Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential barriers faced by farmers in Buckinghamshire seeking to invest in on-farm water storage in order to improve resilience to drought and flooding.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has assessed barriers to investment in on-farm water storage across England, including Buckinghamshire. These include high project costs, complex and uncertain planning and approvals, and uncertainty over whether sufficient water will be available to fill reservoirs.

The Government is taking action. The package announced by the Prime Minister in August included up to £15 million for on-farm reservoirs, alongside work to reduce unnecessary barriers and update planning guidance. We are working with the farming sector to strengthen on-farm water resilience and ensure appropriate planning and abstraction licensing arrangements are in place, while supporting investment and management of water resources.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help expand flexible transport options in rural areas.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department published Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) Best Practice Guidance last December. It provides local authorities with a guide to setting up and deploying DRT schemes, from planning and procurement through to launching and sustaining services. It encourages local authorities to engage with community transport providers and others when designing a DRT scheme to meet an identified need.

The Government is providing local transport authorities with long-term funding and greater flexibility to improve transport in rural areas, including through DRT where this is the most appropriate solution. The Local Authority Bus Grant can be used to support new services, including DRT in areas with limited or no conventional bus provision, while authorities can also use wider local transport funding settlements to support flexible rural transport solutions alongside traditional bus services.

As part of this commitment, the Government will provide over £3 billion between 2026/27 and 2028/29 to support local leaders and bus operators to improve bus services, including around £700 million per year through the Local Authority Bus Grant to help maintain and improve services, support rural connectivity and invest in infrastructure such as bus stops, depots and real-time passenger information. Smaller cities, towns and rural areas will receive £2.3 billion through the Local Transport Grant, giving local leaders greater certainty and flexibility to align transport investment with local needs.

Collaboration with partner agencies and within different parts of a local authority (such as between transport and health and adult social care) can support the development of a flexible transport offer in the most efficient and effective way, potentially even through ‘co-mingling’ (shared use of vehicles to provide different services).

The Department has also published guidance on enhanced partnerships and a bus franchising manual, which includes how DRT may operate within those contexts.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to guarantee long-term funding through Environmental Land Management schemes for farmers in Buckinghamshire.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has committed an average of £2.3 billion a year for farming until 2028/29. The Government plans to offer SFI in 2027 and Ministers have committed to stabilising the main design of SFI for the duration of this Parliament. Details of future offers will be published once design and delivery planning have been completed.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Boarded-up high streets brought back to life with £210m boost, published on 25 September 2026, what assessment she has made of the number of vacant high street properties expected to be brought back into productive use.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The new comprehensive £210m funding package is the first step in our effort to reinvent our high streets ahead of a comprehensive strategy to be published later this year.

Both the £125m Derelict Buildings Fund and £10m implementation support for High Street Rental Auctions will directly tackle vacancy on the high street. The Derelict Buildings Fund will be directly allocated to select local authorities to support them with some of the most challenging sites, unlocking their potential for business, housing and community use. The new £10m funding for High Street Rental Auctions will help councils accelerate and scale delivery, supporting the refurbishment of long-term vacant units. Alongside this, £65m for community ownership funding will support grassroots efforts to purchase assets and revitalise high streets.

Further details regarding these programmes, including the Derelict Buildings Fund selection methodology, will be published in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria her Department will use to determine which local authorities receive funding from the Derelict Buildings Fund.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The new comprehensive £210m funding package is the first step in our effort to reinvent our high streets ahead of a comprehensive strategy to be published later this year.

Both the £125m Derelict Buildings Fund and £10m implementation support for High Street Rental Auctions will directly tackle vacancy on the high street. The Derelict Buildings Fund will be directly allocated to select local authorities to support them with some of the most challenging sites, unlocking their potential for business, housing and community use. The new £10m funding for High Street Rental Auctions will help councils accelerate and scale delivery, supporting the refurbishment of long-term vacant units. Alongside this, £65m for community ownership funding will support grassroots efforts to purchase assets and revitalise high streets.

Further details regarding these programmes, including the Derelict Buildings Fund selection methodology, will be published in due course.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that rural communities in Buckinghamshire receive timely improvements in broadband and mobile connectivity.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Through a combination of commercial market and government subsidised delivery, the government is ensuring 99% of UK premises will have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. In Buckinghamshire this includes approximately 6,430 premises in scope of several Project Gigabit contracts, of which 4,370 have already received a gigabit capable connection.

In relation to mobile connectivity, the Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G coverage by 2030; all network operators have committed to significant investment plans that align with this ambition. The Government continues to work closely with the industry, including to identify and remove barriers to deployment where appropriate to do so.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of teaching (i) the Countryside Code and (ii) practical map-reading skills as part of the National Curriculum.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

There are opportunities within the geography and citizenship curriculums to teach about the countryside code, although this does not feature as a stand-alone topic in the National Curriculum. However, the National Curriculum is a framework designed to give teachers the freedom and flexibility to choose topics with relevance to the subject.

Map-reading skills are set out within the current geography curriculum.

In reforming the curriculum following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are clear that practical disciplinary knowledge and skills should be enhanced.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of likely take-up of the apprenticeship hiring payment among businesses employing fewer than 50 people.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Employers who do not pay the levy, typically small and medium-sized enterprises, are important to the economy and to apprenticeships; in particular, they provide valuable opportunities for younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.

To support non-levy paying employers to meet the additional costs associated with employing young people, we have introduced a new hiring payment of £2,000 when they take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. This applies to apprenticeship starts from 1 October as long as they have joined their employer within the past 90 days.

Apprenticeships are jobs with training, meaning take-up will depend on employers’ workforce needs and hiring decisions.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which sectors his Department expects the apprenticeship hiring payment will generate the greatest additional demand for apprentices.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Employers who do not pay the levy, typically small and medium-sized enterprises, are important to the economy and to apprenticeships; in particular, they provide valuable opportunities for younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.

To support non-levy paying employers to meet the additional costs associated with employing young people, we have introduced a new hiring payment of £2,000 when they take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. This applies to apprenticeship starts from 1 October as long as they have joined their employer within the past 90 days.

Apprenticeships are jobs with training, meaning take-up will depend on employers’ workforce needs and hiring decisions.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he has set a target for increasing bilateral UK-Taiwan trade over the next five years.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Growth is this Government's central mission, and increasing trade and investment with international partners, including Taiwan, will support that objective. Taiwan is the UK's sixth-largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific region, with total bilateral trade reaching £8.9 billion in 2025.

At the recent 28^th annual UK-Taiwan Trade Talks, both sides reaffirmed our shared ambition to grow trade and investment between our markets, using mechanisms including the UK-Taiwan Enhanced Trade Partnership and the work of the Office for Investment to deliver commercial outcomes.