Category Archives: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

I have received the enclosed response from Highways England about the M4 King Street Lane – Bridge Concrete Repairs. I have stressed the importance of this route to a local traffic system under great pressure and asked them to think again  about how they can minimise disruption.

I had the pleasure of attending the West Forest Sinfonia concert at Reading University Great Hall yesterday. Philip Ellis the Conductor gave an excellent talk telling us about the harmonic brilliance of Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Stravinksy who all figured in the programme. The Orchestra performed the Cinderella Suite, , the letter scene from Eugene Onedin […]

When I was asked at a meeting to support a 7.5% increase in Council Tax for the Fire Authority I said I needed to see the financial case and to see their budget. They did not have this available at the meeting but promised to send it to me. They did not do so, so I […]

I have received an update on assistance the UK Government is providing to the Australian Government to help tackle the Australian Bushfires:

We now know the sums per pupil for each of our local schools for 2020-21. The secondary schools all receive an average increase of 4.8%, well ahead of inflation, as they need. It takes them all to £5000 per pupil or higher, with the exception of Bohunt. As the Secretary of State has promised that […]

I visited the new Wokingham Cinema on the edge of Elms Field on Saturday and was shown round. It is an excellent new facility for the Town, with 3 screens. Each of the rooms have large comfortable seats with plenty of leg room. There is  a food and drink service and a large bar area […]

On Friday Berkshire MPs and others were invited to a presentation by the Berkshire Fire service about the planned new Emergency services facility for Theale and about their future budgets. Laura Farris and I were the two MPs who joined the meeting. We were told that Berkshire Fire service has recently been placed in the […]

I am urging the Council to do more work on the housing target for the next local Plan. Before discussing where new homes might be placed we need to discuss and agree how many are needed. The new number would best be considerably lower. We should define a sustainable rate and defend more of our […]

The Government is launching a review of changes to off-payroll working rules today. I repeat below what they have sent out. I will continue to press for urgent change as I appreciate the problems this is currently causing: Government launches review into implementation of changes to the off-payroll working rules Review will gather evidence from […]

The local Police Commander has confirmed to me they are pressing ahead with recruiting and training an additional 17 police officers for our local area, out of the total increase of 183 for Thames  Valley Police as a whole. I look forward to their arrival and wish the local force success in their work against […]