Category Archives: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

A number of constituents have asked me to take up cases concerning EL compensation. I am well aware that some are not happy with the level of pay outs offered by the government. The Minister has recently brought us up to date with progress. 896,367 policyholders have now received an aggregate amount of compensation in […]

This latest site sets out how much each MP costs the taxpayer and how often MPs vote. They then calculate a “cost per vote” figure, by dividing the total costs per MP by the number of votes he or she has recorded. For those constituents interested, I am rated as 3rd cheapest at £633.07 per […]

The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis): I would like to update hon. Members on the outcome of the Government’s consultation, launched by the Prime Minister in December, seeking views about our proposals for planning reform to support the development of 100,000 new high-quality, low-cost starter homes for young first […]

A number of people have written to me saying that as India has said it no longer wants overseas aid from us, and as it is now a substantial power with a growing economy, we should discontinue our aid programme. I have received the following letter from the Secretary of State confirming that action has […]

I visited St Mary’s Mortimer at their request on Monday morning before going to Parliament for the votes on Criminal Justice and abortion. The School asked me to talk to the older children about Parliament and government, as they are studying rules and governments at the moment. The children asked a wide range of questions […]

I have been notified by Thames Valley Jobcentre that they are implementing the government policy of restricting benefits to EEA nationals, time limiting them. There will be assessments made as to whether an EEA migrant has a “Genuine prospect of work” to justify continued  residence and access to JSA. If they do not have such […]

The average cost of unleaded petrol on 18 February this year was 20.8 a litre less than a year earlier, a drop of 16.1% Diesel was down by 21.4p a litre, or 15.6%. (Petrol 108.8p, diesel 115.6p). The government has made a modest contribution to cheaper petrol by stopping the rises in duty. The main […]

I have been sent some figures on the benefits from lower Stamp Duties from the Chancellor’s recent changes. Wokingham is one of the places which benefits strongly from these alterations, with 93% of all property transactions experiencing savings in costs. Stamp Duty Land Tax on the average home transaction in Wokingham falls from £8000 to […]

I visited the exhibition of posters in Parliament displayed by undergraduates from UK universities concerning their research. Two undergraduates from Reading were present, showing outlines of their work. Thomas Rawson showed details of his work on plant choice to achieve best results and Laura Armstrong talked about her studies of multilingualism. It was good to […]

Last Friday I spoke to a seminar organised by Wokingham Borough, the Local Enterprise Partnership, Clifton Ingram and Lloyds Bank on small and medium sized enterprises. It was a well attended event. I reminded them of the latest statement from the Governor of the Bank of England. This points to a year of low inflation, […]