Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

When we last had a Conservative government I argued strongly the case that Wokingham had been through a period of very rapid housing development and needed to slow down, as the pace of housebuilding was putting too many strains on transport, public services and green spaces. I was successful in making my case, and Wokingham’s planning status was changed from an area of fast growth to something closer to the local view of what was needed.

Today Wokingham is suffering again from two related planning policies forced upon it from central government that I would like to help change. The first is the policy of wanting to build too many houses. Regional plans require Wokingham Council to find the space and land to build more new homes than residents would like, and more new homes than the industry currently wishes to build. The second is a policy of demanding high densities of development. This produces more strains on the roads, the parking places, public services, and damages the semi rural environment which made Wokingham such a pleasant place.

A Conservative government has promised to scrap a lot of the regional planning empire. It is a level of government we do not like – a needless extra expense, and an unaccountable level of government in England. Caroline Spelman, Shadow Secretary for local government, has promised to give more powers to Councils to settle things like the rate of new housebuilding. I will want this to be early legislation if a Conservative government is elected, and to include the right to choose how many homes to place on each individual acre as is intended. We need to let Councils follow sensible policies on the amount of car parking space provided to avoid parking on pavements and in every spare corner that we see on some modern developments. Councils should also determine the ratio of social housing, based on planning considerations and Council budgets.

I am also very conscious of the need to provide sufficient homes of the right kind for first time buyers. I am not against all new development in the Wokingham area, and will press for more shared ownership as one way of helping people onto the home ownership ladder, and to bring back into use public sector housing which is in a bad way and needs homesteading or similar treatment to get it back into use. I will also press for the banking reforms needed so people have access to sensible levels of credit to buy their first home.

I strongly believe that if homes are to be built on the edge of a settlement or adjacent to existing properties the best way to win over the neighbours and to avoid confrontation on the planning issues, is for compensation to be paid to the existing owners by the developers. This is perfectly legal under the current law, and where tried is usually successful. I will press for more of this to happen where otherwise people will fell unhappy about a change to their local community which cannot be stopped.

Promoted by Christine Hill on behalf of John Redwood, both of 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

I have been along standing supporter of compensation for the victims of Equitable Life. Bad regulation is partly to blame for what went wrong, and bad and slow regulatory and government resposnes since have made a bad situation worse. I have been a consistent and public proponent of the government responding promptly to the Ombudsman’s Report and making the payments. I had to do just that for the victims of Barlow Clowes when I was the responsible Minister and inherited a collapse which was partly caused by bad regulation.

The official Conservative party position, is, I am pleased to say, to make paying compensation an early priority should they win the election. All that remains to be settled is how generous it should be. I will represent local victims of this financial tragedy in any debate that follows, if elected to Parliament.

Promoted by Christine Hill on behalf of John Redwood, both of 30 Rose Street, Wokingham RG40 1XU

Apr 11 2010
The view from the doorsteps

Posted at 7:15 am

It was good over the last couple of days to be back on the doorsteps. There is more commonsense. More interesting issues emerge than in the musings and rantings of the “air war” on the media.

So what are people talking about? A large number raise the issue of immigration. They do so in a non racist way. They just think we have invited in far too many people in recent years. They see the strains this places on housing and public services. They expect the next government to control the numbers and are grateful to learn of plans to do so. They also want our borders beter policed against the handful of criminals who come here with criminal intent.

They are talking about the economy – about the shortage of jobs especially for young people, about the poor returns on savings, about inflation and the price of petrol. There is understandable resentment about the huge salaries of some public officials and about the crazy bonuses of the state subsidised bankers. Many of them want change, as they have suffered from the recession. Many fear that things will get worse after the election when the true state of the books will have to be revealed and tackled.

They are talking about the state and cost of public services. Individual households have understandable worries about school places or facilities for the disabled or treatments in the NHS depending on their personal circumstances. Overall there is a feeling that local service providers are not empowered enough, and above their heads there is an expensive and unhelpful bureaucracy. One local civil servant was particularly keen that a Conservative government should be elected, as she is fed up with expensive consultants coming in, asking how she does her job, and then claiming large sums for telling her how to do it. They think Council Tax is too high.

More people are engaged with this election than were engaged in 2005 at a similar time of the campaign. The Conservatives are more confident in their view, keen to tell us they are Conservative, and often keen we should move on to talk to others who might not yet be of the same mind. Those in the Wokingham constituency who have decided to vote for other candidiates, especially those voting Labour and Green, tell us so, but sometimes kindly sugar the pill with a comment that their opposition is not personal, or even with a comment that they have no criticism of the way I did handle being their MP when I was in that job. As I often explain, I think it most important that any MP takes seriously the duty to represent all constituents, and to represent views to the government of the day with which he himself does not agree where needed. A good elected official needs to be fair and fair minded, and to understand there is a range of legitimate views.

There is a third group who say they have not made up their minds. They are often unwilling to discuss the election or the main issues, leaving the canvasser wondering whether they do not intend to vote,or whether they have made up their minds and disagree with us. The 2005 election and the recent by elecitons and Council elections I have canvassed have also had more people saying they don’t know and then declining further conversation. In those cases the numbers of non voters was very high and accounts for the scale of “Don’t knows” in the canvass. It is their democracy too. We, in the political parties, would like to draw them into conversation. That is the way we can either explain that they have misunderstood what we are trying to do,or can understand what they think is wrong with our approach. Political parties cannot learn to serve you better if you will not tell them what you think. Saying “Don’t know” is also the way to invite more literature and visits – it is not the way to deter a motivated party, who will concentrate on the “Don’t knows” rather than on those who have decided they like some other party better.

Everyone knocking on doors – including the candidates – is a volunteer. We do it because we think democracy matters. We do it as a public service. We do it because we do want to know what you all think. Sensible candidates and canvassers do it in the spirit that there can be wisdom on the doorsteps, and we don’t know all the answers. They also do it knowing no party will please all the people all the time.

Promoted by Christine Hill on behalf of John Redwood, both of 30 Rose Street Wokingham Berks RG40 1XU

Register of Interests
1. Remunerated directorships
Non-executive chairman of Concentric plc, a subsidiary of Haldex, Unit 10, Gravelly Park, Tyburn Road, Erdington, Birmingham B24 8HW; an engineering company.
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Chairman of Investment Committee of Evercore Pan-Asset Capital Management Ltd (formerly Pan Asset Capital Management Ltd); an investment advisory company. My duties are to write a twice weekly market review and investment report, to chair the investment committee and to make oral and written presentations.
Researching and lecturing subjects related to former career for Middlesex University Business School, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT.

8. Land and Property
Part interest in a leasehold flat in central London.
9. Registrable shareholdings
(a) Evercore Pan-Asset Capital Management Ltd; investment advisory business.

Tax
I support the next Conservative Government’s requirement that anyone who sits in either House will be required by law to be a full UK taxpayer. I confirm that I have never been nor claimed to be treated as non resident, not ordinarily resident or non domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.

Expenses (This data was produced by TheyWorkForYou from a variety of sources.)
A low ranking – e.g 636th for total expenses means low claims relative to the average. 636th is 10th cheapest.

Figures in brackets are ranks.Data from parliament.uk (source). Read 2004/05 – 2008/09 and 1st quarter 2009/10 receipts.

Type 2008/09 (ranking out of 647) 2007/08 (ranking out of 645) 2006/07 (ranking out of 645) 2005/06 2004/05 (ranking out of 659) 2003/04 (ranking out of 658) 2002/03 (ranking out of 657) 2001/02 (ranking out of 657)
Staying away from main home £19,931 (287th) £22,729 (246th) £21,301 (321st) £21,634 £13,305 (517th) £12,199 (533rd) £16,082 (494th) £12,115 (516th)
London costs £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Office running costs £8,562 (606th) £10,427 (584th) £18,659 (446th) £19,177 £18,490 (313th) £18,597 (386th) £13,248 (581st) £14,723 (361st)
Staffing costs £55,490 (635th) £55,616 (636th) £59,111 (634th) £65,506 £65,404 (535th) £70,279 (174th) £59,875 (528th) £39,926 (516th)
Communications Allowance £5,660 (460th) £9,686 (joint 207th with 1 other) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Members’ Travel £2,649 (559th)1 £3,911 (519th)2 £3,967 (523rd)3 £3,857 £6,064 (496th) £5,221 (512th) £5,340 (509th) £4,190 (508th)
Members’ Staff Travel £0 £0 £82 (joint 385th with 1 other) £218 £520 (274th) £368 (302nd) £0 £0
Members’ Spouse Travel £0 £0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Members’ Family Travel £0 £0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Centrally Purchased Stationery £1,337 (591st) £457 (518th) £396 (joint 573rd with 1 other) £929 £626 (441st) £679 (416th) £547 (550th) £300 (joint 613th with 1 other)
Stationery: Associated Postage Costs £1,841 (402nd) £1,343 (531st) £4,122 £1,471 (joint 495th with 1 other) £2,488 (330th) N/A N/A
Centrally Provided Computer Equipment £1,250 (joint 264th with 3 others) £1,069 (302nd) £719 £1,713 (joint 508th with 1 other) £1,701 (506th) £1,701 (478th) £1,293 (joint 517th with 1 other)
Other Costs £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Total £93,629 (636th) £105,917 (627th) £105,928 (616th) £116,162 £107,593 (573rd) £111,532 (493rd) £96,793 (574th) £72,547 (572nd)

It is extraordinary that Labour is only contesting six of the twelve Wokingham Council seats on offer in the May 6th Council election. Labour claims to be a national party, and is still the UK governing party. Local Labour campaigners say they are concerned about Wokingham’s problems. Why then do they not put up twelve candidates, so every Labour voter has someone they want to vote for? Doesn’t Labour really care about Wokingham at all?

CAMPAIGN TO ELECT JOHN REDWOOD

CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE, Wokingham constituency.

About John:

John is a business man by background, who ran industrial and financial companies before becoming an MP. John was MP for Wokingham in the last Parliament, and has been a Minister, Cabinet Minister, Shadow Cabinet Minister and Chairman of the Conservatives Economic Policy Review.

In the last couple of years John has written his daily blog on www.johnredwood.com, keeping people in touch with the economic crisis, other issues and local matters, and proposing solutions to the UK’s ills. He co authored “Freeing Britain to compete”, a study of the policies needed to create higher living standards and a more prosperous economy, and published “After the Credit Crunch – No more boom and bust?”.

He has also been an active campaigner on local issues, ranging from flooding through planning to education.

John Redwood on the 2010 election in Wokingham:

“All the pundits and pollsters agree this General Election offers a genuine choice to voters – do you want five more years of Gordon Brown or do you want to change to a Conservative government?

The polls show it is possible for the Conservatives to win a majority and then to get on with the task of sorting out the economy and the massive debt. In Wokingham many voters will want to help the nation make that crucial decision. If you want a change of government then voting Conservative is the way to bring it about. If you don’t want a change to a Conservative government then any of the other parties will help give you what you want.

As an economic adviser to the Conservative leadership, I am only too well aware of how many things we need to change to create the jobs and the higher living standards people rightly want. If we do not start to control the deficit and debt soon we could end up like Greece, forced by a crisis to slash public spending and forced by the markets to pay much higher interest rates for our borrowing. We need to do more for less throughout the public sector.

We need to cut taxes on earning and saving, to provide the incentives to earn our way out of the mess. Labour’s strategy of more taxes and more regulations will drive business away, limit or destroy jobs, and lower living standards. That’s why Conservatives have proposed cutting National Insurance, freezing Council Tax and cutting Corporation and small business taxes. They also have said that lower tax rates in general help create more prosperity.

We need to strengthen Parliament and our democracy. That is why Conservatives say we need to get powers back from Brussels, give more power to Parliament to challenge and question the government, and give more power of choice to Councils, individuals and families.

We need to raise educational standards, make it more worthwhile to work and get many of those on benefits into jobs. The best spending cut of all will be to cut the amount spent on benefits because more are in paid employment.

I would like to help bring about those changes Wokingham and the rest of the UK need. That is why I am standing for Parliament.”

——————————————————————————–
Promoted by Christine Hill on behalf of John Redwood, both of 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU

Today young Christians put on an hour’s drama of the life and death and Christ in Wokingham market. The heavens opened and the cold rain pelted down for the whole time of the performance. The young actors and singers kept to their task, despite the wet and the cold that assaulted them. I would just like to say a big “thank you” to them for their enthusiaism and their hard work.

John met Adrian Smith who founded the Mortimer Chocolate Company after a career spanning nearly 20 years with a food company. The produce comes from small growers who nurture their cocoa to produce fine quality beans which are into 100% plain chocolate powder, retaining its unique flavour with no need for additives.

The company works with local growers towards Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade Accreditation. Although some growers are just too small for such a step, the Mortimer Chocolate Company is currently working with a co-operative in Ghana to do just that.

As well as making delicious hot chocolate drinks, this unique range of global chocolate powders can be used for cooking, particularly in recipes requiring a good quality dark chocolate.

The company is very much a family business with Adrians wife Felicity’s nutritional and culinary expertise in experimenting with a variety of recipes for both sweet and savoury recipes which you can obtain from their website.

Over 50 local businesses enjoyed a full day of innovation-themed seminars organised by business solutions specialists Mass as part of their Business Solutions Open Day.

On Wednesday 9th September, Innovation House became Information House; providing an ideal learning environment for groups of professionals to network, discuss and develop their understanding of the present and future challenges facing their organisations.
The day, attended and led by Member of Parliament for Wokingham, John Redwood, provided an ideal platform for businesses in the Thames Valley and beyond to learn from industry experts about a range of topical issues. These included Health and Safety legislation, IT data management, options and benefits of outsourcing core-business functions, how to cut costs across your business, HR best practice, and environmental sustainability.

Town Mayor of Wokingham, Cllr. UllaKarin Clark and the Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest, Cllr. Bob Wade, attended alongside John Redwood and participated in a range of the free seminars on offer throughout the day. Cllr. Clark said, “I should like to congratulate Mass for organising an extremely informative Open Day. No effort was spared to ensure that visitors were fully briefed on a wide range of topics ranging from Health and Safety to Information Technology matters, including the importance of the development and distribution of Mass’s high quality facilities management software. Wokingham is both pleased and proud that Mass decided to move its operation to Wokingham. Wokingham needs inward investment and we hope the example set by Mass will lead to further commercial growth for our Town.”

The keynote speech, delivered prior to a complimentary lunch, was presented by John Redwood who discussed the value of innovation, critical during these challenging times. He explained how “Innovation can lead the recovery, Innovation can give you something good to sell, Innovation can bring you pride, Innovation can produce the unique selling proposition your customer wants. Businesses need to innovate to survive. They need intelligent management and good software support.”

Those attending left with a great deal of business knowledge relating to better management approaches and potential solutions to help support SME’s to grow their business through the recession into a successful 2010. Everyone received welcome gifts courtesy of Mass and their business partners: Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Institute of Directors. Presenters included Wokingham Borough Council, discussing IT management and data security best practice, the International Facility Management Association provided a case study on Microsoft, whilst Milan Solutions discussed the necessity of IT Governance, Risk and Compliance.
David Bolt, Chairman of Mass, was instrumental in guiding activities throughout the day and directed guests to the Champagne networking session at the close of business. He said of the day “Mass provides a range of business solutions to assist businesses of all sizes and expertise. The day was managed in conjunction with our business partners to enable the local business community to benefit from the expertise of business professionals from every domain, and contribute to the sharing of best practice. One of the core aims was to help businesses grow during these challenging times.”

Mass moved to Wokingham in May and has already established itself as an active member of the business scene, hosting various events and supporting a range of local networking activities.

John Redwood reflected on the day by saying that “it was good to meet a number of local businesses at Mass, and to talk about how innovation could let people do things better. I was pleased to learn that Mass had chosen Wokingham for its new offices and wish them every success here.”