Meeting with Warwickshire's Police and Crime Commissioner I've always had a very good relationship with the Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police (both the previous one and the current) and the old Police Authority and as have the other 5 Warwickshire MPs. We were therefore all very keen to continue this with the new Police and Crime Commissioner, Ron Ball, hence our first joint meeting two weeks ago. As the individual responsible for setting policing priorities and importantly the policing budget I feel it's very important that as MPs we maintain a good working relationship with him. At the meeting we discussed general points of policing as well as specific concerns from individual MPs. I made clear how important retention of Stratford Police Station was, and the importance of seeing it filled rather than continuing in its currently very empty state. Armed forces redundancies The Government inherited a significant blackhole in the defence budget, which has meant some redundancies have been unavoidable. Those announced in the last two weeks are part of the total figure already announced and whilst they mean we will have smaller armed forces, they will be well funded and well equipped from a balanced budget. These redundancies will also not affect current operations in Afghanistan, where every day our Armed Forces continue to fight bravely on our behalf. 2020 Conservatives - Civil Service reform The 2020 Conservatives group continues to meet weekly to discuss policy areas and ideas. As I have written before, my area of interest is civil service reform and I have continued to work on this policy area with my colleagues including an interesting discussion led by former minister Nick Herbert at a 2020 meeting. Holocaust Memorial Day and PMQs Last week I was lucky enough to be given the chance to ask the Prime Minister a question at PMQs. Given that the following Sunday was the 68th anniversary of the liberation of Asuchwitz-Birkenau chose to ask him about the excellent work of the Holocaust Trust and whether he would commit to ensuring that our young people will always have the opportunity to learn about what took place during the darkest period in our world's history. In response he said: "I think that my hon. Friend speaks for the whole House, and indeed the whole country, in raising this vital issue on this day, and in praising the Holocaust Educational Trust—an absolutely brilliant charity and organisation that makes sure that young people from schools across the country have the opportunity to go and see the places where the terrible events of the holocaust took place. I had the immense privilege this week of meeting a holocaust survivor whose story was truly heroic and truly heartbreaking, but who in her 90s is still making these arguments and making this case so that future generations will learn. We should also learn, not just about the European holocaust, but from what has happened more recently in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia and elsewhere that, tragically, there is far too much prejudice and persecution in our world." He is quite right that the Holocaust Educational Trust is a fantastic charity and one that I have spoken for many times in the past mainly to raise the profile of the Kurdish genocide by Saddam Hussein. You can read more about it in my article for Politics Home or sign the e-petition on the subject here Launch of the Green Deal In the last two weeks we've also seen the official launch of the Green Deal. A simple and cost effective method to improve the energy efficiency of our homes and ultimately to lower our energy bills. I sat on the committee that scrutinised the Energy Bill that provides the framework for the Green Deal and have always thought it was a brilliant idea. Whilst the uptake so far may be slow the good news is that there are in excess of 500 Green Deal installers already signed up who will I am sure begin promoting the scheme direct to consumers. In the meantime if you're interested have a look at the Gov.uk pages on the Green Deal. In the constituency Amongst many other appointments and meetings I've... ...met with the Federation of Small Business and discussed their ongoing campaigns, particularly on improved transport in the region and their feedback on the LEP. met with Inspector Faz Chisty to discuss the Police's operation to deal with the street drinking in Stratford. They identified and profiled 21 hardened street drinkers and as a result of individually tailored support and enforcements have reduced that number to just 9. In September CCTV identified 360 individual cases of street drinking, which by January had fallen to just over 20. Opened the new offices of Enable Software in Stratford who have created offices as good as any in Silicon Valley right here in Stratford Held a surgery discussing amongst other confidential issues, the County Council's approach to it's tenant farmers, the state pension (and our triple lock to ensure a fair rise every year), recycling and visa issues.