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Stephen McPartland MP for Stevenage had a whistle-stop tour around the town to visit many of the furniture and home improvement retailers who have made a commitment to providing excellent customer service by becoming members of The Furniture Ombudsman.

Stephen said, “The Furniture Ombudsman works hard to encourage the highest standards of customer service within the furniture industry. The Furniture Ombudsman currently has a pool of members which extends to approximately 4,500 furniture and home improvement outlets in the UK. It is great that the organisation exists to support both the consumer and the furniture industry and I am proud that it is based here in Stevenage.”

Stephen has a particular interest in the tour as he is also the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Furniture Group, a forum which discusses the issues affecting the furniture industry at Parliament.

Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage spent some of the morning helping and sorting through donations at the Marie Curie Shop in The Hyde, Stevenage.

Stephen said,“I very much enjoyed my time in the shop and the enthusiasm of the volunteers was amazing, as they made me feel like part of the team. Improving Cancer care locally is one of my key priorities and you can help by signing up to my campaign for a Satellite Radiotherapy Unit to be based at the Lister Hospital.

Stephen McPartland MP welcomed Skills Minister, John Hayes MP, to Stevenage to open officially a brand new facility offering welding skills training at North Hertfordshire College Skills Centre.

Stephen said "I am very proud of the groundbreaking work of the Weldability-Sif Foundation Charity and North Hertfordshire College. This amazing initiative which they have developed will help create lots of employment opportunities locally and offer our young people training in a skill with a high paid job at the end of it. This is an inspirational project which has my full support".

Fintan Donohue the Principal and Chief Executive of NHC, a large number of students and representatives of different interested groups attended the ceremony.

The main reason I voted against the Government and rebelled is because I believe it is wrong that people under the age of 54 have never had the opportunity to vote on the issue of Europe.

I would like to clarify that only the Liberal Democrat party manifesto contained a pledge on an in or out referendum.

I am afraid from listening to the debate that the Labour Party have made it clear that if they form a government again, they will pursue greater integration with Europe, which will culminate in a United States of Europe in my view.

I voted against the government and in favour of a referendum because I believe in choice and people should be able to choose what relationship they would like with Europe.

Stephen McPartland
Member of Parliament for Stevenage

Stephen McPartland said "falling crime figures are good news for our communities and reassure all residents that our town is getting safer. I know from the work I have done with the Police how hard our local officers work to ensure criminals are caught and prosecuted. This is a clear message to criminals that crime does not pay in Stevenage."

Some of Stevenage and North Herts’ 18,000 unpaid carers gave local MP Stephen McPartland an insight into the reality of caring for someone close to you, when he took part in local charity Carers in Hertfordshire’s Annual Carers Event held in Stevenage last week.

Speaking after the event Stephen said, “I was delighted to attend part of the Carers Conference in Stevenage and believe they are the unsung heroes of our communities. Many adult and child carers in particular, give up their own hopes, dreams and often health to care for another. It is important we all recognise the contribution they make and I will continue raising their issues locally and nationally”.

Sue Reeve, Chief Executive of Carers in Hertfordshire said, “When you are a carer it can sometimes feel like no one is listening, so I was really pleased that Mr McPartland took time out to come and find out about the worries and concerns of local carers.”

Stephen McPartland MP visited Hertfordshire PASS’s offices in Stevenage to find out more about a new apprenticeship being developed to enable young disabled people to be more effective employers of their personal assistants or carers.

Stephen said after the visit "I was proud to meet some of the new apprentices and learn from them the journey they had undertaken in developing this concept. It is an amazing project and I am delighted that they are leading the way with such an innovative apprenticeship scheme. I look forward to working closely with them and keeping Ministers informed of our progress."

One Facility a Stevenage-based Facilities Management & Maintenance company invited local MP Stephen McPartland to launch a new electric vehicle for use on their client site.

Stephen said, "One Facility is a great Stevenage success story that is focused on employing local people and using local suppliers. They look after some of the town’s largest companies and really care about delivering excellent service. I was delighted to launch their new electric vehicle, which is another example of their commitment to our town, their employees and customers".