The flight of local banks from our market towns in Norfolk is causing a growing headache for many:
- Small Businesses needing cash banking
- Pensioners needing cash
- First time buyers needing personal financial advice
- And the vulnerable
That’s why I’m sponsoring the Building Society Bill – as part of my ongoing campaign speaking up for Mid Norfolk on ‘Access to Cash’ and the need to be able to access local banking services.
See my video following the Bill’s Committee Reading today below.
To learn more about my wider campaign, please visit my campaign page here
Serious flood events are becoming increasingly common across many parts of Norfolk.
In Attleborough alone, over 100 were affected as a result of Storm Babet this past October – with a number of those having been flooded as recently as December 2020. For many in our Mid Norfolk towns and villages, the recent flooding was the third/fourth/fifth time they have been impacted in the last 20-30years.
People are quite rightly at the end of their tether.
That’s why flooding remains one of my main campaign focuses – and why I joined the Westminster Hall debate on Flooding yesterday to make a number of important interventions on behalf of my constituents.
Please see the video below.
This is getting worse – partly due to climate change yes, but also because of unsustainable house dumping, inappropriate investment in both infrastructure and the agencies best placed to tackle the issues (the likes of the Internal Drainage Boards and Lead Local Flood Authorities like Norfolk County Council), and the failure of bodies like the Environment Agency to place adequate emphasis on what rivers and watercourses are actually there to do: drain water to the sea.
That’s why I continue to work closely with stakeholders to support affected households and businesses, why I continue to speak up on this issue in Westminster and why I am looking to bring a Flooding Bill to the House in order to tackle many of the very serious issues we are facing in rural counties like Norfolk.
To see the full transcript of my interventions, along with the responses they received, please click here
To stay up to date with my wider flooding campaign, please visit my ‘Flooding and the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership’ campaign page here
George Freeman urges DEFRA to prioritise dredging and clearing of ditches and rivers to help prevent flooding.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. To his point, in my part of Mid Norfolk, where the clue is in the name—it is not on the coast—we have seen in the past 10 years an extremely high rate of flooding. In 2020, 200 houses were flooded with sewage; two months ago, 100 houses in Attleborough were affected . This is getting worse and worse. It is partly climate change, yes, but also house dumping and inappropriate investment in infrastructure. Does he agree that, as well as a national strategy, we need to ensure that in such counties, where 38 agencies have responsibility, somebody has to be held to account to avoid the flooding of our constituents’ houses?
Mr Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)
My hon. Friend is right, and makes a good point I will touch on. Although some flooding is occasionally inevitable, we can take action to avoid some of the worst excesses. Since 2007, a number of schemes have been implemented in my area, at Deerhurst, Longlevens and Westbury, and some minor improvements have been made elsewhere, but we were flooded again a few weeks ago. People in Sandhurst and Tewkesbury itself suffered when their homes were flooded. People in those areas feel that more could have been done to prevent the effects of heavy rainfall.
George Freeman
My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. Does he agree that it is really important that the Department—I am grateful that the Environment Minister is in her place—understands that rivers’ principal function is to drain water to the sea, and that our ditches’ and watercourses’ principal function is to do that? At times in Norfolk, it is beginning to feel as though the environmental agencies are more concerned with keeping them full of mud and plants than making sure that they fulfil their primary purpose, leaving constituents—farmers and people with sewage in their houses—to pay the price. We need to remember that drainage is about drainage, first and foremost.
Mr Robertson
Absolutely. That is why rivers run to the sea. It is a very good point.
One of the arguments made against dredging—I am afraid it is on the Government’s website—is that clearing one part of a river just pushes the water downstream, but the logical conclusion to that argument would be to say that we should never place flood defences anywhere, which we are obviously not going to say. Rather, it is one good reason that we need both national and local approaches to the problem. For example, looking at the River Severn as a whole, we might come to the conclusion that the whole river needs dredging so that the water can be moved out to the sea as quickly as possible, as my hon. Friend suggests. I know that dredging is controversial, but we need to have a conversation about its benefits, and a proper analysis carried out by the Government and the Environment Agency.
George Freeman
In Norfolk certainly, the internal drainage boards are the most expert bodies at handling drainage. Could I make the gentle suggestion that we pay for them through some of the Environment Agency’s substantial funding, rather than through council surcharges, which are very stretched?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rebecca Pow)
The drainage boards play a very important role in all of this. They play an important role in many cases, including the provision of nature-based solutions and regulating water levels, as was touched on earlier.
Norfolk has a rich and cherished military history.
Having previously served as part of the Parliamentary Armed Forces Scheme and worked closely with Robertsons Barracks at Swanton Morley, I have seen first-hand the amazing work our military do – and continue to be one of their biggest supporters.
That’s why I welcomed the invitation to join the Veterans’ Breakfast Club at The Railway Tavern in Dereham this past Saturday – where we discussed a raft of issues including:
· Personal responsibility
· Migration numbers
· NHS Dentistry and Public Services
· Inappropriate house dumping and resultant flooding and traffic
I look forward to joining them again in the coming months for another valuable catch up – and to joining other key community projects across Mid Norfolk, such as the Dereham Community Litter Pickers, in the weeks to come.
Thank you again to Paul and Debbie at The Railway Tavern for all your work supporting the local community – including this key group within it.
Building enough houses to make sure everyone in our area has the chance for a roof of their own, while also making sure we protect our rural landscape and heritage, is often a difficult balance.
That’s why, having recently been made aware of concerns being raised in Wicklewood regarding the South Norfolk Village Clusters consultation and the inclusion of a specific application to the south of the Primary School on land off Hackford Road and The Green, I met with Wicklewood Parish Councillors and district councillor Richard Elliott this past Friday to look at the proposals in more detail.
See my short video above.
As explained, I share many of the concerns raised with me and therefore made a formal submission to South Norfolk as part of the consultation ahead of Monday’s 5pm deadline. See my letter below.
While most, if not all, of our local communities need some additional housing, built in the right places and delivered The Norfolk Way, in order to ensure we have enough homes for local people and can keep our towns and villages thriving and vibrant, we must properly plan it – making sure it is sustainable (with the right infrastructure and services to support it) and that it does not come to the serious detriment of our rural heritage and way of life.
I am committed to helping the people of Wicklewood raise their serious concerns about the proposals in question here.
To find out more about my long campaign on ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Landscapes and Heritage’, please visit my campaign page here.
Local communities, as well as those moving into new developments, need to know that they can access the local services they need, when they need them.
That’s why, throughout my time as a local MP, I have consistently made clear (locally and to ministers) my belief that new developments in our rural towns and villages must be sustainable, accompanied by the necessary infrastructure and services required to support both the new development itself and the pre-existing community. Health provision is an integral part of that.
I was therefore delighted to bring together again local councillors and representatives of ATTCARE, Attleborough Town Council, the Attleborough Surgeries, Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust, Norfolk County Council, Breckland Council, Ptarmigan, Homes England and Castlemeadow Care for the latest ATTCARE virtual summit this past Friday – to review progress since our previous meeting in the Autumn and establish what our next actions need to be.
Once again, the conversations were highly positive, with progress in a number of areas since our last gathering – notably on improved bus routes and services throughout the town (including to the Station Road Surgery site). The desire to bring the Attleborough Surgeries together at a single site that has a long term lifespan and would enable GPs and staff to deliver more first class treatment and services was also on the agenda again – and positive discussions on how we might try and reach that end continue.
Having written to the Housing Minister in the Autumn to highlight the need for greater integration of health and social care infrastructure and provision with planning, I was also able to report back on the update provided to me by his office last week – on his department and the Department of Health and Social Care’s ongoing work looking at this very issue.
Once again, a number of further follow-up actions have been agreed and we all remain committed to driving this key work forward. There remains much work to be done but, together, we will continue to do all we can to deliver the short term improvements the town wants to see, as well as the longer term solutions that will ensure Attleborough has the long term health and social care services it requires to sustain the community for decades to come.
To see more about my previous work on this issue, please click here, here and here.
Proper access to cash and local banking services remains vital for many living in Mid Norfolk – especially the small businesses that drive our local economy and those who depend on the support of branch staff (such as the elderly and the most vulnerable).
That’s why, as part of my ongoing Access to Cash and Local Bank Branches campaign, and having recently pledged my support to the Nationwide Banking Bill currently making its way through the House (see here), I have today co-signed a letter to the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority encouraging them to widen the scope in which LINK can recommend Community Banking Hubs for towns and villages.
See the letter below.
The “last bank in town” rule that prevents LINK from recommending Community Banking Hubs in many communities is inadequate. The scope within which LINK can recommend intervention for local communities, particularly in rural areas, must be increased.
I am determined to speak up for Mid Norfolk on this crucial issue – and look forward to helping drive forward this campaign in the weeks and months ahead.
To learn more about my ‘Access to Cash and Local Bank Branches’ campaign, please click here.
No one should live in fear of flooding every time it rains.
That’s why, on Wednesday, I was pleased to join the latest of Norfolk County Council’s regular MP Briefing events in Westminster – this time focussed on Flooding and Drainage.
While some positive progress has been made through the likes of the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership I helped establish back in early 2021 and the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance that we have worked closely with, the flooding of recent months is a reminder that there is still much more that needs to be done.
Over 100 homes were flooded in Attleborough alone. And I continue to support residents and businesses across Mid Norfolk – including in Yaxham, Mattishall, Saham Toney, Carbrooke, Dereham and Wymondham (and more).
Wednesday’s update from NCC on the work of the NSFA was very welcome – and I reaffirmed my commitment to supporting Cllr Kay Mason-Billig (Leader of NCC) and Henry Cator (Chair of the NSFA) as we look at what more we can collectively do to support local communities and lobby Government for additional support.
Rest assured, this remains one of my central campaigns.
Full details on my ‘Flooding and the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership’ campaign can be found on my website here.
Pets — from lap cats to working dogs — are a part of our families. Their theft should be treated as such – it is not a victimless crime.
As a pet owner myself (of Tosca our elderly cat and Jassy my fox-red Labrador), I can only begin to imagine the pain my wife Fiona and I would feel if they were to be taken – and, throughout my time as Mid Norfolk MP, I have spoken to devastated owners and families on countless occasions – such as the Potters who had their golden Labrador Daisy stolen in Old Buckenham in 2017 and Dan’s Ice Cream who had his dog Patch stolen from beside his ice-cream van.
That’s why I am proud to be supporting the Pet Abduction Bill through Parliament – speaking vocally in the House in its favour and also sitting on the Select Committee.
Pet Abduction is an issue which tears families apart, leaves emotional scars on owners for years, and can deprive people of the comforting presence they need to tackle challenges such as mental health.
I am determined to work with colleagues to ensure the punishment fits the crime – and that the police have the powers they need to convict those guilty of this awful crime.
To stay up to date with my work on this issue, please see my webstories below.
Pet Abduction is an issue which tears families apart, leaves emotional scars on owners for years, and can deprive people of the comforting presence they need to tackle challenges such as mental health.
That’s why I’m very proud to be on the Bill Committee for the Pet Abduction Bill second reading – another key step towards improving animal welfare and properly criminalising the cruel and sickening crime of pet abduction and theft.
To find out more about this morning’s Select Committee hearing, please see the video below.
To stay up to date with my work on this crucial Bill, please visit my campaign page here.