UPDATE – 3rd May 2023

Further to my previous posts on 5th and 24th April 2023, I am delighted to be able to share the below article published in the EDP this week – further highlighting why I, and many others, are opposing the idea of a new Garden Town to the north of Dereham.

A link to the online article can be found here.

(To see my previous webstories on this issue, please scroll down below the pictures of the article).

UPDATE – 24th April 2023

Further to my post on 5th April 2023, I am delighted to be able to share the below Op-Ed I recently wrote for the Dereham Times – outlining in further detail why I am opposing the idea of a Garden Town to the north of Dereham.

5th APRIL 2023 WEBSTORY

For decades now, our planning system hasn’t been delivering the housing we need, in the places we need it, for the people who need it. For too long, the system appears to have been driven by the national volume house builders who too often make their money from land banking and high density commuter housing estates on the edge of existing developments – rather than through a proper planning system run to deliver for the people who need planning to work for them, instead of being done TO them.

I’ve long been concerned by the amount of development coming to areas like our own in rural Mid Norfolk – which is often inappropriate, “industrial” in scale and unsustainable. While most of our villages can take and are indeed up for (when properly asked) taking some additional new housing (without which our communities will gradually fade away), I fundamentally believe that more needs to be done to give local communities a greater say in how they develop in the years to come (with greater protections), which is why I have been so vocal in my opposition to the way so many large national developers abuse and take advantage of the planning system to dump such inappropriate and unsustainable developments on our towns and villages.
 
That’s why, through The Norfolk Way project I set up before I became an MP, I have been so vocal in advocating for a better model of growth and development that places greater emphasis on delivering small pockets of housing of the type and aesthetic desired by local communities, and in the places they earmark. I truly believe the spirit of Localism enshrined in the 2011 Localism Act should be enhanced, with the Act itself strengthened to remove some of the loopholes we’ve seen exploited. (To read more about my views in full, please visit my ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Heritage and Landscape’ campaign page here) I was delighted to see the NPPF reformed in the autumn by Michael Gove to give more power to local planners.

I continue to make the case I have long made that the right way to plan housing is to give local councils, democratically accountable to the local residents they serve, the freedoms and incentives to plan properly for the right sort of housing and growth where it is needed ie:

• around hotspots of economic growth
• on brownfield sites in areas needing regeneration
• around growth towns with the infrastructure and services available to sustain further growth
• in villages with a Neighbourhood Plan setting out the amount of housing they are happy/able to take and which ensures affordable & appropriate local housing for local workers and residents

That’s what the Breckland and South Norfolk Council Local Plans rightly aim to do. What we don’t need in rural Norfolk is massive commuter estate “New Towns” dumped in the middle of rural mud Norfolk without proper infrastructure, facilities, sustainable transport links or fit with the existing pattern of development.

The North Elmham New Town

The North Elmham New Town would also represent massive development of the precious River Wensum chalk stream habitats (not to mention a Site of Specific Scientific Interest).

That’s why I was delighted to chair a meeting on Friday in North Elmham with local parish councils and local councillors Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge to make clear that the idea of a new town in the area will NOT be supported by ourselves as elected local  representatives.

Bill and Gordon confirmed that Breckland Council are NOT zoning this area for major housebuilding, and will oppose a re-application of the New Town as we did successfully last time it was proposed.

New Towns and Garden Villages

Whilst there are places in the UK where there may be a strong case for a new generation of garden towns and villages, with all of the necessary infrastructure and transport links (either to drive regeneration as in parts of the post-industrial North, or to alleviate the pressure around major growth hits spots like Cambridge), North Elmham is not a sustainable location.

I can think of several possible sites in East Anglia that could perhaps take such a garden town or village: specifically the dilapidated station sites on the Cambridge-Ely-Brandon-Thetford-Attleborough-Wymondham-Norwich railway line – as part of the Oxford-Cambridge East-West Railway Development Company I have championed over the years, and especially during my time as Minister for the Future of Transport at the DfT.
 
However, I’ve also been very clear that, for any such development, we need to be sure that:

1. Any such developments must avoid the loss of ancient woodland and high quality farmland
2. We see a serious commitment to Net Zero and building into the plans a higher quality, cleaner, greener standard of life – not continuing to same old, lazy model of house dumping that sees thousands of additional vehicles tearing through old country lanes and causing more congestion and rat-running
3. There is serious investment into public and private infrastructure – with proper road, rail, cycle and walking routes
4. Any such development is planned appropriately and sustainably, and that it makes sense in the wider community context.

 
I have not seen any evidence to suggest that a garden town or village would be appropriate in this part of Mid Norfolk, and given the rural and inaccessible nature of North Elmham and the surrounding villages, the already serious congestion on the nearby road network and the nationally significant environmental and habitat importance of the Wensum Valley, I cannot envisage any circumstances in which this idea could be taken seriously.

To my mind, it would make far more sense for such a significant level of growth to be focussed down closer to the A11 Corridor – which Breckland Council themselves have, rightly, recognised is the key growth artery in our region and have tried to focus the bulk of the district’s future growth. I know the Leader of Breckland Council, Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, and both Cllr Bill Borrett and Cllr Gordon Bambridge strongly support this.

That’s why I was delighted to join the c12 local parish councils representing the areas that would be affected by this idea to make clear my opposition.

Next Steps

At the meeting we agreed some important Next Steps:

• To reconvene a meeting of ALL the parish councils in the affected area after the forthcoming local elections on May 4th to make sure all write to Breckland Council formally to express their concerns.
• Bill and Gordon and I will liaise to ensure all the local residents who object have their objections properly acknowledged by BDC.
• I will invite my neighbouring MP, Jerome Mayhew, to join that follow-up meeting given a number of his Broadland communities are in close proximity to the site around North Elmham and would also be affected.
• I will write to Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and the Minister for Housing to make clear why any New Towns and Garden Villages should only be  delivered in the right locations with the associated connectivity, infrastructure and services required) and not in inappropriate locations with the obvious environmental, sustainability and transport issues this scale of development would inevitably threaten.

 Please be assured that I will keep on this in the weeks and months ahead.

George Freeman, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation answers MPs’ questions to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Commercialisation of Research

Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)

2. What steps she is taking to support the commercialisation of research. (904747)

The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)

Better commercialising our UK research is completely key to our global science superpower and domestic innovation nation missions, and a key component of our science and technology framework and this Department’s work. I am delighted to report that spin-outs from universities have gone up sixfold in the past nine years, to £2.5 billion last year, and in the life sciences sector that has gone up 1000% since we took office. We are creating jobs and opportunities for innovation clusters all around the UK, including in west London.

Dr Huq 

We have just heard about uncertainty about Horizon. In addition, there are no more European structural funds and under-investment in R&D. We are hurtling down the global rankings for clinical research trials. The Minister just mentioned life sciences, but last week Novartis, the Swiss pharma giant, pulled out of a major trial for cardiovascular drugs in this country for those very reasons. When will the Government admit that, rather than an example of confidence in the world-beating, post-Brexit life sciences sector that the ex-Health Secretary who went to the jungle claimed at the time it would be, that decision shows what an unmitigated disaster Brexit has been? When will they fix this mess?

George Freeman 

Here we go—Labour talking Britain down again. The truth is that I am not at all complacent about the clinical trials numbers. At the Life Sciences Council, in the next few weeks, we will be setting out a very clear plan to reverse the decline since the pandemic in the NHS.

The hon. Lady might have mentioned the major investment coming into west London—her part of the world—including the MedTech SuperConnector, the spin-outs there and SynbiCITE, the synthetic biology hub. She might at least acknowledge the major investment —billions of pounds—from Moderna and BioNTech into this country, laying the foundation for a next phase of science innovation. With the life sciences sector, we are in a global race, but we are still leading in the technologies of tomorrow.

Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)

Can my hon. Friend comment on the Department’s 10-point science and technology framework, which will help provide the long-term funding needed to turn the start-ups he has mentioned into sustainable, successful, globally leading businesses?

George Freeman 

I thank my hon. Friend, who has been a strong champion of that agenda. In the new Department’s science and technology framework we have set out a long-term, 10-year view of the serious reforms that we need to make to procurement, regulation and skills across the whole of Government if we are to drive our science superpower agenda. A fundamental part of that is converting the health of our start-up ecosystem into scale-ups. That is why the Treasury is leading on the re-regulation of pension funds—so that we can unlock some of our pension trillions and put it into supporting our companies to grow here rather than go to NASDAQ.

Hansard

Commercialisation of Research: North-east England

Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)

4. What steps she is taking to support the commercialisation of science and technology research in the north-east. (904749)

The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)

Having worked on coalfield regeneration in the north-east, I am delighted to report that it is becoming a science and technology powerhouse economy in the UK. I have been up three times since taking on this role, particularly to see NETPark, the extraordinary north-east technology park, whose third phase of expansion has now been announced. We put £5 million into helping it grow, and world-class companies such as Kromek are now there. We have also put £5 million into the Northern Accelerator in collaboration with six north-east universities, and we have nine Catapult hubs in the north-east. Let us say it loud and clear: the north-east is building the new economy of tomorrow.

Mary Kelly Foy 

Led by Durham University, the Northern Accelerator has invested more than £100 million in partner university spin-outs in the past five years, bringing skilled jobs and opportunities to my constituents and across the region, but if the Minister is really serious about levelling up Durham, can he explain why the north-east receives just 4% of Research England’s budget and six times less money than London?

George Freeman 

I pay tribute to the hon. Lady’s leadership on this issue, because it is really important. Traditionally, our research funding follows excellence, and that is why, say, Northumbria University has shot up the league tables in the last few years from 42nd to 16th—it is knocking on the door of the Russell Group—and the northern universities are delivering increasingly excellent science. But there is something else. Last year there was £50 billion-worth of private investment in research and development, which is matching the public investment, and as we go to £20 billion of public R&D, a wave of private money will start to come into the north-east. The answer to her question is that this is about building the applied science into the industries of tomorrow, which the north-east is doing.

Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)

Does the Minister agree that the Catapult centres in the north-east, as well as the manufacturing technology centre in my constituency, are the way forward in commercialising some of the great ideas that are coming from the academic world?

George Freeman 

Yes, I absolutely agree. That is why we have put £1.9 billion into the Catapult network—our network for deep industrial collaboration with our universities. In the north-east, we have the offshore renewables Catapult in Blyth, the digital Catapult in Sunderland and the satellite applications Catapult in Durham. This is a deep investment in the north-east economy of tomorrow.

Mr Speaker 

We now come to the Scottish National party spokesperson.

Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)

One of the companies based in NETPark is Pragmatic Semiconductor, which is innovating chip production. It has indicated that it would consider moving its operations overseas if the UK fails to produce a semiconductor strategy that funds and supports chip production. We have been asking for this strategy for years now, so can the Minister assure the House not only that the strategy is imminent and will be published very shortly, but that it will properly fund and support companies such as Pragmatic?

George Freeman 

Yes. The Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), has already met the company concerned, and in a matter of days we will be setting out the semiconductor strategy, which will answer exactly the question that the hon. Lady has raised.

Hansard

Topical Questions

Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)

Last month, Sir Patrick Vallance stepped down as the Government’s chief scientific adviser after five years in the role, in which Government investment in science has doubled. Most of all, he became a household name through his handling of covid and the leadership that he showed then. Will the Secretary of State join me in thanking Sir Patrick for all his service to the country and in welcoming his successor, Dame Angela McLean, and wishing her all the best in the role?

The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation (George Freeman)

May I, as Science Minister on behalf of the Government, pay tribute to Sir Patrick and thank Dame Angela for taking on the role? Sir Patrick has been a stalwart servant for science and for this country during difficult times.

Hansard

How can we drive up standards in our local (and national) health and social care sectors? Through better integration and by embracing new technologies.

For too long our area has suffered from a lack of properly joined up planning by a wide variety of bodies; and nowhere more so than in health and care. While important strides have been made to strengthen service integration in recent years (notably via the creation of the Norfolk and Waveney NHS Integrated Care Board, as well as the work being driven forward by Norfolk County Council), I believe we can, and should, go further. 

That’s why, as part of my regular schedule of constituency visits, I was delighted to visit White’s Training in Watton this past Friday – meeting with Jack and the team to find out about the company’s pioneering work in the health and social care sector.

Formed in 2017, the company delivers innovative training to staff and companies working across health and social care – increasingly utilising VR products and other exciting technologies to develop new, more efficient methods of training.

The company has also been working tirelessly to develop a new AI software solution that could serve as a tool for digitalising these key sectors – seamlessly integrating and improving communication between the likes of patients, their families, care providers and the various levels of the NHS and in turn driving forward standards and efficiency. I was very impressed to see how far they’ve already come – as well as the enormous potential this technology has.

Having had a fifteen year career helping small companies in the health and care sectors before coming to Parliament, having previously served as a Health Minister (2014-16) with an interest in the digitalisation of our NHS, and now serving as Minister of State at the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, I know just how important a role technology must play if we are to deliver the more integrated and effective health and social care services we want to see. To see such work being driven forward right here in the heart of Mid Norfolk gives me much pleasure – and is yet another example of our area playing a key role in the Norfolk (and wider Eastern) Innovation Economy (see more here)

It was a pleasure to meet Jack and the team, and to find out more about incredible work they do. Next step for them: testing the software in real world scenarios – something I am keen to help support as they look to take this potentially transformative technology forward.

I will be staying in close contact with White’s Training and look forward to providing what support I can as a local constituency MP.

To find out more about my visit, please watch my video from White’s Training: here

To learn more about White’s Training, see their website: here

To see about my views on NHS and Social Care Integration, please click here.

I was very concerned to hear reports yesterday of an FOI request made to Network Rail which suggested that the sidings beside Platform 2 of Wymondham Station had been signed out of use back in 2020 due to them requiring “a large amount of work (beyond maintenance) to get [them] back in order.”

For those of us who have been working on and following the Wymondham Station Access issue closely, these reports came as a considerable shock – raising some very serious questions.

Previously, Network Rail agreed to shorten the length of their sidings beside Platform 2 in order to make the necessary room for a step-free access solution. Together with Greater Anglia, they developed initial plans and drawings for delivering a step-free access solution ‘preferred option’ – with South Norfolk Council, vocally supported by myself and many others, successfully securing £600,000 to go towards the works as part of the Greater Norwich Transforming Cities Fund bid.

Unfortunately however, Network Rail subsequently had to reject that ‘preferred option’ – informing the Taskforce that they now needed to retain slightly more of the sidings than had originally been thought. This change made the ‘preferred option’ untenable and therefore alternative options are having to be explored.

Concerned by the reports that the sidings may have in fact been signed out of use (contrary to the information Network Rail had previously provided), I directly contacted the Senior Public Affairs Manager for the Anglia Route at Network Rail who has today reassured me that this is not the case.

Network Rail have confirmed that there were sidings beside Platform 1 which have been signed out of use, but that the sidings beside Platform 2 remain in use. They have reiterated that they remain committed to working with local stakeholders on the campaign working to deliver step-free access to Platform 2, recognising the importance of the campaign to so many in the local community.

While still happy to shorten their sidings beside Platform 2, Network Rail must retain enough of the sidings so that they can be used by their engineering trains. Unfortunately, this means that the previously agreed ‘preferred option’ remains unfeasible – but I continue to work closely with key stakeholders to explore alternative options and remain committed to doing all I can to help get this campaign over the line.

Full details of the campaign, including the progress made in recent months, can be found on my campaign page here.

Our market towns, especially their High Streets, are the beating hearts of our rural community – so often bringing people together, creating jobs and spreading prosperity.

That’s why, as part of my ongoing work supporting Breckland (see more here) and South Norfolk Councils, I welcomed the chance to be involved in the latest meeting held by South Norfolk officers to update local stakeholders on their work regarding the Shared Prosperity Fund.

This work promises much great progress in three key sectors – Community and Place, Supporting Local Business and People and Skills – and I am delighted to be supporting the efforts being driven forward.

Rest assured, I will continue to do all I can to support South Norfolk (and Breckland) as they look to utilise their funding allocation to maximum effect and benefit.

This PM, Chancellor and Government is unashamedly pro-business.

It’s in our DNA 🧬

Fantastic turnout of c250 leaders of businesses small and large at Monday’s Business Connect with PM Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Great to join Ministers Kemi Badenoch, Gillian Keegan, Graham Stuart and Lucy Frazer on stage to set out our vision and plans on:

🔬Science
📲Technology
🎭Creative Industries
🔋Energy
🧑‍🔧Skills
🏦Finance

And how we are pulling every lever…

💷Tax
📑Regulation
🤝Procurement
🧑‍🔬Talent
🌇Clusters

… to drive UK #InnovationNation 

Having worked in business for over fifteen years before becoming MP for Mid Norfolk, and served as a Business Minister on three separate occasions, I know just how important local businesses are. They really are the engine of our local and national economies.

That’s why I have long gone out of my way to visit, promote and communicate with as many local businesses as possible – something I am continuing to do even more so now in my current role as Minister of State at the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology given the vibrant Norfolk Innovation Economy that Mid Norfolk is very much part of.

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of returning to Mirus Aircraft Seating in Hingham to officially open their new M-TEST facility – the largest commercially available and most technologically advanced crash test facility in the UK.

One of the country’s leading commercial aircraft seating manufacturers and part of a rapidly growing cluster of world class engineering and advanced manufacturing companies here on the Cambridge-Norwich Innovation Corridor (linked to the Lotus and Norwich Research Park Research and Development Hubs), Mirus is on the frontline of the Net Zero Green Industrial Revolution – reducing emissions and driving green growth through its R&D investment in innovation lightweight aircraft seats and equipment.

Having participated in the ground breaking ceremony for M-TEST back in 2021 (see here) and previously visited the company for the first time in 2018 (see here), it was wonderful to visit Ben McGuire (CEO of Mirus) and the team again to formally launch M-TEST – which boasts the latest testing technology, will allow Mirus to develop new technologies at a much faster pace and enable greater innovation and speed to market for the company’s products. M-TEST will also be available to other companies in the both the domestic and international aerospace, automotive, motorsport and rail industries who wish to test their own products – speeding up their own innovation and success too.

Mirus is a brilliant, pioneering Mid Norfolk success story – with M-TEST a huge milestone for the company AND for the wider Norfolk and New Anglia Innovation Economy.

As a constituency MP and Government Minister who has often spoken about the world class science, innovation and research going on in our part of the world and the very real potential for that to “spin out” companies (small, medium and large) into our towns and villages, I am delighted to see Mirus as an example of exactly that. In the years to come, we will see so many more businesses like this emerging in our area, spreading the prosperity, creating exciting new jobs for our communities and pioneering the science and innovation that will help shape the world.

I look forward to continuing to support Mirus in the years to come – and remain committed to doing all I can to support our Norfolk and New Anglia Innovation Economy.

To find out more about Mirus, please visit their website here

To see the official M-TEST launch trailer, please click here

To see the EDP article on the launch, please click here

To find out more about all my work supporting the Norfolk Innovation Economy (including my recent Norfolk and New Anglia Cluster visit as Science Minister), please click here 

Having recently been made aware of the case of Apostle Accounting, I was very concerned to learn that a number of Norfolk and Suffolk constituents had been affected – including a number here in Mid Norfolk.

That’s why I began to look into the situation more closely and why I have been supporting affected Mid Norfolk constituents by raising their correspondence with HMRC via the MP’s Hotline to see what more information and assistance can be provided to them at this very difficult time.

(See my webstory update last month here)

Following further correspondence from concerned constituents, I have now co-signed a joint-letter to HMRC with several of my fellow Norfolk and Suffolk MP colleagues who also have affected constituents.

Together we have reaffirmed our individual concerns and strongly called for HMRC to examine and investigate the case – asking for details of any investigation that is already underway. We have also requested that:

• HMRC end the final payment demands to affected constituents while an investigation into the practices and operations of Apostle Accounting is undertaken.
• HMRC does not apply back-dated interest on the monies reportedly owed.
• HMRC confirm they agree with our belief that prosecution of those that engaged with Apostle Accounting in good faith would not be appropriate.
• HMRC exclude the 24% fee taken by Apostle Accounting from the original HMRC repayments made to affected constituents – as these customers never received that money and were genuinely unaware that they were ineligible for the monies the fee was drawn from, and which Apostle Accounting had apparently advised they could claim on their behalf.

While, as an MP, I am limited in the influence that I have in such cases and cannot directly intervene to resolve them, I am committed to doing what I can within my role to support those in Mid Norfolk affected by this case.

As soon as I have further information, I will provide additional updates.

To see the EDP article on our letter to HMRC, please click here