Throughout my time as the local MP, I have been one of our local education sectors biggest advocates, supporting them locally, while also lobbying in Westminster for greater funding, support and resources to ensure areas like Mid Norfolk are not left behind, but rather get the assistance they need to ensure local youngsters, whatever their background, get the education they need and deserve.  

That’s why I welcomed the opportunity to hold my latest Mid Norfolk Headteachers Virtual Forum this afternoon – as part of my ongoing efforts to ensure their voices are heard at the highest levels.

Today, I reported back to them on the meeting I had with the Department for Education’s Regional Commissioner for the East of England last week (see more here) before receiving their feedback on the biggest issues on their agendas:

• Rural Schools Funding
• SEND support and provision
• Ofsted
• Pupil and parent behaviour
• Pupil attendances

Rest assured, I will continue to speak up on behalf of our Mid Norfolk Schools – locally and in the House in Westminster – and look forward to visiting a number of them in the weeks and months ahead, as well as to holding the next forum in the spring.

To see more about my ‘Fairer Rural Schools Funding and Support’ campaign work, please visit my campaign page here.

Storm Babet flooded over 100 homes in Attleborough back in October and local residents (for some of which the recent flooding was the fourth time they had been affected) are rightly furious.

That’s why, as part of my ongoing Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership and Flooding Campaign work, I continue to take an active role in supporting those affected and holding the key stakeholders to account – both here in Mid Norfolk, but also in Westminster.

While a number of short and medium term measures have already been carried out or are underway (see here), the incredibly high water levels at the Mill Lane culvert and watercourse at the start of the new year, and the serious risk residents are having to take in order to protect their homes, shows more must be done.

Last week, I convened a multi-agency meeting with representatives from Norfolk County Council, the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance, Breckland Council, the local Internal Drainage Board, Anglian Water, Natural England, the Environment Agency – as well as local Town, Parish, District and County Councillors and representatives of local landowners upstream of the Mill Lane culvert and watercourse – to emphasise again the importance of tackling these serious issues and explore in greater depth the short, medium and long term work required to significantly reduce future flood risk.

I drew particular attention to those homeowners most at risk of flooding on Mill Lane – many of whom feel helpless and desperate, believing they have no choice but to seriously risk their own safety to try and keep the trash screen across the Mill Lane culvert clear each time it rains.

The key discussion points from the meeting were:

• A shared acknowledgement that residents are seriously risking their own safety to keep the Mill Lane culvert trash screen clear of debris – and of the fact that conditions and circumstances at the culvert can change rapidly during periods of heavy rain.

• Agreement that the existing Mill Lane culvert trash screen should not be removed until the new replacement has been installed (work currently underway – see here) – as the culvert has a 90 degree bend that, were it to become blocked, would be extremely difficult and costly to clear – and significantly worsen the current flood risk to the area.

• NCC Flood and Water Management officials met with Anglian Water contractors on-site (the day prior the meeting) to verify the new trash screen designs ahead of pricing the work – with a multi-agency agreement already in place to fund it.

• The installation of the new trash screen will likely not be possible prior to the summer. This is because the watercourse will need to be de-watered so that a new concrete base can be constructed and the trash screen fitted.

• Further measures are therefore required in the short term to try and reduce flood risk along the watercourse and at the Mill Lane culvert.

• NCC are going to work with local landowners and other stakeholders to explore installing an additional, temporary screen somewhere upstream that can catch debris and prevent it becoming a problem in Attleborough itself.

• The Mill Lane culvert, and others along the watercourse, cannot be expanded – nor the watercourse itself deepened or widened – due to the amount of development and road access around and across it. The enormous cost and disruption, and lack of space, make it impossible.

• Given concerns over residents and local councillors risking their safety by entering the watercourse to keep the Mill Lane culvert trash screen clear, a suggestion was made to appoint a jointly funded contractor to be on 24/7 call out to clear debris and blockages at the culvert trash screen when required. This suggestion was dismissed on the basis that no organisation would allow their staff to entering the water in storm flow conditions (when they would be most needed) – especially if Norfolk Fire and Rescue themselves have said the risk would be too great for even their own teams.

• A suggestion was made to explore how the watercourse may, long term, be diverted to another course away from the town. Flooding Officers explained this would probably not be possible given local topography.

• It is therefore not possible to immediately remove all flood risk. Instead, agencies must work with the properties most at risk to do as much as possible to improve their flood resilience.

• NCC have also submitted a bid to the Natural Flood Management Fund, supported by myself and others, and I am working with them and local landowners upstream to explore how we might deliver a Flood Mitigation and Water Storage Scheme that could drastically reduce the long term flood risk to homeowners and businesses in Attleborough (see more here)

• Everyone affected in the area by flooding in October must formally report their cases via the Norfolk County Council website to enable the Flood Investigations underway to be as accurate as possible – which in turn will strengthen the hand of local stakeholders to lobby for additional funding and support.

• NCC are to look at monitoring water volumes and storm flows on the watercourse – again to strengthen their hand when lobbying for resources.

• Local councillors asked what more could be done to improve safety for those homeowners currently taking risks to keep the Mill Lane culvert trash screen clear. It was asked if lighting and cameras could be installed.

• I reiterated my ongoing support for all the efforts to tackle these flooding issues – and highlighted my efforts in Westminster to bring about the national reform needed also (see more here)

As is clear, this isn’t an easy fix – with multiple challenges faced. However, I am determined to all I can to support the community.

The key focusses/timescales moving forward are:

Short Term (Now-next few weeks)

• Doing as much as possible to improve the flood resilience of the most at risk properties
• Explore what more can be done to improve safety for those putting themselves at risk to keep the Mill Lane culvert trash screen clear
• Find a suitable location for an additional, temporary screen upstream to collect debris – and explore additional short term measures upstream that can reduce flood risk

Medium Term (Summer)

• Replacement of the existing trash screen with a new one that is designed specifically for the challenges being faced.
• Continue to explore what measures can be introduced to reduce flood risk.

Longer Term

• Deliver a Flood Mitigation and Water Storage Scheme upstream that can significantly reduce flood risk
• Deliver legislative changes and reform in the House to better empower local communities so that they can protect themselves from flooding, while also holding developers to account when new housing exacerbates local problems.

Rest assured, I will keep working tirelessly on this issue.

To stay up to date, please visit my flooding campaign page here.

UPDATE 4 December 2023

Over 100 homes in Attleborough were flooded in Storm Babet at the end of October.

We cannot allow this to happen again. Local residents (for some of which the recent flooding was the fourth time they had been impacted) are rightly furious.

That’s why earlier today, as part of my ongoing campaign (and having recently reconvened the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership that I established back in early 2021 – see here), I met with Norfolk County Council’s Flood and Water Management team, the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance and representatives for some of the landowners upstream of the Mill Lane culvert and watercourse.

It’s clear that that we need a proper long term strategic plan that addresses problem watercourse pinch points AND looks to better control the flow of water downstream during heavy rainfall events. While some positive progress is already being made at the Mill Lane culvert itself (as explained in my previous Attleborough Flooding campaign update here), today’s call focused on what can be done further upstream – and I am committed to actively supporting NCC/the NSFA and partners as they work with landowners and other agencies to explore what flood mitigation and water storage scheme measures might work best for Attleborough.

To see all of my recent work supporting Attleborough residents, please click here or see below.

For full details on all of my flooding campaign work, please visit my website here.

UDPATE 29 November 2023

Attleborough was one of several Mid Norfolk communities badly impacted by recent flooding.

That’s why, as part of my ongoing campaign, I visited Mill Lane with Cllrs Samantha and Taila Taylor this past Friday to see the problem culvert/watercourse first hand and meet with some of the worst affected residents.

Please see my video above.

Local residents (for some of which the recent flooding was the fourth time they had been impacted) are rightly furious – and I continue to hold the key stakeholders to account to ensure everything that can be done is indeed being done to provide affected residents with the support they need, as well as to put in place a short, medium and long term plan that looks to try and prevent future such flooding again in future.

Some positive progress is already being made (as explained in my previous Attleborough Flooding campaign update here), but there still remains much more to do.

That’s why, as highlighted in my recent update here, I recently reconvened the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership to give our communities the strongest possible voice on these issues. Attleborough had strong representation on that call and I am determined to do everything I can, alongside local councillors, to ensure residents like those on Mill Lane and surrounding streets are heard.

I will be involved in more meetings in the coming days and am also writing to ministers and officials in Westminster to re-emphasise again the need to put greater emphasis on flooding and drainage matters in the planning process – including putting increased responsibility on developers who’s developments subsequently flood and/or impact the existing community.

To stay up to date with all my work on these issues, please visit my Flooding campaign page here.

UPDATE 3 November 2023

Further to my webstory update last week (see here), I can now provide more information on the work being done by multiple parties to address the terrible flooding that has recently affected many households and businesses in Attleborough. 

On Monday, the Town Council and local district and county councillors held a public meeting in the town for local residents to speak with key stakeholders. The event was well attended and I am pleased to report that stakeholders have been following up on a number of the points and concerns raised – with additional site visits undertaken to the culvert and watercourse on Mill Lane (as well as the culvert in Briar Gardens). Meetings with developers to assess drainage on their building sites have also taken place and I am aware that a series of additional measures, along with further clearing of drains and ditches, are already being implemented – with anecdotal reports of additional blockages being addressed. I will continue to monitor progress closely.

Further to the emergency meeting I held last week (see here), an urgent meeting took place on Tuesday between Norfolk County Council, the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance, Breckland Council and Anglian Water to discuss in greater depth the specific issues that caused flooding at the Mill Lane culvert and connected watercourse. 

As many are aware, the culvert and watercourse were divested to riparian ownership many years ago. While that question of who will take on the long term ownership remains (and rest assured that I continue to push very hard on that and have challenged all stakeholders to work collaboratively to develop a proper strategic plan and solution for the issue), I welcome the collective recognition that something needs to be done as soon as possible, with agreement that the inadequate and unsafe trash screen that caused many of the recent problemsneeds to be replaced.

On a without prejudice basis (of who will assume long term responsibility for the culvert and watercourse) and as a gesture of goodwill, Anglian Water have agreed to have their contractors assess the trash screen and culvert and work up the design for a much safer, more effective replacement. All stakeholders will then jointly fund the improved screen and Anglian Water will install it.

In the meantime (and again on a without prejudice basis and as a gesture of goodwill), Anglian Water will endeavour to send staff every couple of weeks to keep the existing trash screen clear. (Breckland, NCC and Anglian Water are also discussing a longer term plan for removing any debris collected from the culvert and watercourse)

I would like to reiterate however that I will keep on the critical question of who will assume the long term responsibility and ownership of the culvert and watercourse – and am already liaising with the key stakeholders on the date for a follow-up meeting to discuss that matter further.

NCC have also confirmed that the gulleys around Mill Lane have been cleared (with additional review taking place of gulleys on surrounding streets) and I understand that an assessment is taking place as to whether the trash screen at the Briar Gardens culvert should be removed. 

A full flood investigation is now being led by NCC in line with their statutory processes. Although their Flood and Water Management team had already been working on proposals to better mitigate flooding in this area (as a result of the December 23rd-24th 2020 flooding event), there is recognition that their Flood Plan for the area, and its associated work, now needs accelerating and upscaling. I have committed to supporting NCC as they seek to secure the additional funding required to implement any recommended measures, as well as to engage with key local landowners.

I am also in the process of reconvening the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership I previously established – and will ensure Attleborough is represented in those vital conversations.

Rest assured, I am determined to do everything I can to speak up for those affected in Attleborough, as well as those across Mid Norfolk.

UPDATE 25 October 2023

Storm Babet has reminded us again why we must continue to take flooding seriously.

Attleborough was one of several Mid Norfolk communities badly impacted, with severe flooding on Mill Lane, Norwich Road, Ferguson Way and other nearby streets. For some, it was the fourth time they had been flooded in 30 years – and the second time in just under three years. I appreciate, and share, the immense anger and frustration felt by those that have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the damage suffered this past weekend.

That’s why I held an emergency meeting today with Norfolk County Council and their Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance, Anglian Water and Breckland District Council to get to the bottom of what is causing the flooding at the watercourse and culvert on Mill Lane, as well as ensure that those with statutory flooding responsibilities come together and develop an urgent action plan.

While NCC began working on proposals to address flooding at this location in light of the December 2020 flooding, Storm Babet has brought into sharper focus the need to upscale and accelerate those proposals, and address other issues such as questions around which authority is responsible for the culvert and watercourse and therefore who should be maintaining them.

I had made clear that there needs to be:

1. A proper plan for ensuring affected residents (and the wider community) are protected from further flooding this winter.
2. An acceleration and upscaling of efforts to put in place a long term solution.
3. A proper plan for who is going to be responsible for this culvert and watercourse in due course.
4. Agreement on who is going to keep the culvert and watercourse clear NOW – while the longer term plan is being developed and implemented.

I am in close contact with local district councillors and a number of those worst affected by the flooding and am determined to help them work with key stakeholders to develop a solution.

We must see action. This must not be allowed to happen again. And residents should not be risking their own safety to try and keep this culvert clear during storms and heavy rainfall.

More widely, I will be reconvening the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership I established as a result of the Winter 2020/21 flooding to help support those affected by Storm Babet and ensure our communities have the strongest possible voice heading into this autumn/winter.

Rest assured, I will continue to support councillors and residents in the days, weeks and months ahead.

To see my Flooding Update earlier this week, please click here

To find out more about my historic campaign work on flooding, please visit my campaign page here

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The Sub-Postmasters Bill must make adequate provision for serious critical prosecution, prison sentences and fines for those who actively conspired in:

• False Prosecution of innocent sub-postmasters
• Fraudulent receipt of monies
• The Cover Up

Rest assured, I will continue to speak up for Mid Norfolk on this crucial issue.

(See more on my ‘Fighting For Our Local Post Offices’ campaign page here)

Connectivity is vital for rural counties like our own. Without it, businesses and households are held back and unable to unlock their full potential – with access to vital public services and jobs much more difficult and prosperity stymied.

That’s why, throughout my time as local MP, I have campaigned hard to secure better road and rail infrastructure (see my detailed campaign pages here and here) – and why, as part of that work, I continue to be a strong advocate for dualling the A47.

Back in September, I wrote a piece in the Dereham Times (see here – and below) explaining why we must get on and deliver long promised A47 improvements (including the dualling of the stretch between North Tuddenham-Easton and the Thickthorn Roundabout redesign) – making clear my belief that the latest legal challenge of Dr Andrew Boswell was against the best interests of our great county and its communities.

I firmly stand by those comments now – and am disappointed to see Dr Boswell’s campaign is being supported by eco-activists and environmentalists in London and the South who don’t have to live with the daily nightmare of A47 traffic jams, rat-running and accidents like TV presenter Chris Packham and Chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group Sir David King.

Each legal challenge delays these vital improvements further, while driving up costs and wasting taxpayers’ valuable money.

While I’m not a blind advocate of mass road building and fully recognise the importance of tackling climate change and the need also to improve alternative transport such as rail, cycling and walking, there is no doubt in my mind that A47 dualling is a longstanding requirement for the people of Norfolk – one we need to get on and deliver.

We must not allow eco-activists from London and the South to block these key infrastructure improvements.

Instead, as I outlined in my Dereham Times article, the A47 improvements must be embraced as part of a broader vision for our area that focusses on sustainable development done “The Norfolk Way”, attracting the growth and prosperity our communities need while also using proper planning to build in the cleaner, greener, healthier model of life that we all want to see.

Rest assured, I remain committed to working with the A47 Alliance, fellow Eastern MPs and other partners to fight for the delivery of these A47 improvements as soon as possible.

By prioritising 21st century transport and cycle routes alongside road improvement works, properly planning housing development so that area does not become a concrete barrier of short term house dumping, and continuing to pioneer the incredible innovation already underway locally at the likes of the Norwich Research Park, Hethel Engineering Centre and Hingham Business Park on things like land management, conservation and habitat enhancement, we can generate local prosperity, create high-skilled jobs and improve the quality of life of us all, while also working to ensure our beautiful county remains a place in which people want to live, work and visit.

We can have both. We don’t have to choose.

I will be following the ongoing High Court hearing relating to Dr Boswell’s legal challenge closely.

To learn more on my work to improve the A47 (including to secure full dualling of the A47 from East to West), please visit my ‘Making Our Roads Fit For the 21st Century’ campaign page here.

Our local post offices play a crucial role in our Mid Norfolk towns and villages. They are a hub in so many of our communities, bringing people together and providing vital services to households and businesses – services particularly depended upon by our most vulnerable and elderly. The importance of the service our local branches provide in a rural area like ours cannot be overstated.

That’s why I’ve always been a vocal supporter of, and campaigner for, our rural post office branches – and why I continue to advocate on their behalf and the communities that depend upon them.

Upon becoming the parliamentary candidate for Mid Norfolk in 2007, I first became aware of the Post Office Horizon Software Scandal – when several sub-postmasters contacted me for support. Ever since then, I have followed the situation closely and supported those living in Mid Norfolk who were affected – meeting them at constituency surgeries, making representations to ministers and raising their concerns in the House and as a Minister. (More details on this work can be found here)

Over the years, I’ve also done everything I can to speak up and lobby for the continued presence of local post office branches too – fighting for communities in the likes of Gressenhall, Beeston and Rocklands. Together, we’ve saved several vital rural branches – and ensured new premises could be found when High Street branches (such as the one in Watton) were set to close.

There always remains much more to do however. I remain committed to doing everything I can to protect these crucial services.

To learn about the work I have done to support our post offices and local communities over the years, visit my campaign page here.

All of our market towns face the familiar challenge of balancing new growth and development with the needs of the communities living in, and around, them – all the while preserving the unique rural heritage and way of life that we all cherish, and that makes our part of the world such an attractive place to visit.

That’s why, alongside my support for Breckland Council’s ‘Future Breckland Plan’ initiative (see more here and here), I was pleased to be involved in the latest ‘Future Breckland Board’ meeting today – hearing more from NCC about how the County Deal could see additional funding and support available to compliment the Future Breckland initiative, as well as similar initiatives being run by other district councils across the county.

I am delighted to continue playing my part in the conversation and look forward to supporting Breckland as they look to maximise the potential benefits these opportunities could provide. I also remain committed to driving forward my other campaigns and projects in each of our Breckland Market Towns – some of which includes:

• ‘A Dereham Plan for Dereham People’ – Helping local stakeholders to develop a locally led Partnership that can support Breckland Council’s ‘Future Breckland Plan’ work for the town and help deliver its recommendations, while also pushing for other town improvements – particularly around the town centre (see more here)

• Watton Community Banking Hub – Building on the fantastic progress to date (with a temporary hub now open) to get the Community Banking Hub into its permanent home on the Watton High Street (see more here)

• Supporting Nationwide’s Banking Bill – Working with Nationwide and fellow rural MPs to support a Bill in the House that will enable providers, such as Nationwide, to provide more High Street services. With Nationwide the only provider currently committed to keeping local branches open, this Bill would be a gamechanger for those that rely on local banking services – especially the vulnerable, elderly and small businesses – and for Dereham and Attleborough High Streets (see more here)

• Watton Digital and Creative Media Centre – Supporting the Wayland Chamber and Breckland Council as they work hard to develop a fantastic facility right on the Watton High Street that can boost local skills, provide recreation and give local businesses additional support

• ATTCARE – Working with the ATTCARE team of volunteers to hold key stakeholders to account and ensure that, within the overall Town Plan, there is a proper plan to ensure the town has the health and social care provision it needs NOW, and as further development comes in the years to come (see here)

• Attleborough High Street Post Office – Working with local councillors to push Post Office Ltd again to look for a suitable new location for a High Street Post Office branch in the town

• Fair Funding Relief for Rural Areas – Launching a campaign to push the Chancellor and Treasury to go further to help hard-hit local businesses and self-employed who are the backbone of the long term prosperity of our High Streets and rural communities (see here)

…and more!

I look forward to continuing this vital work with local councillors, businesses, community groups and many others as we all look to ensure Breckland remains a thriving and vibrant place to live and work in, as well as visit.

To stay up to date on all of this work, please do regularly check my website for further updates.

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 and enhance our rural landscape and way of community life is often a difficult balance.

That’s why I’ve long been a strong advocate of Localism and the importance of giving local communities and councils a greater say in how they grow and develop in the years to come – and why, throughout my time as local MP, I’ve supported many Mid Norfolk towns and villages as they go about developing their own Neighbourhood Plans.

Over the years, I have actively supported and encouraged Watton Town Council and the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group as they have set about developing their own Neighbourhood Plan (meeting with members and attending the first public events way back in 2017 as I helped get the efforts underway – see here).

I am therefore delighted that the final draft Plan (the product of countless hours of hard work by the Steering Group, as well as considerable consultation feedback from local residents, businesses and other key community stakeholders) is now going to Referendum on Thursday 18th January 2024.

If YOU are based in Watton, please do take the time to have your say. The Referendum is a key part of the Neighbourhood Plan process and it’s vital local residents take the time to go along, vote and ensure their views are heard.

The Plan can be viewed in full on the Breckland website here (and below by clicking on the image).

I very much look forward to hearing the Referendum’s outcome. In the meantime, to stay up to date with all of my work on ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Landscapes and Heritage’, please visit my website here.

Our local post offices play a crucial role in our Mid Norfolk towns and villages. They are a hub in so many of our communities, bringing people together and providing vital services to households and businesses – services particularly depended upon by our most vulnerable and elderly. The importance of the service our local branches provide in a rural area like ours cannot be overstated.

That’s why I’ve always been a vocal supporter of, and campaigner for, our rural post office branches – and why I continue to advocate on their behalf and the communities that depend upon them.

Upon becoming the parliamentary candidate for Mid Norfolk in 2007, I first became aware of the Post Office Horizon Software Scandal – when several sub-postmasters contacted me for support. Ever since then, I have followed the situation closely and supported those living in Mid Norfolk who were affected – meeting them at constituency surgeries, making representations to ministers and raising their concerns in the House and as a Minister. (More details on this work can be found here)

Over the years, I’ve also done everything I can to speak up and lobby for the continued presence of local post office branches too – fighting for communities in the likes of Gressenhall, Beeston and Rocklands. Together, we’ve saved several vital rural branches – and ensured new premises could be found when High Street branches (such as the one in Watton) were set to close.

There always remains much more to do however. I remain committed to doing everything I can to protect these crucial services.

This campaign page is dedicated to much of the work I have done to support our post offices and local communities over the years. To find out more please read through the webstories below.

Rural schools have higher costs compared to those in urban areas and, for decades, were very often underfunded in comparison to their urban counterparts. They also face a wide variety of different, acute challenges compared to urban schools that need different solutions and support.

That’s why, throughout my time as the local MP, I have been one of our local education sectors biggest advocates, supporting them locally, while also lobbying in Westminster for greater funding, support and resources to ensure areas like Mid Norfolk are not left behind, but rather get the assistance they need to ensure local youngsters, whatever their background, get the education they need and deserve.  

I therefore welcomed the chance to meet with DfE Regional Schools Commissioner for the East, Jonathan Duff, again yesterday to share with him the ongoing feedback I have received from local headteachers and staff over recent months and ensure Mid Norfolk’s voice is being heard.

 The main topics we discussed were:

• Fairer Funding for Rural Schools
• SEND funding and provision
• The role and conduct of Ofsted

A lot of positive progress has been made here in Norfolk – especially with regards to the expansion and improvement of SEND provision. I am particularly proud to have supported the campaign that will now see the wonderful Fred Nicholson School relocate to a new, fit-for-purpose site in nearby Swaffham (see here and here) – having previously helped get over the line the campaign to relocate Chapel Road School in Attleborough to a new state-of-the-art facility at Chapel Green in Old Buckenham (see here and here). I am also delighted to see the enormous strides being made by Norfolk County Council to expand specialist place provision, as well as SEND support in our mainstream rural schools.

There is still much more to do however – which is why I continue to campaign hard on these issues, and for greater funding for rural schools in general. And why I support our local headteachers who want to see Ofsted properly reformed so that there efforts to drive up school standards do not cause undue stress and in fact undermine the work being done by many of our fantastic schools locally.

I look forward to connecting with many of our local headteachers in my next virtual forum with them next week.

To stay up to date with all my campaign work on ‘Fairer Rural Schools Funding and Support’, please click here.

To stay up to date with my work on ‘SEND support in our local schools’, please visit my campaign page here.

George Freeman calls on the Government to ensure we learn the wider lessons about the failures of accountability, scrutiny and responsibility to the people of this country that have come to light following the Post Office Horizon scandal.

George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)

I thank the Minister, the Lord Chancellor and the Prime Minister for gripping the matter as quickly as they have. I know that the Minister and the Lord Chancellor were advocates on this matter when they were Back Benchers. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), who gripped the matter after his election in 2015 and in his role as a Minister.

I was never Minister for the Post Office, but I remember being asked, as a Minister in the Department, to cover for an absent Minister. I refused to just read out the speech I had been given and asked for a day of proper briefings from officials. When I asked to meet Paula Vennells, I was told that she refused to meet me without her lawyer.

The saga raises important issues about scrutiny, accountability and responsibility in public office and public administration. They are difficult questions that the House must tackle. Will the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Lord Chancellor and the Cabinet Office therefore look at the wider lessons from this appalling scandal about the failures of accountability and scrutiny in our system of government, and about this House’s ultimate responsibility to the people of this country to ensure that the Government serve the people, not the other way round?

On the point that my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Duncan Baker) made, how much money was stolen from the postmasters? Will the Minister consider some sort of corporate fraud action to get the money back? The money was taken off them and us, and we should get it back from the company that took it.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kevin Hollinrake)

I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks and his question. I am pleased that Paula Vennells has handed back her CBE. It was absolutely the right thing to do. As part of the inquiry, at some point we will of course identify who was responsible—individuals and organisations. In terms of corporate fraud, the beneficiary to some extent was the Post Office. Of course, the Post Office had to be funded by the Government to make the payments, so it is difficult to see how we would get the money back from the Post Office. There are other organisations, such as Fujitsu. I have talked about that previously, and we will look at that once the inquiry has concluded.

On scrutiny, many Ministers and officials will ask themselves questions about what happened. It is our job to ask the key questions at the right time and not necessarily to take the first answer we are given. We should push back and ensure that we get to the bottom of the issue. There is no question but that there were failures. I will not identify who failed, but many people will be asking themselves serious questions. The inquiry may well identify where we could have done things better.

Hansard