Put your questions and concerns for Norfolk to MEPs for the eastern reg

Added: 13/10/2008
Category: Norfolk County Council

Norfolk County Council's Cabinet Scrutiny Committee will meet with three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for the eastern region on Friday (17 October) to find out what they have been doing for Norfolk over the last year.

The committee is also asking residents to submit questions or concerns over issues affecting the County so that they can be discussed at the meeting.

MEPs Andrew Duff (Liberal Democrat), Richard Howitt (Labour) and Geoffrey Van Orden (Conservative), who represent Norfolk's interests in Brussels, will attend the meeting to:

· review their success on helping to attract regional funding from Europe into Norfolk,

· discuss issues impacting on Norfolk and gain a European perspective on them

· reveal how they are supporting Norfolk County Council's strategic ambitions for the county

Sue Whitaker, who chairs the council's Cabinet Scrutiny committee, said: "We meet with our Euro MPs on an annual basis to find out what they have been doing for the benefit of Norfolk people in the last 12 months and whether we can work more closely and productively with them in the future.

"The news in the last few days about the global financial crisis proves how international decisions and policies are having an increasing impact on our county. I would encourage people in Norfolk who have any questions about what our MEPs can do for the county to submit them. While we cannot promise to discuss all of them at the meeting, we will cover as many as possible as it is extremely important to Norfolk County Council to tackle the issues that are a priority to the people we represent.”

Issues that are likely to be raised at the meeting include coastal erosion and flood risks, how to attract new investment into the county and the possibility of reinstating the A47 as part of the Trans-European Network, which prioritises routes for road improvements and provides funding.

Questions should be submitted by email to scrutinysupport@norfolk.gov.uk by no later than 5.30pm on Thursday 16 October. The minutes of Friday's meeting with references to the questions discussed will be available on the Norfolk County Council website www.norfolk.gov.uk by Friday 31 October.