IT was a pleasure to be able to welcome the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid MP, to Salisbury at the end of last week.

Sajid agreed to be the guest speaker at a gathering of local business leaders some time ago.

How unfortunate that it turned out to be an inauspicious night for English sport, with our exit from the World Cup.

Nevertheless, there were other matters closer to home to discuss and I took the opportunity to introduce the Secretary of State to the senior management of Salisbury Playhouse, which is a model of what regional theatre can achieve.

I also raised the continuing problems in football governance at all levels, exemplified by Salisbury City’s current plight.

I know that a lot of fans feel that the situation is symptomatic of a wider need for reform in the legal and financial oversight of club football in this country.

How Salisbury’s current situation resolves itself is something that neither fans nor politicians can determine at this juncture, but the hope of a community-owned club on a realistic, stable long-term footing is one worth striving for.

On Friday morning, I travelled to Cheltenham to take part in a forum run by the South West Housing Initiative.

Solving the mismatch between the demand for affordable housing and the supply is a mammoth task with which the present government has made great strides since 2010.

The very priorities that were under discussion at the conference were brought into sharp focus when I returned to Salisbury to do a constituency surgery, emphasising how much more remains to be done.

I drove to London early on Monday, en route giving HMRC some hopefully constructive feedback on the service they provide in response to the many queries I raise with them on behalf of constituents.

I wish the Chalke Valley History Festival a successful week. The event has gone from strength to strength and I understand that this year the constantly improving roster of guests and activities will be matched by better parking and access arrangements.

I look forward to experiencing the festival for myself on both Friday and Saturday, as well as to attending Sunday’s civic service at Salisbury Cathedral to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.