This has been another hectic week, beginning on Monday with a meeting in Exeter with the chairman of the South West Regional Development Agency. This was for detailed discussions of their strategies for transport and matched Government funding.
Then on Tuesday, the Agricultural Minister Nick Brown made a major announcement concerning future funding for a agriculture and the rural economy.
The proposals were largely those advocated by Liberal Democrats for some years, that support payment should gradually be diverted from production towards diversification, environmental programmes and developing new rural businesses.
It will be important to ensure farmers are protected during the transition, but this is a long overdue move in the right direction.
I was, however, disappointed that the Minister confirmed he has no intention of introducing an early retirement scheme for farmers which, if coupled with a scheme to assist new entrants to farming, could bring in the fresh faces and thinking that the new proposals require for success.
On Wednesday, I met the Prince of Wales at Lancaster House. I have had a long association with the Prince's Trust and this is a fairly regular meeting to discuss present programmes and what new forms of assistance for young people should be considered. The Prince has identified many innovative schemes over the last 25 years and he is keen not to let the Trust's activities go stale. He has his critics, but I greatly admire his stance on an umber of social issues and where he has upset the establishment.
Having spent the first part of the week in meetings and in and out of various radio and television studios, it was time to settle down and look at the considerable number of letters, which have been received during week.
If anything the number of letters and the variety of concerns has increased since I was elected.
But it is undoubtedly the most important aspect of any MPs workload to deal with these constituency matters.
It is not always possible to get a satisfactory conclusion, but on many occasions it has been possible to right some of the wrongs and to raise important issues with Ministers either through correspondence or by face to face meetings.