Treasury Questions

At Treasury Questions this week I asked an important question on the sign-off of HS2 phase 2b. This was highly relevant to the many months I spent on the HS2 committee. I will also be leading the Public Accounts Committee hearing on financial management and control of HS2 on Monday. This topic has been made even more pertinent following the resignation of the chief executive, Simon Kirby, this week. My Hansard entry can be found here.

NFU Meetings

In the constituency on Friday I had two of my regular series of meetings with the Cirencester NFU Branch in Guiting Power and the Tetbury NFU Branch at Duchy Farm in Cherington. The agenda for both meetings was similar and covered key items of importance to farmers. These included, the level and type of subsidies post-Brexit. Increases in rural crime – on which I shall be meeting with the Chief Constable to discuss in the near future. The effect of the European Parliament reducing the use of agri-chemicals and badger culls.

Notes taken of key points that are raised at these meetings are forwarded to Defra for answers to be given before the next quarterly meeting.

Council Meetings

On to the Cotswold District Council (CDC) in Cirencester to meet constituents from Upper Rissington, County Councillor Nigel Moor and senior officers from CDC to discuss two main issues.

First, the continuing unhappiness by the residents of Victory Fields at having no representatives on the Parish Council. Nigel Adams of CDC will instigate a governance review to see if it is feasible to recommend an increase in councillors prior to the main elections in 2019.

The second issue arises from accusations by the Victory Fields’ residents that Bovis and Linden Homes have not implemented the planning permission correctly and do not want the CDC to carry out the planning inspection. It is likely the developers will submit two planning applications. One, to have the environmental issues varied and two, to seek retrospective permission to vary the original conditions.

Clearly the residents of Victory Fields have very strong views about this and that is why I will be holding a public meeting at 1800 on 3 November in Upper Rissington Village Hall at which I hope the developers will attend to explain what they’re going to do to finish the development satisfactorily.

Boundary Changes

You may have read that we have recently received the latest proposals from the Boundary Commission which recommends removing the Stroud divisions of Kingswood, Wotton-under-Edge and Minchinhampton from the constituency and substituting them with the Isbourne and Winchcombe divisions from Tewkesbury. 

The proposals for the Cotswolds

It is, however, extremely unlikely that these recommendations will ever be implemented as there is not a majority in Parliament to reduce the number of seats from 650 to 600. Instead, the Boundary Commission will probably be instructed by Parliament to carry out a new review on equalising the population of 650 seats, an eminently sensible idea. Again, this may not happen until after the next General Election.