News from your MP – March
Lots has happened in the last month, from being closer than ever before to a dental school at UEA, to road gritting, and forums coming soon – Read all about it below!
Dentistry
A new dental school at the University of East Anglia is closer than ever before. Last month the government announced that 50 additional dental school places have been created, and that the Minister will be writing to the OFS to steer their allocations towards regions without any dental training currently in place, like our Norfolk dental desert.
Alice has been campaigning on this since day one, and will continuing to work hard to get this over the line.
Social Media and Young People
Many of you have been in touch with to share your concerns about the way social media is affecting our children’s and young people’s lives.
The Government is consulting on young people’s phone and social media use, and how it effects their wellbeing, to ensure a healthy relationship with the online world and safety in those spaces.
To make sure your voices are heard, Alice has put together this survey to gather your opinions and experiences. Fill out the survey and share your thoughts: alicemacdonald.org/social-media-survey/
Save Our Branch!
Help us keep the Aylsham Road bank branch open! Local councillor Chrissie Rumsby, has launched a survey to gather local thoughts on the announced closure of the Mile Cross Lloyd’s bank branch.
It’s the last bank in the area, and the decision from Lloyd’s Banking to close this branch will have a huge impact not only on local people and community groups in the surrounding area, but also those who are digitally excluded.
Fill in the survey and show your support to keep this bank open!
Win for White House Farm Estate!
Gritting Atlantic Avenue and the roads leading up to the school on the White House Farm estate was one of the breakthrough commitment from the developer consortium and Norfolk County Council at the recent community meeting.
Those of you living around the estate may have noticed that as temperatures dropped again in March, the roads have been gritted regularly to keep the roads safe for the local community. There’s still more to do, but this is a great win for White House Farm estate!.
SEND Reforms Proposals
In February, the Government set out much-needed reforms to fix the SEND system, rebuild confidence for families, ensure young people with SEND get the right support closer to home, and to make every school truly inclusive.
Alice’s office team will be holding a SEND forum at 2PM on Saturday 18th April to gather local thoughts and opinions on the government’s proposals, and feed into the government’s consultation.
If you’d like to attend, please register your interest by emailing alice.macdonald.mp@parliament.uk and let us know what capacity you’ll be attending in (eg. parent, teacher, etc.). The location of the event will be shared with attendees closer to the date of the event.
In Parliament…
The inclusive sports campaign is progressing! Last month, Alice and Marie Tidball MP organised a roundtable with ParalympicsGB, Ruby Bishop, and more great campaigners to discuss the ways in which sports can be made more accessible and inclusive in schools.
Find out more about what Alice has been doing on this inclusive sports campaign through her recent website blog: alicemacdonald.org/inclusivity-in-sports/
Pride in Place
The Heartsease and Pilling Park Pride in Place Board has a Chair – congratulations to Michelle on her appointment!
This is just the first step in setting up the neighbourhood board to lead this £20 million project for the local Heartsease and Pilling Park community. Keep an eye out for ways to get involved with the board in the coming weeks, and remember to fill out Alice’s survey on how you think the money should be spent!
Some news from Alice
As you may have already seen, Alice shared the great news last month of the safe arrival of her baby boy, and is taking some time to spend with her family. In the meantime, the office is still available to support local people, and progress on local projects. You can read Alice’s full announcement HERE.
You can still reach us on alice.macdonald.mp@parliament.uk or 01603 733182 if you need any support.