Thank you for taking the time to read the December edition of my newsletter. I hope you and your family are having an enjoyable and restful time over the holidays. It has been a very busy period both in Witney and in Westminster and I have been working hard to champion the issues that I know are important in our constituency.
Around the constituency
My staff team is now fully in place and they have been doing a tremendous job catching up with residents’ emails. Helping residents with their concerns is the most vital and rewarding part of my role, and I hope you will get in touch if there is anything I, and my team, can assist you with.
We are currently lodged in a temporary office on Station Lane in Witney and in February, we will be moving into a permanent office at Elmfield in Witney. If there is anything I can do to help, we 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 my team would be happy to arrange this.
In the last couple of months I’ve been delighted to visit businesses, charities and residents’ groups across the constituency.
It was an honour to lay a wreath in Witney for Remembrance Sunday. Four more wreaths were laid on my behalf across the constituency in Faringdon, Shrivenham, Bampton and Carterton. Thank you to those who represented me and especially to the number of youth groups supporting Remembrance Sunday. It is so important for new generations to take part in marking this time of year.
It was fascinating to visit AirTanker at their Hub base on station at RAF Brize Norton where I learnt how the military and commercial aviation sectors integrate with the Royal Air Force. I also visited 101 Squadron where I was pleased to sign the Squadron visitors book.
At Pennyhooks Farm I was deeply impressed to see the work that Lydia Otter and her team do with young people and adults on the autistic spectrum, working on this small organic beef farm. From making planters to sell, to taking care of the animals this is a very special place in the constituency.
Thank you also to the organisers of the Carterton Small Business Breakfast, the residents of Bablock Hythe who met me to talk about the impact of flooding, the team at Carterton Family Centre and staff at Witney Royal Mail – along with so many others – who have made the time to speak with me over the last couple of months.
My thanks to Matt Armstrong and the whole sixth form at Woodgreen School in Witney for an engaging Q&A session with pupils. We covered a very wide range of questions from the future of the economy and the Oxford-Witney-Carterton railway project to problems with sewage in our rivers and the high cost of local housing.
In Parliament
In Westminster I have been busy raising important issues in our constituency with the government.
The Economy: During the budget debate I urged the Government to consider a no-cost option to boost our economy by rebuilding closer economic ties with Europe. The Government must take meaningful steps to undo the economic damage inflicted on UK businesses every day, caused by the Tories and which none of us voted for, by being outside of the customs union and the single market.
In my role on the Business & Trade Select Committee, I have the opportunity to scrutinise the work of the government on a range of important topics. So far, the Committee has examined how to speed up the redress for the Post Office Horizon scandal, arms exports to Israel and the Employment Rights Bill.
Farming: I met with many constituent farmers who came to Westminster to protest Labour’s Family Farm Tax. The social contract with farmers has been that they work hard to grow our food for us, for very little financial reward, but get to pass on their farms to the next generation. Labour’s proposed changes are an existential threat to our farming communities. We urgently need the Government to take a different approach.
Healthcare: I have been continuing my focus on improving healthcare locally. Here I am asking a question from local GP, Dr Steve Bright. Having QR codes on the NHS App will make vaccinations faster and safer. The Health Secretary Wes Streeting agrees – but now he must make it happen. I will be following up on this.
Flooding and Water: I have repeatedly raised concerns about the woeful performance of Thames Water, and the impact for us as bill-payers. I have just been appointed as one of two Lib Dems on the Water Bill committee responsible for scrutinising the Water Bill which is currently going through Parliament. I am hard on the case with colleagues to reform the regulation and put the water companies on a much more stable financial footing.
Housing and Transport: In light of the proposed 48% increase in housing in the Vale area, I have also been making the case to government that this huge increase in housing numbers must be supported by investment in more local services including rebuilding the trainline that previously linked Oxford and Carterton. I am working with district council colleagues to insert the rail project into the Local Plan for our area.
Assisted Dying Bill: Lastly, thank you to those who attended the public debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) (Assisted Dying) bill at the Corn Exchange in Witney. The event was packed out and I am sorry to those who didn’t make it into the hall. The event allowed people to listen to a full gamut of expert views and was then followed up by many questions and views from the audience.
Thank you to everyone who has been in touch and please continue to do so over the holiday period.
Most of all, I wish you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas and a very happy 2025.
With very best wishes,
Charlie Maynard MP
Witney