Greetings.
This is the April edition of my newsletter. It helps me to keep you posted on what I've been doing around the constituency and in Westminster, working on your behalf. As always, it's been a pleasure to meet many of you out and about!
Around the constituency
If there is anything I can do to help, I (and members of my team) can best be reached by emailing charlie.maynard.mp@parliament.uk.
Please do get in touch if you would like to book a slot at my weekly online surgery. Additionally, if you represent an organisation or business that you would like me to visit please do contact me and the team will be happy to arrange this.
On 5th I attended the opening of the new playground in Northmoor. It was a beautiful day to welcome a great new local amenity. Thanks to everyone for organising and for turning up to the inauguration!
On 6th I was celebrating Eid with the local Muslim community at the Corn Exchange in Witney. It was a great honour to be invited to take part in the festivities. Many thanks to everyone for making me so welcome!
It was great to meet up with the MP Watch team on 12th. We had a good talk about the issues facing British Steel and future investment at BMW Plant Oxford, the Witney Rail project and truth in politics. Thanks very much to @mpwatchnetwork, Hugo Kerr and St Mary's for making it all happen.
On 14th I was delighted to visit JSP Safety Facilities in Minster Lovell and Standlake. The work of both sites is absolutely fascinating, and I was delighted to see a local family run business using teamwork and automation to become a global leader in its field. It was great to meet CEO Mark Johnstone and discuss local issues that the company is facing. A big thank you to everyone who took time out to show me round.
On 16th I had a meeting with Carterton Football Club to discuss the very exciting plans to redevelop the club, adding a training and coaching school. It looks like a fantastic and much needed project.
On 17th I met members of the Afghan relocation scheme in Watchfield. They moved to Oxfordshire in 2023 as part of the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) which offers Afghan nationals who worked for or with the UK government relocation to the UK. We discussed challenges they have been facing, including the lack of English lessons available, and barriers to finding employment. I came away from the meeting with a long list of actions to follow up on, to ensure this community is fully supported.
On the 24th I visited St Peter's Primary School in Alvescot. I discussed space and Ofsted inspections with staff. I also met the school council and all the children in two different assemblies.
On 25th I hosted a round table with 25 farmers from around the constituency at Warwick Hall in Burford. I wanted to hear from farmers directly about the challenges they are facing, so I can support them as their MP. We discussed inheritance tax and the threat it poses to family farms, the closing of the Sustainable Farming Incentive Scheme and other matters of concern, like rural crime. A very helpful and productive session.
On Sunday 27th I took part in a walk through Besselsleigh Wood in aid of the Brain Tumour Charity, a cause close to my heart, as my sister Georgie was diagnosed with a gioblastoma two years ago. The wood is spectacularly beautiful at this time of year, carpeted in bluebells. Many thanks to all the local community, friends and family who came to take part. The walk raised £30,000 for the charity.
In Parliament
In Westminster, I’ve been continuing to call-out the Government and Ofwat for their lack of action on fixing our broken water and sewerage sector.
Thames Water Debate
On 3rd April I spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on Government Support for Thames Water – in which I set out why I think the Government is turning out to be every bit as bad as the Conservatives were at protecting our rivers. They are completely ducking their responsibilities by allowing a public utility company to line the pockets of the bankers and hedge funds who are its creditors, at the expense of bill payers.
Debate on Ending the Sewage Scandal
On 23rd April, I spoke in a debate led by Liberal Democrat DEFRA spokesperson, Tim Farron, where we called on the government to end the sewage scandal and create a new Blue Flag status for rivers and chalk streams, with measures to guarantee rivers are clean and safe to swim in.
Witney has so many beautiful rivers flowing through it but sadly they are all heavily and frequently polluted. I would love to see steps taken to help restore people’s confidence in spots like the bathing place in Witney, just north of Early’s mill, where generations of people used to spend their summer swimming.
However, as I made clear to the Minister, Ofwat, the water regulator is completely failing to hold water companies accountable – whether in terms of their horrendous records on pollution, the terrible state of their finances, or their failure to provide value for money to customers.
The previous Conservative government has a lot to answer for. Under its stewardship sewage dumping in our rivers and lakes reached record levels, while water companies piled up billions in debt. However, I am also appalled that the Labour Government, which came into power with promises to get tough with the water companies, has so far failed to take any meaningful action to get to grips with the mess they inherited. It is on their watch that Ofwat has allowed water companies to raise household bills once again.
Road Maintenance
I also took part in a parliamentary debate on road maintenance. I asked government ministers if they agreed with me that the policy of managed decline on our roads, which the Conservatives adopted in Oxfordshire back in 2014, has been a disaster, and that it has led to the problems with road surfacing that we now see across the county.
On the Business and Trade Select Committee we held an interesting evidence session as part of our inquiry into the Industrial Strategy, where we heard from representatives of the manufacturing, automotive and energy sectors. I asked about why car production in the UK has gone down by half since 2016 and why goods exports across the board are down by 9% in the last five years. My concern is that trade frictions are hitting employment in the UK’s automotive sector, as a result of the current structure of our relationship with the EU.
Also discussed was the issue of investment at BMW’s Plant Oxford and how best to drive demand for electric vehicles. I also raised concerns about Oxfordshire manufacturing facilities that are unable to operate due to lack of power, and the regulatory failures which have led to this.
The Committee also published an interesting report this month on How to Strengthen UK-EU relations, which set out that “Leaders in both the UK and the EU recognise that we must both become more competitive, more innovative, and better able to create new jobs and lead new industries. These create a new powerful incentive for us to cooperate more closely together in a wider range of areas, where our values and interests align, to protect and preserve the hard-won gains we have made and to create a future in which our ideals prosper and the freedom of our citizens’ is safer and more secure”. The report can be read in full here: How to strengthen UK-EU relations.
With very best wishes,
Charlie Maynard MP
Witney