George Freeman, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation answers MPs’ questions on the development of onshore wind farms, the forced installation of prepayment electricity meters, the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging international R&D investment into the UK.
Onshore Wind Farms
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
7. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of onshore wind farms developed in England since 2015. (903113)
The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)
Onshore wind in the UK has been a great success. It generates 25% of our total renewables, and since 2015 around 10 onshore wind projects, totalling 30 MW, have been given consent in England. We have made it clear that onshore wind is an important part of the energy mix and that we will now need more, which is why we are consulting on making changes to the national planning policy framework in England so that local authorities can better respond to the views of their local communities when they wish to host onshore wind infrastructure.
Nick Smith
New onshore wind has been stymied since 2015, even though it is our cheapest renewable. Shire-counties conservatism has been put ahead of our national interest; weak policy has undermined the UK’s energy security, leaving us wide open to international shocks. Does the Minister not accept that all this has helped to cause family bills to skyrocket?
George Freeman
In a word, no. What has caused family bills to skyrocket is the international pressure on energy supply chains, the war in Ukraine and the economic sanctions in respect of Russia. I accept the point that the costs of onshore wind have fallen dramatically through our contracts for difference round 4. This is a UK success story, which is why we are keen to do more. The public-opinion data show that 78% of the public support onshore wind. We want to make sure that we do not impose it on local authorities and are giving them more freedom to make sure they can reflect local demand so that it is renewable energy led by communities with community benefit.
Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)
Looking out from the east of my constituency, one can see a number of offshore wind farms, which are more efficient and cheaper. The Government have done really well over the past 10 years by increasing the renewable generation of electricity fivefold; does the Minister agree that that not only helps to cut emissions but pump-primes new jobs markets in the generation of clean energy around the world?
George Freeman
As a BEIS Minister and as an East Anglian Member of Parliament, I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The southern North sea is becoming the Saudi Arabia of wind energy, and the Norfolk and Suffolk coast and the new hydrogen freeport at Felixstowe and Harwich are part of the way in which we are growing the infrastructure for smart advanced wind and a linked hydrogen economy in the 21st century.
Topical Questions
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)
The calls that we have already heard to take action to support people on prepayment meters are echoed by more than 40 Members of both Houses on the all-party parliamentary group on fuel poverty and energy efficiency. They, too, are calling for a ban on forced installation of prepayment meters by court warrant and an end to unfair standing charges and price differentials. It is not good enough just to hear nice words from the Government; they have to require action from the energy suppliers.
The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)
We agree that the most vulnerable consumers in this country should be protected. Those duties already lie with Ofgem. I shall repeat what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier: it is completely unacceptable that vulnerable patients leave hospital and find that they have been automatically disconnected. We are convening a roundtable meeting and my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister for Energy and Climate are putting pressure on Ofgem to make sure that vulnerable consumers are looked after.
Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
There is an inconsistency in how the public sector is required to report greenhouse gas emissions. That makes it difficult to keep a track on progress as we approach net zero, and difficult for citizens to hold the public sector to account on delivery. What is the Minister doing to rectify that so that we can keep a proper track on what is happening?
George Freeman
May I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Department, to thank the hon. Member and the Public Accounts Committee for their report, to which we will very shortly reply? I am delighted to say that the public sector has reduced emissions by 44% since 1990 and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by 70% since 2010. We appreciate her Committee’s point that the data—the metrics—have to be clear and coherent, and we are taking that on board.
James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)
T8. The UK is a hub of privately driven research and development. I am proud that my Bracknell constituency is the silicon valley of the Thames valley and the home of fantastic companies such as 3M, Dell, Honda and Panasonic, which is also great for local employment. What steps are being taken to encourage more international R&D investment into the UK? (903105)
George Freeman
My hon. Friend makes a good point. We have the groundbreaking commitment to move from £15 billion to £20 billion a year of investment in public R&D over this comprehensive spending review, the creation of the National Science and Technology Council, the recent launch of our international science partnership fund, the ISPF, which I announced in Japan with a first tranche of £119 million, a series of strategic bilats and multilats, and, of course, our £7 billion ring-fenced for Horizon for three years—if we cannot deploy it through Horizon, we will deploy it in other ways to support UK R&D.
Being an active local constituency MP means working to help find solutions to some of the biggest local problems we face here in Mid Norfolk.
I think it also means being accountable to YOU – the people I am here to represent and serve.
That’s why, in addition to the dozens of pieces of constituency correspondence I reply to each week (on local casework, national policy matters and campaigns), as well as my regular programme of supermarket surgeries, I also had a number of telephone and Microsoft Teams calls with local constituents this past Friday about sensitive issues important to them.
This is an incredibly important part of my role as a local MP – and one I take very seriously.
As I have also pledged on each of the four election nights on which I’ve been honoured to be elected, I will always do my best to represent EVERYONE in Mid Norfolk – not just the people that voted for me.
If YOU need my help with a local matter, or would like to raise a point about a national policy issue, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at george.freeman.mp@parliament.uk or via post by writing to Office of George Freeman MP, 8 Damgate Street, Wymondham, NR18 0BQ.
More often than not, I am able to pick up and help with a matter quickly, with the help of my small, dedicated local team. However, where a matter is particularly complex, I do try and arrange an urgent call to discuss your issue.
To learn more about the kinds if issues I can assist with, please click here.
Last week I spoke with Chris Goreham on Radio Norfolk about the Space Launch in Newquay, the future of space science and what it means for Norfolk.
As everyone knows, innovation is risky. It’s hard and it often goes wrong.
We did, however, achieve a huge amount – we established the first UK space port in Newquay, Cornwall, the regulatory framework is in place, and we can now launch at any time.
The first sequences all went according to plan – the take off, the rocket first fire and the release of the rocket. It was the final step of getting it into the right orbit which was hugely disappointing.
“We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard.”
This was an important step for UK Space, but also a massively important step for our region – where we have a number of exciting local companies working in the high growth space sector. I am determined to do all I can to shine a light on them all.
To listen to my interview in full, please click here and scroll to roughly the 1hr 55 minute mark.
To learn more about Norfolk’s Innovation Economy, please click here
Since becoming MP for Mid Norfolk back in 2010, I have actively worked with local community groups and councillors to promote a more local and organic model of development – one that doesn’t allow aggressive out-of-town developers to abuse the planning system and keep on dumping large, inappropriate and unsustainable developments on our towns and villages. (For full details, please visit my website here).
However, planning doesn’t just mean houses. It can also mean local businesses and industry. While we want to see our local economy thriving (especially those traditional sectors that our area is so closely tied to), we need to ensure that growth is done positively, rather than at the expense of the rural way of life that we all hold so dear – and which makes Mid Norfolk such a wonderful place to live, work and visit!
That’s why I wrote to Breckland Council this time last year to highlight my concerns for about the application for eight new poultry sheds with associated admin blocks, feed bins and ancillary development on land off Swangey Lane in Rocklands – having been made aware of overwhelming local opposition. That application was withdrawn by the applicant shortly before it was due to be heard by Breckland Planning Committee.
Shortly before Christmas, I became aware of a second, almost identical application that had been submitted, along with another groundswell of local opposition. Having read through everything carefully, I have now submitted the below letter to Breckland Council to highlight those concerns and formally place on record my opposition.
To see my work with the local community in relation to the previous application, please click here and here
Rest assured, I will continue to support sustainable development in our local area – working with our dedicated local councillors and communities to oppose those that are not appropriate or unsustainable in our part of the world.
The campaign to secure proper access to Platform 2 of Wymondham Station has been one I have been actively involved in for a number of years and, having shared the growing frustration (rightly) of so many in our area at the continued slowness of any progress, I once again committed to doing my bit to reenergise those efforts – reconvening a Taskforce of key stakeholders in the autumn to hold them to account, find out what was going on and make clear in no uncertain terms that the local community expects to see action, and quickly.
As part of that ongoing work, I welcomed the chance to meet with a number of those key stakeholders again shortly before Christmas to receive updates and discuss the next round of necessary actions. I reiterated again that a lack of proper access to Platform 2 has long been unacceptable.
Those discussions were helpful and I look forward to our next conversations in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I continue to liaise with our various stakeholders as we pursue multiple avenues that aim to deliver step-free access to Platform 2 as soon as possible – and as the first part of a wider regeneration package for the entire station site in the coming years.
To learn more about all my work on this, as well as the wider regeneration vision for the site, please visit my campaign page here.
Being an active local constituency MP means working to help find solutions to some of the biggest local problems we face here in Mid Norfolk.
I think it also means being accountable to YOU – the people I am here to represent and serve. As I have pledged on each of the four election nights on which I’ve been honoured to be elected, I will always do my best to represent EVERYONE in Mid Norfolk – not just the people that voted for me.
To read my annual report to constituents, please click the link below.
As a former Health Minister and someone with a close understanding of the incredible role our NHS plays each and every day, I am very aware of how difficult the last two and a half years have been – especially for those working on the frontline.
I am also very aware of the concern and frustration of many when it comes to trying to get an appointment at their local GP surgery. People, understandably, need to be feel assured that they are able to count on our NHS when they need to access its services.
Back in November, the Government showed that it was listening and renewed its commitment to our NHS by making a further series of announcements (including £8 billion of funding for the NHS and adult social care in England by 2024-25) in the Autumn Statement. This latest package for our NHS including historic levels of funding isn’t just to tackle the Covid backlog however. It is also being invested to ensure that then, moving forward, our NHS is able to provide even more care to an even better standard.
I remain determined to do all I can to speak up for our local NHS sector and ensure that its thousands of truly dedicated staff are indeed able to provide the standard of services they constantly strive to deliver.
That's why I continue to pay close attention to this issue (among many others in relation to our local NHS, such as NHS dentistry – see more on my campaign here) and why I therefore appreciated the opportunity to engage with the heads of a number of our local Mid Norfolk GP surgeries in the days before Christmas.
Building on the visits and conversations that I’ve long been having with local doctors, nurses and practice staff, I found the meeting incredibly helpful and learned more about the challenges being faced by our local practices on a daily basis. Together, we examined many of the issues being faced on the frontline in depth – and I undertook to write to the Secretary of State, and his ministerial team, to share the insights given to me and continue my work making Mid Norfolk heard in Westminster.
Rest assured, I remain committed to doing all I can to speak up for and represent Mid Norfolk (both on behalf of my concerned constituents and those working in our local NHS) on these vitally important issues in 2023.
We live in difficult times but I hope everyone is able to get some peaceful time with friends and family this Christmas.
Please find below my Christmas message and Annual Report to Constituents.
The constituency office will be closed from Friday 23rd December over the festive period - but if you have any local *emergency* issues you need my help with, please email george.freeman.mp@parliament.uk or call 01953 600 617 and leave a message. I, with the help of my small but dedicated team, will continue to be monitoring the email inbox and voicemails so that I can pick up anything urgent in nature.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas,
George
(Click on image or link below)
How can space consolidate the UK’s role as a science superpower. George Freeman writes for Destination Space.
Mental health provision has long been an issue very close to my heart. I have seen first-hand how mental health issues affect friends and family members and can destroy lives.
That’s why, as part of my ongoing work alongside fellow parliamentary colleagues in the East, I welcomed the opportunity to be involved in the Minister for Mental Health’s latest briefing for Norfolk and Suffolk MPs yesterday – to find out the latest information on the work that has been going on in recent months to improve patient care and safety, as well as deliver better services, at Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust.
The CQC, NHS England and the NSFT themselves set out that a significant programme of improvements is currently underway, including a major refresh of the organisation’s senior leadership team – which we, as MPs, were assured is already changing the “culture” of NSFT and already having a positive impact on the frontline. The openness and willingness of the organisation to embrace meaningful reform has been praised, with campaign group members now sitting on the committee driving forward NSFT improvements too.
We were also informed of work being pursued that will better integrate our mental health provision with our other local NHS and care providers – an effort being overseen by the Norfolk and Waveney ICB here in our area and which will hopefully see far more people treated locally in their communities, with more preventative treatment being offered and greater support and care in place. (To see more on my views regarding NHS and Social Care Integration, please click here.)
While this is all positive news, our collective of MPs made clear that, having heard similar assurances in the past, we still need a lot of convincing that these efforts will be enough. When the CQC deliver their next report in the coming months, we want to see clear, measurable improvement points that show substantial progress has been made.
Reform is never easy. But it’s key that this issue is properly gripped now and got right. I am very concerned that, after years of problems at the NSFT and a new management team, the organisation is still struggling to improve sufficiently.
The Minister reassured all MPs present that she, and the wider Department, understands the seriousness of the situation – and follow up meetings are being scheduled with ourselves so that we can continue to hold the key figures to account and speak up for patients in our constituencies, as well as their families and friends.
This is very much an ongoing focus of mine and I will continue to speak up for Mid Norfolk in the weeks and months ahead.
To stay up to date with my work on Mental Health in our area, please click here.