As we,  a society, look to get the country going again and beat Coronavirus, it is vital that we get our key workers and services back up and running for us all.

That’s why I recently called for teachers and key workers to be prioritised ahead of some of our elderly – including my own parents, who are reconciled that they, as good citizens, might need to shield for longer in order to prioritise those who can get our country up and running again.

It is so important that we do not damage the life chances of a whole generation. Teachers need to be protected so that they can back to educating our students safely, and time spent in lockdown should be used to reassess and revise the vaccination programme.

Rest assured, I am continuing to raise this with the Government to bring this important matter to the fore.

To see my recent comments in the EDP, please click here.

Thousands of Mid Norfolk residents were devastated this Christmas by:

• Flooding
• Sewerage outflows
• Accompanying power cuts
• Poor response from UK Power Networks, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency

This isn’t good enough.

So I’ve convened a new Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership with local Breckland councillors, local Norfolk County councillors, local parishes, Anglian Water, Norfolk County Council Highways/Flooding officials and the Environment Agency to sort out what happened and why, and agree a more coordinated plan to ensure it never happens again.

Rest assured, I will provide further updates as we take this forward.

With the arrival of the new Covid mutant strain (70% more virulent), the massive surge in hospitalisations back at March 2020 levels and a serious threat of the NHS being overwhelmed, the Prime Minister really had no choice but to impose another lockdown.

January 2021

A new Year. A new lockdown.

With the arrival of the new Covid mutant strain (70% more virulent), the massive surge in hospitalisations back at March 2020 levels and a serious threat of the NHS being overwhelmed, the Prime Minister really had no choice but to impose another lockdown.

The latest data are very serious:

⚠️ 25,000 patients in hospital w Covid

⚠️ 6% increase in 24hrs

⚠️ 41% increase since Xmas Day

Here in Norfolk:

⚠️ 80% of Norfolk hospital patients with Covid have the new variant

So, with a similarly heavy heart I fully support the PM’s decision.

—

BUT.

I believe it is critical now that the Government prioritise a number of key groups so that nobody is left behind:

⚠️Properly support the Small Businesses, sole traders, freelance self-employed and SME owner managers who don’t have the luxury of a reliable public sector OR business income.  There are 30,000 businesses in Norfolk.  We must look after the c 3million self-employed people nationwide. Local businesses like pubs and clubs, painters and decorators, hairdressers, builders, theatres, and all the other local small businesses are the backbone of our local economy and our community and more vulnerable than bigger businesses.

⚠️ School pupils, parents and teachers: We must prioritise reopening schools ASAP. We cannot allow a generation of young people to have their life chances damaged.  In the meantime, we need to help ensure pupils can access quality digital teacher interaction not just “e-learning” home alone on the internet.  And put in place a clear framework for proper and reliable grading of pupils if exams have to be cancelled.

⚠️ Re-establish the Community Shielding programme: Continue to encourage local volunteers to help be part of it.

⚠️ Accelerate the vaccination programme: We need thousands of vaccine centres set up around the country.  We should prioritise Key Workers like Teachers and School Staff so we can get children back to school as a priority ASAP.

⚠️ Expand and speed up Test Track and Trace: So that local public health officials can stop infection spreading fast.

⚠️ Install proper testing at our ports & airports: We need to minimise exposure to international virus mutations

⚠️Allow and encourage as much outdoor exercise by households: Which we know is vital for physical and mental health

⚠️ Cut Red Tape and bureaucratic silos and allow much more local innovation: There is a huge public sector estate of buildings which can be used as vaccine and test centres.  We need to encourage innovative solutions by local leaders.

⚠️ Support Local leadership: Make clear that the areas which can show lowest virus transmission can reopen first. Make sure the lockdown is used by local leaders to put in place the necessary Data tracking, integrated management systems and local solutions to allow our economy to reopen ASAP. There is a danger that a national lockdown creates a culture of total dependence on decisions in London.  We need to actively do the opposite and cut centralised bureaucracy to allow local council and agency leaders to lead locally. 

——-

Detailed implementation issues

There are hundreds of detailed questions which will need to be answered.

As last year I will be working flat out to deal with all the issues raised and raise all issues on behalf of constituents to try and get you the answers you need ASAP.

If you have any queries, please email me at george.freeman.mp@parliament.uk

For the current Government guidance head to: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

For my latest information on coronavirus head to: https://www.georgefreeman.co.uk/content/covid-19-help-and-support

—

This lockdown WILL pass.

We HAVE a vaccine and are leading the world in rolling it out.

We WILL emerge from this in the spring.

In the meantime, we HAVE to do everything we can to minimise the risk to our vulnerable neighbours, protect our NHS from being overwhelmed, do all we can to prevent serious long-term damage to people’s life chances and livelihoods and minimise the length and extent of the lockdown so we can get back to normal healthy life ASAP.

This is another test of our stamina,fortitude and the strength of our mutual commitment as a Norfolk and national community.

Working together we WILL come through it.

Yours,

George

JANUARY BUSINESS SUPPORT

5 January 2021

• Throughout this crisis, our economic priority remains the same: to protect jobs.
• We have already set out our economic package of support for businesses over the Winter, including monthly grants for closed businesses worth up to £3,000 per month, extending the furlough scheme to April and providing further SEISS grants to support the self-employed to April.
• But given further national restrictions announced by the Prime Minister yesterday that will prevent further spread of the virus, today we provide additional support to the most affected businesses, worth £4.6 billion across the United Kingdom. 
  o A one-off grant for closed businesses in England of up to £9,000
  o £500m discretionary funding provided to English local authorities to support local businesses
  o Barnett funding of £729 million
• This support will help businesses get through this difficult period through to the Spring. We will take further decisions about our economic response to coronavirus and how best to support the economy, businesses and jobs at the Budget on the 3rd March.

New one-off grant to support retail, hospitality and leisure businesses forced to closed

• Retail, hospitality and leisure business premises forced to close can claim a one-off grant of up to £9,000. The one-off additional grant each business premises will receive depends on their rateable value:
  o Businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or above: £9,000
  o Businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000: £6,000
  o Businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or below: £4,000
• This one-off grant is in addition to the existing monthly closed grants of up to £3,000 per month that businesses continue to be eligible for. These grants are worth over a £1 billion in total per month.
• We expect over 600,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure business premises in England to benefit from these grants.
• Businesses can receive multiple grants, as they are eligible on a per premises basis.
• Local authorities will receive the funding for these one-off grants next week, and we encourage them to make payments to businesses as soon as possible.

Additional discretionary funding for local authorities to support their local businesses

• Local Authorities (in England) will also be given an additional £500 million of discretionary funding to support their local businesses.
• This builds on (and will be allocated in the same way as) the £1.1 billion discretionary funding (worth £20 per head of population) which local authorities in England have already received to support their local economies and help businesses impacted.

Barnett funding of £729m for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

• Scotland will receive £375 million, Wales £227 million and Northern Ireland £127 million to support their local businesses.

As we all prepare for a very different “Covid Christmas”, in this year’s Report Back (attached (pdf 1.9M)) I’ve tried to remember and highlight some of the many positives about living here in Mid Norfolk.  

It’s been a terrible year in so many ways. 60,000 dead. Devastation for so many small businesses & livelihoods. Many families kept apart. 

The latest Covid surge means this will be a very hard Christmas for many. 

But our local communities are strong. This year has shown and seen our areas deep sense of neighbourliness with extraordinary levels of volunteering, public spirit & acts of kindness. 

THANK YOU to all those who do so much to make our area so special.

To read my Report simply click on the attachment below. 

Please feel free to forward this message and Local Report on to anyone in your community who you think might appreciate it.

Let’s all look out this Christmas for the lonely, frail & vulnerable.  

Yours, with very best wishes for a Happier New Year, 

George

Click here or on image of the first page (below) to open

As part of my ongoing work to help communities in Mid Norfolk create their own Neighbourhood Plans, I was delighted to speak with members of Mileham Parish Council over Zoom this last week – as they explore the pros and cons of possibly creating a Neighbourhood Plan for themselves.

Since becoming an MP back in 2010, I have worked with local community groups and councillors (in communities like Attleborough, Dereham, Watton, Mattishall, Swanton Morley, Yaxham and several others) to promote a more local and organic model of development and make sure everyone’s voice is always heard on planning issues.

(A decade ago, I set up The Norfolk Way (a not for profit campaign) to advocate exactly this model of planning – emphasising the importance of a vibrant rural economy and enlightened planning policies to promote smaller pockets of local housing for use by local people, small businesses back in the countryside and better broadband, mobile signal and road and rail links. I believe we CAN have both a vibrant local economy and maintain our local heritage)

That’s why I was so supportive of the 2011 Localism Act that introduced the concept of Town and Neighbourhood Plans, which are created in consultation with local Councillors, residents, businesses, schools and community groups so that they can shape where development should and should not go. This gives local communities a stronger say, and a forward-looking role, when decisions are made about the right type of development in our towns and villages.

If YOU are considering creating a Neighbourhood Plan for your own parish in Mid Norfolk and would like to pick my brain, please do let me know.

How we take care of, and educate, some of our most vulnerable people is a measure of us as a society. EVERYONE has the right to a good education. 

That’s why, having helped the campaign to move Chapel Road School in Attleborough to its new state-of-the-art home at Chapel Green in nearby Old Buckenham (read more here) and called for greater SEN funding for rural schools, I am now working with Fred Nicholson School in Dereham to try and help them secure a long-term solution to their future. 

When I visited the school back in 2019, I was struck by the tremendous spirit of the teachers and pupils, and the love that the wider community has for the school. However, the buildings are falling into disrepair around them and short-term repairs are no longer sustainable. (Learn more here) 

Working with the Leader of Norfolk County Council, Andrew Proctor, and others, we aim to move the school to new premises (constructed on the same site or nearby) – ones that ensure Jane Hayman and her incredible team can provide the care and support they truly want, and which the children deserve.  

Today we took part in a Zoom catch up to hear of the progress that is being made on this project and I look forward to continuing my support of this incredibly worthwhile campaign as we move on into 2021.

There were a lot of entries of an extremely high standard to the 2020 Mid Norfolk Parliamentary Christmas Card Design competition, and I am especially delighted to announce that the winner was Ethan Matheus, Age 6, Wicklewood School..”Stay safe this Christmas.”

The standard of entries reflects the hard work put in by all pupils and, of course, the inspiration of their teachers across our area.

Ethan receives a £20 book token this year, with Toby Aldridge ,George Balls-James and Isaac Mountfield-Smith receiving a £10 book token to be redeemed at Wymondham’s Kett’s Books..

You can view the winning design, ‘”Stay Safe This Christmas “, and the highly commended entries below:

The UK’s Net Zero commitments to Offshore Wind will make the Southern North Sea the global hub of wind energy production.

That’s why I am delighted to be continuing my leading role in the campaign calling for a proper strategic plan for connecting offshore wind power – alongside a number of Norfolk and Suffolk MPs.

Yesterday, the Government released its Energy White Paper, titled “Powering Our Net Zero Future” (see here) and Page 80 made for some very positive for all of us who have been working so hard on this over the past couple of years or so – including the many campaigners, landowners, businesses and residents involved from the East of England.

This White Paper clearly re-emphasises that we’re winning the argument and I am committed to working with colleagues to drive forward efforts to make sure that we get the right strategic plan in place for connecting this much needed, green offshore wind power.

Friday was a great day of socially distanced, Covid compliant visits and meetings around Mid Norfolk.

• Visit to Wymondham Friday Market to chat to stallholders and customers.

• Meeting with two local GPs at Wymondham’s Town Green Garden Café to discuss about their experiences during Covid and listen to their concerns and suggestions going forward.

• Visit to The Swan Pub in Gressenhall to catch up with the marvellous Save Our Swan! campaign team and hear how they are moving forward with their plans to renovate and reopen the pub (learn more about their successful campaign here and here).

• Popped into the Gressenhall Village Store to hear how the team have coped during Covid.

• Joined the Chief Constable’s briefing on County Lines for Norfolk MPs to learn more about the outstanding work our brave police are doing to combat drugs gangs in our region.

• Visit to Wymondham Abbey

• Back to the office for Wymondham Conservative branch’s Zoom meeting and Zoom Surgery meetings.