This week Parliament returned with all the pomp and pageantry of the State Opening and the King's Speech. Much of the format of the King's Speech debate is very formulaic and the tradition is an "old timer" proposes the Humble Address and a "rising star" seconds it. This year I was thrilled to see Florence Eshalomi asked to second it. Florence has been a friend since she arrived in 2019 and did a beautiful job of it.
Inevitably some new colleagues have already made their Maiden Speeches, but I am expecting to hear many more of them on Friday when the theme of the debate is planning. I discovered way back in 1999 that there is nothing quite as vexed politically as planning in the Test Valley, and it matters that local people and Councillors are included in the process.
Of course, local Councils, like Test Valley, are the pen holders when it comes to determining whether to take compulsory purchase action over sites like the Brewery in Romsey. But I will be raising the issue (yet again) in my contribution on Friday. It is easy to collect petition signatures and complain, but until a Government is prepared to take action to legislate retrospectively (and we didn't hear that in the King's Speech) there is nothing can be done to force a landowner to complete a development. It won't be the first time I have highlighted this, in fact I think it featured in my maiden speech all those years ago. Sadly I suspect it won't be the last either.
I was pleased to see the proposals in the King's Speech on water company bonuses. The Ofwat draft determinations on water companies' plans were published at the same time as we discovered Southern Water had paid large bonuses. There is a public consultation process to go through, and I would urge people to respond to it. I will be urging the Government to look not just at performance in terms of pollution, in this area we have a real problem with water supply by Southern Water as well. I very much hope that the regulations, when published, will also reference abstraction and the need to make sure any new housing development can also be supplied consistently with clean water.
Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP
13 Market Place
Romsey
SO51 8NA