As a result of the recent poor weather my schedule has been somewhat disrupted so I would like to apologise for this delayed and slightly longer than usual newsletter.
Cirencester Buses
Last week I was pleased to meet with campaigners from the "Cirencester Action on Buses" group in the town to receive their petition of almost 1,000 signatures to reverse bus service cuts.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown with the "Cirencester Action on Buses" group
I fully sympathise and understand locals' concerns about these cutbacks and I have written to Gloucestershire County Council and Stagecoach to see what can be done about maintaining these crucial services. I did, however, reiterate to the group the general principle that people must use buses otherwise they will lose them because no bus services can continue indefinitely if it has very low usage and revenue.
Farming
I recently had meetings with the President of the Country Land and Business Association, Tim Breitmeyer and the Cirencester and Tetbury NFU branches. As the representative of such an agricultural constituency it is vital that I listen to the concerns of farmers as frequently as possible.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown with Tim Breitmeyer
Many important issues were raised including seasonal agricultural workers post-Brexit; rural crime and policing; Defra's preparedness following Brexit and the continuation of the badger cull and the Godfray Report. Farmers are rightly concerned about the administrative problems surrounding the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Many participants have not received payments dating back to 2015, this is unacceptable and as a result I have tabled a Parliamentary Question to find out why this has happened and when they will be paid.
Cirencester Town Council and Chesterton
I had important discussions with Cirencester Town Council and the Bathurst development team. The common theme across these two meetings was the need for all authorities to work closely with the developers to ensure that the section 106 infrastructure - including schools, roads, community centres, shops and utilities - are all built in a timely manner, not left until the end of the development, which will cause everybody - especially residents - severe inconvenience.
With the Town Council, I also discussed the Market Place and the possibility of linking the Chesterton development to the centre of the town with a light railway, or at the very least a proper cycle path. The council must concentrate on the long-term strategic future of the town for the next 30+ years with the help of my new steering group. We do not want to return to a situation where we have a major development, like Chesterton, granted permission without an adequate road system or parking into the town.
All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Trade & Investment
As the Chairman of the APPG for International Trade & Investment I have worked hard to encourage and promote engagement between Parliament, government and exporters. The group has established 10 Sector Advisory Groups covering the entire economy. These groups are all chaired by extremely well-respected industry people. I am pleased to say that the group will be meeting this week with the Secretary of State for International Trade, Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, to discuss our new exporting challenges report. This will provide invaluable information for the Government to understand what concerns and opportunities exist across the British economy.
UK-China Visa Alliance
One of the many hats that I wear in Parliament has been with the UK-China Visa Alliance. UKCVA is a business alliance, established at the end of 2012 by retailers and retail organisations to attract more Chinese visitors to the UK. In 2014, Theresa May, as Home Secretary implemented an initiative to allow Chinese visitors to apply for joint visas with Schengen countries. As a result, annual Chinese visitors to the UK have now passed the half a million mark.
I attended the launch of this excellent news with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown with Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP
Public Accounts Committee
As I have alluded in previous newsletters, my Deputy-Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee requires a great deal of time and concentration with two major public hearings a week - a number of which I have been chairing. Recently we have held important inquiries into the collapse of Carillion, Brexit, higher education and renewable energy - to name but a few. To keep up to date with the progress of these inquiries please follow this link.
Investiture at Buckingham Palace
Finally, I was pleased to attend my investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace to be awarded my honour by HRH The Prince of Wales. This was an excellent day and one that I will remember happily for many years to come.
