26 June 2023
A47 Alliance – Update

The A47 is a major transport artery into, and across, our great county, and its full dualling is vital for the long term safety of motorists and absolutely necessary if we are to help Norfolk unlock its full economic potential – delivering thousands of jobs, as well as the growth and prosperity needed, to help us ‘Build Back Better’ and ‘Level Up’.

That’s why I remain committed to playing an active part in the campaign making clear to the Department for Transport, National Highways and other key stakeholders that we must see further investment into the A47 (with full dualling the ultimate goal) – and why I was delighted to be involved in the A47 Alliance’s latest summit earlier today.

Colleagues at Norfolk County Council and the A47 Alliance provided an update on the campaign’s progress, while also opening up the discussion to explore what more work can and should be done if we are to ensure this crucial Eastern route is firmly in the minds of the key decision makers.

Progress has been very slow to date and, while I was incredibly proud to play my part in bringing the then Prime Minister David Cameron to Mid Norfolk back in 2014 to announce a £300 million commitment to dual the North Tuddenham-Easton stretch (as well as other improvements along the A47 – including the redesign of Thickthorn Roundabout), I very much appreciate, and share, local frustrations that those improvements are still to be delivered.

I therefore welcomed National Highways’ reassurances today that they remain firmly committed to those projects and that, pending the outcome of the ongoing Judicial Reviews, are ready to get to work. I also appreciate their confirmation that they remain very interested in supporting the Alliance’s work to push for further Government investment into the route as a whole.

There remains much work to be done, but I will do my utmost (with my fellow Norfolk parliamentary colleagues) to ensure the A47 is prioritised as the people of Norfolk and the East deserve.

I look forward to the next Alliance summit following the summer, at which we should receive news on the updated Business Case Study that the Alliance has commissioned to showcase why full dualling of the A47 should be a priority for UK plc – both economically and in terms of the environment.

To stay up to date with all my work on this campaign, and on the improvement of our local road infrastructure more generally, please visit my website campaign page here

To learn more about the A47 Alliance itself, please visit their brand new website here

23 June 2023
East Anglian Air Ambulance Visit

Delighted to have visited the East Anglian Air Ambulance at Norwich Airport today. It was hugely inspiring to meet the team behind this award-winning charity providing us with 24/7 trauma care.

It was brilliant to see how the East Anglian Air Ambulance are leading the way in the introduction of new trauma care equipment and practices, and to hear how they are working to ensure that East Anglia receives the high class and leading urgent medical care it deserves.

That being said, in speaking with the team, it was striking to hear about the rise in mental health related call outs. Mental health awareness and support has always been a central campaign for me; however, despite positive momentum in local mental health support, today showed why this campaign must continue.

22 June 2023
Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone Community Drop-In event – Necton

Have an interest in the Vattenfall onshore substation works at Necton?

Vattenfall will be holding their next Norfolk Zone Community Drop-In at Necton Community Centre on Friday 21st July 2023 between 9am and 8pm to share more information about their construction plans in the village.

Topics on the agenda include:

  • Cable Routes
  • Traffic Management
  • Principal Contractors
  • Community Benefit Fund
  • Skills and Employment Opportunities

This event follows the similar Community Drop-In event in April (see more here) and it is vital that YOU, the local community, take the chance to engage and have YOUR say.

(See full details of the event in the poster below)

I also continue to pay close interest in the Community Benefit Fund conversation. While permission for the applications has been granted, I remain firmly committed to helping local residents, businesses and community groups be heard on this crucial issue. The areas most impacted by the works MUST get the largest share of the benefits, and have the strongest voice in how the funds are spent.

I understand that, while the Community Benefit Fund discussion will feature again at this Drop-In event, a further series of Community Benefit Fund specific events will be held across Norfolk again later this year – including at Necton. To find out more about my most recent conversations with Vattenfall on this matter, please click here.

To stay up to date with all my work on the wider campaign to secure a proper strategic offshore solution for the delivery of this vitally important infrastructure, please visit my website campaign page here.

20 June 2023
North Elmham Garden Town Update

UPDATE 20th June 2023

As our collective efforts continue on the campaign opposing the new ‘Garden Village/New Town’ proposals that may be resurfacing around North Elmham, Billingford and Bintree, I am looking forward to joining representatives of many of the deeply concerned c.35 local parishes (in the north of Mid Norfolk, as well as just across the border in Broadland) again later this week, with Cllr Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge.

It will be an opportunity to update local community figures on my recent conversation with Jerome Mayhew, who’s Broadland constituency also contains a number of parishes concerned by the proposals that may be coming forward. I also look forward to sharing details of letter I recently wrote to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP) as well – making clear my belief that new Garden Village/Town settlements should be focussed on key transport routes with the ability to sustainably cater for them, rather than in deeply rural areas with minimal infrastructures and service and which have virtually no ability to improve them without causing untold environmental and existing community damage.

Rest assured, I remain firmly committed to working with Bill, Gordon and the local parishes, and will post further updates in due course.

UPDATE 30th May 2023

Further to my previous posts in relation to the campaign against the ‘Garden Village/New Town’ proposals that may be resurfacing around North Elmham, Billingford and Bintree, I welcomed the brilliant article in the EDP today, highlighting that more than 30 parish councils have now united behind that campaign – up from the c.15 it was just a few weeks ago.

See the article here.

I remain firmly committed to working with and supporting local parishes, and local councillors Bill Borrett and Gordon Bambridge, as we collectively raise awareness on why this highly rural location is completely inappropriate and unsustainable for an industrial scale development of several thousand houses.

To see my previous webstories and updates on this issue, please scroll down below the picture of the submission.

To stay up to date with my ongoing campaign efforts on this issue, please do regularly check back in on my  Planning and Protecting Our Rural Landscape and Heritage’ campaign page here.

UPDATE 18th May 2023

Ahead of the deadline of the ‘Breckland Local Plan Update – Issues and Options Report for Consultation’, I have written to the Leader of Breckland Council to ensure that my opposition, in support for local councillors Bill Borrett and Gordon Bambridge and the c.15 concerned Parish Councils and communities in the area, is formally recorded and considered as part of the process.

Please see my submission below.

(To see my previous webstories on this issue, please scroll down below the picture of the submission).

UPDATE – 3rd May 2023

Further to my previous posts on 5th and 24th April 2023, I am delighted to be able to share the below article published in the EDP this week – further highlighting why I, and many others, are opposing the idea of a new Garden Town to the north of Dereham.

A link to the online article can be found here.

UPDATE – 24th April 2023

Further to my post on 5th April 2023, I am delighted to be able to share the below Op-Ed I recently wrote for the Dereham Times – outlining in further detail why I am opposing the idea of a Garden Town to the north of Dereham.

5th APRIL 2023 WEBSTORY

For decades now, our planning system hasn’t been delivering the housing we need, in the places we need it, for the people who need it. For too long, the system appears to have been driven by the national volume house builders who too often make their money from land banking and high density commuter housing estates on the edge of existing developments – rather than through a proper planning system run to deliver for the people who need planning to work for them, instead of being done TO them.

I’ve long been concerned by the amount of development coming to areas like our own in rural Mid Norfolk – which is often inappropriate, “industrial” in scale and unsustainable. While most of our villages can take and are indeed up for (when properly asked) taking some additional new housing (without which our communities will gradually fade away), I fundamentally believe that more needs to be done to give local communities a greater say in how they develop in the years to come (with greater protections), which is why I have been so vocal in my opposition to the way so many large national developers abuse and take advantage of the planning system to dump such inappropriate and unsustainable developments on our towns and villages.
 
That’s why, through The Norfolk Way project I set up before I became an MP, I have been so vocal in advocating for a better model of growth and development that places greater emphasis on delivering small pockets of housing of the type and aesthetic desired by local communities, and in the places they earmark. I truly believe the spirit of Localism enshrined in the 2011 Localism Act should be enhanced, with the Act itself strengthened to remove some of the loopholes we’ve seen exploited. (To read more about my views in full, please visit my ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Heritage and Landscape’ campaign page here) I was delighted to see the NPPF reformed in the autumn by Michael Gove to give more power to local planners.

I continue to make the case I have long made that the right way to plan housing is to give local councils, democratically accountable to the local residents they serve, the freedoms and incentives to plan properly for the right sort of housing and growth where it is needed ie:

  • around hotspots of economic growth
  • on brownfield sites in areas needing regeneration
  • around growth towns with the infrastructure and services available to sustain further growth
  • in villages with a Neighbourhood Plan setting out the amount of housing they are happy/able to take and which ensures affordable & appropriate local housing for local workers and residents

That’s what the Breckland and South Norfolk Council Local Plans rightly aim to do. What we don’t need in rural Norfolk is massive commuter estate “New Towns” dumped in the middle of rural mud Norfolk without proper infrastructure, facilities, sustainable transport links or fit with the existing pattern of development.

The North Elmham New Town

The North Elmham New Town would also represent massive development of the precious River Wensum chalk stream habitats (not to mention a Site of Specific Scientific Interest).

That’s why I was delighted to chair a meeting on Friday in North Elmham with local parish councils and local councillors Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge to make clear that the idea of a new town in the area will NOT be supported by ourselves as elected local  representatives.

Bill and Gordon confirmed that Breckland Council are NOT zoning this area for major housebuilding, and will oppose a re-application of the New Town as we did successfully last time it was proposed.

New Towns and Garden Villages

Whilst there are places in the UK where there may be a strong case for a new generation of garden towns and villages, with all of the necessary infrastructure and transport links (either to drive regeneration as in parts of the post-industrial North, or to alleviate the pressure around major growth hits spots like Cambridge), North Elmham is not a sustainable location.

I can think of several possible sites in East Anglia that could perhaps take such a garden town or village: specifically the dilapidated station sites on the Cambridge-Ely-Brandon-Thetford-Attleborough-Wymondham-Norwich railway line – as part of the Oxford-Cambridge East-West Railway Development Company I have championed over the years, and especially during my time as Minister for the Future of Transport at the DfT.
 
However, I’ve also been very clear that, for any such development, we need to be sure that:

  1. Any such developments must avoid the loss of ancient woodland and high quality farmland
  2. We see a serious commitment to Net Zero and building into the plans a higher quality, cleaner, greener standard of life – not continuing to same old, lazy model of house dumping that sees thousands of additional vehicles tearing through old country lanes and causing more congestion and rat-running
  3. There is serious investment into public and private infrastructure – with proper road, rail, cycle and walking routes
  4. Any such development is planned appropriately and sustainably, and that it makes sense in the wider community context.

 
I have not seen any evidence to suggest that a garden town or village would be appropriate in this part of Mid Norfolk, and given the rural and inaccessible nature of North Elmham and the surrounding villages, the already serious congestion on the nearby road network and the nationally significant environmental and habitat importance of the Wensum Valley, I cannot envisage any circumstances in which this idea could be taken seriously.

To my mind, it would make far more sense for such a significant level of growth to be focussed down closer to the A11 Corridor – which Breckland Council themselves have, rightly, recognised is the key growth artery in our region and have tried to focus the bulk of the district’s future growth. I know the Leader of Breckland Council, Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, and both Cllr Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge strongly support this.

That’s why I was delighted to join the c12 local parish councils representing the areas that would be affected by this idea to make clear my opposition.

Next Steps

At the meeting we agreed some important Next Steps:

  • To reconvene a meeting of ALL the parish councils in the affected area after the forthcoming local elections on May 4th to make sure all write to Breckland Council formally to express their concerns.
  • Bill and Gordon and I will liaise to ensure all the local residents who object have their objections properly acknowledged by BDC.
  • I will invite my neighbouring MP, Jerome Mayhew, to join that follow-up meeting given a number of his Broadland communities are in close proximity to the site around North Elmham and would also be affected.
  • I will write to Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and the Minister for Housing to make clear why any New Towns and Garden Villages should only be  delivered in the right locations with the associated connectivity, infrastructure and services required) and not in inappropriate locations with the obvious environmental, sustainability and transport issues this scale of development would inevitably threaten.

 Please be assured that I will keep on this in the weeks and months ahead.

15 June 2023
Rat-Running Taskforce – Update

As part of my ongoing campaign to support the South of the A47 Taskforce that I helped convene in order to address rat-running concerns in the Corridor between the Wood Lane/Berry’s Lane junction at Honingham and the A11 at Wymondham, I welcomed the chance to engage again with the Taskforce in recent days.

Although much progress has been made as the Taskforce have worked with Norfolk County Council Highways to develop a package of mitigation measures aimed at alleviating existing rat-running while also preparing in advance for any likely impacts of the A47 dualling between North Tuddenham and Easton (as well as the Norwich Western Link), I am conscious that there remain some local concerns about specific routes along this Corridor that appear to have been missed in the mitigation package.

That’s why I have contacted NCC Highways again to suggest another rat-running meeting in the coming weeks to look at what more can be done for those one or two locations worried that they are not included in the proposals.

Rest assured, I am firmly committed to supporting these communities – and will continue to hold the key stakeholders to account in order to deliver the mitigation improvements we need to see.

Full details of my work with the Taskforce can be found on my website here.

 

14 June 2023
Science, Innovation and Technology Questions

George Freeman, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation answers MPs’ questions to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Regional Innovation

Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)

2. What steps her Department is taking to support innovation in all regions of the UK. (905383)

Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)

8. What steps her Department is taking to support innovation in all regions of the UK. (905391)

The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)

To support innovation across the whole of the UK, a central pillar of our innovation nation mission, the UK Government are investing £52 billion in public research and development over these next three years. We have made a groundbreaking commitment in the levelling up White Paper to increase the percentage of Government R&D outside of the greater south-east, which is, of course, home to some of our historic research institutes, by 40%. We have an active programme—through the Catapults, the innovation accelerators and cluster support—all around the UK to that end.

Wendy Morton 

Innovation is in the DNA of the businesses in my constituency, including Surespan, a leading manufacturer of roof access hatches, and Phoenix Tooling and Development—after all, our region was the birthplace of the industrial revolution. I support the Government’s levelling-up mission, but will the Minister bring forward individual regional targets for rebalancing research and development funding, as recommended by a House of Lords Committee report?

George Freeman 

Let me first pay tribute to Surespan and Phoenix. Two weeks ago, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I were in Coventry in the west midlands with the Chancellor, and I have been working closely with Mayor Andy Street on his excellent programmes. We have an advanced manufacturing Catapult in the west midlands. Coventry and Warwick are rapidly becoming world-recognised centres in a whole raft of materials and in robotics. We are working on the Birmingham innovation district, and we have put one of our three innovation accelerators—£30 million—into the west midlands. My right hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) makes an important point, though, about regional R&D clusters; that is public and private sector money. We will set out this autumn our digital cluster map showing all the private and public funding, and how we intend to increase it by region.

Sir Edward Leigh 

The Government recently launched a call for space infrastructure projects, and West Lindsey District Council has proposed plans to work with the Satellite Applications Catapult, which the Minister mentioned, at RAF Scampton, as part of a £300 million levelling-up deal. What is the logic of one part of Government talking about levelling up and innovation and another part talking about putting a migrant camp in the middle of it, preventing all that infrastructure?

George Freeman 

My right hon. Friend will appreciate that, as the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, I cannot comment on Home Office plans to deal with refugees, but I can pay tribute to the work of Scampton Holdings Ltd and the very innovative proposal for the regeneration of that site with a whole raft of facilities, including in innovation support. I very much look forward to coming up in due course, once the refugee issue is sorted, to support him in taking that forward.

Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)

Metro Mayors have an important role to play in driving innovation in the regions. Can the Minister give an assurance that he will work closely with them?

George Freeman 

Yes, I am absolutely delighted to do so. The Metro Mayors are key parts of our innovation ecosystem, and the three innovation accelerators that have we put in place are fundamentally co-created and led from the bottom up in Glasgow, Manchester and the west midlands. I am actively reaching out to work with the Metro Mayors, as well as with devolved Science Ministers, on extending our science investment to unify all regions of this country and strengthen those urban economies.

Jon Trickett (Hemsworth) (Lab)

But the problem is that in my constituency in the Yorkshire coalfield, there are 20 times fewer people employed in science and technology innovation than in Cambridge. We can be proud of what Cambridge has achieved, but why should areas such as mine be so left behind? There is no economic reason why the golden triangle between Greater London, Cambridge and Oxford should be preferred over the rest of the country, so is it pure politics?

George Freeman 

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman could not be more wrong; it is quite the opposite. The truth is that the Oxford-Cambridge-London triangle is golden for a reason: it is home to two of the world’s top three universities and five of top 15. Our central mission is to ensure that we grow an R&D economy all around the country that nurtures and invests in research, including a fantastic cluster in Yorkshire: the Yorkshire bioeconomy, advanced manufacturing in Sheffield, and Doncaster. We are investing in all that, but one does not create the Oxford-Cambridge triangle overnight; it requires us to invest with local leaders, as they are doing across the north-east in County Durham and Northumbria, in the innovative companies of tomorrow. This is a historic moment for the former coalfields.

Mr Speaker 

I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.

Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)

I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party group on photonics and quantum. The Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics at the University of Strathclyde has played a leading role in the industrial strategy challenge fund, collaborating with more companies and projects than any other organisation, and it has been praised as a key strength in the national quantum strategy. The centre is supported by the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, but despite its being established at the UK Government’s invitation, the UK Government have provided no core funding. What discussion has the Minister had with Treasury colleagues on providing that core funding to a vital part of the quantum technology landscape?

George Freeman 

I have to say, that is a bit rich given that the incredible strength of Scottish science and research is built largely on long-term UK block funding across life sciences and other areas. As I said, I have just been in Glasgow, where we put one of our three innovation accelerators. That has been transformational, particularly in quantum, where we have set out our plans for the £2.5 billion quantum strategy. It is just not fair or true to say that the UK Government are not investing in the Glasgow cluster; we are, and it is transformational.

Hansard

Brexit: Science and Technology Sector

Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)

5. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK's departure from the EU on the science and technology sector. (905386)

The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)

Over the past six or seven years since 2016, this country has seen extraordinary growth in investment in our science and technology sector. Members do not need to take it from me: they can take it from those who track the investment. The UK has nearly 20 times more venture capital than its level of funding in 2011, and I am delighted to say that a majority of that—the fastest growth—is around the country. The east midlands and Northern Ireland have seen the sharpest increases in investment in the past four years, with growth in the east midlands topping at 300%. Something extraordinary is going on in this economy, and far from using Brexit as an opportunity to talk the country down, we intend to use it as an opportunity to lead in the smart regulation of the economies and sectors of tomorrow.

Chris Stephens 

I thank the Minister for that answer, but the UK Government are pushing for a discount on membership in the Horizon programme, arguing that UK researchers have been disadvantaged by two years outside that programme. Does that not amount to the Conservative party openly admitting that cutting the UK off from Europe was damaging, and that we must return as a matter of urgency to European projects such as Horizon?

George Freeman 

To be very clear, we negotiated membership of Horizon, Copernicus and Euratom specifically in our Brexit deal—it was the EU that held us out. Secondly, while we have been waiting, we have deployed over £1 billion of extra funding here in the UK to support our sector, and now that the Prime Minister has secured the Windsor framework, the negotiations are actively going on. I know that the Secretary of State will want to say something about that later. We intend to collaborate deeply with Europe and use our regulatory freedoms in the new sectors of tomorrow.

Sir Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire) (Con)

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is as important to the EU as it is to the UK to have good science co-operation, and that the benefits of our wonderful companies such as Johnson Matthey in Royston and the big companies we have in Stevenage demonstrate the importance of international co-operation in business? That should happen in universities as well. It is for the EU as well as us.

George Freeman 

My right hon. and learned Friend makes an important point. One of the attractions of Horizon is that we get back most of what we put in, and it funds research collaborations across our system, but the negotiations are important. We have been out of the system for two years; we need to get a fair deal, as the Prime Minister has made clear, and to make sure that the UK is not paying for stuff that it has not been able to access over the past two and a half years. I am sure that His Majesty’s Treasury is well equipped to have that negotiation on our behalf.

Mr Speaker 

I call the shadow Minister.

Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)

It is now 127 weeks of uncertainty, delay and broken promises since the Conservatives took us out of the world’s biggest and most prestigious science fund, Horizon Europe. Our scientists, universities and businesses have paid the price in lost jobs and investment, so will the Minister confirm or deny the reports that negotiations to rejoin Horizon have stalled because his Government are pushing for a reduced fee to reflect what they believe is a lasting reduction in grants won by UK scientists? If they have permanently damaged our success rate, should the Minister not be trying to fix that, rather than claim a discount?

George Freeman 

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave a few moments ago. We have negotiated access to Horizon—it was the EU that kept us out. The Prime Minister has unblocked that through the Windsor framework. We have invested substantially through the funding guarantee for all Horizon programmes and through £850 million-odd of additional UK expenditure. We have also increased UK research and development to record levels. We will be at £52 billion by the end of this three years. There is no cutting of UK R&D as a result of this issue. We are actively negotiating to make sure that we get a good deal.

Hansard

Topical Questions

Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)

T3. This London Tech Week, I pay tribute to King’s Maths School in my constituency, which provides tutoring for 16 to 19-year-olds. The Government promised £300 million for mathematical research in 2020, but now, despite that, they are abandoning the commitment. When does the Minister expect Britain to stay competitive and when can the Government guarantee that funding? (905399)

The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)

As the Prime Minister has made clear, we are putting maths at the heart of our curriculum. I am ensuring that maths is properly funded to our research ecosystem. I will happily meet the hon. Member and talk to her about it.

Hansard

14 June 2023
NHS Emergency Dentists – Update

Further to my update last week (see here),  I am pleased to report that the Chief Executive of the Norfolk and Waveney NHS Integrated Care Board, Tracey Bleakley, has already been back in touch with my fellow Norfolk MPs and I to provide an urgent update on the work the ICB are doing on Emergency Dental Care now that they have taken on commissioning for NHS Dentistry from NHS England.

Tracey has confirmed that the ICB are looking to pilot a new urgent treatment service to help people who don’t have access to a dentist receive urgent treatment when they are in pain – a service that would build on existing structures and remain in place for at least the interim in which the ICB develops their longer term plans to improve access to general NHS dental services.

I understand that this urgent treatment service proposal has been developed with the Norfolk dental profession – and I hope to be able to share further details of the proposals later this month.

Tracey has agreed to meet with my fellow Norfolk MPs and I again to discuss Emergency Dental Care, and NHS Dental Care more widely – with arrangements being finalised as we speak.

Rest assured, I will continue to do all I can to speak up for Mid Norfolk on this crucial issue – and remain committed to doing all I can to bring about the improvements to NHS Dental Services that we need to see.

To stay up to date with all my work on this campaign, please visit my website here.