THREE Darlington youngsters got the chance to find out how government works when they visited the Houses of Parliament this week.

Gillian Lloyd, Richard Taylor and Adam Ferguson, who is visually impaired, from Hummersknott School and Language College, spent the day meeting MPs and learning about Parliament.

It was an especially exciting trip for them, because they were involved in the consultation process for the Education White Paper with Stephen Timms, Minister for School Standards, in November last year.

As part of the consultation exercise, the schools involved were invited to visit London for a tour of the House of Commons.

Headteacher David Henderson said that the youngsters met former Darlington Tory MP Michael Fallon, who is now MP for Sevenoaks, in Kent.

In the afternoon, they saw the Secretary of State for Health, and Darlington MP, Alan Milburn, in action at Question Time.

They also visited a select committee discussing the Education Bill.

"The kids really enjoyed themselves. It was a great opportunity for them to find out more about how government works," said Mr Henderson.