Covid-19 has had a significant effect on care home residents who during lockdown were unable to have regular visitors. For residents with dementia this has been particularly difficult and this week I received a very powerful letter detailing the impact that restrictions had for a gentleman and his wife. Government and local authority guidance now sets out that visits should be allowed although restricted to one consistent visitor. While this allows spouses to visit it means their children cannot and I’ve asked the Care Minister to look again at this guidance.

During this week’s virtual Conservative Party Conference I was part of a panel with the Chief Executive of Openreach talking about gigabit capable broadband by 2025. I pointed out that 40% of lines in the constituency get less than 30 Mbps and a quarter of lines in some areas are below the legal minimum of 10 Mbps. So much faster speeds will be very welcome and our area should be part of rollout in the hardest to reach parts of the country that the government has allocated £5 billion for.

It is a little early to use the C-word but today I’ve launched my first Christmas card competition for primary school children in North West Norfolk. The winning design will be my official Christmas card and will be sent to the Prime Minister amongst others. If your children or grandchildren attend primary school do encourage them to enter!

Please do get in touch if I can be of assistance.

Best wishes,