Norfolk has a rich and cherished military history.
Having previously served as part of the Parliamentary Armed Forces Scheme and worked closely with Robertsons Barracks at Swanton Morley, I have seen first-hand the amazing work our military do – and continue to be one of their biggest supporters.
That’s why I welcomed the invitation to join the Veterans’ Breakfast Club at The Railway Tavern in Dereham this past Saturday – where we discussed a raft of issues including:
· Personal responsibility
· Migration numbers
· NHS Dentistry and Public Services
· Inappropriate house dumping and resultant flooding and traffic
I look forward to joining them again in the coming months for another valuable catch up – and to joining other key community projects across Mid Norfolk, such as the Dereham Community Litter Pickers, in the weeks to come.
Thank you again to Paul and Debbie at The Railway Tavern for all your work supporting the local community – including this key group within it.
Building enough houses to make sure everyone in our area has the chance for a roof of their own, while also making sure we protect our rural landscape and heritage, is often a difficult balance.
That’s why, having recently been made aware of concerns being raised in Wicklewood regarding the South Norfolk Village Clusters consultation and the inclusion of a specific application to the south of the Primary School on land off Hackford Road and The Green, I met with Wicklewood Parish Councillors and district councillor Richard Elliott this past Friday to look at the proposals in more detail.
See my short video above.
As explained, I share many of the concerns raised with me and therefore made a formal submission to South Norfolk as part of the consultation ahead of Monday’s 5pm deadline. See my letter below.
While most, if not all, of our local communities need some additional housing, built in the right places and delivered The Norfolk Way, in order to ensure we have enough homes for local people and can keep our towns and villages thriving and vibrant, we must properly plan it – making sure it is sustainable (with the right infrastructure and services to support it) and that it does not come to the serious detriment of our rural heritage and way of life.
I am committed to helping the people of Wicklewood raise their serious concerns about the proposals in question here.
To find out more about my long campaign on ‘Planning and Protecting Our Rural Landscapes and Heritage’, please visit my campaign page here.
Local communities, as well as those moving into new developments, need to know that they can access the local services they need, when they need them.
That’s why, throughout my time as a local MP, I have consistently made clear (locally and to ministers) 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 the new development itself and the pre-existing community. Health provision is an integral part of that.
I was therefore delighted to bring together again local councillors and representatives of ATTCARE, Attleborough Town Council, the Attleborough Surgeries, Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust, Norfolk County Council, Breckland Council, Ptarmigan, Homes England and Castlemeadow Care for the latest ATTCARE virtual summit this past Friday – to review progress since our previous meeting in the Autumn and establish what our next actions need to be.
Once again, the conversations were highly positive, with progress in a number of areas since our last gathering – notably on improved bus routes and services throughout the town (including to the Station Road Surgery site). The desire to bring the Attleborough Surgeries together at a single site that has a long term lifespan and would enable GPs and staff to deliver more first class treatment and services was also on the agenda again – and positive discussions on how we might try and reach that end continue.
Having written to the Housing Minister in the Autumn to highlight the need for greater integration of health and social care infrastructure and provision with planning, I was also able to report back on the update provided to me by his office last week – on his department and the Department of Health and Social Care’s ongoing work looking at this very issue.
Once again, a number of further follow-up actions have been agreed and we all remain committed to driving this key work forward. There remains much work to be done but, together, we will continue to do all we can to deliver the short term improvements the town wants to see, as well as the longer term solutions that will ensure Attleborough has the long term health and social care services it requires to sustain the community for decades to come.
To see more about my previous work on this issue, please click here, here and here.
Proper access to cash and local banking services remains vital for many living in Mid Norfolk – especially the small businesses that drive our local economy and those who depend on the support of branch staff (such as the elderly and the most vulnerable).
That’s why, as part of my ongoing Access to Cash and Local Bank Branches campaign, and having recently pledged my support to the Nationwide Banking Bill currently making its way through the House (see here), I have today co-signed a letter to the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority encouraging them to widen the scope in which LINK can recommend Community Banking Hubs for towns and villages.
See the letter below.
The “last bank in town” rule that prevents LINK from recommending Community Banking Hubs in many communities is inadequate. The scope within which LINK can recommend intervention for local communities, particularly in rural areas, must be increased.
I am determined to speak up for Mid Norfolk on this crucial issue – and look forward to helping drive forward this campaign in the weeks and months ahead.
To learn more about my ‘Access to Cash and Local Bank Branches’ campaign, please click here.
No one should live in fear of flooding every time it rains.
That’s why, on Wednesday, I was pleased to join the latest of Norfolk County Council’s regular MP Briefing events in Westminster – this time focussed on Flooding and Drainage.
While some positive progress has been made through the likes of the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership I helped establish back in early 2021 and the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance that we have worked closely with, the flooding of recent months is a reminder that there is still much more that needs to be done.
Over 100 homes were flooded in Attleborough alone. And I continue to support residents and businesses across Mid Norfolk – including in Yaxham, Mattishall, Saham Toney, Carbrooke, Dereham and Wymondham (and more).
Wednesday’s update from NCC on the work of the NSFA was very welcome – and I reaffirmed my commitment to supporting Cllr Kay Mason-Billig (Leader of NCC) and Henry Cator (Chair of the NSFA) as we look at what more we can collectively do to support local communities and lobby Government for additional support.
Rest assured, this remains one of my central campaigns.
Full details on my ‘Flooding and the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership’ campaign can be found on my website here.
Pets — from lap cats to working dogs — are a part of our families. Their theft should be treated as such – it is not a victimless crime.
As a pet owner myself (of Tosca our elderly cat and Jassy my fox-red Labrador), I can only begin to imagine the pain my wife Fiona and I would feel if they were to be taken – and, throughout my time as Mid Norfolk MP, I have spoken to devastated owners and families on countless occasions – such as the Potters who had their golden Labrador Daisy stolen in Old Buckenham in 2017 and Dan’s Ice Cream who had his dog Patch stolen from beside his ice-cream van.
That’s why I am proud to be supporting the Pet Abduction Bill through Parliament – speaking vocally in the House in its favour and also sitting on the Select Committee.
Pet Abduction is an issue which tears families apart, leaves emotional scars on owners for years, and can deprive people of the comforting presence they need to tackle challenges such as mental health.
I am determined to work with colleagues to ensure the punishment fits the crime – and that the police have the powers they need to convict those guilty of this awful crime.
To stay up to date with my work on this issue, please see my webstories below.
Pet Abduction is an issue which tears families apart, leaves emotional scars on owners for years, and can deprive people of the comforting presence they need to tackle challenges such as mental health.
That’s why I’m very proud to be on the Bill Committee for the Pet Abduction Bill second reading – another key step towards improving animal welfare and properly criminalising the cruel and sickening crime of pet abduction and theft.
To find out more about this morning’s Select Committee hearing, please see the video below.
To stay up to date with my work on this crucial Bill, please visit my campaign page here.
I intervened in a debate on children's mental health to call for more research on the underlying causes driving the epidemic in mental ill health in children and to highlight that poverty is not the only driver.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
I, too, congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate and her passionate advocacy. Many of us across the House share a deep understanding of the need for it. Does she agree that, if we are to tackle the causes, we need better data? We need to understand what is driving this epidemic. I particularly want to draw attention to the children of alcoholics and the great work done by the National Association for Children of Alcoholics; the children of divorce and conflict; and those children badly affected during the pandemic. Does the hon. Member agree that we need better data to understand the causes, then we can start to prevent it, as well as, importantly, treating it when it occurs. We could prevent a lot more of this.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that there is definitely space for more research. Adverse childhood experiences are the single biggest driver of mental ill health in children and, later on, in adults. I will touch on that later.
George Freeman
The hon. Lady is making a powerful case, and I am keen to hear as much of it as I can. To the point I was trying to make earlier, extreme poverty is one cause of childhood trauma, but there are many others. Like many people in this House—I put my own hand up—I experienced childhood trauma, but I was in a materially privileged family. Poverty can provide a lot of those drivers that the hon. Lady has talked about, but I was taken out of the arms of my father by the police at 11 months, and I was a child carer of an alcoholic parent. Poverty has a part to play, but does the hon. Lady agree that we need to make sure we frame this in the context of the real causes, some of which are not related to poverty but to other chronic problems, such as alcohol, addiction or domestic violence? If we view the matter simply through the prism of a poverty attack, we are in danger of missing out some of the causes that are really embedded in repeated patterns of trauma within families.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
First of all, it is brave that the hon. Gentleman is sharing his experiences of trauma. I think we need more people to do that. He is also absolutely right that not all of this is directly linked to poverty. Poverty or extreme poverty is one ACE among many others, and these things can happen in any family. Those who are doing research into ACEs would always recognise that trauma is not just suffered in a particular type of household but across socioeconomic backgrounds. The hon. Gentleman will know how difficult it is to overcome the traumas of early childhood and deal with them.
Dental health is a crucial part of NHS services and it is vital that EVERYONE can access the support they need when they need it.
That’s why, over the past 3 years, I have actively campaigned to secure improvements to NHS dental provision in our region.
While some positive progress has been made, there still remains much more to be done – which is why, as part of my ongoing efforts with parliamentary colleagues, NHS officials and other stakeholders, I welcome the news that the Norfolk and Waveney NHS Integrated Care Board have recently launched a four-week public and stakeholder engagement period around their long term plans for commissioning NHS dental services across the region.
Full details can be found here and in the poster below.
I was delighted when, in April 2023, NHS dental commissioning was transferred from NHS England to our local ICB – giving our local NHS providers and leaders much greater control of our region’s NHS dental priorities. I believe the best people to drive forward progress are the local clinical and care sector leaders and professionals who are working on the frontline – and who have first-hand expertise of the issues being faced.
While they have taken short and medium term measures to deliver improvements, the ICB continue to work tirelessly on their longer term plans – and it is vital that local people take the time to review their progress to date and have their say on the proposals.
The engagement period runs until Wednesday 21st February 2024 and I would encourage all of my constituents who are concerned about NHS dental provision to make their views known.
Rest assured, I will continue to work hard to speak up for my Mid Norfolk constituents on this crucial issue – and look forward to visiting UEA in the coming weeks to further highlight the importance of government supporting the establishment of a full undergraduate School of Dentistry for our region.
More information on all of my NHS dental campaign work can be found here
George Freeman intervenes in a debate on children's mental health to call for more research on the underlying causes driving the epidemic in mental ill health in children and highlights that poverty is not the only driver.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
I, too, congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate and her passionate advocacy. Many of us across the House share a deep understanding of the need for it. Does she agree that, if we are to tackle the causes, we need better data? We need to understand what is driving this epidemic. I particularly want to draw attention to the children of alcoholics and the great work done by the National Association for Children of Alcoholics; the children of divorce and conflict; and those children badly affected during the pandemic. Does the hon. Member agree that we need better data to understand the causes, then we can start to prevent it, as well as, importantly, treating it when it occurs. We could prevent a lot more of this.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that there is definitely space for more research. Adverse childhood experiences are the single biggest driver of mental ill health in children and, later on, in adults. I will touch on that later.
George Freeman
The hon. Lady is making a powerful case, and I am keen to hear as much of it as I can. To the point I was trying to make earlier, extreme poverty is one cause of childhood trauma, but there are many others. Like many people in this House—I put my own hand up—I experienced childhood trauma, but I was in a materially privileged family. Poverty can provide a lot of those drivers that the hon. Lady has talked about, but I was taken out of the arms of my father by the police at 11 months, and I was a child carer of an alcoholic parent. Poverty has a part to play, but does the hon. Lady agree that we need to make sure we frame this in the context of the real causes, some of which are not related to poverty but to other chronic problems, such as alcohol, addiction or domestic violence? If we view the matter simply through the prism of a poverty attack, we are in danger of missing out some of the causes that are really embedded in repeated patterns of trauma within families.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
First of all, it is brave that the hon. Gentleman is sharing his experiences of trauma. I think we need more people to do that. He is also absolutely right that not all of this is directly linked to poverty. Poverty or extreme poverty is one ACE among many others, and these things can happen in any family. Those who are doing research into ACEs would always recognise that trauma is not just suffered in a particular type of household but across socioeconomic backgrounds. The hon. Gentleman will know how difficult it is to overcome the traumas of early childhood and deal with them.