Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to increase the (a) availability and (b) affordability of Post Office services in rural areas.

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

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide further funding to (a) voluntary community and (b) social enterprise organisations responding to local suicide rates.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on decreasing the number of properties required to trigger the flooding recovery framework.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Flood Recovery Framework provides swift, responsive financial support packages to communities, households and businesses suffering the impacts of severe flooding with schemes from MHCLG, DBT and Defra. A review of the Framework is currently underway and we expect this to report on progress later in the autumn.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help Police and Crime Commissioners tackle (a) rural crime and (b) agricultural theft.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to reducing crime and disorder in rural areas, given the devastating impact rural crime can have on communities. Under our reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.

We are also committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which aims to prevent the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to increase funding available for very light rail projects.

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

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.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Northern Ireland Executive on protecting veterans who served in Northern Ireland from vexatious claims in relation to their service.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

I regularly discuss the Government's approach to the legacy of the Troubles with Cabinet colleagues and with the Northern Ireland Executive, and I am consulting widely on the repeal and replacement of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, including with the veterans community.

The Government recognises the dedicated service of the vast majority of members of the Armed Forces, as well as police officers and members of the security services, who did so much to keep people in Northern Ireland safe during the Troubles. Any veteran who does go through legal proceedings will receive welfare and, where appropriate, legal support.

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 sports development in rural communities.

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

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.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve the enforcement of animal welfare penalty notices.

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

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.