PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP TUESDAY 14 th APRIL 2026 Alistair Strathern, Labour MP for the Hitchin constituency, convened MPs, ministers and leading campaigners on tackling the manosphere to discuss how the Government can do more to protect young men and boys growing up in Britain today.   The event, “Tackling the Manosphere”, set amidst the Government’s consultation on social media reform, discussed how to not only make online spaces safer for boys and young me

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP FRIDAY 10 th APRIL 2026 North Hertfordshire College has been awarded £750,000 in funding to support significant upgrades across its campuses, ensuring that students continue to learn in modern, safe and high‑quality environments.   The investment forms part of a wider national programme to improve facilities at further education colleges across England. For North Hertfordshire College, the funding will support essential maintenance an

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP THURSDAY 9 th APRIL 2026 The second wave of the Government’s cost-of-living measures will come into force this week benefitting families, workers and pensioners in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.   The Government’s central domestic priority is easing the cost-of-living, putting the British people first with new policies aimed at getting money back into people’s pockets.     Thanks to Labour’s decisions at the last Budget, the followin

31st March 2026 PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Last night, Alistair Strathern MP brought together local parents, psychologists, campaigners, and school staff for a community discussion on upcoming changes to social media restrictions for young people. The conversation follows growing international momentum, like recent action in Australia, to take stronger, evidence‑based steps to protect children online.   Parents described feeling as though they had been “on a runawa

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP MONDAY 30 th MARCH 2026 Helping Herts Homeless, a homeless sanctuary, has paid tribute to its long‑serving Treasurer, Peter Warren, who has stepped down after an extraordinary 25 years of continuous service to the charity and its mission to support people experiencing homelessness across Hertfordshire.   Peter first became involved in 1999, when the charity, then known as The North Herts Sanctuary, was seeking a new treasurer. Initial

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP WEDNESDAY 25th MARCH 2026 Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, has celebrated news Central Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire will receive a substantial increase in high‑needs capital funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), following the latest national allocations issued by the Department for Education.   Following Strathern’s campaigning on SEND in Beds and Herts, for the upcoming fina

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP TUESDAY 24th MARCH 2026 Alistair Strathern, the MP for the Hitchin constituency, has welcomed securing Shefford Lower School Government funding to expand its nursery as part of its Best Start programme.    Thousands more parents across the country are set to benefit, including in Beds and Herts, as the government has announced an expansion of childcare to over 300 more schools from September.   Shefford Lower is one of 331 schools acro

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP MONDAY 23rd MARCH 2026   Alistair Strathern, the MP for Hitchin, has celebrated securing a major win for local communities, after the Government confirmed it would change approach and enable housing delivered as part of its new town programme to count towards housing targets.    The change follows sustained calls for a fairer and more strategic approach to development by Strathern. With Tempsford in Central Bedfordshire one of the site

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP TUESDAY 17th MARCH 2026   Alistair Strathern, the MP for the Hitchin constituency, is hosting an open forum for local families to share their views to share their views on social media regulation as part of the Government’s national consultation.   The event will run from 6.30-8pm on Monday 30 th  March at Walsworth Road Baptist Hall.   Since being elected, Mr Strathern has regularly shared the experiences of parents and young people l

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP MONDAY 16 th MARCH 2026 Alistair Strathern, the MP for Hitchin, has celebrated helping to secure millions of pounds from Government for vulnerable households in rural communities exposed to high heating oil prices.   After Strathern joined with rural MPs to put the case for action to the Treasury, the Government has today announced £53m of funding for local authorities across the country to support low-income households exposed to sur

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP WEDNESDAY 11 th MARCH 2026 Alistair Strathern, the MP for Hitchin, has welcomed news that after pressing Anglian Water over the issues caused by long running sewage works in the town of Shefford a temporary pumping solution will now be installed.   Residents in Shefford have had to endure months of noisy manual ‘tanking’ of sewage after a longstanding fault in the local sewage network broke at the end of last year.    After Strathern’

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP WEDNESDAY 11 th MARCH 2026 Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, has welcomed a commitment from Network Rail to invest in installing a backup secondary signalling system across a key stretch of the local commuter line from Blackfriars to Farringdon.                                                          Since being elected Strathern has regularly engaged with Network Rail, train operators and the Department for Transport to challenge

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP FRIDAY 6 th MARCH 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Alistair Strathern, the MP for Hitchin, has celebrated an agreement of a £2m investment to expand Langford Village Academy. The academy serves the village of Langford in Mr Strathern’s constituency, and had faced real pressures accommodating local children following the growth of the village. The new funding will enable the school to finally invest in appropriate facilities to accommodate

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP WEDNESDAY 4 th MARCH 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Alistair Strathern, the MP for the Hitchin constituency, has teamed up with Gavin and Stacey  star Alison Steadman to champion palliative care.   Strathern met with Steadman and local palliative care nurses in Parliament with Marie Curie, the palliative care charity, to mark and promote their Great Daffodil Appeal. Steadman was there as a Charity Ambassador.   At the event he also spoke

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP TUESDAY 24 th FEBRUARY 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Alistair Strathern, MP for the Hitchin Constituency, joined staff at MHA Elmside Care home in Hitchin to celebrate care worker Barbara Ashton’s 10 years of service across MHA ran homes locally.   Since joining MHA, the UK’s largest charity run care provider, in 2016 Barbara has become a trusted and much‑loved member of the care team. Her compassion, professionalism, and steady presence

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP MONDAY 23 rd FEBRUARY 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, has launched a brand‑new February Street Art Competition, inviting young people across the constituency to showcase what they love most about their community. The competition calls on young designers, creators, and artists aged 13–18 to submit ideas for a new public mural in Hitchin Town. Entrants are encouraged to capture something meaningful, a land

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP FRIDAY 20 th FEBRUARY 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Alistair Strathern, MP for the Hitchin constituency, has urged Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) to make use of new legal powers and funding to improve local bus services.   Writing to the council’s Chief Executive in a letter, Strathern called on HCC to utilise the new pilot powers and measures in the Bus Services Act to address local bus challenges.   Last year Strathern helped secur

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP TUESDAY 17 th FEBRUARY 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, has welcomed news Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) are among the local authorities set to benefit from the Government’s groundbreaking national programme to write off 90% of historic Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) debt.   SEND demand has grown nationally in recent years, stretching council

Business leaders from across North Hertfordshire came together yesterday morning at Willmott Dixon’s Hitchin offices for a special National Apprenticeship Week Business Breakfast, hosted by Anna Morrison from Amazing Apprenticeships, Natalie Sidey from Willmott Dixon, and Hitchin MP Alistair Strathern. The event shone a spotlight on the vital role employers play in helping young people and adults build their skills through high‑quality apprenticeships.   The breakfast brought

Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, has written to Royal Mail demanding immediate action to address months of unreliable postal deliveries that have caused significant disruption for residents across Hitchin and the surrounding towns and villages.   In recent months, the MPs office has received a surge of emails from constituents reporting repeated delivery failures. These include missed hospital and GP appointments due to delayed NHS letters, disruption to time sensitive cor