Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, has revealed the amount of casework he and his office undertook in 2020.
From the day Richard took office, Richard has had 9.690 pieces of casework from constituents, of which 9,300 have been successfully dealt with and about 300 of which are ongoing. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a huge volume and a large number of the cases Richard and his team worked on focused on coronavirus, tier restrictions, schools and the vaccines. Richard also worked on cases about Brexit, the NHS, the Agriculture Bill (see here) and more local campaigns regarding speeding, littering, Shotley Bridge Hospital (see here), Medomsley (see here) and the new public transport link – see here.
Richard and his team also worked on a number of individual cases concerning a wide range of issues, from people having problems with their broadband, the DVLA, universal credit to people concerned about fly tipping here and anti-social behaviour in the local area. You can read about the casework that Richard has worked on at the following links:
- Richard helped Marie, a constituent who needed urgent improvements to be able to able to bathe her children at home. More here here
- The family of a North West Durham constituent who was stuck in Greece after a stroke were very concerned for her welfare. Richard helped get her repatriated and his constituency team supported the family through a very difficult process. More here
- Richard helps constituent with a disabled child get support with a significant benefits issue helping support an overnight carer. More here
- Melissa, a constituent at Teesside University had a really big issue with her tuition fees. Richard managed to sort it out and ensured that Melissa got £350 compensation and was able to continue her studies. More here
- Michelle from Consett had a baby and was forced to pay for her baby to have a medical procedure in error. Richard got in touch with the hospital and sorted out the mistake ensuing that Michelle was reimbursed and got an apology. More here
- A constituent from Weardale got in touch with Richard after drivers regularly drove across her property. Richard got in touch with the Council and managed to get the issue resolved with some new signage to prevent the issue recurring. More here
- Richard has been working with a number of constituents on a wider range of local issues in the run up to Christmas, including local businesses and bus companies: More here
- Michael, a constituent from Crook had been having real issues with the DVLA as he tried to get his driving licence renewed, causing him major issues. Richard got in touch with the DVLA and sorted the problem out. More here
- Residents of Delves Lane got in touch with Richard about an abandoned vehicle. The issue had been being ping-ponged between the police and the council until Richard got involved and sorted it our for local residents. More here
- Richard has been standing up for residents of Medomsley Edge regarding a planning applications for the former detention centre. More details here
- Burnopfield residents were fed up with blocked and over-flowing drains on New Road in Burnopfield. Richard met local residents concerned about the issue and got in touch with the council who then sorted it out after months of complaints. More here
- After seeing the issues around litter locally, Richard took matters into his own hands dealing with the council directly on fly-tipping concerns and organising a number of local litterpicks with local volunteers. More here
Richard said:
“The statistics for casework show just how busy myself and my team are working on constituency casework. This is the backbone of my job and I take casework really seriously, whether it’s answering people’s policy queries or assisting people who are having difficulties accessing universal credit.
“Despite the difficulties and new challenges that 2020 threw up, we had a successful year in terms of dealing with the casework. Of the nearly 10,000 cases we opened, we closed 97% of them and many of the cases that remain open are difficult and ongoing issues we are fighting for constituents on, as well as local campaigns that we are working on long-term.
“If you have any queries or issues you would like me to take a look at, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I am always very happy to meet you in a surgery or talk to you over the phone.”
To hear more about the work that Richard is doing for North West Durham, you can sign up here or input your details in the form on this page.