Jesse Norman, the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, writes his monthly column for the Gazette.

Last week the Chancellor rose in Parliament to deliver his Autumn Statement.

This is always an event of great national importance, and there were some headline policies that will affect people up and down the country: these include support for local policing, greater incentives for house builders to build starter homes, and a 2.9 per cent rise in state pensions from April.

But squeezed in on the green benches among my colleagues as I was, I had special reason to be hopeful for Herefordshire - and I was not disappointed.

George Osborne pledged to overhaul the current school funding formula that discriminates against rural schools such as ours. He committed to a new, fairer funding formula that will kick in from April 2017.

This is massive news. I have long campaigned on this issue with fellow MPs, and I recently sent a petition to all schools in my constituency. Nearly 1,000 local people called on the Government to address this unfairness, and I’m delighted that they have listened.

Then, on leaving the Chamber, I found an envelope sent from 11 Downing Street waiting for me in my pigeonhole. The Chancellor confirmed that the Government was committing to support a new university for Herefordshire.

It has long been my dream for Herefordshire to have a great university, and I have led a campaign to make this happen since 2009.

To that end, the project team leaders and I have been vigorously making the case over the past year to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and also directly to the Treasury itself. This announcement moves us a big step closer to our goal.

There was other good news, for further education and for our terrific Sixth Form College as well.

All in all, then, this was an Autumn Statement to remember for Herefordshire.

Jesse Norman

MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire