Constituency Newsletter 13 June 2025 - Olivia Bailey MP

Welcome to this week’s constituency newsletter for residents in Reading West and Mid Berkshire. On Wednesday, it was great to be in the House of Commons for the Chancellor’s Spending Review which set out exciting plans to renew our country. Also, in Parliament this week, I was delighted that there were mentions (from me and the Secretary of State for Business!) for two of our brilliant local businesses. And during the debate on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, I was pleased to be able to talk about some of the great nature recovery work that is taking place in Reading West and Mid Berkshire.

To keep up to date with what I am doing in Parliament and in the constituency, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky.

Standing up for local businesses

Over the past year, I have met with dozens of local businesses across Reading West and Mid Berkshire and I am always delighted to hear about their successes. But I also know that there are sometimes challenges in running a business, so I am always happy to feed comments to Ministers and colleagues in Parliament.

So earlier this week, I was delighted to be able to mention Nino’s Trattoria in Pangbourne in a question to the Secretary of State for Business and equally delighted when he namechecked another great local business, Cheese Etc in his reply. And, in his reply it was great to hear him confirm that he is looking at how to ease the regulatory burden on SMEs.

Delivering Nature Recovery

Chalk streams like the Pang are in desperate need of protection against pollution, particularly from the disgraceful volume of sewage being discharged by Thames Water.

Earlier this week, as part of my campaign to protect the Pang, I spoke in the House of Commons to call for enhanced legal protections for chalk streams including the Pang, to go alongside Labour’s Water (Special Measures) Act that gets tough on polluting water companies.

I was delighted with the Minister’s promise that he is keen to consider this issue further and I will continue to engage with government ministers to secure the protections our chalk streams need.

In my speech, I was also pleased to be able to mention the Sulham Woodmeadows project which is transforming marginal arable farmland in Pangbourne, Sulham, and Tilehurst into a thriving mosaic of habitats. Once complete, the plan will have reinstated over kilometres of historic hedgerows, created wetlands managed by ARK – Action for the River Kennet, and established species-rich grasslands that will be sustainably grazed.

I was proud to champion this fantastic project in the House of Commons along with all the amazing organisations and campaigners involved in restoring the River Pang, as key examples of what large scale environmental projects can achieve. I welcome the Government’s plans in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which will allow more of these nature recovery sites across Reading West and Mid Berkshire.

Olivia visiting a nature recovery project on the River Pang

Great news for local sports facilities in Purley and Pangbourne

Grassroots sports clubs is at the heart of communities across the UK. That’s why I am delighted that Goosecroft Recreation Ground in Purley and Pangbourne Recreation Ground are together receiving almost £6,000 government funding through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.

Tackling unfair estate management fees

Over the past few months, I have been in contact with residents in the Fairfields and Hawkswood estates in Calcot who have been concerned about poor maintenance, a lack of transparency around service charges, and poor communication from managing agents, Trinity Estates. I am continuing to push Trinity for a meeting locally so that residents can share their concerns directly.

In addition, a number of my Labour colleagues have heard similar stories from their constituents, so we have now written to the Chief Executive of Trinity Estates asking him to attend a meeting with us in Parliament to explain the company’s conduct and to establish a plan of action to deal with these issues at a root-and-branch level.

I will update residents on both a local meeting and the meeting in Parliament in the near future.

Action on speeding in Mortimer

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my survey about speeding traffic in The Street in Mortimer.

86% of residents who responded expressed concern about speeding traffic. I have written to the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Highways at West Berkshire Council highlighting the issues that have been raised, including the replacement of the vehicle activated 30mph sign, requests to extend double yellow lines, as well as concerns around the danger to children and parents at school pick up and drop off.

I will update residents once I have received a response. In the meantime, if you have not yet had the opportunity to share your views, you can do so here

* NHS waiting lists cut to the lowest level in two years *

Waiting lists have dropped by almost a quarter of a million since July – thanks to hardworking NHS staff, Labour’s record funding and our programme of much-needed reform. GPs and hospitals are delivering millions of extra appointments, and this is just the start of our mission to get the NHS back on track.

And, the investment announced in this week’s spending review could also deliver a further four million diagnostic tests, scans and procedures over the next five years.

A long-term plan for national renewal

This week’s spending review set out a long-term plan for national renewal – in security, health and the economy – as well as putting more money in the pockets of people in Reading West and Mid Berkshire and across the country.

We are investing to keep our country safe, with an £11bn real-terms increase in defence spending and the Chancellor reiterated the fantastic news for our area – that the Government will be investing £15 billion in the nuclear warhead programme at AWE.
We are ensuring that people feel safe in their communities – by increasing police spending power by an average 2.3% per year in real terms over the spending review period.
For our energy security, we are investing £30bn in the biggest rollout of nuclear power for half a century; including £14.2bn for Sizewell C, supporting more than 10,000 jobs.
We are making a record cash investment in the NHS – increasing real-terms, day to day spending by 3% per year for every year of this spending review.
We are investing £39 billion over the next decade in a new Affordable House Plan – the biggest cash injection into social and affordable housing in a generation. And, last week we announced £15.6bn of investment in transport to connect our cities and towns.
In addition, to last week’s announcement that free school meals will be extended to over half a million more children, the pending review confirmed almost £370m for school-based nurseries, £555 million of transformation funding for children’s social care, investment rising to nearly £2.3bn per year to fix our crumbling classrooms, and £2.4bn per year to continue our programme to rebuild 500 schools.
And, we are providing record investment into training and upskilling our young people with £1.2bn a year by the end of the spending review to support over a million young people into training and apprenticeships.

At last year’s Budget, we fixed the foundations. This week’s Spending Review invests in Britain’s renewal.

Winter fuel payments

I welcome the announcement earlier this week on winter fuel payments. This Government is raising the threshold to £35,000, meaning over three quarters of pensioners will receive support this winter.

The initial targeting was a tough but necessary decision given the fiscal inheritance from the previous government. However, after the sensible action taken to stabilise the economy and secure the highest growth in the G7, I am glad this Government has listened to concerns about eligibility and expanded support to ensure no pensioner on a lower income misses out.

Pensioners won’t have to do anything to receive the payment. It will automatically be paid to everyone over the state pension age, and then recovered by HMRC for those over the earnings threshold.

Dates for your Diary

Sunday 6 July – Community Drop-in, Compton **Note earlier start time**

If you live in Compton or the surrounding area and would like to come along for a chat with tea and biscuits between 2.30pm and 3.30pm, please email with the subject line “Compton Community Drop-in” and my team will confirm the venue a few days in advance of the event.

Best wishes for the week ahead

Olivia