At a Parliamentary information session on Wednesday, Sir Oliver met Govia Thameslink Railway Chief Executive Officer Charles Horton and his team and was updated on progress in delivering GTR’s modernisation programme and upcoming improvements in 2018/19. Sir Oliver was once again able to highlight a number of issues on behalf of constituents.
Sir Oliver had the opportunity to set out his stance on North Hertfordshire’s agriculture when he met with eight members of the National Farmers’ Union Royston branch in Portcullis House. He was very interested to discuss with Trainee Group Secretary James Buckland and his colleagues questions for local farmers arising out of Brexit and the changes it could bring.
2018 is the Year of Engineering and Sir Oliver attended a Westminster reception jointly hosted by the Department for Transport and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), working together to inspire the engineers who will build our future. It is hoped the initiative will offer a clear message to young people about the value of engineering and the breadth of opportunity on offer. Sir Oliver was delighted to meet with a number of his young constituents who were invited by the IET to act as ambassadors at the reception, as they were part of the team that won the UK & Ireland round of First Lego League’s global science and technology competition this year. The Member for North East Hertfordshire was pleased to have the opportunity to congratulate in person Oscar Berry, a pupil at Meridian School, and his sister Iona from Roysia Middle School, along with Albert, Quim, Joan and Lluis Borrell, all pupils at Comberton Village College.
Due to overlapping meetings, Sir Oliver was represented by a member of his Westminster office at a Parliamentary reception hosted by the Woodland Trust. Important questions were raised about the landscape post-CAP and the need to safeguard the large number of ancient and veteran trees still to be found in North East Hertfordshire.