Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to ensure integrated care boards covering the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency have the capacity to deliver palliative and end of life care closer to home.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life, including in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency, and enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the forthcoming palliative care and end-of-life care framework on the provision of palliative care services in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life, including in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency, and enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of a standard class annual rail season ticket from (a) Bletchley and (b) Milton Keynes to London Euston was in 2010.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The cost of an annual season ticket in 2010 between London and a) Bletchley was £3,316 and b) Milton Keynes was £3,832.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what specific measures his Department will offer companies located in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency to help them navigate any non-tariff barriers emerging from Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership dialogues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My officials engage extensively across the UK and overseas to assess opportunities and identify non-tariff barriers arising from CPTPP membership. This includes hosting targeted events and webinars to promote the utilisation of the Agreement, providing updates on the latest developments, and gathering feedback from businesses on how CPTPP is working in practice.
The Department’s business-facing teams are equipped with the tools and information they need to confidently engage with businesses, helping them understand and navigate non-tariff barriers, and access commercial opportunities across CPTPP markets.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what framework his Department intends to put in place to help small and medium sized enterprises in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency engage with Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership markets.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade provides practical CPTPP guidance for businesses via business.gov.uk market pages. This covers policy areas such as rules of origin, preferential tariffs and digital trade, as well as sector-specific guidance for CPTPP countries.
Small and medium sized businesses can access export support through our UK and overseas teams using our digital enquiry service, and tailored assistance is available on business.gov.uk to help businesses enter new markets and expand their presence in existing ones. We actively engage through events and working with the wider business community to promote CPTPP opportunities.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department will take to assess the opportunities for businesses in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency to benefit from recent developments in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Last week, I met with other CPTPP Ministers in Melbourne, where they agreed to launch accession talks with Uruguay, held trade and investment dialogues with both the EU and ASEAN, and agreed on areas where the CPTPP Agreement can be improved.
These developments demonstrate our strong commitment to the continued expansion of high-standard, rules-based trade to benefit businesses across the UK, as outlined in the Trade Strategy.
Access to new markets, closer relations with other trading blocs and improved rules will create opportunities for businesses across the UK, including those in Bletchley and Buckingham.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the likely effect on regulatory alignment for UK businesses resulting from future Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership rule-reviews.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Assessment of the effects of regulatory alignment under the CPTPP Agreement relate to the CPTPP Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Chapter.
While this chapter does not require regulatory alignment, it encourages greater transparency for CPTPP members to be better informed about the development of product regulations and conformity assessment requirements. The chapter enables members to request technical discussions and provides routes to address issues.
For CPTPP to remain of the highest possible standard, the UK has engaged in the General Review process in a way which seeks to protect and promote UK interests, including on the TBT chapter.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what impact assessment his Department has made of increased Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership membership on trade flows to and from the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to the published Impact Assessment, the UK’s accession to CPTPP will help boost the South East’s economy by around £450 million in the long run. However, no analysis was undertaken at a constituency level.
HMRC statistics show that 2024 trade flows between the South-East region of England and CPTPP markets (excluding Brunei) comprised goods exports worth £2.8 billion. The South-East had the third-highest goods exports to CPTPP countries in the UK.
My Department will continue to measure trade flows across the UK to ensure that all businesses can make the most of the opportunities offered by the Agreement’s expansion.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support mechanisms her Department has in place for schools in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency considered at risk of failing to meet attendance improvement targets.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling absence is central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Children attended over 5.3 million additional days in the 2024/25 school year compared to the 2023/23 school year, with over 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent.
Our statutory ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets clear expectations for schools to take a support-first approach, using data to identify patterns and intervene early.
To support this, our attendance baseline improvement expectations (ABIEs) set out the minimum improvement expected over an academic year, based on each school’s context and previous year’s attendance. Schools’ progress against their ABIEs informs the type of support offered.
ABIEs are a starting point, not a limit. Schools are encouraged to work, towards pre-pandemic attendance levels or better. Indicative ABIEs are available now, with full introduction in 2026/27.
Alongside ABIEs, schools receive ‘similar schools’ reports which name higher-performing schools with comparable characteristics and provide advice on how to contact them to share strategies. Schools can also access an updated attendance improvement toolkit for practical advice on attendance improvement. For schools facing the greatest challenges, we are rolling out up to 90 Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, to deliver structured peer support and bespoke improvement plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to schools in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on minimum attendance improvement targets.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling absence is central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Children attended over 5.3 million additional days in the 2024/25 school year compared to the 2023/23 school year, with over 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent.
Our statutory ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets clear expectations for schools to take a support-first approach, using data to identify patterns and intervene early.
To support this, our attendance baseline improvement expectations (ABIEs) set out the minimum improvement expected over an academic year, based on each school’s context and previous year’s attendance. Schools’ progress against their ABIEs informs the type of support offered.
ABIEs are a starting point, not a limit. Schools are encouraged to work, towards pre-pandemic attendance levels or better. Indicative ABIEs are available now, with full introduction in 2026/27.
Alongside ABIEs, schools receive ‘similar schools’ reports which name higher-performing schools with comparable characteristics and provide advice on how to contact them to share strategies. Schools can also access an updated attendance improvement toolkit for practical advice on attendance improvement. For schools facing the greatest challenges, we are rolling out up to 90 Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, to deliver structured peer support and bespoke improvement plans.