“March saw the final Spring Budget as the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced a few months ago that future budgets will be delivered in autumn. Within the budget there were announcements to freeze fuel duty for the seventh successive year, an increase in the national living wage to £7.50, a rise in the personal allowance to £11,500, £2 billion more for social care over the next three years, and £100 million for A&E departments to help them better manage demand ahead of the next winter.
I was especially pleased to see that the Chancellor announced an extra £270 million for Research and Development, which is an important boost to our local and national economy. The Chancellor also announced new T-levels for 16-19 year old technical students from autumn 2019, and area of education that our constituency is leading in. £200 million was also announced to further support the roll out of broadband, along with £16 million for a national 5G Innovation Network to trial the new technology.
In other news, the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, dubbed the “MBE for voluntary groups”, is currently open for nominations. The Queens Award for Voluntary Service is awarded annually, and currently there is a maximum of 200 awards per year. Any member of the public can nominate a group of volunteers for the award by completing the online form https://qavs.direct.gov.uk/.
Finally, congratulations to Oakman Inns and Restaurants, operators of the Old Post Office in Wallingford, as their exceptional staff policies and human resources record got them to the eight position in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies Awards 2017. The list of other winners is https://appointments.thesundaytimes.co.uk/article/best100companies/.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any pressing issues that you would like help with. Either myself or one of my team will get back to you as soon as possible and do what we can to assist. You can contact me on any matter at the House of Commons, SW1A 0AA, dicksonce@parliament.uk or 01235 768 888. Email is the quickest and most reliable way to get in touch, as I keep a very close eye on my emails and can reply very quickly. Details of my activities in Parliament can be read on my website, https://www.vaizey.com. I also send out occasional general interest emails about developments in the Wantage and Didcot Constituency. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please complete the online form at https://bit.ly/EdVaizeyMP.”
Yours,
Jon Wilson
Parliamentary Assistant to Rt Hon Ed Vaizey MP
Member of Parliament for Wantage and Didcot
Tel: 0207 219 6350 W: www.vaizey.com