Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the growth of women’s grassroots football in West Dorset constituency.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport, including grassroots football, and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport.

The Government is providing £123 million of funding for the UK-wide Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25 alongside our ongoing investment into Sport England. This includes long term investment of £26.1 million into the FA to invest in community football initiatives that will benefit everyone, including women and girls, across the country, including in West Dorset.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take to help fund the replacement of end-of-life rolling stock on South Western Railways. in the context of the planned establishment of Great British Railways.

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

South Western Railway has procured 750 new Class 701 carriages to replace older Class 455 units. The first trains have entered passenger service, with a gradual roll out expected over the next two years.

The Government is in the early stages of formulating a rolling stock strategy. Once established, Great British Railways will take the strategy forward providing a long-term approach to future rolling stock needs and helping to secure better value from the private rolling stock market.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide a breakdown of spending on brain cancer research in 2023-24.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.5 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24. Cancer is a major area of NIHR spend, reflecting its high priority.

In the financial year 2023/24, total NIHR spending on direct research awards on brain cancer was £2.1 million spent across 22 active studies, with a total lifetime value of £11.8 million. In the same year, our wider infrastructure investments, which enable the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research funded by ourselves, charities, and industry partners, allowed an additional 1,107 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain cancer research in the National Health Service.

In addition to direct research awards, NIHR infrastructure funding enables the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research supported by other funders. These investments allowed an additional 1,107 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain cancer research in in the NHS in the same period.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure reliable mobile coverage in rural areas.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This government wants people across the UK to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage.

Through the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver 4G mobile connectivity to places where there is either limited or no coverage at all. Our ambition goes beyond this, and is for all populated areas, including rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030 – and we want to support the industry to deliver this.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the regularity of bus services on vulnerable users in West Dorset constituency.

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

We know that bus services can be a lifeline for many, and are committed to delivering better, more frequent services across the country. That is why we are allocating bus funding based on need not the quality of bids. Dorset Council will receive £3.8m next year, a £2.5m annual increase on the previous year.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage (a) innovation and (b) tech-based start-ups in rural constituencies.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT is accelerating innovation through initiatives like the Higher Education Innovation Funding, currently £280m a year, enabling universities across England to support innovative new businesses in their local areas. Additionally, through the £12.2m Digital Growth Grant, DSIT supports the Ecosystem Partnership Programme which awards funding to regional organisations delivering support in their local ecosystems. This grant also supports a cohort of AgriTech businesses as part of the Industry Bridge programme, connecting startups with corporate partners, delivered by Codebase.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help reduce transportation costs for (a) goods and (b) services in rural economies.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy. DBT works with other departments such as Defra, helping people living and working in rural areas to realise the full potential of rural businesses and communities placing them at the heart of our policymaking.

Our people-first focus will empower local leaders to make the best decisions for their regions, whether that is in rural or urban areas, by taking a place-based approach to transport. The Government has recently launched its plan to develop an Integrated National Transport Strategy, setting out how transport should be designed, built and operated.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial impact on (a) households reliant on Economy 7 and (b) other households using time-of-use tariffs of the reduction of off-peak periods to seven hours.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises the importance of time of use tariffs, and we are putting in place reforms such as Smart Metering and the Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement to support the growth of these products. Tariff setting is a matter for suppliers, including the setting of peak and off-peak tariffs, and is regulated by Ofgem, including through the price cap which already has a variant to accommodate multi-rate tariffs such as Economy 7.

I regularly engage with stakeholders, including consumer groups and energy suppliers, to ensure that the sector meets the differing needs of consumers.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department consulted (a) consumer groups and (b) energy providers on the reduction of off-peak tariff periods associated with smart meters.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises the importance of time of use tariffs, and we are putting in place reforms such as Smart Metering and the Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement to support the growth of these products. Tariff setting is a matter for suppliers, and is regulated by Ofgem, including through the price cap which already has a variant to accommodate multi-rate tariffs such as Economy 7.

I regularly engage with stakeholders, including consumer groups and energy suppliers, to ensure that the sector meets the differing needs of consumers.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing off-peak tariff periods from 12 to seven hours on households reliant on overnight energy use.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises the importance of time of use tariffs, and we are putting in place reforms such as Smart Metering and the Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement to support the growth of these products. Tariff setting is a matter for suppliers, including the setting of peak and off-peak tariffs, and is regulated by Ofgem, including through the price cap which already has a variant to accommodate multi-rate tariffs such as Economy 7.

I regularly engage with stakeholders, including consumer groups and energy suppliers, to ensure that the sector meets the differing needs of consumers.

Free-to-air television coverage of the Six Nations

Heathrow airport third runway expansion

CAMRA Pub of the Year award 2024 for The Bailey Head

Cheltenham Town F.C. and the British Heart Foundation

Publication of fuel court prices

Cancer Connect Yeovil

Flood preparedness

Benefits of outdoor education to children’s wellbeing

Protecting children from sexual abuse

Government response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on communication of changes to women’s State Pension age

Democratic violations and violence in Georgia

Found: Pippa Heylings, Dr Simon Opher, Dr Danny Chambers, Ellie Chowns, Layla Moran, Carla Denyer, Edward Morello

Found: Pippa Heylings, Dr Simon Opher, Dr Danny Chambers, Ellie Chowns, Layla Moran, Carla Denyer, Edward Morello

No description available

This inquiry will explore the extent and effectiveness of the UK’s soft power in what is an increasingly challenging global environment. The inquiry will consider the UK’s unique soft power strengths and ask how the UK might best measure and actualise the benefits it accrues from its soft power. This inquiry will also scrutinise the work of the Government’s new Soft Power Council and any subsequent strategy to strengthen UK soft power.

Submit Evidence (by 24 Feb 2025)

Misinformation and disinformation campaigns are increasingly weaponised by hostile state and non-state actors and this inquiry will seek to understand which actors are primarily responsible, and which channels and technologies are being used. It will seek to map motivations, sources and locations of the most pressing disinformation threats to democracy, and to understand the impact of artificial intelligence. The inquiry will examine how the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) can work with allies and multilateral organisations to combat the spread of disinformation that seeks to undermine democratic values and institutions. The inquiry will also ask how the Government can coordinate its counter-disinformation work across departments and best work with private organisations. This inquiry will take a regional approach by examining disinformation campaigns within Europe, the Americas, Indo-Pacific and Africa, to understand how the UK can better counter disinformation from malign actors.

Submit Evidence (by 6 Mar 2025)

Undersea cables form the backbone of the world’s internet. The UK has around 60 cables which connect us to the outside world, carrying 99% of our data. Concern has been growing about the risk of these cables being sabotaged by foreign states. The consequences would be extensive. This inquiry will examine the UK’s ability to defend our undersea infrastructure, alongside the UK’s national resilience in the event of a major, protracted disruption to our internet connection.