Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that vulnerable and terminally ill residents in rural communities in Devon can rely on the provision of daily phlebotomy services within a reasonable travelling distance.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is important that people have access to the services they need, and, especially for vulnerable and terminally ill patients, for them to be located in the community, where possible.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs), such as the Devon and Torbay CDC in Torquay, and the Exeter Nightingale CDC, are supporting one of the Government’s top priorities for health, to shift care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home, and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, whilst also reducing pressure on hospitals.

The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective, and urgent care capacity. This money is allocated to systems for them to invest as locally determined.

Investment in diagnostic services, including phlebotomy, is delivered through CDCs and local commissioning arrangements. It is up to local systems to determine how investment supports clinic-based services and domiciliary provision.

In Devon, the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (RDUH) operates community phlebotomy services across the county, including in rural areas. The service provides planned weekday blood tests across local community hospitals, such as Holsworthy Community Hospital and Torrington Hospital. RDUH provides a "Community Collect" service, while home visits for housebound patients can be arranged. Some general practices in Devon are also providing blood tests for patients, as required for a hospital purpose. Further information on the RDUH is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/services/acute-trust/royal-devon-university-healthcare-nhs-foundation-trust/RH8

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that rural and coastal self‑catering and tourism businesses in Devon are adequately supported in the context of (a) increased business rates, (b) rising energy costs, and (c) increased wage and National Insurance contribution pressures.

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

DCMS recognises the vital contribution that rural and coastal self-catering and tourism businesses make to the economy of Devon.

On business rates, the Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills following the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year.

The Government has also protected the smallest businesses  from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by more than doubling the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. That means more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change in 2025/26.

We are also continuing to develop policies to bring down electricity costs relative to gas for the non-domestic sector and intend to consult on options to reduce costs and make low carbon heat the economically rational choice for a wider range of businesses.

DCMS and VisitBritain are actively working to boost visitor numbers and extend the tourism season for coastal and rural operators. The ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign uses the UK’s film and television heritage to drive international visitors into rural destinations, increasing the profile of areas where many self-catering businesses are located.

The forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy will cement these measures, providing a long term plan to increase visitor flows, maximise sector value, and deliver sustainable growth for our coastal and rural communities.

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 publish the number of Catchment Sensitive Farming grant applications in Devon and Cornwall applied for in 2025 that are still to be processed.

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

Catchment Sensitive Farming acts as an advisory and endorsement route for relevant Farming Grants and includes Capital Grants and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier where applications have included specific items.

In the 2025 scheme year, the Rural Payments Agency received 271 Capital Grant and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier applications from farm businesses in Devon and Cornwall that required and had received Catchment Sensitive Farming support from Natural England. Of these, there are three applications that have not been offered an agreement as yet.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussion she has had with Natural England and the Environment Agency to enable Catchment Sensitive Farming teams in Devon and Cornwall to process applications expeditiously.

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

Following the closure of the 2025 Environmental Land Management Capital Grant, Catchment Sensitive Farming have worked with farmers and land managers to prepare for the 2026 Capital Grants round. Catchment Sensitive Farming advice is very popular and there is the need to prioritise advice and support visits for those who have already requested one. This means Catchment Sensitive Farming are now focusing efforts on those who have already requested a visit to support 24 items in the 2026 Capital Grant offer. Once the offer opens in July Catchment Sensitive Farming will start accepting new requests for advisory visits.