Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful break with your friends and family over the Christmas period. 

This week is the first of my “Catherine’s catch ups”, which I will publish on my website regularly when Parliament is sitting – both to update you on what is going on in Parliament and what I have been up to in the constituency.

As ever, if my team or I can be of assistance to you, please go to the “Get In Touch” page for my contact information.

We kickstarted this year with the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, an important piece of legislation that I have been working on as part of my role as Minister for School Standards. This Bill will drive up school standards, introduce free breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school in England, bring down school uniform costs and improve safeguarding to keep vulnerable children from falling through the gaps.  

The Bill passed the Second Reading on Wednesday (08/01/25), and in the next few weeks I will be leading it through the Committee Stage, where the Bill will be scrutinised line by line.  

In Newcastle North, I visited the Gosforth Metro depot where old trains are maintained and the new trains are arriving and prepared ahead of their roll-out. During the visit, I discussed the overall project with the team and voiced concerns that constituents have raised with me in recent weeks. 

I am pleased to hear that two new trains are in service and running well despite the bad weather, and there is no further disruption expected due to the Gateshead flyover, although the cold weather still poses a significant challenge with very old trains still in use. The new fleet will continue to be phased out this year, meaning that the team are on track in the two-year process. New trains will have additional technology to monitor for infrastructure issues, which will minimise disruptions.  

Residents had been in touch with me with their concerns about noise coming from the depot. The team have assured me that construction work is completed, and some of it is due to the very cold weather and the age of the existing trains, however now that the new depot is situated further away from the houses and with the cold weather hopefully passing, there should be less impact on those living nearby. 

The Government has made a range of announcements, from the NHS to our foreign policy. I am pleased to hear announced the Elective Reform Plan for the NHS, which will put patients first, increase access to healthcare and cut waiting times to no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment. 

I also welcome the Foreign Secretary’s announcement that the UK is developing legislation for a new sanctions regime that specifically targets irregular migration and organised immigration crime. We are confident that these plans will help to prevent, deter and disrupt irregular migration and the smuggling of migrants into the UK. The UK will be the first country in the world to implement a sanctions regime of this type. This coincided with the Government’s announcement that they have removed the highest number of illegal migrants since 2018, with 16,400 people with no right to be in the UK being removed since July.

I was pleased to hear that the Environment Secretary announced a New Deal for British farmers this week. This Government is determined to ensure British farming becomes more profitable and more sustainable. We will work to ensure that farmers are paid more fairly for their produce, meaning they will be less reliant on subsidies drawn from public money. Ministers are also working on a food strategy that will aim to protect the UK’s food security from climate shocks. 

It has been great to get back after the Christmas break to continue supporting constituents through casework on a range of issues, including housing, immigration and public transport. I have also raised the concerns of constituents with government departments, such as HMRC and DWP, and have referred cases to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

You can also find more information about my work, both in Newcastle and in Parliament, on my social media channels. You can find out how to follow me on social media at: linktr.ee/catherine.mckinnell