Having worked for fifteen years as a small business entrepreneur before coming to Parliament, in addition to having served previously as a business minister, I have always taken a deep interest in local Business throughout my time as MP. Local Business is the real engine of our regional and national economies.

I know first-hand how rewarding it can be to own one’s own business. However, I am also acutely aware of how tough it can be too and know how hard it has been for so many over the past few months (and during the pandemic before then) – especially as a result of higher energy prices and the cost of living crisis.

That’s why I welcomed the opportunity to visit Barley Chalu in Wymondham this past week – meeting with their leadership team and finding out more about the impact energy prices are having on their business.

Barley Chalu is a much valued local business that specialises in the production of advanced architectural aluminium profiles. They are a fantastic example of advanced manufacturing in our local area, creating many jobs for the local people and in turn bringing prosperity to our local communities. There are a true Mid Norfolk asset.

Inevitably however, rising energy prices are having an immense impact on the business, which requires significant amounts of energy to produce their high quality products, and so I discussed at length the challenges they (and many other manufacturing businesses in our area) currently face – as well as learned more about the work and investment they remain committed to doing, in order to ensure the company can still continue its important work and employ the next generation of local people.

As part of my ongoing conversations with ministers and officials, I committed to following up our meeting with further representations on behalf of our local Business community. I look forward to continuing the dialogue with Mo, Susie and the wider Barley Chalu team in the coming weeks and months.

Rest assured, I will continue to do all I can to support local businesses like Barley Chalu – as well as the many households that are also finding times hard during this cost of living crisis.

As a former Business Minister and small business owner myself, I know how rewarding it can be to own one’s own business. However, I also know how tough it can be too – and have been acutely aware of how difficult the past few months (and the pandemic before then) have been for so many local companies and entrepreneurs.

One sector hit especially hard is our pub and hospitality sector. The pressures brought on by increased energy prices and the cost of living crisis have made operating costs far higher and limited the amount of disposable income customers are able to spend – reducing profit margins and, sadly, forcing a number of our local rural pubs to close.

In recent weeks, I have been made aware of the closure of The Green Dragon in Wymondham, Darby’s in Swanton Morley and the Windmill Inn at Necton. Each pub lost is a massive loss to our local communities.

As so many of us know, pubs are often at the very heart of our communities and rural heritage, playing a key role in keeping our villages and towns vibrant. That’s why, throughout my time as the MP for Mid Norfolk, I have visited and supported so many of the fantastic pubs in our area – including the likes of the Beeston Ploughshare, The Lodge at North Tuddenham, The White Swan at Gressenhall and The Crown at Great Ellingham.

Aware of the immense pressures facing our local pub sector, I have been in communication with a number of local establishments, and recently visited Jonathan Pearson at The White Hart Pub in Ashill to discuss in more detail the difficulties that he and so many other landlords are currently facing. (To find out more, please view the video below).

From my conversations with constituents and local councillors, I know just how worried so many are in Mid Norfolk about the long term futures of their local pubs. Please be assured that I am, with parliamentary colleagues, making the strong case for greater support for our pubs and hospitality sectors in the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget.

I remain committed to doing all I can to speak up on behalf of this vital local sector – as well as the many local households and businesses also struggling during this difficult time.

To see more about my historic work supporting local pubs and businesses, please visit my ‘Backing local Businesses’ campaign page here.

Throughout my time as a local MP, I have consistently stated my belief that new developments in our rural towns and villages must be sustainable, accompanied by the necessary infrastructure and services required to support both it and the pre-existing community.

That’s why, through my not-for-profit organisation The Norfolk Way, I have worked with local community groups and councillors to promote a more local and organic model of development – one that gives local councils and communities much more local control and greater freedoms and incentives to plan and build better: reducing avoidable and wasteful commuting by car, while promoting better public transport links, more recreational facilities for children, increased use of local design codes, and supporting the vibrant villages and thriving towns that are the backbone of Norfolk.

Health provision is an important part of this discussion. Local communities, as well as those moving into new developments, need to know that they can access the local health services they need, when they need them.

Strangely however, unlike like education, health provision does not receive upfront investment as new developments are granted permission and begun. Instead, investment comes further down the line and, while smaller settlements may be able to cope with such growth, larger towns and villages (especially those experiencing rapid growth) may not.

That’s why local groups like ATTCARE are so vital. ATTCARE is a local organisation that was set up as part of the Attleborough Town Plan to shine a light on the town’s health and social care needs. Its volunteers speak up for local residents and, with the significant amount of growth coming the town, recently reached out and asked me to help convene a meeting of key local stakeholders, including local councillors, GP surgery representatives and local council officials.

This past Friday, we discussed the pressures already facing the local NHS in Attleborough and the need to unite and speak to senior NHS, local Council and Government officials with a strong voice about what the town needs if it is to be able to meet the health needs of its increasing population over the short, medium and long term. It was a very constructive discussion and, having previously made representations on behalf of our other Mid Norfolk towns with regards to the lack of logic involved when health provision does not get upfront investment in growing communities, I am delighted to now be working with the ATTCARE team to convene a larger roundtable in the not too distant future, where we will make the case for greater support, investment and action in Attleborough.

With the growth coming to the town, the local health services must be supported. I am determined to do what I can to support ATTCARE and their partners as they seek to ensure that happens. I look forward to providing further updates in the coming weeks and months.

As I have consistently made clear, I believe that when new development is to be permitted in our rural towns and villages, it must be sustainable, and accompanied by the necessary infrastructure required to support both it, and the pre-existing community.

For too long, rural areas such as Mid Norfolk have been facing unprecedented pressure from aggressive ‘out of town’ developers intent on dumping copious amounts of houses on the edges of our towns and villages.

That’s why we need good, responsible local housing developers who respect our rural identity and work to ensure they deliver high quality houses that add to local communities and their spirit, not undermine them.

I was delighted therefore to visit Abel Homes (based on the Neaton Business Park at Watton) again this past Friday.

Abel Homes is a fantastic local developer, building high-quality developments the ‘Norfolk Way’, ensuring that their new homes add to the rural heritage and identity of our communities. This stems from the fact that Chairman, Tony Abel, is a local man with strong family connections to Hingham (and Mid Norfolk as a whole). He founded Abel Homes in the early 1990s and over the years has worked hard, together with his family, to provide fantastic homes for others in our area.

Joined by local councillors Tina Kiddell and Claire Bowes for Friday’s visit, I discussed a range of issues affecting the planning industry with Tony and his senior leadership team. The most notable issue we discussed was Nutrient Neutrality and the profound impact it is having not just upon small and medium sized local housebuilders, but also upon the local authorities (like Breckland and South Norfolk) who have done the work to produce Local Plans and are now under increased threat from exploitative “out-of-town” developers intent on dumping large estates on our towns and villages.

While I have been following the Nutrient Neutrality issue closely over the past twelve months (see more on my views here), I have undertaken to follow up again with ministers and officials, as well as Natural England, to see what more I can do to speak up for our local councils and good local developers like Abel Homes.

We absolutely must take wastewater and nutrient pollution incredibly seriously. However, we also need to make sure that we do so in a way that is fair and proportionate, and which doesn’t unnecessarily hurt our local communities. Rest assured, I remain committed to working with parliamentary colleagues and key local stakeholders to stress to policymakers the importance of finding the right balance.

An MP’s first duty is to their constituency. I believe it’s so important for me, as YOUR elected representative, to be out and about and accessible, to listen to and present YOU! And not just at election times!

That’s why, in addition to the 500+ casework emails, letters and telephone calls I receive each week, as well as my various campaign work, I run a regular programme of Supermarket and Community Surgeries here in Mid Norfolk – moving them around the constituency to make it as easy as possible for people to come and see me.

This past Friday, I was delighted to hold my latest Supermarket Surgeries at Attleborough Sainsburys and Wymondham Morrisons – where I met dozens of constituents, discussing a range of specific casework matters and/or wider policy topics on issues like NHS dentists, GP appointments, Highways issues, Child Maintenance and SEND support for children and vulnerable adults.

I was delighted to be joined by a number of local councillors as well, including Cllr Sarah Suggitt (All Saints and Wayland Ward), Cllr Kevin Hurn (Central Wymondham Ward) and Cllr Philip Leslie (Attleborough Town Mayor).

Engagement with my constituents is such a vital part of my job and I relish the chance to have YOU come along and ‘bend my ear’.

If YOU would like to come along and informally bend my ear at one of my upcoming surgeries, please do contact me at george.freeman.mp@parliament.uk

Or if YOU would just like some help with an issue, or to make me aware of a policy concern, please do just send over your comments via email for me to pick up too.

Pubs are often at the very heart of our communities and rural heritage, playing a key role in keeping our villages and towns vibrant. We are lucky to have so many fantastic pubs in our corner of Mid Norfolk.

That’s why I always strive to do whatever I can to speak up for and support these wonderful local assets, and why it was such a pleasure to visit yet another Mid Norfolk pub this past Friday – the White Hart at Ashill.

As a former Business Minister and small business owner myself, I know how rewarding it can be to own one’s own business. However, I also know how tough it can be too – and have been acutely aware of how difficult the past few months (and the pandemic before then) have been for so many local companies and entrepreneurs.

Pubs and the wider hospitality sector are just one group that have been hit hard – particularly by the pressures brought on by increased energy prices and the cost of living crisis. It is for that reason that, over recent months, I have been in contact with so many of our local publicans to better understand the challenges they face and ensure I am best placed to be able to speak up on their behalf as part of my regular conversations with ministers and officials at the highest levels.

Jonathan Pearce, owner of The White Hart, was one such publican and, having raised his concerns with colleagues (including the Energy Minister) back in the autumn, I was delighted to have the chance to visit him at the pub in person to catch up and shine a light on his own wonderful business.

It was a pleasure to visit and I remain committed to doing all I can to speak up on behalf of this vital local sector, as well as households and businesses across ALL of Mid Norfolk.

To see more about my historic work supporting local pubs and businesses, please visit my ‘Backing local Businesses’ campaign page here

The campaign to secure proper access to Platform 2 of Wymondham Station has been one I have been actively involved in for a number of years and, having shared the growing frustration (rightly) of so many in our area at the continued slowness of any progress, I once again committed to doing my bit to reenergise those efforts – reconvening a Taskforce of key stakeholders in the autumn to hold them to account, find out what was going on and make clear in no uncertain terms that the local community expects to see action, and quickly.

Today, I met again with those key stakeholders for progress updates and set the next stage of actions that aim to ensure access improvements are delivered for Platform 2 as quickly as possible – and as stage one of a wider regeneration plan for the entire station site.

This remains a central focus of mine at this time and I am committed to holding local stakeholders to account, while also impressing the urgency of addressing these access issues upon ministers and officials.

To learn more about all my work on this, as well as the wider regeneration vision for the site, please visit my campaign page here.