The first duty of any Government is to protect and support its citizens in the event of a critical incident, and that’s why, following the September 11th terror attacks, twenty specialist urban search and rescue teams were established across the country.

These teams were introduced as part of a national capability to provide strengthened resilience, equipment and skills to deal with large scale and/or complex incidents – and one such team has been headquartered right here in Mid Norfolk (at Dereham) ever since. Not only has it been trained to respond to terror attacks, it has also been trained to provide specialist assistance to local emergency services in the event of chemical leaks, flooding, water rescues, traffic accidents, coastal erosion, building collapses, body recovery and more.

Over the years, the Dereham team has become a highly respected and effective local asset, and it is for that reason that I shared local shock at the news that it may be one of five urban search and rescue team cut in the not too distant future.

That’s why I have written to ministers to highlight the strategic importance and value of the Dereham team, asking for clarification about any decisions that may have been made and asking that they look again to ensure everything that can be done to safeguard this service is done.

The loss of this service in Dereham would significantly increase the response times of such specialist support and, at a time when Norfolk’s “risk” is increasing (for example, through the addition and expansion of key infrastructure locations like Bacton, Necton, Dunstone and Walpole), I agree with local councillors that we should be doing all we can to ensure our local emergency services have the best possible support in the event of a critical incident.

Rest assured, I will continue to work with local authorities to do all I can to help protect the long term future of our Dereham team.