Employers

Alice Macdonald Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

Like the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), I start by recognising the many amazing employers and businesses across my constituency, from large household names such as Aviva, to local SMEs, including MSI Defence Systems, and local retail and hospitality businesses that are the backbones of our high streets, such as Café 193. I recognise the pressures on employers and businesses, including in the face of external shocks. I will focus on relaying some of the messages that I have heard from businesses and employers in my constituency.

I welcome the targeted measures in last month’s Budget, as the Minister set out, including the business rates relief. That will mean that more than half of all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in the east of England will pay no rates at all, and another 900 businesses in Norwich and 400 in Broadland will benefit from frozen rates.

I recently attended a roundtable hosted by the New Anglia Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering partnership. Many of those innovative businesses are creating products and jobs in Britain—including for my constituents in Norfolk—but they face challenges. One of the biggest challenges they raised, which will not surprise the Minister, was rising high industrial energy costs, which are affecting trade and regional growth. I welcome the action that the Government are taking with BICS, but I urge the Minister to set out what more we can do to support manufacturing businesses such as those at the roundtable.

Today, we have had good news in the press that £12 billion of investment has been secured to build the Vanguard East and West wind farms off the coast of Norfolk. Those schemes alone will create more than 2,400 jobs, and I want as many of them as possible to be for people from Norfolk. We have to ensure that employers can also benefit from the supply chains. Norfolk has many strengths; renewable energy is just one of them. We have a £20 billion economy and strengths in energy, agrifood, advanced manufacturing, financial services and world-class research, such as at the Norwich research park. When the new Prime Minister came into office, the Norfolk and Suffolk business boards wrote to him together to set out how Norfolk and Suffolk can help to power, feed, connect and innovate the UK’s future. That is the ambition that I have heard from businesses.

I have also heard businesses’ requests that the Government work with them in three key ways that will benefit employers in Norfolk and Suffolk. First, as we have touched on already in this debate, is the importance of backing nationally significant infrastructure projects such as the Bacton energy hub and the desperately needed upgrade at Ely and Haughley junctions. Despite our differences across the House, I know that MPs across East Anglia really support those investments because of the impact they will have on businesses in the area. Secondly, through innovation we could be the leading testbed for new technologies, building on world-class assets such as the Norwich research park. Thirdly, by aligning skills, innovation and industrial policy, we will help businesses to invest, create jobs and develop the workforces they need.

Another clear message I have heard—we have touched on the need for stability—is about devolution and the opportunity it presents for employers and businesses. I welcome Norfolk and Suffolk being on track for devolution. This week, the Reform-led Norfolk and Suffolk county councils have finally reached an agreement on the terms of a devolution deal, which the Government are backing with about £37 million of investment each year. That cannot come soon enough; we need that deal and the associated funding in place as quickly as possible so that we can invest in infrastructure, skills and economic growth. It is really important that employers and businesses’ voices are heard and that they are instrumental in seeing how that investment is spent.

I will not pretend that I have not heard messages from businesses about some of the costs around labour. The Minister has set out why those decisions have been made, and I will continue to listen to the concerns that businesses raise with me and relay them back to Ministers.

Finally, I want to focus on young people, who have so much to offer employers. Far too many young people are not in education, employment or training—something we will be focusing on even more in the next few weeks. I welcome the action the Government have taken, including the jobs guarantee and the jobs grant to back employers who give a chance to young people who have been out of work for six months. I am working with the local DWP office, employers and other local organisations on an initiative called Opportunity Norwich to support young people into work.

No one is pretending that this is an easy situation and that there have not been difficult choices to make. The Budget and the measures the Government have set out are a welcome step forward. As a Norwich MP, I am proud of our city and our county of Norfolk. We are a place of innovation, hard work and creativity, and I am proud of our employers who have consistently shown themselves to be genuine community partners and to bring so much benefit to our local area. I will continue to advocate for the support they need to invest in our region, grow our economy and deliver opportunities to my constituents. I am sure that the Minister will respond in detail to many of the points raised, but I want to urge him to work with us in Norfolk and Suffolk to ensure that as we move forward on our journey with devolution, our employers and, indeed, employees thrive.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alice Macdonald Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

8. What steps she is taking to providing funding for rail infrastructure.

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

22. What steps she is taking to providing funding for rail infrastructure.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)]

Investment in our railways is a crucial part of our plan to unlock economic growth in every nation and region of the UK. Earlier this month, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced our plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail. That transformational programme is backed by up to £45 billion of investment in the long term, which will be key in unlocking economic potential across the north.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Murray]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the value of the midlands rail hub, which we invested in at the spending review. We are determined to invest more in transport in the midlands. Indeed, at the spending review the Government committed to investing £4.4 billion there through transport for city regions funding. My hon. Friend is a great advocate for services that will benefit his constituents, and I will ask the Rail Minister to respond about the specifics of the line that he raises.

[Alice Macdonald]

I welcome the investment the Government have made in rail, including East West Rail, but there are still several projects that would hugely benefit passengers and the local economy in the east. Those include upgrading the Trowse swing bridge near Norwich and, of course, Ely and Haughley junctions. Will the Chief Secretary to the Treasury meet me and other colleagues from the east of England to discuss how we can advance those key infrastructure projects for the region?

[James Murray]

East West Rail is a transformational project that will unlock economic growth and housing. Just yesterday, I was glad to host a representative from East West Rail at an infrastructure roundtable at the Treasury with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. My hon. Friend is another powerful advocate for her local area, and I will happily discuss this matter with the Rail Minister and get back to her.

Women’s Safety: Walking, Wheeling, Cycling and Running

Alice Macdonald Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Jess Asato]

I absolutely agree, and it is one of the reasons why I took those University of Manchester researchers to meet the Safeguarding Minister. I hope that, given the VAWG strategy is a living, breathing document across a 10-year period, we can make sure this is in future versions of the strategy. It is incredibly important.

The long-term programme of awareness, training and behaviour change at the heart of the strategy aims to drive a societal response that empowers victims and deters perpetrators. In the medium and long term, that will drive the change we wish to see.

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent speech on this important subject. As well as reporting, I am sure she agrees that it is important to gather intel from women about where they do and do not feel safe. Will she, as a fellow East Anglia MP, welcome Norwich Cycling Campaign’s women’s safety audit? It has just been launched to hear from local women about their experiences, whether it be of harassment or of safe cycling routes. I encourage my constituents to take part. Does my hon. Friend recognise the value of such community-led initiatives?

[Jess Asato]

As a fellow East Anglia MP, I praise Norwich Cycling Campaign for its women’s safety audit. I am sure it is a model that many local areas should follow.

In the medium and long term, of course, we want to see real change. A poll conducted by the Cycle to Work Alliance in 2024 found that safety concerns deter 45% of potential cyclists from commuting by bike. Although this is obviously broader than harassment, there is certainly a gendered element to it given that women are three times more likely than men to fear cycling to work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alice Macdonald Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I am not going to speculate about what will be in the Budget, but I am absolutely determined to ensure that working people are better off. Under the last Government the tax burden reached its highest level for 70 years, and ordinary working people paid the price for that. This will be a Budget to fix the foundations of the economy after the mess left by the last Government, to rebuild Britain, and to make working people better off.

[Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reform the planning system.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Darren Jones)]

We have committed ourselves to delivering 1.5 million new homes as part of our mission to achieve economic growth across the country, and we have already announced reforms of national planning policy that will help to get Britain building. They include the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets, and the removal of the effective ban on onshore wind in England.

[Alice Macdonald]

If unlocked, Anglia Square, a significant brownfield site in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis), could provide more than 1,000 homes and many jobs. The last Government failed to support the progression of this important site. Can my right hon. Friend tell me what local authorities such as Norwich city council can expect from this Government’s approach to delivering brownfield sites with partners?

[Darren Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her follow-up question and welcome her to her place. As she knows from the Chancellor and the Deputy Prime Minister, this Government take seriously our target to deliver 1.5 million new homes, and we will look at each and every opportunity across the country to do so. That includes making improvements to the system of developer contributions for community benefit to support the delivery of affordable housing and local infrastructure.