Speeches by Jermy.

“In rural areas, including Norfolk, shooting is quite a key part of the economy. There were some announcements this week around the general licence 45. For the first time ever, the Breckland SPA is going to be included and you will not be issuing licences for game bird release near SPAs. Could you explain the reasoning …”

“I am pleased to hear that it is a priority. Given the number of different changes you have described, I assume you will be monitoring their impact. Will you commit to publishing that assessment? This has been controversial but we want to make sure—”

“I am thinking specifically around the changes to burning licences; are those working? That is what we really want to know.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft). She is a passionate advocate for Thurrock, as she has demonstrated again today. I am not sure whether my hon. Friend the Minister is a fan of “Dad’s Army”, but it was filmed in my hometown of …”

“I thank the Minister for his statement. May I invite him to join me in paying tribute to the pilots and other service personnel based at RAF Marham in my constituency? It was the F-35s based there that were engaged in action this week to protect British citizens and support our allies, and I pay tribute to their skills…”

“English Tourism Week begins next week. Running from 13 to 22 March, it aims to highlight the importance of tourism to the UK economy. During it, I look forward to visiting Grime’s Graves, a neolithic flint mine in South West Norfolk operated by English Heritage. Will the Leader of the House join me in celebrating the b…”

“Are we are going to see those figures around morale and retention improve over the coming years?”

“Or whether the lamb wants you there! I just wanted to get back to your point around changes in priorities; you quite rightly recognise that there has been a shift. Your officials have confirmed that water and SPS are consuming resources. What aspects of DEFRA’s work are you not staffing as well as you would like? Where…”

“Can you give me some examples of where they have come from?”

“We have heard that there is a demand.”

“Going back to the earlier point on retention; it is a huge concern for staff morale. Looking at the figures, and certainly from our own conversations with officials around morale, it contributes to turnover, as does pay. Could you just confirm and reiterate what you are doing to retain good staff and address those conc…”

“It is fair to say that there have been various waves of cuts to DEFRA. My predecessor rather famously made several cuts in the past. There has been an 8% headcount reduction since July ’24, and there will be a further planned 5% reduction this financial year. How confident are you that the Department will be able to me…”

“Underneath those headline figures are the actual numbers. Of even greater concern for me is the change in experience and skills. Increasingly in your Department, but also in some arm’s length bodies, we have seen a loss of very experienced and competent staff. Farmers are very honest people. They tell me repeatedly tha…”

“I will come back to retention, but I have a separate point. Paul, you mentioned recruitment, and earlier the Chair mentioned baseline agricultural training. I have spent a number of weeks defending that to farmers because I agree with you: we want DEFRA staff to be knowledgeable about farming. But if you have a turnove…”

“Norfolk is home to some of the finest natural environments anywhere in our country. In my constituency we are fortunate to have the Brecks, a unique biodiversity hotspot in the UK, vital for rare and threatened species. It supports more than 12,500 species of plants and animals, 2,000 of which are endangered. Like many…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this debate. During my life, I have been involved with a number of different charities across my constituency, either in an employed capacity or voluntarily. Tha…”

“I very much welcome the report. In particular, I support the recommendation on an exemption from dynamic alignment for precision breeding. In my part of the country, we are proud to host the Norwich Research Park, the Quadram Institute and the John Innes Centre, which are at the forefront of scientific innovation. They…”

“I am increasingly concerned about the quality of social care provision in Norfolk. We have had three care homes by three different providers in the last month alone all rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission. Having read the inspection reports, I know that they contain some harrowing details. Can we have a …”

“Norfolk county council received one of the largest shares of money for bus services in the country, and I am very pleased that we have been able to open new rural bus routes in my constituency, but we still do not have a proper link with train services. What more can the Government do to get buses and trains working to…”

“I was first elected back in 2008, when I stood in a by-election for my local town council. I was 22. It was by chance, really, that the opportunity came up to put myself forward to stand to represent my local community. As it happened, I beat the headteacher of the local high school in that by-election. Up until recent…”