Every week when the House is sitting I host visits to Westminster from constituents. I really enjoy showing people my place of work and that thrill of doing so hasn’t waned one bit over the last five years.
I especially love having the schools up and calculate at least half of them have visited since 2010. We always slot in a question and answer session for the children and there’s always one gem for the diary I really should have written. My personal favourite remains; ‘How did God save the Queen?’ which, for the record, I thought was best answered by that young man’s teacher on the journey home.
One question I am always asked by visitors is what area I specialise in and, in Westminster terms at least, that’s easy. I’ve tended to focus on justice issues – spending over three years on the Select Committee before joining the MoJ team - and health, about which I’ve written many times in this column.
Back in the constituency, health has dominated of course alongside education and transport issues. Recent months has seen, as reported in the Chronicle, great news for our area on M3 surface noise as well as a £200m scheme for Junction 9 but rail services have been a particularly keen focus.
That is why, back in November 2013, I hosted a big open meeting, ASKSWT, with the Chief Executive of South West Trains taking questions about rail issues in general but especially for thousands of my constituents who have to get into (and out of) London each day.
So many excellent issues were raised and a Winchester wish-list was drawn-up. A little over a year on and we’ve made huge progress. On-train wi-fi is now live, parking capacity at Winchester Station has been increased by some 20% thanks to the new decked car park, we have for the first time a footbridge with disabled access and just this month we’ve confirmation that Winchester will be staffed until 11pm each night. Late night safety, especially for women travellers, was a key concern and it’s being addressed.
We also have movement at last on the dark and dangerous walkway out of the car park onto Andover Road and I can confirm work will very shortly begin to address that issue as well.
Looking to the future, I want to focus some more on our other stations locally but as I said in a key Commons debate recently, the big issue facing us in the South is capacity on what is the UK’s busiest rail service. Earlier this year I addressed a special ‘Rail Summit’ organised by Hampshire County Council and am working with SWT, Network Rail, Ministers and neighbouring MPs to draw together an investment plan worth billions of pounds.
It’s hugely complicated and tied up with suburban routes into Waterloo, freight use of the railways, even platform capacity in Southampton and will require heavy engineering of the track into central London. However, now is the time to make the case for this area as Network Rail considers something called the ‘Wessex Route Study’ and I am getting involved as we look ahead through 2029. It is real long-term thinking which has sadly been absent for so long on this line.
Finally, having the chance to speak in our great Cathedral at any time is special but to address the Unity Service this month organised by Churches Together Winchester was great. The event has become an annual fixture and long may that be the case. This year we celebrated the many local organisations that refresh us in our city; from the Nightshelter to the Street Pastors and it was a golden chance to say thank you for all they do for us.
You can find out more about my work, including on the trains, and get in touch via 01962 791110 or www.stevebrine.com
Steve Brine
MP for Winchester & Chandler’s Ford
