IT WAS useful at the end of last week to have an opportunity to bring together representatives of the city council, BID and Wiltshire Council to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities surrounding major projects in the area.

It was good to have the dean, June Osborne, in attendance to give some insights into the next phase of the masterplan and the opportunities ahead for 2020, the 800th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the cathedral.

In the meantime, I hope that our taskforce meetings serve as a useful reference point.

They certainly direct me as to what I can do in Westminster to unlock funding bids and raise the profile of local projects.

Life in Westminster this week has been dominated by talk of the London mayoral election, although, of course, voting has been underway all over the country – both in local council and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

On Friday, I am conducting a Q&A with Federation of Small Business members, when I expect the EU referendum to feature high on the agenda.

I am also meeting with a delegation of farmers about systemic delays in the distribution of subsidies by the Rural Payments Agency.

Whilst the latest national figures show that some 87 per cent of all claims have been paid, I know there is still more to be done.

The government do have a financial hardship process in place and, as well as continuing to chase down individual late payments, I will be pressing the government to make sure that the system works better in future years.

Congratulations to Salisbury Rugby Club on securing promotion to national league level in dramatic fashion at the weekend.