5 February 2020

Our beautiful part of Norfolk has often seen many of its wonderful delights overlooked – simply because they are not known about by those living further afield!

That’s why I’m so supportive of the work of Visit Breckland – a non-profit organisation which is doing wonders to inform people of, and encourage people to visit, many of the great things that Breckland has to offer.

Breckland has a rich history, a wide variety of activities to enjoy and an abundance of places to explore – from toy stores to local distilleries, and from pubs and restaurants to historical sites!

To learn more, visit their website here.

 

(FOR BUSINESSES:

For many small and medium sized businesses, it can be hard to get their name out at a time when publicity is becoming increasingly vital in the digital-age. Visit Breckland, as it looks to grow the poll of information and services it offers, therefore provides a service to allow businesses to list themselves on their website.

If you would like to list your business on the Visit Breckland website, please do get in touch with Glyn via the contact details provided there)

 

 

 

4 February 2020
George Freeman responds to debate on net zero targets and decarbonising transport

George Freeman, the first Minister for Decarbonisation of Transport, responds to a debate on net zero targets and decarbonising transport outlining the Government’s Decarbonisation Strategy and commitment to the green economy and net zero.

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (George Freeman)

May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Nokes? In the time available, I shall do my best to set out the Government’s strategy and to deal with the many points that were raised.

First, I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for calling this debate on the importance of decarbonising the transport sector. As the first Minister for the decarbonisation of transport, I welcome this opportunity and the many contributions from Members from, I think, all parties in the House. We have seen quite a lot of expertise, including from the former Chair of the Transport Committee, the hon. Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), and I have heard an awful lot with which we agree, including on the scale of the challenge of global climate change and the imperative of gripping transport decarbonisation now. There was an important point about avoiding climate anxiety while stressing the urgency of the situation. We do not want to depress people, particularly the young, by making out that this task is impossible.

We also heard about the real strides that we have made as a country and the need for the transport sector now to lean in and show the leadership that the energy sector has shown. I was particularly interested in the points that my right hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire made about behavioural insights and understanding the real barriers to EV uptake and modal shift—indeed, we are putting a lot of emphasis on that in the strategy—and about the need for a smooth evolution of the support framework.

As the first Minister for the future of transport, focusing on decarbonisation, digitalisation and disconnection, I, with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, am absolutely determined that we will take an integrated approach. That means putting people and places—neighbourhoods—at the heart of the vision for transport, looking at what the transport sector needs to do to put people and places first and looking at our research and development programme across Government to ensure that we are backing the right innovations in technologies to support future green transport. To that end, we have established in the DFT a new directorate for the future of transport, which has seven workstreams and seven directors, dealing with R&D, finance, place, data, regulation, decarbonisation and the importance of behavioural insights as well of ensuring that we go with the grain of people’s aspirations for their families and their constituencies.

I do not want to take up too much time agreeing with everyone on the scale of the crisis. We have only to look to what has been happening in the past few months around the world—to Australia, to our own floods and to the rate of polar ice melt and the rising sea levels—to know that this is the defining global challenge of our generation. I can feel in this Chamber the appetite across the parties to show the electorate in this country, after the divisions of the past few years, that we are united in ensuring that we tackle it.

Let there be no doubt that this Government are 100% committed to leading—not just delivering but leading —and therefore we must accelerate our action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid longer-lasting consequences. That will mean reducing car dependency and building lower car dependency into the new houses that we are building, and that is why I was delighted last week to announce on the east-west arc, for example, that we are focusing on rail links to the new housing.

The decisions that we make will affect the future of the planet for generations to come. This is urgent. I am delighted that, as I am speaking, the Prime Minister is sitting down having just given his keynote speech defining how important this is for the Government. We will have to show new models of leadership globally, and that is why hosting COP this November is vital.

I will just take this opportunity to say that since Mrs Thatcher was, famously, the first western leader to warn of the pace of this back in the 1980s, we saw a few decades of quite slow progress until the last decade. I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), David Cameron and Nick Clegg for putting together a consensus that we needed to act 10 years ago.

The Climate Change Act 2008 was the first of its kind in the world and made the UK the first country to have legally binding long-term emissions reduction targets, and we should be proud of that. Since 2000, we have decarbonised our economy faster than any other G20 country. Last year, with support from this House, we became the first major economy to set a legally binding target to achieve net zero emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. That will end our contribution to global climate change, but it does not mean the end of prosperity. I am equally proud that we have created more than 400,000 jobs in this sector. We need to be clear that green growth is more sustainable, resilient and globally exportable, and creates more opportunities for the next generation of people in this country.

Between 1990 and 2017, we reduced emissions by more than 40% while growing our economy by more than two thirds. Green growth works. However, we are not complacent—

Alan Brown

Will the Minister give way?

George Freeman

I will not, just because I am very short of time to respond to the debate.

Delivering net zero will require genuine transformation of our economy and society, including our homes, transport systems and businesses. Although challenging, it offers tremendous social and economic opportunity, but we will have to go further and faster to build on our track record, with transport front and centre.

I shall list briefly the things that we have done. This is a very significant demonstration of leadership. Our £1.5 billion ultra low emission vehicle programme is the envy of the world. We have just announced the £400 million charging infrastructure fund, which will see thousands more electric vehicle charge points installed across the UK, both superfast chargers at motorway service stations and domestic chargers. The first £70 million of that will create another 3,000 rapid charge points. With the private sector, we are on track to deliver £1 billion for charging infrastructure. I am genuinely delighted that the Prime Minister has this morning announced the Government’s intention to bring forward the ban on petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans to 2035, in line with the Committee on Climate Change’s advice.

On shipping, we have the clean maritime plan. On rail, we have set the ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the network. On aviation, we have helped to lead the world in setting up that first and seminal international agreement for emissions reduction, and here in the UK we are investing £1.5 billion in future aviation technology. Yesterday, I visited the E-Fan X, a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Airbus at Cranfield pioneering the first electric plane.

We will have to invest in science and technology longer term, as well as modal shift for healthier and happier places short term, and to that end I will shortly be announcing with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State our first ever transport decarbonisation plan. That will set out for the first time an approach for each mode—road, rail, shipping and aviation—and an approach by place. We want to look at the worst motorway junctions and railway stations, and we want to use digital tools to help to track standard emissions per passenger kilometre. And there will be a plan for science and R&D investment longer term, including for important technologies in areas such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage—there is a whole range of technologies that can help us to drive both the modal shift and the emissions reduction.

This is about harnessing the power of our science and innovation and our digital economy to help lead the world in how to empower today’s travellers, passengers, drivers and households to make green choices. Imagine the power of a green Citymapper that will allow people to choose low-emission journeys and then reward them. That is very powerful and something that we need to look at.

Crucially, this will not all be done by top-down diktat from central Government; it will require—this is one reason why I welcome it—a bold new deal of devolution with towns and cities, and so I am in the process of working round all the Mayors of combined authorities.

We are short of time. Let me close by saying that if we are to achieve this objective, which we are determined to do, it will require not just science and not just devolution for modal shift; it will require, I suggest, a pan-Government approach on a par with that which we took in the build-up to the Olympics—a genuine decarbonisation olympiad, which will need to happen on a cross-party basis and inspire the next generation with the belief that we can do it.

Perhaps, with their permission, I can write to the hon. Members who raised specific questions with the detailed answers that I have written out but have no time to read out now.

Hansard

Video

3 February 2020

At the heart of every great community is great community spirit!

That’s why I was delighted to officially open the Pickenham Hub in North Pickenham this past Saturday.

Back in December 2018, St Andrews C of E Primary Academy closed in the village due to falling student numbers. However, rather than allow this important community asset to be lost, the North Pickenham Community Project group sprung into action and worked tirelessly with local councillors, and myself, to secure the site for generations to come – as a hub where clubs and meetings can continue to take place for local communities in the area.

This is a real example of local residents doing things ‘the Norfolk Way’! Working together to ensure local community spirit isn’t lost because of such setbacks, but instead safeguarded through innovative means!

The Hub is outstanding and a real achievement for all those involved! The hard work has now been done to get it open. Now, it’s down to us as local residents to ‘use it, or lose it!’

To learn more, please visit the Pickenham Hub website here, or read more in the EDP’s recent article on the launch here.

31 January 2020
East-West Rail

Improving connectivity in our part of the world was one of my first pledges when I began campaigning to be the MP for Mid Norfolk back in 2007.

We know only too well that there has been a historic lack of investment in Norfolk and the East and, while the dualling of the A11, increasing broadband speeds and the first round of committed works for A47 improvements have all been positive steps forward, there is clearly much more that still needs to be done.

That’s why I’m delighted to announce today that the Government is committing to the next stage of the East-West Rail project – by building a new line from Bedford to Cambridge to boost our East-West connectivity from Norwich-Cambridge-Oxford-Swindon (or what I call the “East-West Innovation Arc”!).

Delivered via an innovative new East-West Railway Company, this new line will significantly improve connectivity between two of our country’s fastest growing innovation hubs (Oxford and Cambridge), and many of the communities in between – better linking them to some of our nation’s most important commuter lines too. It will also raise funds through housing development and entrepreneurial growth – funds that will then be reinvested into train and track to improve services and reopen Beeching lines closed in the 1960s. This, in turn, will drive forward connectivity improvements for many more rural towns and villages – communities that so often feel they have been left behind.

By better connecting our part of the world to this “Innovation Arc”, we can fully unlock the potential of the NRP and Norfolk’s world leading Life Science and Agri-Tech businesses. We can also boost the prosperity of all those industries along the A11 Tech Corridor – bringing more jobs and investment to Norfolk!

Ultimately, I would like to reopen the Wymondham-Dereham line to commuter trains once again – hopefully extending even further to Fakenham, and beyond! I also want to regenerate both Wymondham and Attleborough Stations, along with the land around them, to turn them into accessible hubs with superfast 5G that businesses want to meet at, and where commuters feel they really are using a 21st century transport network. This model being pioneered by the East-West Rail project is the key to making those aims a reality!

It will also ensure that new development is properly planned in new towns and villages connected directly to the transport network – as I have long called for at Mildenhall. Gone will be the days of dumping housing estates on rural communities with little thought for those that will live in them or those that already live there!

These are hugely exciting times and, as a former Business Minister and someone deeply passionate about the East, I am determined to do all I can to ensure WE can share in this boost to prosperity.

 

To learn more, and to see my historic work in his area, please visit my website here and follow the links below:

East-West Rail Consortium website: here

  • Article –  ‘A landmark moment’: Consortium delight as ‘central section’ route is announced”: here
  • BBC News coverage: here
  • My call for a Regional Railway Company back in 2012: here
  • Launch of East Anglian Rail Prospectus in 2012: here
  • Web-story on my work to improve Wymondham Station: here
  • My Cambridge-Norwich Tech Corridor video: here

 

  

30 January 2020
Transport Questions

George Freeman answers MPs questions to the Department for Transport.

Oxford-Cambridge Expressway

Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)

10. What recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of proposals for an Oxford-Cambridge expressway. [900510]

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (George Freeman)

The Government are completely committed to the east-west innovation corridor, the arc, and the Varsity line—one of the most exciting pieces of corridor infrastructure in the country. We are committed to the rail link, and, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has announced, we are looking closely at the business and sustainability case of the expressway.

Anneliese Dodds

I was pleased to hear the Minister reconfirm that a review will take place. Of course, that was finally agreed to in the heat of the election campaign, perhaps because of concerns that were heard about the expressway. It would be very helpful to understand the parameters of that review: when will it be taking place; who will be involved; and will local authorities and groups such as the No Expressway Group be invited? We really need to know about this if that promise of a review is to be a reality.

George Freeman

I am delighted to say that we are listening to all the representations that we have received. There will be an announcement coming very shortly. Let me reiterate that this is about our commitment to sustainable and integrated public transport with housing. That corridor is a vital housing and growth corridor and we want to make sure that it is sustainable transport that works for the benefit of the people who live there.

Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)

On infrastructure and paying in, we in Iver in Beaconsfield receive very little money for transport infrastructure. We would love to see our footpaths and our roads used, but we simply do not have the money coming in from bodies such as TfL. Will the Minister look into expanding investment in places like Iver, so that we can have an Iver relief road and actually get the south of Bucks moving again?

Mr Speaker

May I advise Members that their questions should be linked to the main question? If a certain area is specified, your questions are meant to be about that area. You cannot just have a free for all. Minister, if you can pick something out of that, please do so.

George Freeman

At a stretch, Mr Speaker, I think that Buckinghamshire touches the east-west corridor. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to look at a place-based solution for sustainable housing and transport.

Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)

Martin Tugwell of England’s Economic Heartland sub-national transport body described the expressway as a 20th century solution to a 21st century challenge. Is it not absolutely clear that the real answer is a public railway, an electrified railway, with an interchange with HS2?

George Freeman

The hon. Gentleman is bowling outside my off stump, but he knows that we are deeply committed to rail, to connectivity, and to sustainable transport. I cannot pre-empt the Secretary of State’s announcement on the expressway, but let me be very clear: we are committed to sustainable integration of housing with public transport, and that rail link is an absolute priority.

Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)

My constituents were very relieved when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited Verney Junction during the general election and said that there would be a priority review of the expressway. He gave a commitment that were the expressway to be cancelled, funds would be made available for improvements to existing roads. Can my hon. Friend give an assurance that, should it be cancelled, those funds will be available?

George Freeman

I am delighted to give an assurance that, were the expressway to be cancelled, we would absolutely recognise that significant investment in other and even more important road links in that corridor would be needed.

Hansard
 

 

Foot and Bicycle Journeys

Feryal Clark (Enfield North) (Lab)

11. What recent assessment he has made of trends in the number of journeys taken by (a) foot and (b) bicycle.[900511]

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (George Freeman)

As the Minister for the future of transport, I am committed both to creating a framework for UK leadership in transport technology and innovation and to bolder measures for place-based cleaner, greener and healthier transport and decarbonisation. I am delighted that, as a result of the £2 billion that we invested during the previous Parliament, we have seen a 13% increase in cycling and walking, and we are committed to a 100% increase over this Parliament.

Feryal Clark

The Minister will be aware that transport accounts for a higher share of overall emissions than any other sector, so helping people to drive less and cycle more is crucial to tackling the climate crisis. We currently spent £7 per head on cycling infrastructure, but the Walking and Cycling Alliance recommends that we should be spending £17 per head on cycling infrastructure if we are serious about improving cycling. He will be aware that the Conservatives’ pledge to spend £350 million on cycling infrastructure actually reduced that spend to £1.18—[Interruption.]

Mr Speaker

Order. I call the Minister.

George Freeman

As the new Minister for the decarbonisation of transport, I can say that the Government are absolutely committed to this, and we have a cycling Prime Minister who is committed to it. We have announced £350 million for cycling infrastructure. As I have said, we are completely committed over this Parliament to doubling the number of people cycling and walking.

Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)

Walking and cycling have a vital role to play in easing congestion, cutting carbon emissions and helping people lead healthier lives, yet cycling and walking rates are flatlining in this country, and we are a very long way from Dutch or Danish rates. Interestingly, a report from University College London has criticised the Government for approving new housing developments that are dominated by roads and do not take account of pedestrians or cyclists. It found, quite simply, that three quarters of developments should not have been given planning permission because of the lack of safe cycling and walking routes. When will the Government address this important issue?

George Freeman

Right now—we already are addressing it. We are quite a long way from Denmark in all respects, but we are completely committed to this. It is true that for decades this country has not put cycling and walking at the heart of housing development—that was as true under the Labour Government as it has been over the past 40 years. We are committed to it, through the work we are doing with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, with the housing infrastructure fund and our new single housing infrastructure fund. I am talking to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government about how we can ensure that every housing development has proper cycling, walking and public transport integration. If we are to achieve our decarbonisation targets, we have to do this.

Virginia Crosbie (Ynys Môn) (Con)

Cycling is extremely popular in my constituency of Ynys Môn, with its 125 miles of stunning coastline and unspoilt countryside. Can my hon. Friend confirm that the Government are committed to doubling cycling by 2025, and what difference does he think the £350 million cycling infrastructure fund will make in achieving that?

George Freeman

My hon. Friend is a brilliant advocate for Ynys Môn. I can confirm that commitment, and she is right that it will have a big impact on cycling and walking.

Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)

Very complementary to cycling and walking are electric scooters, which are increasingly popular and commonplace in cities across the continent—they have just been legalised in Germany—yet they remain illegal in this country. Can we at last have a review to regularise the situation, because they are environmentally friendly and could make a huge contribution to reducing congestion, and it is a hip and cool thing to do?

George Freeman

Again, I seem to be a purveyor of good news. My hon. Friend will be delighted to know that as part of our innovation strategy we will shortly be announcing that we want to test scooters as part of a mixed economy for sustainable transport.

Hansard
 

Topical Questions

Bob Seely (Isle of Wight) (Con)

I welcome the fresh new approach of this Front-Bench team. Given the importance of sustainable transport and sustainable housing, do Ministers agree that building low-density housing on greenfield sites is bad for sustainable transport, bad for sustainable housing and bad for our environment, because it is so car-dependent, which is why so many of our constituents object?

The Minister of State, Department for Transport (George Freeman)

I commend my hon. Friend on that point and his “Island Manifesto”, in which he makes that point. We are working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that we move the dial on much better integration of cycling, walking and public transport in new housing.

Hansard
 

Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock) (Con)

Yesterday, Highways England published the latest plans for the proposed lower Thames crossing. In that set of plans, the proposal for a Tilbury junction, which would divert HGVs from my constituency road network, has been removed. Does the Minister agree that, if we are going to get a road that the community does not want, it is incumbent on Highways England to ensure that it works for us?

George Freeman

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I would be delighted to meet her and the roads Minister, Baroness Vere, who is in the Gallery.

Hansard
 

Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)

I of course welcome any review of the Oxford to Cambridge expressway, but my constituents are worried that it is going to lead to more delays to improvements on the A34, in particular safety improvements and work on the Lodge Hill junction, which I understand is further delayed. Can the Minister reassure my constituents that there is no way any dither and delay on the Oxford to Cambridge expressway will affect improvements to the A34?

George Freeman

Yes.

Hansard

 

Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)

The Secretary of State will be aware of the implications of his announcement a few minutes ago about the preferred route of East West Rail for housing growth in the east of my constituency. Will his Department commit to looking once again at realignment of the A1?

George Freeman

My hon. Friend has been active in making representations on this issue, which we hear loud and clear. Following the announcement, I look forward to talking to him, to councils, and to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, about the proper integration of housing, rail, and the A1 junction.

Hansard

 

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)

My constituent, Marjorie Johnson, was badly injured when, as she crossed the road, a mobility scooter hit her full force. Seven months on, injuries to her legs still restrict her mobility. Because the scooter driver was not insured, no action has been taken against him. What will the Secretary of State do about that?

George Freeman

As part of the regulatory review of future mobility and mobility scooters, I would be delighted to meet the hon. Lady to ensure that the issues involved in that case are properly addressed.

Hansard
 

Video

30 January 2020

Community hubs and spirit can be a big factor in rural communities - that’s why I am looking forward to officially opening the Pickenham Hub in North Pickenham this coming Saturday.

The opening of the former and now disused St Andrew’s Primary Academy as a community hub illustrates the years of hard work, tireless fundraising and what can be achieved by communities -  with North Pickenham Community Project Ltd and the community raising more then £30,000 via various initiatives.

To read more, you can visit the EDP article here: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/former-school-reopening-as-pickenham-hub-1-6475388

If you are local, do come along to celebrate the opening, details of which can be found below:

 

 

30 January 2020
Broadband in Market Towns

I am delighted that Government funding is bringing fast broadband to more communities across Mid Norfolk, with Openreach announcing plans to make ultrafast, ultra-reliable and future-proof broadband in 227 market towns and villages across the UK, including in: Attleborough, Besthorpe, Great Ellingham, Dereham, Toftwood, Watton and Wymondham.

This is great news for households and businesses in those towns, and we are determined to ensure all rural communities are properly connected.

With:

✅ 500m Rural Digital Shared User Fund

✅£5bn 5G Programme

 

We are 100% committed to 100% connectivity!

Read more in the EDP article here.

28 January 2020
Breckland Business Forum

Having worked in business for over fifteen years before becoming Mid Norfolk’s MP, and having served as a Business Minister, I know just how important local businesses are to both our local and national economy. They really are the engine that drives our country forward!

That’s why I look, as often as I can, to support local Business – and promote worthwhile groups and forums that bring the Business community together to network and collaborate.

The Breckland Business Forum is one such group in our area and is run by the hugely effective team at The Lively Crew – determined to support small, medium and large scale businesses across the entire entrepreneurial spectrum.

Their next quarterly Breakfast Forum is coming up on Friday 7th February – between 7.30am-9.30am at South Green Business Park in Mattishall.

Space is limited and so tickets must be secured in advance.

Richard Bridgman OBE from Warren Services will act as the Guest Chair – and it will be joined by Julia Nix OBE (the East Anglia District Manager for the DWP), Ben Gaskin from Poultec and Andrew Wheeler from West Suffolk College.

For more information or to book your tickets, please telephone The Lively Crew at 01603 702374.

Having spoken at/sat in on previous events in the past, I can testify to the high quality of the sessions!