The Government recently announced £7.5 million of funding for the British Sugar factory in my constituency, support that unlocks a further £43 million of investment. In Liz Truss’s former constituency, this Government are investing to secure growth. The Wissington factory is Europe’s largest sugar b…
It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) for securing this debate. This is also an appropriate time to acknowledge his more than four decades of service as a surgeon in the NHS.
I want to use m…
CommonsOral QuestionsHousing, Communities and Local Government9 June 20252 contributions
21. What steps her Department is taking to ensure that councils in areas with higher levels of deprivation receive adequate funding.
Pockets of deprivation in many rural communities, like my South West Norfolk constituency, are often masked by more affluent surroundings. Will the Minister reassure me that financial support from the Government for local councils in rural areas reflects those concerns about isolated deprivation?
The right hon. Member represents North East Cambridgeshire; as the Member for South West Norfolk, I share a border and very similar geography with him, and I recognise many of the concerns he raises about pollution. Does he share my concerns about the EA’s performance on the time taken to issue perm…
The Minister and I have talked on many occasions. I do not envy the scale of the challenge that she has, particularly in relation to pollution. She and I have talked about internal drainage boards, which is another issue that is shared across constituencies. In relation to permits and licensing, we …
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank the hon. Member for Waveney Valley (Adrian Ramsay), my constituency neighbour, for securing this much-needed and timely debate. It is one that I called for in the Chamber several weeks ago, so I am pleased to be here today.
Ther…
Unfortunately, Sir John, you have missed the first 80% of my speech. I was coming on to how crucial the environment in Norfolk is to the local economy and the threat that intensive livestock farming poses to the environment. It is also a threat from a disease and an animal welfare point of view.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) for securing this important debate. The issue is close to my heart because I spent many years as a youth worker in Norfolk, including working for Norfolk charity the Benjamin Foundation, as the manager of the Meet Up café in Thetford…
I congratulate the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson) on securing the debate, which is an important one for my constituents and indeed the whole county of Norfolk. We have seen a sudden influx of solar farm applications, which have become one of the most contentious and spoken a…
I encourage the right hon. Member to let me get to the end of my speech, as I may answer his question. I will then be happy to have a conversation with him.
The fact is that renewable energy projects are not evenly distributed across the country. In Norfolk, our terrain is flat and quite sandy, so …
My residents are very concerned about animal welfare issues, which is why there was such outrage at the weekend after reports in a national newspaper of horrific abuse of animals by workers at an intensive livestock farm. Given that next year will mark 20 years since the last Labour Government broug…
The prison capacity crisis has been years in the making. Does the Minister welcome the news that Wayland Prison in Norfolk has been granted planning permission just this week, by Breckland council’s planning committee, for a 25% increase in capacity, with 247 extra places? That application alone rep…
I am pleased that the hon. Member, my county colleague, mentioned internal drainage boards. For every pound that King’s Lynn and West Norfolk borough council in my constituency collects in council tax, 43p now goes to internal drainage board levies, which is completely unsustainable. Does his draft …
I have two quick points to make. When I was first elected to Norfolk county council in 2013, social care was about 40% of the total budget. When I left 12 years later, a few months ago, it was more like 60% and was rapidly increasing towards 70%. That means less money for maintenance. The highways m…
I will speak quickly. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy.
In a Westminster Hall debate earlier this year, I was pleased to note that there are an impressive 138 listed places of worship in my constituency. I am very proud of the work they do; they enrich our lives in so m…
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for raising this important issue.
Educational achievement in rural areas is not spoken about nearly enough, so I welcome this debate. It is something I have first-…