This week I am attending a preview of an exhibition at Reading Prison which has been inspired in part by the life and works of the prison’s most famous resident, Oscar Wilde.

‘Inside: artists and writers in Reading Prison’ is a major international exhibition at Reading Prison of new visual art and writing, including a dramatisation of Oscar Wilde’s trial, lectures on the author’s life and legacy, and contributions from a huge number of other artists and writers.

Events will be running from 4 September until 30 October and I would encourage everyone to utilise this unique opportunity to visit this fascinating Victorian building and see the Prison from the inside. More information can be found on the organiser’s website: www.artangel.org.uk/project/inside.

It is of course extremely fitting that the Prison has been opened for this purpose in Reading’s Year of Culture and I am delighted to have played a part, with other advocates of the arts in Reading, in helping to persuade the Ministry of Justice to open its doors to allow this exhibition to take place. I wrote to the Ministry of Justice requesting them to grant permission for this exhibition and also championed the idea in discussions with the former Justice Secretary.

Earlier this year I organised an ‘Arts Summit’ in Parliament to bring together representatives of many of the key players in the area which want to help develop and deliver a long-term vision and programme for the arts in the Reading area. This was the first time that such a meeting had been organised.

Since that summit, it has been a pleasure to see a number of further projects come to fruition and I am pleased that Arts Council England has agreed to invest a further half a million pounds in a three year programme of events across our town.

My congratulations to all of the organisations that are working hard to deliver a successful Year of Culture and to help secure Reading’s status as a vibrant hub for the arts. In particular, thanks are due to the Arts Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Reading UK CIC, the University of Reading, Reading Borough Council, Reading College as well as many local arts groups and businesses.

One of the suggestions made at my Parliamentary meeting was whether Reading Council should raise its ambitions further and compete to be become the UK’s next City of Culture. The economic benefits of being named City of Culture are large and I hope the Council will give this suggestion serious consideration.