Local Museums

Terry Jermy Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk) (Lab)]

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 Thetford. We have a fascinating museum full of “Dad’s Army” memorabilia. I am sure it is for that reason alone that some of my constituents refer to me as, “You stupid boy.” The museum is well worth a visit. There is a statue of Captain Mainwaring himself, and it brings visitors from far and wide to the town.

We also have the Charles Burrell Museum in Thetford, which focuses on the town’s industrial heritage. The museum is housed in what was once the Burrell factory, where steam traction engines were produced before being shipped around the world, driving the industrial revolution. The museum is working hard to obtain formal accreditation. I pay tribute to the work of local Labour councillors Annie Blackbourn and Doug Jefferson, who have worked so hard alongside other museum volunteers including Sheila Childerhouse, Will Bridgman, Teresia Stock and Richard Curtis. I hope that, following accreditation, they soon get the funding they need to repair and improve the museum, and I will continue to support them however I can. The recently announced heritage and museums funding made available by the Government will certainly be in their sights.

In Downham Market at the other side of my constituency there is the fantastic Discover Downham museum, which details the remarkable history of the area. The museum covers the history of the Clackclose hundred, which was one of Norfolk’s ancient administrative divisions. It was a structure rooted deep in the Anglo Saxon era when the kingdom sought to organise justice, taxation and local governance through hundreds—probably a much simpler system than what we have today.

Local museums are not just a “nice to have”. Tourism is the biggest economic driver in Norfolk. It contributes approximately £3.6 billion in value to the local economy and supports over 120,000 jobs, with roughly 20% of total employment in Norfolk and Suffolk linked to tourism. I am glad that the Government acknowledge the uniqueness of different areas of the UK and the importance of museums. I very much welcome the £1 billion cultural capital fund, which will go towards maintaining and improving regional museums and galleries. Through such measures, I hope we will be able to preserve local spirit and local history for future generations to come.

Rather than, “We are doomed,” as Private Frazer may say, I say, “Don’t panic”—be more Corporal Jones. With this Government, we are supporting local museums.

Small Charity Sector

Terry Jermy Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk) (Lab)]

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. That has included the Keystone Development Trust, the Benjamin Foundation, the Charles Burrell Centre and the G.W. Staniforth Charity. It is through that involvement that I have come to appreciate how small charities are so often crucial to local communities. They provide essential services and respond quickly to new risks or increases in demand. Sometimes they are formed out of personal tragedy, as was the case with the Benjamin Foundation set up by Richard and Vanessa Draper to remember their son Benjamin, who tragically passed away.

The services that small charities provide are crucial. It is important that organisations are supported by the Government. That support could materialise in many ways, but I want to highlight one in particular: access to cash and banking. Many groups and charities tell me that they increasingly struggle to process funds that they receive in cash. Although many things can be purchased digitally, if you are anything like me, Sir Roger, the odds are that you still buy raffle and tombola tickets with cash. The lack of availability of banks, particularly in rural areas such as mine, is now a real barrier to fundraising for smaller charities. The added costs of processing cash and the associated risks of staff and volunteers handling cash are important to consider. I ask the Government to give some thought to what can be done to assist local charities with this practical challenge.

I want to take a moment to thank the dozens and dozens of small local charities across my constituency and the volunteers that sustain them, including two groups that I have been able to meet with recently, the Downham Art Circle and Swaffham environment group. In the interests of time, I shall finish there.

Youth Services

Terry Jermy Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) for securing this important debate. The issue is close to my heart because I spent many years as a youth worker in Norfolk, including working for Norfolk charity the Benjamin Foundation, as the manager of the Meet Up café in Thetford. I pay tribute to youth workers across the country, including in my county of Norfolk. It is a rewarding job, but it comes with many challenges and frustrations.

Youth work has borne the brunt of many cuts, and in too many places services are now a shadow of their former selves. Under the previous Government, there was a real-terms cut of more than £1 billion in spending on youth services among local authorities in England, so no wonder more than 50% of all council-run youth centres closed. I watched in disbelief in Norfolk as our Conservative-controlled county council entirely scrapped the county’s youth services, including important detached youth work, and closed the Connexions training and careers advice service.

Filling that void in many places were charities, including the Swan youth project in Downham Market in my constituency, which I have visited on a number of occasions. It provides a whole-system youth group, helping with a variety of needs. Anna and the team at Swan provide a crucial service for young people in that area, helping to provide support not just for young people, but for the whole family, offering a truly holistic service.

I am pleased that this Government have a bold ambition to remove barriers to opportunity for young people. We need to respond through both national and local government, and under this Labour Government we are meeting the challenge head on.