Stuart Anderson

Church buildings are community assets as well as places of worship and almost 80% of churches are involved in 35,000 social action projects annually.

Church Halls are able to apply for support from our Net Zero Carbon programme’s Quick Wins Fund (currently £2.4 million total),which can help church halls become more sustainable and energy efficient.

Through the Archbishops’ Council, the Church Commissioners funded the Buildings for Mission project, which has so far provided £6.2 million to all 41 dioceses across England for grants for repairs to churches. A further £3.2 million has funded over 30 Church Buildings Support Officers to help parishes most in need in rural and urban areas to keep their church buildings in good repair and extend their use by the wider community.

St Michael and All Angels in Lydbury North, which is within the South Shropshire constituency, has received Buildings for Mission funding for urgent roof repairs and heritage at risk. St John the Evangelist in Newcastle on Clun has also received funding for urgent ceiling plastering work restoration, supported by the Buildings Support Officer in the Diocese of Hereford.

The Commission fully supports UK Parliament Week, the largest single public engagement campaign delivered by the UK Parliament.

This year, UK Parliament Week (18–24 November) will reach over two million people, who will take part in over 15,500 activities being organised by schools, youth organisations and community groups all over the UK, in British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, and many countries around the world. Every parliamentary constituency will host some form of UK Parliament Week activity.

UK Parliament Week activities are registered by the public via the UK Parliament Week website. Activities can take many forms. They have previously ranged from themed assemblies and meeting Members of Parliament to artistic and creative activities with a Parliament or democracy theme. All those who register activities are sent either a printed or digital resource to help participants learn about Parliament. The resources include board games and quizzes aimed at school-aged learners.

The Commission invites all Members to participate in UK Parliament Week by encouraging constituents to sign up for events and activities that will help them learn more about the role of Members, the work that Members carry out both at Westminster and in their constituencies, and the importance of parliamentary democracy.

UK Parliament Week is delivered by the Participation team, Parliament’s bicameral public engagement specialists.

This Government is committed to working with the police and other partners to address the blight of rural crime – broadly classified as any crime and anti-social behaviour occurring in rural areas. We are introducing tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, stronger neighbourhood policing, and robust laws to prevent farm theft and fly-tippers.

We are recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and police community support officers across England and Wales.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners, can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities.

Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors work closely with local police officers to tackle farm equipment theft, fly-tipping and other rural crime, and officers from the National Wildlife Crime Unit to tackle wildlife offences.

The CPS provides specialist training to ensure that its prosecutors have the expert knowledge needed to prosecute rural crime.

Each CPS Area also has a crown prosecutor dedicated to act as a Wildlife, Rural and Heritage Crime Coordinator to ensure the specialist knowledge needed to prosecute such offending is readily available.

The Parliamentary Capability Team within the Cabinet Office designs and delivers training for civil servants on all aspects of parliamentary procedure. Parliament Week is an important part of the training calendar every year. This year a programme of events will take place each day designed to improve the awareness and understanding of Parliament across the Civil Service. This will include discussions with the right honourable Leaders of both houses, officials and members. These events are advertised across all departments and open to all to attend.

All businesses can access support through their local Growth Hubs, providing advice and support, shaping the offer around unique needs, whether town or country.

The Secretary of State recently announced the Business Growth Service ensuring businesses across the UK get support and advice from government.

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.

Ministers and officials meet with Ofcom regularly to discuss a range of issues in relation to its role as the regulatory authority for the postal sector, including the overall provision of the universal service obligation.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to monitor and enforce Royal Mail’s delivery of the universal service obligation.

To help ensure that there are affordable post office services in rural areas, the government provides an annual £50m network subsidy to support the delivery of both a minimum number of branches and strong geographical spread of branches in line with published access criteria.

Craven Arms lies within Shropshire County Council area which has been allocated a total of £10.8m of core UK Shared Prosperity Funding, as well as a total allocation of £2.6m in Rural Prosperity Funding. Under the UKSPF delegated delivery model, Shropshire Council can choose to invest in supporting economic growth within specific towns like Craven Arms.

In addition, the Council has received Department of Business & Trade funding of £1.2m since FY21/22 for the Shropshire Growth Hub. Growth Hubs provide local business support and advice, to help drive regional economic growth. Growth Hub support is available across England and businesses of all sizes and sectors can contact their local Growth Hubs, including in rural areas.

The Government recognises the role community groups play in our efforts to tackle climate change. Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan will support Local and Combined Authorities and Community Energy Groups to roll out small and medium‑scale renewable energy projects, to develop up to 8GW of cleaner power by 2030.

The Government also supports the community energy sector through the £10 million Community Energy Fund, which enables communities across England to access grant funding to develop local renewable energy projects for investment.

The Government continues to improve the energy efficiency of hospitals, schools and other public buildings primarily though the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which provides public sector organisations a funding stream to help them install low carbon heating and efficiency measures.

The current application round for funding is open for applications until 25 November 2024. In addition over £80m has been made available through the Low Carbon Skills Fund for owners of public sector buildings to develop their decarbonisation plans.

The Government is committed to the rollout of fast, reliable broadband to all parts of the UK. The latest data from the independent website Thinkbroadband.com shows that over 85% of UK premises can now access a gigabit-capable connection.

To improve coverage further, we currently have over 30 Project Gigabit contracts in place to bring fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million more homes and businesses. In the last few months, the first premises have been connected as part of Project Gigabit contracts in areas including Norfolk, West Yorkshire and South Wiltshire, and the build has now started in earnest in other parts of the country too.

Presuming that the Member is referring to broadband access via Wi-Fi in the home or premises, rather than public Wi-Fi, Project Gigabit is delivering gigabit-capable broadband (accessible to consumers as Wi-Fi) to UK premises, with the goal for nationwide gigabit coverage by 2030, ensuring at least 99% of UK premises can access a gigabit-capable connection. For parts of the UK where this is not possible, the government is considering alternative ways to improve connectivity. These may include wireless or satellite provision.

Premises unable to access a decent broadband connection, may be able to get an improved connection through the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO), which provides a right to request a decent broadband service of at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speed.

According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, 99% of premises in the South Shropshire constituency have access to superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and 48% can access a gigabit-capable (>1000 Mbps) connection.

Remaining premises that are not expected to receive a gigabit-capable connection through suppliers’ commercial rollout are being considered for support through Project Gigabit. This includes approximately 3,400 premises in the constituency that are currently in scope of Project Gigabit contracts across Shropshire.

Overall, 36 Project Gigabit contracts, with a total value of over £1.9 billion, have been signed to date, to bring gigabit-capable broadband to over 1 million rural and hard-to-reach homes and businesses.

Through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), we fund and support interdisciplinary research linking agriculture, nutrition and health to food security, environmental sustainability, and biodiversity.

In 2023-24, BBSRC funded around £140 million on research to improve crop and livestock health and enhance food safety and nutrition, whilst reducing food loss and waste. BBSRC’s wider investments to increase agricultural productivity include the Roslin Institute’s research programmes which have contributed to an estimated ~£18.9bn GVA in 2019-20 through global productivity improvements in agriculture and aquaculture.

This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and the vital role that youth workers play in delivering those services and building trusted relationships.

This government has committed to co-producing a new National Youth Strategy, which is an opportunity to look afresh at the training, recruitment and retention of youth workers, including detached youth workers. As part of the Strategy, we will be engaging closely with young people and the youth sector from across the country over the coming months to fully understand their needs and the issues they consider to be most crucial in addressing.

The Strategy will be published next year.

There is a range of funding available via DCMS and the Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies that supports places of worship, including in rural areas. These include Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; the National Lottery Heritage Fund's £15m Heritage in Need: Places of Worship initiative, funded through the National Lottery between 2023 and 2026; the Churches Conservation Trust, which funds repairs and maintenance of over 350 churches in the CCT portfolio; and Historic England's Heritage At Risk grants, funding £9 million worth of repairs to buildings on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register between April 2024 and March 2025.

The Government recognises that leisure centres are important to communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help people get active.

The ongoing responsibility of conducting renovations to public sport and leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level. Local Authorities work in partnership with operators who manage leisure services.

The Government is committed to improving access to sport and physical activity for everybody. This is central to achieving the aims set out in the manifesto around the health and opportunity missions. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they are in the country, should have access to the best possible facilities and opportunities to get active.

The Government has committed to continued funding for grassroots facilities. £123 million will be invested UK-wide via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2024/25, working with our delivery partner the Football Foundation. Grassroots sport is also funded through the Government’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, who invest over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.

Any decision as to the future of the Fund is a matter for the current Spending Review process.

This government is committed to driving economic growth and supporting opportunity for all. To help achieve these missions, we announced £300 million in the 2025/26 financial year for further education (FE) at the Autumn Budget 2024. We will set out how the additional funding will be distributed in due course.

The department has a number of schemes available to support young people in accessing FE facilities.

The Residential Bursary Fund (RBF) provides financial help towards the costs of accommodation for students attending a number of designated institutions delivering specialist provision. These specialist colleges mainly offer support for study programmes in the land-based sector, for example agriculture and horticulture.

The Residential Support Scheme (RSS) provides financial help for students aged 16 to 18 with the costs of living away from home to participate in a study programme where the substantial level 2 or level 3 qualification within their study programme is not available within daily travelling distance.

The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can be difficult for some students in rural areas.

The 16-19 Bursary Fund helps young people who couldn’t otherwise afford the costs of education to participate. In the 2024/25 academic year, over £166 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with costs such as travel. The allocation to institutions is based, among other factors, on whether students live in rural areas and how far they travel to learn.

It is the responsibility of local authorities to put in place transport arrangements to help young people aged 16 to 18 to access education or training, using funds they have available locally. All local authorities have to prioritise their spending carefully. Local authorities in rural areas face unique challenges, but in these difficult economic times authorities in other types of areas face challenges too.

The actual transport provided by local authorities varies, but sometimes involves giving 16 to 18 year olds access to school transport or bus travel for payment of a flat fee. Unlike for school travel, provision does not need to be free.

Many young people in rural areas have access to a discount or concession on local bus or train travel, either from their local authority or local transport providers. The government also supports local bus travel, including in rural areas, through the Bus Service Operators Grant.

The government publishes guidance for local authorities on their post-16 transport duty. Guidance makes it clear that local authorities need to look at the transport needs of those who live in particularly rural areas where the transport infrastructure can be limited.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and ensuring every child has access to high quality education. The government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced a £1 billion uplift in high needs funding for the 2025/26 financial year, providing additional support and improving outcomes for the more than a million children in the state sector with SEND.

Pupils who need a local authority funded place in a private school, including those with local authority funded education, health and care (EHC) plans, will not be impacted by the changes. This is because local authorities can reclaim the VAT that will be charged.

Most children with SEND, including most with an EHC plan, are educated in mainstream state funded schools. All state funded schools support children with SEND and all children of compulsory age are entitled to a state funded school place that is free for parents. Where a private school place is necessary to support a child with SEND, the local authority will fund it through an EHC plan.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient state school places in their area. Local authorities routinely support parents who need a state funded school place, including where private schools have closed or where pupils move between schools. The department works with local authorities to support place planning and ensure there is capacity in the state funded sector to meet demand.

The National Careers Service in England provides free, up to date, impartial information advice and guidance on careers, skills and the labour market, helping customers make informed choices about their career options, whatever their age, ethnic group and background.

The service is delivered via three channels. These are face to face, telephone and webchat. It is delivered by local, community-based contractors in nine geographic areas, drawing on localised labour market information to provide guidance, helping those who face barriers, including those within rural communities.

The National Careers Service website gives customers 24/7 access to information and advice. Careers advisers are co-located in the majority of Jobcentre Plus offices, providing specialist careers guidance.

The service operates in other settings including community centres, training providers, libraries. A recent initiative in the South West used a specially equipped bus to take careers advice directly to local communities. In some rural settings, where travel can be an issue, telephone appointments are arranged. Virtual jobs fairs and online webinars are offered for customers who may find it difficult to access face to face workshops.

Looking ahead, alongside the Department for Work and Pensions we are working in England to bring together Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service to create a greater awareness and focus on skills and careers, as well as join-up between employability and careers provision, enabling everyone to access and progress in good, meaningful work.

The new service will be a one-stop shop for anyone, including those in rural areas, who wants to look for work, wants help to increase their earnings, or who wants help to change their career or re-train. Employment and careers support will be available to all, not just those on benefits, who want support to find or progress in work.

The department will ensure the service is responsive to local employers, inclusive for all users, and works in partnership with other local services. We will set out more details about this and other labour market reforms through our forthcoming White Paper to Get Britain Working.

In October, the department expanded eligibility for retention incentives to include early career further education (FE) teachers in key science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and technical subjects. FE teachers can currently apply for the payment between 14 October 2024 and 31 March 2025 on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/targeted-retention-incentive-payments-for-fe-teachers.

The targeted retention incentive, aimed at boosting the recruitment and retention of teachers, gives eligible teachers in disadvantaged schools and all colleges up to £6,000 after tax. This has doubled the previous retention payments paid to school teachers and is now available to eligible teachers at all FE colleges, for the first time.

High quality, affordable early education and childcare is essential to ensuring that all our children get the best start in life.

The department recognises that there are differences in the availability of childcare depending on where you live.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics and Ofsted shows variations in the level of access to childcare places across the country, with the most deprived local authorities and rural areas the most likely to be areas that have faced low childcare accessibility over time. The data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-access-to-childcare-in-england/commentary-changes-in-access-to-childcare-in-england.

The government has committed to working with the sector to embed early years within the wider education system, and to find new ways to shift the early education system to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. This starts with the plan to utilise unused space in primary schools to create much needed places in 3,000 nurseries, working in partnership with all parts of the sector and local authorities.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the 'Early education and childcare' statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing

Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. We have recently launched a termly local authority readiness self assessment tool, which is intended to enable local authorities to gauge their progress as we move towards rollout. This will enable the department to work with local authorities to address issues as they emerge.

Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products and the Government is committed to tackling unfairness in the supply chain wherever it exists. Using the 'Fair Dealings' powers in the Agriculture Act 2020 we can introduce regulations, applying to businesses who purchase agricultural products from farmers, which increase transparency and protect farmers from unfair practices.

More broadly, the Government will focus on enabling a more resilient and sustainable farming sector, supporting profitability for farmers. In the Budget announced in October, the Government committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production.

Furthermore, our new deal for farmers includes using the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce and seeking a new veterinary agreement with the European Union to cut red tape at our borders.

The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) is intended to support new and existing rural businesses, including farm businesses, to develop new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy and to support new and improved community infrastructure that will provide essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy.

An evaluation of REPF is underway and will report in Spring 2025.

This Government’s commitment to farmers and food producers remains steadfast. Labour will always champion British farming to boost rural economic growth, strengthen food security and improve the environment.

Defra has £5 billion for the farming budget over two years. This will include the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history: £1.8 billion for environmental land management schemes. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Landscape Recovery all continuing. This funding will deliver improvements to food security as well as the environment.

Enforcement authorities have been able to issue penalty notices for a range of animal health and welfare offences since 1 January 2024. At the end of each financial year, enforcement authorities are required to submit an annual report to Defra on how many penalty notices they have issued. The first annual report from enforcement authorities on penalty notices issued is to be submitted to Defra by June 2025.

Defra is funding training to enforcement authorities such as local authorities and the police to support the effective implementation of penalty notices within their enforcement regime and their effective use as an enforcement tool.

The first annual report from enforcement authorities on penalty notices issued is to be submitted to Defra by June 2025 and a consolidated report will subsequently be published.

We are committed to empowering local leaders to design and operate transport systems that better serve local needs. The Integrated National Transport Strategy will establish a people-first approach to transport across all areas and set the vision for better integration. The Department is already supporting rural connectivity through the Rural Transport Accelerator, and the Buses Bill which will place power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders across England.

We are considering how best to support mass transit long-term as part of the Spending Review and we will work closely with local authorities to understand what is needed to improve and grow their networks by learning from their experiences and building on their successes.

This Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing our road network as a priority, on which Ministers will say more in future.

The previous Government made a number of funding commitments in the Network North Command Paper, and these will be examined closely by this Government in the coming months.

The previous Government made a number of funding commitments in the Network North Command Paper and these will be examined closely by this Government in the coming months.

The government is reforming jobcentres to better match people with the right jobs and provide employment, skills, and career-focused support to individuals, including those in rural and coastal areas.

A new national jobs and careers service will be introduced to help more people find work, as detailed in the Labour Market White Paper published on 26 November. The new service will cover Great Britain but will be flexible, operating differently in different areas to reflect local systems and needs – including rural areas and reflecting devolution settlements in Scotland and Wales.

DWP currently offers tailored employment support through Jobcentres including a review of health, finances and skills for eligible over 50s on Universal Credit, with an online offer available to all. Our 50plus Champions, provide support through Jobcentres, to drive localised activity. In rural communities this includes adapting delivery of tailored employment programs, and Midlife MOT sessions, to ensure attendees in rural communities, can access information on local employability training courses and job opportunities.

All women born since 6 April 1950 have been affected by changes to State Pension age, through changes brought in by the Pensions Acts 1995, 2007, 2011 and 2014. As State Pension age is now the same for men and women, following equalisation, all men born since the 6 December 1953 have also been affected by changes to State Pension age, through the 2007, 2011 and 2014 Pensions Acts. The oldest of the women affected by changes to State Pension age would now be 74 years old, the oldest of the men affected by changes to State Pension age would now be 70 years old.

ONS population estimates suggest that in 2021 there were 41,095 females aged 74 or below currently resident in the South Shropshire constituency.

The Courts have considered the effect of the equalisation and increase of the State Pension age and found that there was no discrimination. Separately the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigated complaints into how the changes were communicated to 1950s born women. The Ombudsman published its final report: Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues on 21 March this year, which we are now considering.

No such discussions took place.

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives and reducing pressures on the NHS.

The UK Health Security Agency publishes the Adverse Weather and Health Plan for England, which sets out a framework for action to protect the population from harm to their health from adverse weather including excess cold and outlines the health risks of cold homes.

Each year the NHS makes robust plans for expected winter pressures. It is important that NHS trusts and local authorities take a joined-up approach to winter planning across the health and care system. NHS England and DHSC wrote to local authorities and NHS trusts on 16 September to set out a national approach to 2024/25 winter planning, and the key steps to be taken to support the delivery of high-quality care for patients this winter.

In the course of conducting the business of her Department, the Secretary of State has many discussions with Cabinet colleagues.

As stated on 07 October (Women’s State Pension Age: Compensation - Hansard - UK Parliament), I am the first Minister in eight years to meet WASPI campaigners to hear their experiences directly.

The Ombudsman’s report took five years to complete and deserves serious consideration. This Government respects the work of the Ombudsman and we are currently working through all aspects of the Ombudsman’s final report along with the evidence provided during the investigation.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to all local authorities on 20 August. The letter acknowledged the vital role local authorities play in supporting their communities. The Government recognises that many local authorities already do a huge amount of work to promote benefit take-up. We are asking that local authorities support our national Pension Credit Awareness campaign and help us reach those eligible pensioners who have not claimed Pension Credit, so they continue to receive an annual Winter Fuel Payment.

Building on last year’s ‘Invitation to Claim’ trial, the Department will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may also be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit.

The Government is determined to ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need. As part of the recent Pension Credit Awareness Week of Action, we joined forces with national charities, broadcasters, and local authorities to encourage pensioners to check their eligibility and make a claim.

From 16 September, we are running a national marketing campaign on a range of channels. The campaign will target potential pension-age customers, as well as friends and family who can encourage and support them to apply.

Our future campaign messaging will also focus on encouraging pensioners to apply for Pension Credit before the 21 December 2024, which is the last date for making a successful backdated claim for Pension Credit in order to receive a Winter Fuel Payment.

We will work with external partners, local authorities, and the Devolved Governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

Integrated care boards are responsible for providing health and care services to meet the needs of their local populations. We plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.

The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England 2023-2028, published September 2023, sets out an ambition to conduct and commission research and data linkage projects, including supporting the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to look at agricultural workers to understand the unique challenges in that occupational group and respond appropriately.

In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission.

The treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease is a priority for the Government. We want people to have the best chance of survival from cardiac arrest, and rapid intervention is central to improving outcomes. This is why the Government increased the number of publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

The Government is committed to improving access to AEDs in public spaces, and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. We made a further £500,000 available from August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the Department’s Community AED Fund. The criteria specified for the original grant continues to apply and will go to applications for AEDs in areas where there is the greatest need, including in areas of high footfall, hot spots for cardiac arrest, and areas that already have low access to AEDs, which could include rural areas.

The Government has committed to tackling suicide. We will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health workers, and these new staff will be specially trained to support people at risk of suicide.

The Department continues to provide funding to a wide range of national and local voluntary and community organisations to support their work on suicide prevention through the £10 million Suicide Prevention Grant Fund, which runs to March 2025.