Alex Norris MP

Unfortunately, this newsletter comes to you on a sad note as Bulwell Forest Councillor Alan Clark passed away Tuesday evening.

Words cannot do justice to the difference that Alan made but it’s important that we recognise the impact he had on our community. Alan served our community as a local Councillor for 29 years. He was widely respected by people across our community as intelligent, hard-working and fair and, above all, a thoroughly decent man. He had a wicked sense of humour and lifted those around him.

I’ve worked with Alan for a long time including the last 6 years as a colleague on the Council’s Executive. His calm head and preternatural eye for detail helped me out of many challenging situations. And no one ran a Labour Committee room on polling day like Alan!

When first elected Alan tipped the balance so that Labour ran the Council. The Labour Group has gone from to strength to strength since then and Alan was at the centre of all that was good. His lasting legacy to our city is Robin Hood Energy. He was integral to setting out this rival to the Big 6 energy companies and now thousands of families are benefitting from cheaper energy bills at time when they are feeling the pinch.

His contribution to our community went far beyond politics, too. He was very active in the faith community, a school Governor at three different schools and was a much-loved family man. Everything he involved himself in he left better than he found it. He will be missed and extremely fondly remembered.

In the constituency

Now that it’s recess I’ve been able to get home for more than a long weekend (much to the delight of my wife and dogs!) and have been back in Nottingham since Friday meeting with local people and organisations.

Friday was the day of my first local surgery, which was so popular we ran out of time and I had to continue over the phone on Tuesday. I met with 9 constituents on the day, who came from all over the constituency to talk about a wide range of issues, from local ones like anti-social behaviour to the Government’s plans for Clean Air Zones. Once recess is over I’ll be holding more of these so keep an eye on these newsletters to find out when and where the next will be.

Another two meetings I had on Friday were wildly different. I began the day with a meeting at Nottingham Forest to discuss their plans for the football club. Both of

Nottingham’s league football teams go beyond the sport and do a great amount of work for the city and its people. I’ll do whatever I can to support them in this work. Following this I attended my meeting as a member of the board of Rebalancing the Outer Estates Foundation. I’m very proud to be asked to sit on this board, as Rebalancing have already done some amazing work to help bring jobs, culture and health services to Nottingham North, and I’m excited to do my bit to build on this even further in the future.

And of course we were out canvassing over the weekend!

My week wasn’t any quieter after the weekend, and on Monday I met with the National Association of Child Contact Centres and the Nottingham Peace Project (both of which you’ll be able to find out more about in upcoming issues).

As well as spending time on important casework, on Tuesday I met with Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s National Medical Director. Sir Bruce has held this role since 2007 and his knowledge in the area is unrivalled. While we’re lucky to have relatively good healthcare here in Nottingham, the Government has allowed access to many services to become a postcode lottery, and patient standards in the NHS are getting worse and worse. Tory underfunding and neglect has pushed the health service to its limits and fighting this negligence is one area I’ll be dedicating a lot to.

This was followed by an interesting meeting with the chair of the Nottingham Prison Independent Monitoring Board, Keith Jamieson, with whom I discussed the prison and the Board’s role in its decision-making.

Nottingham College is especially important to me, and two weeks ago marks ten years since we saved Basford Hall College from closure. I was proud of my role in this campaign ten years ago and we haven’t stopped since. Subsequently funding was sought and secured to develop the College – and it’s never looked better. This facility will remain a top priority for me as our member of Parliament. I’m aware of staffing changes proposed that will affect the College and this is what the meeting focused on. I’m supporting Trade Unions in this matter.

What’s On

I want these emails to be as interesting as possible. That means there’ll be some politics – it’s important that I am held accountable. But I also want to offer information about what’s on locally. So, if you have an event you’d like me to advertise, let me know.

Bestwood Park Church’s Bestop Kitchen
Social Eating Event, Donations Welcome
Bestwood Park Church, Beckhampton Road, NG5 5NG
Every Tuesday, 12-3pm

Nottinghamshire Pride
Celebrating Love
March across the city begins at Castlegate
Saturday July 29th, 11am onwards
For further information please see www.nottinghamshirepride.co.uk

Coming Together Day
Aspley councillors present a free event celebrating all our communities in Aspley
Minver Crescent Sports Centre, Minver Crescent, Aspley, NG8 5PN
Saturday July 29th, 1-5pm

National PlayDay
A free Family Play Day to celebrate Play and PlayWorks turning 30
The Arboretum
Wednesday 2nd August, 11am – 3pm

School’s Out Summer 2017
School Holiday Activities for just £1 per day!
Southglade Leisure Centre, John Carroll Leisure Centre, Clifton Leisure Centre, Portland Centre (doesn’t run on a Tuesday), Minver Crescent Sports Centre
Monday to Friday (except bank holidays), Between 31st July and 25th August, 9am-4pm,
For further information please see http://www.nottscountyfitc.org.uk/our-work/projects/schoolsout/

If you would like your events advertised here, or further information on those advertised, please email me at alex.norris.mp@parliament.uk.

That’s all for now! Details of how to get in touch or to have a look at the things I’m doing are below…

All the best,

Alex

How to contact me

If you would like to contact me, please email alex.norris.mp@parliament.uk or give my Nottingham North constituency office a ring on 0115 975 2377.

If you are a constituent from Nottingham North e-mailing me regarding a casework issue you are my priority, so please ensure your message includes:

• your full name
• your full postal address, including postcode
• a contact telephone number and
• any helpful details relevant to your case such as date of birth, reference numbers etc.

Strict parliamentary protocol means I can only deal with issues on behalf of my own constituents. If you aren’t sure whether or not you live in Nottingham North, you can check who your local MP is by entering your postcode online here: findyourmp.parliament.uk.

You may also wish to write to me with your concerns. If so please send your correspondence to Alex Norris MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA. All constituents who take the time and trouble to write a personal letter will receive a reply as a matter of priority.

Other useful links

• Alex’s Website: click here.
• Alex’s Twitter: click here.
• Nottingham City Council: click here.
• Find your MP: click here.
• Register to vote: click here.
• School term dates in Nottingham: click here.

LABOUR PARTY

If you’d like to learn more about the Labour party their website is here.

To join the Labour Party click here.

LOCAL NEWS

• Nottingham BBC news: click here.
• East Midlands BBC news: click here.
• Nottingham Post: click here.
• Notts TV: click here.

LOCAL INFORMATION

Benefits Information: Here’s an excellent site that allows you to find out exactly what benefits you are eligible to claim: EntitledTo

Housing: please contact your City Council

Problems with benefits or the Child Support Agency? The Citizens Advice Bureau and the Nottingham Welfare Rights Service can give advice. Remember to have your National Insurance number handy if you make an inquiry.

Local schools / education matters: please contact your City Council.

Employment rights: see Citizens Advice Bureau or the Trades Union Congress for info.

Social services, environmental health, noise nuisance, parking, and Council Tax should all be addressed to the City Council.

Another useful website on public services is Direct.gov.

NATIONAL LINKS

For the main Parliamentary website click here and to explore the Parliamentary education site click here.