What is the Regulatory Dividend of Brexit?
Much has been promised & alleged.
Brexit sceptics have said “it can only be a race to the bottom slashing protections”. Not true.
Today we have set out our TaskForce on Innovation & Regulation Report (TIGRR) with 120 Recommendations.
To read more:
After all the sacrifices of the last year-by households, families and our local small businesses-the end of Covid Restrictions on June 21st is an important date: a point of hope to look forward to.
I will be urging Ministers to stick to it- with very localised restrictions in some specific neighbourhoods where the data shows a high rate of infection.
No one can live under constant curfew. Public consent demands reasonable measures. With low rates in Norfolk and very few hospital cases we have no reason not to reopen Norfolk on June 21st.
Our corner of Norfolk is home to some of the most exciting science and innovation – creating the incredible jobs of tomorrow, and generating growth and prosperity.
It’s great news therefore that investment in Lotus’ Hethel plant is now being raised to £100 million and will see two new production halls constructed – one of which is in pre-production for Lotus’ Emira model and the other will build their Evija all-electric hypercar.
These really are exciting times and it’s wonderful to see such big commitments being made in our region. I look forward to seeing the great benefits for the people of Mid Norfolk in the months and years ahead.
The UK’s Net Zero commitments to Offshore Wind will make the Southern North Sea the global hub of wind energy production – nowhere else will there be a greater concentration of Offshore Wind Infrastructure.
Norfolk, and the East, will be at the forefront of the UK’s ‘Green Revolution’ as a result – bringing amazing prosperity and creating thousands of exciting new jobs in one of THE major sectors of tomorrow.
(When coupled with the key roles that the Norwich Research Park, the Easton Food Hub and Hethel Engineering Centre, among others, will play as the country embarks on its journey to become a ‘Science and Innovation Superpower’, our region will be one of THE best placed in the UK to maximise on the tremendous opportunities coming)
That’s why I was delighted to feature in the ‘Politics Home’ article: "More than just the green option: Offshore wind is a £9bn-per-year opportunity for the UK"
Rest assured however that, while there is no doubting that this will have huge benefits for our area, I remain firmly committed to doing all I can to ensure that the infrastructure is delivered via an Offshore Transmission Network as swiftly, and comprehensively, as possible. To find out more, please do view other web-stories on my campaign page.
Thousands of Mid Norfolk residents were devastated this Christmas, and in the early months of this year, by:
- Severe flooding
- Awful sewerage outflows
- Accompanying power cuts
- Poor response from UK Power Networks, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency
Yaxham was one of my worst affected communities and, this past Friday, I joined a Zoom meeting with Parish Council members, as well as representatives of Flagship Housing, Anglian Water and Norfolk County Council’s Highways and Flood/Water Management teams.
In what was a very productive meeting, Anglian Water outlined some of the measures they are putting in place to prevent their foul water systems from becoming overwhelmed by heavy surface water flows in future. Norfolk County Council also pledged to continue efforts, alongside the Parish Council, to identify landowners/homeowners who were neglecting their responsibilities for handling of surface water on their land and work with them to find better ways of managing the flows.
With planning permissions for up to 120 new homes already given in Yaxham, the community are rightly worried about the impact this additional demand will place on a system that has been so heavily impacted in recent months and years.
That’s why I welcomed, too, Flagship’s commitment to working with all partners to ensure that their new developments have the appropriate drainage systems to serve not only new residents, but also the existing community.
Although positive, there is much still to do – and I will not shirk from my responsibilities either. Along with my fellow parliamentary colleagues here in Norfolk, I will continue to campaign in Westminster on the need for the planning reforms to give much stronger recognition to proper drainage for new development, and flooding as a whole.
In response 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.
With local Breckland councillors, Norfolk County councillors, parish councils and community groups all involved, and with representatives of Anglian Water, the Environment Agency and Norfolk County Council Highways/Water and Flood Management teams all invited to present and be questioned, a list of 14 recommendations were produced – all of which were included in a letter from myself to Lord Dannatt, who had recently become the Chair of NCC’s new Norfolk Strategic Flood Alliance.
That’s why, at the latest meeting of the MNFP, I was delighted to hear of the tremendous progress that is being made – and that many of the recommendations made by the group have been adopted and are being put into practice by the NSFA.
Among the first plans to be implemented are:
- The establishing of a new 0344 helpline number so that people and businesses affected by flooding can call a single contact and receive advice, support and assistance from specifically trained staff.
- A leaflet campaign to properties across the county – advertising the new 0344 number and providing other useful information and contacts.
- NCC also revealed that the NSFA have identified 16 of the worst affected communities in the country (5 of which are in Mid Norfolk – including Necton, Yaxham and Mattishall) and are appointing each a ‘Tsar’ to lead on efforts to identify the issues and find solutions – ‘Tsars’ that are accountable to Lord Dannatt, the NSFA and NCC.
This is huge progress, but I also welcomed the acknowledgment that there still remains a long way to go if we are to properly grasp this issue as a county.
NCC/the NSFA are committed to using the data they are collating with partners, including Anglian Water, to inform their efforts to lobby Government for additional support and I, along with my fellow Norfolk MPs, have pledged to back that initiative and lobby in Westminster on its behalf.
I look forward to driving forward more progress in the coming weeks and months, and to providing further updates in the not too distant future.
Earlier this year, the Mid Norfolk Flood Partnership group wrote to Lord Dannatt, Chair of the Norfolk Strategic Flood Alliance, to outline our 14 recommendations for actions that needed to be taken to ensure the county was much better placed to respond to, and mitigate for, future flood events.
I was therefore delighted to join this morning’s NCC MP Briefing and see Lord Dannatt present the NSFA’s own initial recommendations – many of which are an adoption of those we raised here in Mid Norfolk just a couple of months ago.
Among the first plans to be implemented are:
- The establishing of a new 0344 helpline number so that people and businesses affected by flooding can call a single contact and receive advice, support and assistance from specifically trained staff.
- A leaflet campaign to properties across the county – advertising the new 0344 number and providing other useful information and contacts.
Both steps were recommended by the MNFP.
Full details of the NSFA’s plans will be announced shortly and I am pleased to be working with fellow Norfolk MP colleagues to explore how we can best lead this campaign in Westminster – to highlight and hopefully address the key planning issues that so often underpin flooding matters.
In the meantime, I look forward to the next MNFP meeting later today.
Covid has been among the greatest challenges that our country has faced over the past hundred years, and it has required a monumental effort from us all to protect the NHS and save lives.
With the vaccination programme in full swing however, and cases rates relatively low, it is time for cautious optimism – and that’s why I was delighted to hear the Public Health team here in Norfolk tell us MPs this morning that they believe we are on track for the June 21st ‘Roadmap out of Lockdown’ target.
We must continue to be vigilant, but this is promising news indeed.
The Public Health team here have done a fantastic job to monitor case rates and respond to outbreaks over the past year or so, and deserve high praise indeed. Without them and ALL of the wonderful frontline health and care staff in the county, things could have been much, much worse.
This last year has been catastrophic for so many people and businesses. The Covid pandemic has been particularly hard.
That is why I was delighted to be asked to visit Old Buckenham Country Park and at Breckland Lodge.
These great businesses have at last managed to re-open and showcase their fantastic products and services.
Spend a day or two with Ben and the team, whether it be camping or a corporate day out, it’s a great place to come and enjoy. Then pop into the Stag at Breckland Lodge to see what Colin and his team have achieved.
For more information click: www.oldbuckenhamcountrypark.com and https://www.brecklandlodge.co.uk/eat/
It is vital we support local businesses. So do pop down and make a booking.
Breckland Lodge
As part of the ongoing campaign to develop an Offshore Transmission Network (often known as an Offshore Ring Main or ORM), I was delighted to join a call with OFGEM earlier this week.
Together with a number of MPs from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, I continued our work to lobby the key stakeholders in the development of this Offshore Transmission Network. With the policy argument for an OTN firmly won, we must do all we can to get that OTN developed as swiftly, and effectively, as possible.
The sooner we have this comprehensive strategic Plan for the delivery of offshore wind infrastructure (instead of the current ramshackle approach of each individual wind farm using their own Wembley Stadium-sized substation and cable corridors to connect to the National Grid), the sooner we will have a model that ensures we can meet, and even exceed, the Government’s ‘Green Energy’ targets, while also minimising the amount of onshore environmental damage and disruption to businesses, farmers and communities.
To stay up to date with all my work on this campaign, please visit my website here – where you can read the decade long history and see my some of my most important web-stories over the past couple of years.
