The past eighteen months have been unprecedentedly hard for many – including the thousands of people that found themselves out of work, or found their search for work stymied, as a result of the pandemic.

That’s why I really appreciated the opportunity to catch up with the wonderful Julia Nix (East Anglia District Manager for the DWP) this past Friday – to hear from her about the challenges being faced because of Covid, as well as the great opportunities already arising for many jobseekers in our region.

One topic we discussed at length was the opportunities available to many 18-24 year olds, particularly through the Kickstart scheme. Having seen many education leavers unable to find work through the pandemic, I was pleased to hear what our outstanding local DWP is doing to ensure they can now get a foot in the labour market – one that enables them to push on, thrive and ultimately succeed.

Julia and her team do brilliant work, and I look forward to visiting them in person at the local jobcentres in the months and weeks ahead.

Flooding has long been a concern for many in our part of Norfolk – and the heavy rainfall of December 23rd-24th 2020, and again in the early part of 2021, resulted in a record number of call outs for Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and Norfolk County Council alike, exacerbating these long held frustrations and fears.

That’s why I helped establish the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership, and why I have been working closely with Lord Dannatt, Chair of the Norfolk Strategic Flood Alliance, to help frame a series of measures that can be effectively implemented.

Not all of the work can be done in Norfolk however – it is important that reforms are also introduced at Westminster to strengthen our hands locally.

Lord Dannatt and I have therefore written to the Secretary of States at DEFRA and MHCLG to draw attention to particular planning challenges that are being faced in the joint-fight against flooding, and we hope to secure a meeting with both Secretary of States so that we can discuss the issues in further depth.

To see the letter, please see below.

To learn more about my campaign work on the issue, please click the link here

To see the recent EDP article, please click here

The past year has been tough for us all – but especially our Education sector. In Mid Norfolk, we are lucky to have some incredible schools with fantastic staff who, despite all of the disruption, have gone above and beyond to try and support our youngsters so that they can still go on to thrive and be successful.

That’s why I was delighted to hear that Wymondham College had been awarded a Silver Award at the Pearson National Teaching Awards – in the category ‘The Award for Making a Difference – Secondary School of the Year’, which recognises their outstanding commitment to changing the lives of the children they work with every day.

The school is now shortlisted to win one of just 15 Gold Awards later this year – in a programme which will be broadcast on the BBC.

This is wonderful news and I look forward to seeing how Wymondham College and all of our brilliant local schools go from strength to strength in the weeks and months ahead.

I was recently contacted by the RSPCA Mid Norfolk & North Suffolk Branch alerting me that the RSPCA Wymondham Charity Shop has recently fell victim to the scam known as 'Slamming' - resulting in the loss of more than £1,000.

Anna of the Mid Norfolk RSPCA branch contacted me to alert me to this, and to ask for advice on how to raise awareness of this type of scam to ensure others are not caught out by it.

I suggested that the shop get in contact with EDP 24 and you can read the article here: https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/wymondham-rspca-charity-shop-attacked-by-slamming-scammer-8080976?fbclid=IwAR16rxoRMZEAJbi01P_6ADN9WHcdvEEelhkKVLrLerQWRU9IPjrl_F9au2Y

I have also suggested that they get in contact with Trading Standards, and I will also be writing to the relevant Minister on their behalf.

I have included a link here with advice from BT on 'Slamming' and how this can be avoided: https://www.bt.com/help/landline/what-is--slamming--

There is widespread public anger about the lack of real local planning in recent years and the move to a system in which local council control and discretion is reduced, infrastructure funding is cut, and large scale out-of-town volume housebuilders are able to make billions from lazily dumping large scale commuter housing on the outskirts of villages and towns with wholly insufficient infrastructure. 

That’s why, since becoming the MP for Mid Norfolk back in 2010, I have consistently (and loudly) championed the spirit of ‘Localism’, lobbied Government for reform to the Planning System (particularly in relation to the Five Year Housing Land Supply Rule) and done all I can to support and empower our local district councils, as well as towns and villages, as they set about developing their Local and Neighbourhood Plans – which set our visions for how our area, and the communities within it, should grow and develop over the coming decades.

I have also helped local communities stand up against inappropriate and unsustainable large scale applications – especially those that contradict the policies set out in the adopted Plans of the local districts and communities.

One such example has been the application for 150 homes on land north of Carpenter’s Barn, Norwich Common, Wymondham – which was initially rejected by South Norfolk Council, but which the applicant tried to appeal. (See my letter to the Planning Inspectorate below).

I am delighted to hear therefore that the appeal has been dismissed by the Planning Inspector, who has upheld South Norfolk’s original decision and listened to the widespread concerns of local residents.

Rest assured, I will continue to speak up for Mid Norfolk – and to lobby Government for the much needed reforms we need to our national planning system. (To learn more about my views on this, please see my submissions to last year’s National Planning Consultations here).

Click here to download letter to Planning Inspector

In response to the terrible flooding that hit large parts of Mid Norfolk just before Christmas, and in the early months of this year, I convened a Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership to give our affected local communities a stronger voice to speak out on the issue. Many of the recommendations made by the group have been adopted and are being put into practice by the NSFA.

As part of my ongoing work, I was delighted to catch up with Cllr Fabian Eagle in North Pickenham last week, to see for myself the devastation the floods and subsequent sewage issues have caused and what can be done to combat the awful destruction it causes.

I look forward to continuing my work with Fabian, our other elected councillors, and local communities to push for more progress in the coming weeks and months, and I hope to provide further updates in the not too distant future.

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. However, it must not come at the detriment of local communities and our rural way of life.

That’s why I helped establish the South of the A47 Taskforce, which works with a number of local Parishes, Norfolk County Council, Highways England and others, to try and find a package of mitigation measures that will avoid turning the corridor between Honingham’s Wood Lane/Berry’s Lane Junction and Wymondham into a major “rat-run” – a problem that is already significant for the area.

Yesterday, the Taskforce met again and, after months of traffic modelling and discussion, it really felt that progress is being made. More needs to be done ahead of the public consultation in September, but I welcome the news that the consultation will include the mitigation proposals being put forward and that ALL communities will have a chance to have a say.

To learn more about the campaign, please click here

Having had a fifteen year career before coming to Parliament supporting high growth science and innovation companies in the East, and having been the UK’s first Minister for Life Sciences and a Minister for the Future of Transport with focuses on innovation and decarbonisation, I am always passionate about the enormous growth opportunities that are within the UK’s grasp in some of the most exciting emerging sectors.

That’s why I was delighted yesterday to deliver a keynote speech at the UK Innovation Corridor annual conference – titled “How can the UK Innovation Corridor grow international trade?” – and to take part in a panel discussion with the likes of Andy Williams of AstraZeneca, Brigette Bard of Biosure and Lee Myall of Kao Data.

Invited to discuss in further detail the Taskforce for Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) that I have been co-chairing for the PM since the start of the year, I talked through some of the recommendations made in our official Report to the Government and how they could unlock massive growth for UK plc. (To learn more about TIGRR and see the Report, please click here)

The UK has the potential to become a ‘Science Superpower’ and the Norwich-Cambridge Tech Corridor (with Mid Norfolk right in the middle) has a big role to play. By championing the Corridor and its role within the UK Innovation Corridor, we can attract more investment and opportunities to our region – bringing prosperity and thousands of jobs in the sectors of tomorrow.

The East really does have exciting times ahead.