Ian Sollom MP Newsletter - 23 December 2025

Welcome to the latest of my newsletters, updating you on my work in Westminster and across St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire. 

As we approach the end of what has been a challenging year for many, I've been struck again by the extraordinary generosity and community spirit across St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire. From our postal workers continuing their vital service through difficult times, to everyone donating to food banks and Christmas hampers, and the volunteers packing and delivering support to those who need it, to the impressive work of organisations like the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association - there is so much to celebrate about the people and groups who make our communities. 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire such a wonderful place to live and work this year. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Christmas visits: Royal Mail, Tesco Winter Food Collection 2025, Hope CIC hampers, Cambridgeshire Deaf Association Christmas party 

t has been wonderful to spend some time celebrating the contributions that many groups and individuals have made in our community over the past year. 

After an early start to reach them before their morning round, I went to thank our local posties at the Royal Mail St Neots Delivery Office for their hard work throughout the year and especially during the busy Christmas period. It has been a difficult time for the postal service in St Neots with the tragic death of Darren Willis, who had served the community for 17 years. Thank you to everyone who has supported the postal service and the wider community during this period. 

Also in St Neots, I dropped into Tesco to support their Winter Food Collection campaign, running in collaboration with Trussell and FareShare and supporting St Neots Foodbank. St Neots Foodbank regularly update their website with information about the food items they need the most, and you can find this here. 

In Cambourne, I joined Hope CIC to help pack hampers for families and individuals who might benefit from some extra help during the festive period – particularly those struggling with the cost of living, people more at risk of social isolation, and people with illnesses or disabilities. There was a great sense of both Christmas and community spirit in the room while making up the hampers, and I hope to see Hope CIC’s excellent initiative (last year they sent out over 150 hampers!) continue long into the future. 

Finally, I was delighted to join the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association (CDA) for their end of year Christmas party – celebrating the huge contribution its members have made supporting so many people over the past year. I was pleased to present Jamie Billiam with the Fellowship of the CDA for his outstanding achievements, and also to meet Graham Hicks who is deaf and blind and runs a specialist cycle repair business. He has even jet skied from Holland to England! It was great to mix with the members and hear about all the fantastic work and activities they do.

UK Parliament Week 2025 – Visit to Cambourne Village College 

During November, MPs across the House and young people up and down the country celebrated UK Parliament Week. In St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, we had over 40 organisations register for the week’s activities – from Brownie, Guide and Scout groups, to primary and secondary schools, home education groups and a variety of others. This means that our constituency ranked 75th out of all 650 across the country for participation, which is fantastic to see! 

I was delighted to engage with so many young people throughout the week; recording a video answering questions from community groups, visiting Cambourne Village College to speak to A-level Politics students, and hosting a Q&A with the Hindu Samaj group in Northstowe. 

Thank you to everyone who took part in events, I look forward to seeing even more participation next year!

Planned development within the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor

Existing communities within the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor must be able to actively participate in and benefit from housing growth, rather than simply absorbing its pressures.

That's the point that I stressed to Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook, in a recent debate on the Government's development ambitions between Oxford and Cambridge. The economic opportunity of the area is huge – with the potential for the region to nearly triple its economic output by 2050 – but that only happens if people want to live here, can access services and are able build genuinely good lives. In my speech, I pushed for:

• Sustainable transport connections between existing towns and villages and new railway stations at Cambourne and Tempsford; 
• Healthcare services for new developments such as Northstowe, that are built to grow sustainably alongside the communities they serve; 
• Properly funded education infrastructure across the region and investment in colleges, apprenticeships and university expansion across the region - not just in Oxford and Cambridge; 
• Commitments on water security and flood resilience, and green infrastructure embedded in development from the start. 

In St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, we will judge the Government's work on growth not by its ambition, announcements or economic projections, but by delivery of vital infrastructure that genuinely improves lives, and I will continue to push for our area's share in the prosperity promised by the Government. 

Prostate Cancer awareness and testing – Lakeside Surgery, St Neots

Many residents of St Neots will have seen (or heard on the Black Cat Radio airwaves!) the fantastic efforts of local campaigner, Dave Young, to raise awareness of prostate cancer symptoms and testing opportunities recently. It was a pleasure to join Dave at the end of November at his PSA testing event at Lakeside Surgery in St Neots, where over 120 men came to the surgery for a simple 5-minute blood test and to engage in positive discussion with GPs and nurses about their health. 

Across the country, far too many men are being diagnosed with prostate cancer too late – early detection saves lives, and modern screening is now safer, more accurate and more effective than ever. I would really encourage men aged over 50, those from a black ethnic background, or with a family history of prostate cancer to get tested. 

Dave is already working on arranging the next PSA testing event, so do keep an eye out on his social media, and I will be sure to share any details in my newsletter too.

Civil Aviation Authority – Meeting to discuss changes to Luton Airport flightpath 

At the end of September, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) published its Post-Implementation Review, which considered feedback submitted by residents across St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire about changes to the Luton Airport flightpath. 

I know that noise disturbance caused by what the CAA call 'tactical vectoring’ (essentially, taking shortcuts) and braking has been a significant concern for many residents, particularly those in Histon and Impington, Cambourne, Bourn, and the Gransdens. I was therefore disappointed that despite the volume of complaints received about this issue, the CAA concluded in their report that the noise was ‘within acceptable tolerance limits’. 

I met with the CAA recently to press its leadership on these issues and discuss with them how residents can trust the process of consultation, as well as what levers there might be to continue challenging noise pollution. The next step is to begin to challenge Luton Airport itself, as well as the airlines and operators whose tight margins are leading planes to literally cut corners. I will be picking this up in the New Year.

Updates on the Old Falcon and Priory Centre in St Neots

St Neots has undergone a lot of transformation over the past few years, and work is still ongoing to make sure our town centre is the most vibrant and community-focused place it can be. Part of this work involves the refurbishment of the Priory Centre, which I recently visited for a site tour with Huntingdonshire District Council officers. Though you will see from the photo that the building is currently completely gutted, it was really exciting to get a feel for the services and facilities that will soon fill the venue, and to hear about the contribution that the finished building will make to Huntingdonshire’s Net Zero strategy. 

At the other end of the Market Square, I met again with HDC for an update on the plans for the Old Falcon which will help so much to further improve the feel of the town centre. I look forward to the redevelopment progressing and will keep you up to date as I hear more.

Parliamentary Business

I always endeavour to represent residents of St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire in Westminster on issues you care about. Thank you to everyone who writes to me each week, expressing your views, sharing campaigns, and inviting me to attend various meetings in Parliament. 

Here is a taste of some of the work I have been doing in Westminster recently:

• Supported Kidney Care UK and Blood Pressure UK’s ‘Bloody Amazing Kidney’ campaign, which calls for prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and a national policy for kidney disease. 
• Marked the UN International Day of Disabled People and Scope’s ‘Disability Price Tag’ report launch. There are over 15,000 disabled people in St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, and I am proud to continue supporting them. 
• Spoke to members of the Overlapping Illness Alliance to hear about the work they are doing to improve recognition and support for people living with conditions such as ME, Long Covid, EDS and PoTS. 
• Met Georgie from Hope Farm in Knapwell at the RSPB’s event in Parliament to highlight the decline in UK farmland birds and how nature-friendly farming can turn this around. Hope Farm has increased the number and species of birds on their land by 177% since 2000!

Surgeries and Further Information

Each week I have been holding both in-person and online surgeries to speak directly to constituents about their issues. If you feel you have a problem I could help with, or you have a campaign matter you would like to discuss with me, please don’t hesitate to contact me at ian.sollom.mp@parliament.uk to request a surgery appointment.   

I will continue to keep you updated about my work to represent the constituents of St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch, volunteer or get involved with our campaigns.

If you are writing as a constituent, I will need to verify that you reside in the St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency to reply and deal with your case. Therefore, please ensure that you have included your full name and home address in your email.

I receive a significant volume of campaign and casework emails each day. Therefore, I ask for your patience as my team respond to new emails. Please know your messages are being received and we are working as fast as we can to respond to every inquiry.