Speaking in the Commons Debate, Nick raised the wholly unnacceptable impact of the ongoing Southern Rail dispute on his constituents, the need for greater infrastructure investment in the South East, and the consequences of the Union's industrial action on the rail service. You can read Nick's speech in the debate here.
Read MoreNick met with the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, to discuss the ongoing Southern Rail crisis.
Read MoreMembers of the APPG met with the senior management of Southern Rail. Nick emphasised to Southern’s Chief Executive, Charles Horton, and his team that while their performance had gradually improved since November, this must continue and that there was further to go. At the meeting, Southern Rail shared a report giving updates on their performance over the past year, in a slideshow that can be seen here.
Read MoreNick received a letter from the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, acknowledging the West Sussex MPs’ joint submission and affirming that the Department for Education will respond to the consultation on school funding reform later this summer. You can read this letter here.
Read MoreTo mark the deadline of the Department for Education’s second consultation on funding reform, Nick’s article for the WSCT discussed his views on the funding issue and the actions that he and other local MPs have been taking to secure the better school funding West Sussex children deserve.
Read MoreIn a letter to the Education Secretary, Nick and other West Sussex MPs submitted a joint statement to the Department of Education’s consultation on school funding reform, to highlight the additional needs of local schools and to secure greater funding. You can read Nick’s news release explaining the letter here.
Read MoreNick, representing his West Sussex colleagues, joined with other MPs from underfunded Local Authorities in a delegation to meet with the Prime Minister, Theresa May, in order to discuss their concerns with the projected funding allocations of the proposed formula. You can hear an account of this meeting by Nick’s colleague Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP here.
Read MoreNick met with other West Sussex MPs to discuss efforts to secure fairer funding for local schools.
Read MoreNick received a letter from the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announcing an investment of £300 milllion by the Government towards improving rail infrastructure along the Southern and Thameslink rail networks. The work will target locations identified by Network Rail as causing the most significant delays, and should result in a 15 per cent reduction in delay minutes for passengers per year.
Read MoreNick’s staff attended a briefing held by the f40 campaign group, which represents the lowest funded education authorities in England. You can see the group's news release about the event here.
Read MoreNick and other Southern MPs met with the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, in order to air rail users' grievances and to receive updates on the Government's efforts to encourage both parties to resolve the dispute.
Read MoreNick, along with other West Sussex MPs, hosted a group of local headteachers for a meeting in Parliament with the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb. They put their questions to him, and the minister listened to their suggestions.
Read MoreNick voted in favour of a Bill introduced by Chris Philp (Conservative MP for Croydon South) that aimed to prevent industrial action taken on critical national services, defined to include railways and the Underground, that disproportionately affects the public. The Bill was voted down by Labour and SNP MPs.
Read MoreNick met with other Southern MPs whose constituents are affected by the rail disruptions, and they discussed their joint response to the ongoing problems.
Read More