Category Archives: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

 Mrs Caroline Rathmell has asked me to highlight the work she is doing with charity to help dementia sufferers in our local area. I am happy to do so. The aim is to improve awareness of the needs of dementia sufferers in the wider community so businesses and public sector service providers can help them […]

  I attended a meeting of some Thames Valley MPs with our Police Commissioner in the Commons this week. He reported on the falling volume of burglary, one of his targets for reduction. He also told us of progress with rural crime, where the police have mounted special operations following thefts of tractors and other […]

  I held a meeting this week with the Rail Minister. I stressed to him the need for better commuter services on both the Reading to Paddington and the Reading to Waterloo lines, where we need more capacity and greater frequency of service on the Waterloo line. He has promised to write to me with […]

             On Monday morning with sunshine and a blue sky I opened the new classroom block at the Holt School.            It was the first day for the new rooms to come into use. 8 new teaching rooms will now be available for History, Geography and Philosophy of Religion. There are also new work […]

The Government are providing a range of funding packages to help the country recover from this severe weather, and over the last week, the full set of arrangements have been confirmed. Information can be found at: www. gov.uk/government/news/uk-floods-2014-government-response. The package of support includes: The £37 million severe weather recovery scheme to support communities and contribute […]

West Berkshire is allowing homes affected by floods to qualify for Council tax reductions. Those with affected homes should consult the Council to see if they qualify.

After a week of extreme weather and truly dreadful flooding, I wanted to update you on the help the Government is providing to those who have been affected. The Government will be announcing further detail on how to apply for the following schemes by the end of next week: • For those homeowners and businesses […]

  Over the last three days I have been around the constituency to see where the floods are causing damage. Today the Loddon Bridge roundabout was badly affected by water, with road closed signs appearing on the motorway access and at the Winnersh lights. Some traffic did get round the junction. There are large puddles […]

This is the text of my reply to the latest report I have received from the Environment Agency about local flooding. I have also written to the Chairman of the Agency  seeking more action:   Thank you for your email. Of course I, and many of my constituents are vigilant, and are well aware of […]

  For several years I have pursued the authorities to do more to prevent and tackle flooding in our area. Local volunteers and some Councillors have also been active in seeking better response from the Environment Agency, the Water companies, Network Rail and the other main bodies involved in flood issue. The recent row over […]