Geoffrey Cox

The government is not responsible for providing access to post boxes.

Section 29(6) of the Postal Services Act 2011 requires Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to secure the provision of sufficient access points.

Royal Mail is currently required by Ofcom’s Designated Universal Service Provider (DUSP) condition 1.8.1 to provide a post box within half a mile, by straight line distance, of the premises of at least 98% of users of postal services.

No, providing a lesser interim service that would be replaced in the near future would involve the government providing a subsidy in some areas twice over, which would not be an efficient use of public funding.

The Torridge and Tavistock constituency is included in BDUK’s cross regional framework which has been signed, under which we expect infrastructure will start being deployed in early 2025.

Project Gigabit is delivering gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. Our goal is for nationwide gigabit coverage by 2030, ensuring at least 99% of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable connection.

Although the vast majority of premises will receive a gigabit capable broadband connection through commercial activity or Project Gigabit, it will be prohibitively expensive to provide a gigabit capable fibre connection to a very small proportion of premises. These very hard to reach premises may require additional government intervention by alternative means to help provide them with ultrafast connections.

UK Research and Innovation’s Medical Research Council spends around £3 million each year on epilepsy research, spanning discovery science and fundamental understanding of the disease through to new approaches for diagnosis and intervention. Such as £2.64 million to University College London for A Network Approach to Gene Therapy for Refractory Epilepsies.

Between April 2019 and March 2024 Innovate UK has awarded a total of £8.38 million of grant funding to 25 projects relating to epilepsy.

In addition, the 2023/24 Early Career Researchers fund allocated over £1.6 million of funding towards epilepsy research, mainly through the Epilepsy Institute to advance research into the causes, prevention and treatment of epilepsy and its associated conditions.

School buildings are integral to high and rising standards and need to be fit for the future. That is why we remain committed to improving the condition of the school estate, and the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) continues as part of that.

The department wrote to Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust in July 2023, to inform them that Tavistock College has been placed in Group 2 of the SRP. Projects have been prioritised according to the condition of their buildings and other relevant criteria. We anticipate that Tavistock College will commence with planning and feasibility work early in 2026. SRP projects typically take between two and five years to deliver.

Specific start dates will be communicated to the school and responsible body at least a month in advance of project start and, where possible, we will bring projects forward if we are able to do so. The scope of the works will be discussed with the school and responsible body once the project enters delivery.

Defra will work side-by-side with industry and stakeholders across the food system to deliver lasting change and will consider options for specific events as appropriate.

The Farming Resilience Fund (FRF) was developed to help farmers through the early years of the Agricultural Transition, specifically to assist farm businesses to adapt to the initial reductions in the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

Feedback about the FRF has been overwhelmingly positive, including about the services offered by Business Information Point on behalf of Devon County Council.

Defra will carefully consider the findings from the Farming Resilience Fund, alongside other advisory programs, to shape what any future support might look like.

In April, the previous Government published the response to the independent review of protected site management on Dartmoor.

Central to that was agreeing to the recommendation of creating a land use management group for Dartmoor, to reinforce Dartmoor’s existing governance - providing a place for cooperation and collaboration between key stakeholders and our arm’s length bodies.

Following the general election, we are now in the process of appointing the independent chair of the group – with applications for the role closing on 3 September and interviews taking place shortly.

The new group will play a key role in delivering a Land Use Framework and land-use plan for Dartmoor, as well as the other recommendations attributed to the group in the government response.

Further information can be found on GOV.UK here.

I will meet with hon. and Rt hon. Members representing constituencies in Devon, and key stakeholders, to discuss these issues.

The new Moorland Offer, as outlined on the Government website, includes 10 new actions to be included in Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and two new and one amended action to be included in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). The new offer will provide payment for grazing with both cattle and ponies and will make both cattle and ponies eligible under the native breeds at risk supplement. The competition between the two has been removed as recommended in the Dartmoor review. In the new offer, ponies are exempt from stock removal requirements, in recognition that removal of ponies from moorland is neither feasible nor desirable in most circumstances.

Full details of the expanded and improved SFI offer available to farmers were published by the government on Tuesday 21 May 2024. Expressions of interest have now opened for those wishing to apply through the Sustainable Farming Incentive controlled roll out. The application window for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) will be confirmed shortly. Farmers and other eligible land managers can apply for an SFI agreement to run alongside their existing agreement, if:

• They or their land are eligible for each scheme
• The activities or outcomes they are being paid for are compatible

They will not be paid twice for a similar activity or outcome on the same area of land at the same time (known as ‘double funding’). It should be noted that those managing land designated as SSSI will need to obtain Natural England consent for their grazing management actions; this is part of Natural England statutory duty regarding the protection of SSSIs. Those managing land not designated as a SSSI will not need to discuss their grazing management with Natural England to enter into a Sustainable Farming Incentive agreement.

The new moorland offer will be subject to monitoring and evaluation, particularly in the first year. Any change in the pony population during this time will be investigated and further mitigations will be explored if necessary.

Ministers meet regularly with MPs of all parties to discuss rail infrastructure projects at surgeries.

Future rail infrastructure investment will be considered as part of the current Spending Review, which will be concluded in June 2025.

Future rail infrastructure investment will be considered as part of the current Spending Review, which will conclude in June 2025.

Department for Transport ministers have not recently consulted with relevant stakeholders on the line north of Bere Alston. The project to reopen the line is being considered as part of the Spending Review, which will be concluded in June 2025.

I refer the Rt. Hon. member to the answers I gave to Questions 34236 and 34237 on 7 March 2025.

Additionally, as set out in the Plan for Implementation, the New Hospital Programme (NHP) review used a range of data to assess in scope schemes including the North Devon District Hospital scheme. This included assessing each scheme under criteria for mitigated risk, including health deprivation, deliverability and transformation opportunity.

As part of this process, the review also used professional expertise and judgment of clinical, programme, construction and finance colleagues from within the NHP, the Department and NHS England to identify and overlay other factors of concern before the schemes were prioritised.

The safety of National Health Service staff and patients is a top priority for the Government. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a vital part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) will collectively receive over £4 billion in annual capital allocations in 2025/26, which will be managed locally, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including ensuring safety at New Hospital Programme sites. Devon ICB, responsible for North Devon District Hospital has been allocated £104 million in operational capital for 2025/26.

Recently published NHS planning guidance set out the NHS’s operational capital envelopes, national capital programmes and allocation processes for 2025/26. This includes a £750 million estates safety fund to help ensure hospitals are safe and sustainable, of which £11 million has been provisionally allocated to Devon ICB. I would encourage Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to discuss options with Devon ICB, to allocate operational capital and national capital programme allocations towards safety works at their sites.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the New Hospital Programme, which included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

We know that delivering high quality National Health Service healthcare services requires safe and effective infrastructure. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a vital part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future. The Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB), responsible for the North Devon District Hospital, has been allocated £104 million in operational capital for 2025/26 which will be managed locally, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including ensuring safety at hospital sites. Recently published NHS planning guidance set out a £750 million estates safety fund for 2025/26 to help ensure hospitals are safe and sustainable, £11 million of which has been provisionally allocated to the Devon ICB.

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the New Hospital Programme, which included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was laid in the House Library and published on 20 January, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment

We know that delivering high quality National Health Service healthcare services requires safe and effective infrastructure. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a vital part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future. The Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB), responsible for the North Devon District Hospital, has been allocated £104 million in operational capital for 2025/26 which will be managed locally, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including ensuring safety at hospital sites. Recently published NHS planning guidance set out a £750 million estates safety fund for 2025/26 to help ensure hospitals are safe and sustainable, £11 million of which has been provisionally allocated to the Devon ICB.

We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course, including through NHS Planning Guidance, and the usual consultations.