensway, which they claim is a Conservation Area! I explained to Government, that we cannot support any regeneration scheme that does not include our shops and threatens to destroy the local economy by moving the train station. I am delighted that after intensive discussions with Ministers, Stevenage First will be abolished and a new organisation is to be tasked with the regeneration of our town centre. This is backed by almost £20 million of Government funding and I will take a role in it. This is on top of the £12 million the Government provided for land acquisition in Stevenage town centre in 2011.

"I have spoken to developers, financiers, chief executives and chairmen of leading retailers, and they all tell me the exact same simple facts of regeneration. We have to increase customer footfall and the dwell time of shoppers before they will come, and the quickest way to do that is with an element of free parking. Stevenage Borough Council must now discuss giving up its addiction to the £3.5 million it receives in car parking charges, which blocks every regeneration attempt.”

Click here to sign the petition for 3 hours free parking

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