It was a great start to the week welcoming a group of constituents from Denmead on Monday morning. Many of them are part of the community pub, the Fox and Hounds. It has been lauded as a good example of how a community pub is set up in the local media recently. Pubs are such an important part of village life and it is devastating when they close but many pubs are now being saved by local people.
On Monday afternoon the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) scrutinised DCMS and I was able to question the CEO of BDUK about broadband and there was some positive news. After the meeting, I went outside and had a word with the CEO about the issues in the Cheriton area and he mentioned my recent letter on the subject and said he hopes there will be good news soon. I will continue to badger him until we get this sorted. The Government is committed to providing broadband in all the hard-to-reach areas so I am confident that it will happen.
I missed the Thursday PAC meeting as I was visiting RAF Northolt but I gathered that HMRC appeared on the news as did our meeting with DCMS on Monday. I am really enjoying being on this committee and holding the departments to account.
We had an early evening on Monday as the debate on the Northern Ireland Budget Bill finished at 8pm but not for me as I was chairing a dinner with high-powered women in the tech industry, with three ministers attending. We talked about getting more women into the male-dominated industry and the need to start the process in schools. A charity Techshecan is working on this with 240 companies signed up to help
On Tuesday, in the Education Select Committee, we turned the tables to question Robert Peston about the charity he set up to provide speakers into schools. It then developed it into helping young people find work experience. As I have mentioned before, if any of you would like to go into local schools to talk about your job, please let me know. My doctor daughter is about to go into a school armed with plaster casts and gowns to make a mock-up trauma unit.
I attended a new group with MPs hoping to work together to attract more investment and help with policy decisions in the south central area. Several businesses came up to London to talk to us about the issues.
I had a good meeting in the constituency with businesses last week organised by Barclays Bank and today had another one organised by Nat West, as you can see above. It is a very good opportunity to hear about the issues affecting businesses and I will be feeding in their views to the Chancellor. Consistency in policy is the main request.
I sat in two committees on Wednesday for the committee stage of two Private Members Bills. Very often PMBs do not get very far but both are being supported by the Government. The first is to get compensation for those who are affected by new electricity and gas cables. I hope that we can include other utilities in this too.
The second Bill was on Trophy Hunting to prevent hunters from bringing back the results of killing wild animals overseas.
On Wednesday we also heard the result of the Aquind appeal and it was very disappointing for local residents. I am putting some points together to help people write their objections. We must concentrate on the planning aspects which are the only way we can stop this going further. Do write to me if you are interested
I missed PMQs on Wednesday as I had a large group of Swanmore College pupils at Westminster. I suspect I had a harder time with questions than the Prime Minister! We are incredibly lucky with our schools and I enjoy visiting and talking to both pupils and staff. My visit last week to Swanmore College to hear about the project on the Holocaust was very interesting too.
This week we voted to put more restrictions on water companies about sewage. Sadly, the opposition parties voted against and now are advertising again that Conservative MPs have voted to put sewage into our rivers.
We voted to improve water quality, the legislation specifically mentions reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution – I cannot understand why the other parties voted against or why they make such ridiculous allegations. We have put extra duties on water companies to monitor every single overflow by the end of the year, we are at 90% now
I mentioned my visit to RAF Northolt earlier. We saw some of the different aspects of the work that goes on there including the Royal Flight, RAF Band and, for those of you who have served abroad, where all the mail sent to British Forces Posted Overseas (BFPO) is handled.
We also heard from a son of one of the Polish pilots about the huge contribution of Polish airmen during the Battle of Britain. They were based at RAF Northolt and were very experienced pilots. We heard about some of their tactics, flying very close to the enemy even flying head-on at them.
It linked in nicely with my visit to NATS today before my NatWest meeting with businesses and pub meeting in Wickham.
I will be in Waterlooville town centre tomorrow with councillors from 11-1pm if anyone would like to come and have a chat.
