Parliament went into recess earlier this month so it has been a quiet period at Westminster.  I have tabled two written questions, one to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on whether the Government has made representations to the Indian Government on reports of abuse and neglect in equine serum facilities in India, and the other one to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on how many penalty charge notices have been issued for NHS treatment to people claiming employment and support allowance in each of the last five years.

Building on my Shadow Defence role I was pleased to sign up to the RAF Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme 2018-19 to give me a direct insight to the day to day work of the RAF.  It was also a pleasure to be able to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo this year.

Recess always provides a welcome opportunity to support activities within the constituency.  I was able to attend the Aber Valley YMCA Junior Football competition, and managed to join the conclusion of the Diyas Trust sponsored walk in support of establishing a drop in centre for disabled children. I was pleased to support a very successful Breast Cancer Care afternoon tea fundraiser in Machen, and Caerphilly Labour Party Women’s Forum coffee morning raising funds for Women’s Aid.

I had an informative visit to Housing Matters supported accommodation at Llanbradach where I met with young people and Llamau workers. The issue of single use plastic is one very much in the news recently and I was delighted to go along to a meeting of the plastic free Caerphilly Group to discuss how we can achieve Caerphilly Plastic Free Town Status.

I am an ardent supporter of the work done by the Aber Valley Heritage Group and it was a pleasure to attend the Group’s launch of their smartphone app and Walking History Trail – “Walking Through Time”.

There have been a number of concerns raised by Gelligaer residents over the impact of the Bryn Group’s nearby farm, quarry and recycling plant, particularly plans to relocate a screening bund nearer to Gelligaer village.  I attended a packed public meeting to hear residents’ concerns and will be seeking a meeting with Natural Resources Wales and Caerphilly Council to discuss these.