On Monday I met with Helen Jackson from MOSAIC, a Petersfield based charity Home - Mosaic Middle East who work in Iraq and Jordan on education and peacebuilding initiatives. It does a lot of education projects and work to empower women.
It was also lovely to welcome Maya Cheesman with her father Daren and other constituents to Parliament. Maya raised a large amount of money for people in Turkey after the earthquake and I wanted to thank her in person. She is only in Year 8 and has plans to be an activist and possibly a politician so I will keep an eye on her career. She is a little too young for work experience but I do have a lot of young people coming to shadow me over the year as well as visiting schools.
I bobbed in Defence Questions to ask about Rick Haythornthwaite’s report called ‘Agency and Agility: Incentivising people in a new era’. Sadly, the Speaker did not call me which was frustrating as I would like to know whether the Ministry of Defence is going to implement the recommendations in full. I did have a word with Ministers beforehand and they are taking it seriously.
Water and water companies have been in the news this week. The Public Accounts Committee I sit on had a private meeting with OFWAT to question it about the future. It did not mention the potential increases in water bills that were announced the next day but there is no doubt that a lot of money must be spent on infrastructure.
I received a letter from Southern Water about The Times article the next day as I keep in regular contact with the company. It said it will ask customers about where to prioritise investment for the next regulatory period (2025-30) and highlight the potential impact this could have on the price of water.
The company states that the figures quoted in The Times of water bills reaching £677 per year by 2030 is the extreme of the range. Southern Water explained the options are prepared as part of the consultation and it expects the figure will be materially lower than this.
Our region in the South East has unique challenges requiring significant investment, including reducing the use of storm overflows, building new water resources in a water stressed area, and protecting our precious environment. These challenges will affect bills. The most important issue is the company must support vulnerable customers and there is a support programme in place with around 120,000 already receiving a discount. If you are struggling with your water bill, let me know or contact Southern Water directly.
On Tuesday we had the opportunity to question the Schools Minister on persistent absence from school. In some progress, I managed to get a commitment about the Register for Children Not in School. This has to be a priority coming out of covid as so many children have not returned to school and we need to make sure that they have the support they need.
In the afternoon, I met with Wine GB to discuss the DEFRA consultation on wine. One of the issues is that some wine concentrate from abroad is bottled in the UK and then claimed to be British wine. We need to make sure that wine is correctly labelled if it is grown and bottled in Britain so that people know where it comes from. Vineyards are springing up all over the country as our climate changes and we have some brilliant wines in Meon Valley.
On Wednesday I spent a lot of the afternoon getting briefings on the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (overseas matters) Bill and meeting with the Secretary of State and Chief Whip to let them know my concerns over the Bill. I fear that it will lead to greater antisemitism not less by singling out Israel, the Occupied Territories and Golan Heights as exceptions. This Bill is coming on Monday and there are many of us very worried about it.
Lastly, the Boundary Commission finalised the boundary changes and these will come into effect after October for the next general election. Even though we put in an appeal, Meon Valley still goes. Steve Brine has just announced that he will be stepping down after working hard for the last 13 years. In future, Meon Valley constituents will either be in the new Winchester or Fareham and Waterlooville constituencies or an amended East Hampshire.
26% of the new Winchester constituency will be people who are currently within Meon Valley so I will be putting my name forward. I have always been very clear that I am only interested in representing an area that I know well and love, so this is a wonderful opportunity for me.
I am looking forward to Exton, Corhampton and Meonstoke fete tomorrow and hope to see you there.
Have a good weekend.
