Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking under GBR to increase cross border rail connections, such as the Wrexham-Shropshire-Midlands Railway.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department intends to bring section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 into force.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to addressing the longstanding issues with private sewerage. Government recognises that current arrangements of sewer adoption need review.
We have recently consulted on the adoption of shared amenities, including SuDS and sewers, and are now considering next steps. As part of this, we will consider whether section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 should be brought into force.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, of the £21 billion of new local transport funding announced across the Comprehensive Spending Review period, how much funding is allocated to (a) Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, (b) Mayoral Strategic Authorities, and (c) local councils not within a combined authority.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will receive c£7.7bn of transport funding through their integrated settlement over the Spending Review period from 2026/27 to 2029/30 (to 2028/29 for Resource Funding).
Mayoral Strategic Authorities with a mayor in place will receive c£4bn of transport funding through the Mayoral Transport Fund over the same period.
All other local transport authorities will receive c£9.6bn of local transport funding over the Spending Review period, via the Integrated Transport Fund and Bus Services Fund. This includes c£1.2bn for Foundation Strategic Authorities (combined authorities without an elected mayor) and c£2.9bn for local authorities that are part of the Devolution Priority Programme and are due to be established as Mayoral Transport Authorities.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how competition regulations on state aid are applied by the Office of Rail and Road when assessing applications for Open Access rail services; and what changes are expected following the ORR's move into her Department.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Under the current framework, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is responsible for making access decisions in line with its statutory duties. Moving forward, this will change as Great British Railways takes over responsibility for managing access to the network and ORR takes on a new role to hold GBR to account and ensure fairness and transparency for all operators. ORR will not, however, become part of the Department for Transport – it will remain independent.
All public bodies, including ORR and the future GBR, are obliged to comply with subsidy control and competition legislation across all of their activities, and this will remain the case.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which English counties do not have a direct train link to London; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lack of such links on those counties.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The only English county that does not have a direct train service from London is Shropshire.
The department requires its operators to plan services and rail timetables that are designed to meet expected passenger demand and provide value for money for the taxpayer. Looking ahead to GBR, this offers us the opportunity to go further with optimising train services and driving up utilisation. Through GBR’s directing mind function, services and timetables will be developed in a coherent fashion that drives up network performance and improves the journey experience.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to develop a single national fibre broadband coverage map that identifies gaps in connectivity.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the importance of fast and reliable broadband connectivity across the UK and is committed to identifying and addressing gaps in coverage, in line with our ambition to achieve 99% gigabit broadband coverage by 2032.
Ofcom is responsible for collecting data and reporting on broadband coverage at national, regional, and local levels. This information is already publicly available through their Connected Nations reports and interactive tool, which illustrates via heat maps coverage in nations, local authorities, and constituencies. For consumers, Ofcom also provides a broadband availability address checker.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) uses Open Market Reviews to collect and analyse data from suppliers, to identify which premises are likely to require public subsidy to receive a gigabit-capable connection and uses this information to support delivery of Project Gigabit. The raw data is published by BDUK, with the latest release in January 2026: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/september-2025-omr-and-premises-in-bduk-plans-england-and-wales.
Some third-party websites use the data published by BDUK to produce their own publicly available coverage maps.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the arrangements for managing unclaimed estates and properties under Bona Vacantia.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The collection and disposal of bona vacantia monies arising from the estates of deceased people & dissolved companies is managed by the Treasury Solicitor as the Crown’s Nominee, with the proceeds passing each year to HM Treasury. Such arrangements are set out in the Crown’s Nominee Account which is laid annually before Parliament.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming Bona Vacantia arrangements to permit local authorities to take ownership of unclaimed residential properties for public use.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The revenue from the collection of bona vacantia, including that from the open market sales of any residential property, is transferred annually to the Consolidated Fund for the general funding of HM Government expenditure for the general benefit of all citizens.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when veterans with more complex circumstances can expect to receive their Remediable Service Statements under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 remedy.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
While there is currently no specific date for the completion of these cases, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working through them as quickly as possible and is monitoring progress with the contractor on a weekly basis.
The outstanding cases are inherently complex and are being prioritised to ensure they are resolved as swiftly as possible. Work is underway to develop a completion schedule, aligned with the implementation of an updated commercial framework.
The MOD is committed to providing further updates and clarity on timelines as soon as possible. Information was published earlier this month on GOV.UK under 'Remediable Service Statement Delivery Update', and a further update will be made available in April.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pensions-and-compensation-for-veterans#remediable-service-statement-delivery-update
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, when the Church will be opening the Church of England Redress Scheme to applications.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
Following the Abuse Redress Measure receiving Royal Assent on the 18th December 2025, the National Church Institutions (NCIs) are finalising the technical operational details before the scheme launches. The NCIs are working with a multi-stakeholder Steering Board, survivors and the scheme’s administrator to put the operational arrangements for the scheme in place, including building and testing the application process and preparing support systems and communications.
The NCIs are working to ensure the scheme launches in 2026 and will provide as much notice as possible via the scheme’s website, where any interested party may register for updates: www.redresscofe.org/w/webpage/registration.