On Monday it was the second reading of the Education and Adoption Bill, which I have been involved in due to my new role as Assistant Government Whip with responsibility for Education. This Bill will pave the way to improve failing schools by transforming them into academies, and will lay the groundwork to allow adoption agencies to work across a wider area to find the best parents for children.

On Tuesday I went to an interesting reception hosted by Open University, who provide a unique opportunity for people to carry out flexible, part time learning when they might otherwise not be able to.

I would encourage anyone in Stourbridge who wants to do further study but can’t commit to leaving work full-time to look into the opportunities that the Open University provides.

I am heading up to Stourbridge for the weekend, where my first meeting will be with the hard-working people who run Age Concern. This charity does incredible work supporting some of the older members of our community, and ensuring their lives are as fulfilling and rewarding as possible. We will be discussing what more can be done to improve local services for older people, and what funding may be available for Age Concern to help them expand their work. I’m also going to Redhill School, to meet the Headmaster the Special Educational Needs (SEN) co-ordinator, and it will be useful to hear how Redhill students are doing and to learn about the support they offer children with learning difficulties.

Afterwards, I will be meeting representatives from the Taxi Association. I recently met a group of taxi drivers from the Lye area who raised some of the issues that face local people in their profession.

We have a fabulous taxi service in Stourbridge, and I hope that we can have a productive discussion about any measures that the Association think could make local services even better.

I’ll also be holding one of my regular advice surgeries this weekend to talk to Stourbridge residents who require my assistance. If there are any issues, local or national, that you think I might be able to help you with then please do not hesitate to get in touch to make an appointment.

Finally, nominations are now open for the Tiffin Cup, a competition to find the UK’s best South Asian restaurants.

If anyone has any suggestions of exceptional local South Asian restaurants in Stourbridge, then I’d be very grateful if you could contact me so I can put them forward for this award.

Margot can be contacted on 01384 370574 or margot.james.mp@parliament.uk.

You can also sign up to her regular newsletter at www.

margotjames.com/subscribe or you can write to her at The Old Library, Hagley Road, Stourbridge, DY8 1QH.