Last week in Westminster began when I chaired a delegated legislation committee. As a member of the panel of chairs, I take the place of the speaker during some committees that are debating and passing secondary legislation.

This forms part of my duties which also includes chairing the committee stages of new Bills as they progress through Parliament and also chairing debates in Westminster hall. As a chair, I have to remain impartial and not participate in any votes which may take place.

I was also pleased to be elected as the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries by my fellow Parliamentarians on the committee at the AGM which was held before the full session. This is a great honour and I am delighted that this APPG has grown its reach far and wide by holding hybrid meetings in recent years. It is now accessible to all aspects of the industry who can participate online and the APPG took presentations relating to Fisheries Management Plans at this meeting. We were very privileged that the Fisheries Minister opened the meeting and that civil servants from DEFRA as well as spokespeople from the MMO, Seafish and other major fisheries related bodies gave interesting presentations and answered questions. Forming Fisheries Management Plans will have a huge impact on our fishing industry in future years and it is vital that we get these right. I am grateful for all those who gave their time to participate and the over 140 people who logged in online.

I also met with Lostwithiel School and Sir Robert Geffery School in Landrake who visited Parliament last week. I am always delighted to welcome schools to Westminster. It was fantastic that they were able to view the speaker’s state coach on this occasion. The coach is the oldest coach of its kind and is displayed in Westminster Hall in honour of the coronation of the King and Queen. It is to be displayed until the autumn and if you are in London it is well worth a visit. The schools told me that they had also had the opportunity to visit the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum as well as the London Eye and also enjoyed some other leisure activities.

Back in the constituency on Friday, I met with South West Water at Colliford Lake. I raised the matter of the continuing temporary hose pipe ban and whilst I fully support them with their ‘save every drop’ campaign, I told them about my constituents concerns about the continuing hose pipe ban. They explained to me that they are carrying out work to source more supply to the reservoir and are also progressing things like desalination. Reservoirs are now beginning to move to a healthier level with Colliford at 70% and Siblyback at 95% but they need to continue with the restriction for the present time because if the summer months of dry weather we had last year are repeated this year the trend will revert to very low reservoir levels. I will continue to ask government to look at the legislation surrounding drought orders which is the reason for the temporary use ban. I have also asked South West Water to step up the way that leakage is addressed and also secure more sources of supply as a matter of urgency.

Following this, I visited Saltash Library where there is a fantastic exhibition ‘Saltash at War’. It has some exhibits which can be experienced and also a section covering the pre WW1 and WW2 period. I understand that local schools have visited this fantastic exhibition and would like to congratulate all involved for taking the time to put this informative exhibition together.