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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to reduce barriers to cross-border travel without physical checks for thoroughbred horses.

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

As announced at the UK-EU Leaders Summit on May 19 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone to reduce delays and paperwork at the border. Negotiations with the EU on the SPS agreement are underway. While those discussions are ongoing, we cannot provide a running commentary.

Compliance with the existing Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) controls for equines entering the UK from the EU must continue until further notice, because the UK’s biosecurity and public health must continue to be protected.

Please note that there are no plans to remove the border checks that currently apply to equines entering the UK from the Rest of the World (ROW). These checks remain a vital part of our commitment to safeguarding animal health and maintaining biosecurity.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support farmers impacted by flooding in South Shropshire constituency.

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

The Government is funding Environmental Land Management schemes, which include measures to support farmers with managing flood risks or investing in natural flood management.

The Environment Agency is working in partnership with Shropshire Council, the Severn Rivers Trust and Shropshire Wildlife Trust to deliver natural flood management projects in South Shropshire. Working closely with farmers and landowners, these projects will reduce the impacts of flooding across sub-catchments of the River Teme, benefitting both land and communities.

One such project is the River Corve project, which is now well established. Further projects are progressing in the Ledwyche Brook, Brimfield Brook, and River Onny areas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase levels of deportation of foreign national offenders.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation.

Between this Government coming to power and January 2026, over 8700 foreign national offenders (FNOs) have been returned either voluntarily or by enforced means. This is a 32% increase on the number of FNOs returned in the same period 19 months prior. Figures on deportations, which are a subset of enforced returns, are not separately available.

To further support the returns of those with no right to remain in the UK the Government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.

We are also working to reform Human Rights claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment.

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 help increase the number of youth workers in rural areas.

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

As announced in the National Youth Strategy, we are investing £15 million over the next 3 years in youth workers, volunteers, and other trusted adults to upskill the existing youth sector workforce and increase the number of trusted adults, including youth workers, providing safe support to young people. This will provide funding to youth organisations to help them get and keep the staff and volunteers they need, covering training and qualification bursaries, volunteer support, safeguarding, and new ways to help adults navigate the benefits and challenges of the digital world for young people.

​​Further work is underway to develop detailed plans for our future workforce funding, in partnership with the youth sector and with young people. This includes consideration of how to ensure young people in underserved communities have access to the support they need.

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 support culture and heritage in rural areas.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring everyone has access to culture and heritage, regardless of location.

Over the course of this parliament, £1.5 billion will be invested across the arts, culture and heritage providing support to arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings across England. It aims to keep venues open, finance urgent repairs and infrastructure projects, bolster long-term resilience, and widen access to arts and culture in communities that have faced under-investment, including in rural areas. The funding includes £160 million for local and regional museums; £425 million to support approximately 300 capital projects in arts venues; £230 million to support heritage projects, including listed places of worship; and £80 million to support Arts Council England's (ACE) National Portfolio Organisations.

ACE plays an important role in supporting arts and culture across the country through its national funding schemes, and is committed to responding to the specific needs of rural areas, supporting artists working in rural areas, improving access for rural audiences and building partnerships for growth. In their 2023–26 investment programme (the ‘National Portfolio’), worth around £440 million a year, investment to cultural organisations in rural areas increased to £44.6 million, benefiting 110 organisations across the country.

Historic England (HE) also plays a central role in celebrating and conserving culture and heritage within rural areas. HE supports DEFRA’s Environmental Land Management, Historic Buildings Restoration Grant, and Farming in Protected Landscapes schemes, which help to safeguard, repair and restore historic and archaeological features on farmland. Further information on HE’s work to support rural heritage, as well as guidance material, can be found on their website.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to improve the sustainability of post office services in rural areas.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As announced in the Government’s recent response to the Green Paper, we are protecting the sustainability of the Post Office network by retaining the minimum 11,500 branches and keeping all geographical Access Criteria. This will ensure that communities across the UK - including rural and remote areas - continue to have local and reliable access to Post Office services.

Furthermore, the Government continues to support the rural network by providing an annual network subsidy on the basis that Post Office meets the Government-set Access Criteria. For the 2025/26 financial year, the Government has confirmed that the network subsidy will be up to £83 million.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what action is being taken to increase the redistribution of surplus food.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Under the ‘Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate’ scheme, the Government has allocated grants totalling £13.5 million to 11 charities across England. This will help them to redistribute surplus produce from farms and into the charitable sector to provide a discounted or free food offer. The funding is going towards purchasing new packaging and labelling equipment and vehicles to move goods from farms to redistribution organisations, as well as new equipment, like fridges or freezers, to safely store the surplus food collected and ensure it lasts longer.

Defra also funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste. Through the Pact, Defra engages a working group of industry and redistribution sector organisations to develop best practice on how to redistribute surplus quickly and safely. The Pact also supports delivery of the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which helps businesses to identify and measure their surplus and waste and take action to reduce it. This Target Measure Act approach enables food businesses to get more surplus to the redistribution sector.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what action is being taken to increase opportunities for SMEs in defence supply chains.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

This Government has already committed to spending £2.5 billion more with defence SMEs. Central to driving this pledge is the recent establishment of the new Office for Small Business Growth which will help simplify and speed up cumbersome processes, provide advice to SMEs and encourage private sector investment. We have also recently announced a £20 million fund to offer accelerated contracts to small, innovative British startups, as well as establishing a protected budget of £400 million for UK Defence Innovation.  We're breaking down barriers and opening new avenues for innovation, ensuring that our SMEs can play a vital role in strengthening our defence capabilities.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to increase energy security.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is strengthening energy security by reducing dependency on volatile global fossil fuel markets and delivering a diverse, secure and clean energy system based on renewables and nuclear, backed up by unabated gas supply to be used only when essential.

Delivering the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan will require £40 billion of investment into generation and network projects per year. This includes major upgrades to the electricity grid, expanding the renewable auction process, and speeding up planning decisions to prioritise critical infrastructure.

The Government has also launched Great British Energy, which aims to invest in offshore wind, and provide long term support for carbon capture and hydrogen, while ensuring reliable fossil fuel supply.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support is available for community transport schemes in rural areas.

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

The Government recognises the vital role community transport operators play in connecting people with their communities, enabling access to employment, education and other essential services such as healthcare, including in rural areas.

The Department makes up to £3.8 million available each year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to community transport operators. An uplift of 60% has been added to BSOG claims for community transport operators until 31 March 2026. This means community transport operators will receive £1.60 for every £1 claimed, reflecting the increased costs faced by the sector.

The Government is also providing over £3 billion for bus services from 2026/27 over the remainder of the spending review period. This includes nearly £700 million per year for local authorities through the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG). The formula used to calculate LABG allocations for 2026/27 onwards includes consideration of the rurality of local areas for the first time, in addition to population size, levels of deprivation, and the extent of existing bus services.

Shropshire Council will be allocated £13.1 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £4.5 million they are already receiving this year. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including expanding services and improving reliability. This could include supporting some community transport services.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support older people in rural areas.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to supporting pensioners and ensuring they have financial security and dignity in retirement. The State Pension remains the foundation of our support for pensioners. In April this year, both the basic and new State Pensions will increase by 4.8%, benefitting over 12 million pensioners by up to £575. Our commitment to maintain the Triple Lock throughout this Parliament – helping to raise the value of the State Pension over time – will see pensioners’ yearly incomes rising by up to £2,100.

Pension Credit continues to provide vital financial support for pensioners who, for whatever reason, find themselves on a low income. It does this by guaranteeing a minimum level of income – called the Standard Minimum Guarantee – which will also increase in April by 4.8%, protecting the most vulnerable pensioners.

Crucially, receipt of Pension Credit opens the door to additional support, including Housing Benefit, Council Tax support, help with NHS costs, help with fuel bills, and a free TV licence for those aged over 75. Maximising Pension Credit take-up remains a key departmental priority, which is why we have run the biggest campaign to date across Great Britain encouraging pensioners and their families to check their eligibility and to apply.

Around nine million pensioners in England and Wales with an income of £35,000 or less also receive additional support through the Winter Fuel Payment. Housing Benefit continues to support pensioners who rent, and pensioner homeowners on income-related benefits, including Pension Credit, may receive Support for Mortgage Interest to help with interest on eligible secured loans.

The Household Support Fund remains available for those facing financial hardship, with funding running until March 2026. From April 2026, the new Crisis and Resilience Fund will provide a long-term mechanism for local authorities to support vulnerable households with essential costs such as food and energy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what action is being taken to support heritage within historic market towns.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Market towns are an important part of our national story. In March of last year, Minister Peacock responded to the Westminster Hall Debate on the Cultural Heritage of Market Towns outlining this importance.

Heritage funding can be accessed for projects in market towns and is administered through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length Bodies. The National Lottery Heritage Fund provides grants of £10,000 to £10 million for heritage projects. Similarly, Historic England can provide grants, funding and advice.

In January 2026, the Secretary of State announced nearly £200 million of new heritage funding will be made available over the next 4 years. This includes £60 million for for at risk heritage which provides grants towards repairs and conservation of historic buildings, £41 million for the Heritage Revival Fund which helps communities to take control of and look after local heritage and bring buildings back into public use and £92 million for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund, a new capital scheme to support places of worship.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support affordable housing delivery in rural areas.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is currently consulting on a new National Planning Policy Framework, that includes clearer, ‘rules based’ policies for decision-making and plan-making.

The consultation includes proposals to strengthen support for rural exception sites, which deliver affordable housing to meet local needs in rural areas, and to make it easier for authorities to require affordable housing on smaller sites in rural areas.

The consultation will remain open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.

I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 101017 on 6 January 2026 and to the Written Ministerial Statements made on 2 July 2025 (HCWS771) and 28 January (HCWS1283).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support communities impacted by flooding in South Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Government support for communities affected by flooding is assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on the scale and nature of the impact on the affected area.

In the first instance, local authorities are expected to have well-established contingency arrangements in place and therefore be able to support their local communities from within their existing budgets.

The Flood Recovery Framework (the Framework) is typically deployed following severe weather incidents with significant flood impacts across multiple local authority areas.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on the delivery of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee in South Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee set out commitments for police forces to implement, by July 2025, and by the end of Parliament. Forces are now delivering on the Guarantee across England and Wales to ensure consistent and high-quality neighbourhood policing, including in South Shropshire.

West Mercia Police now have named, contactable neighbourhood officers, dedicated to addressing local issues. The force guarantees a 72-hour response to neighbourhood queries, provides regular engagement opportunities including beat meetings, maintains up to date online information on neighbourhood policing teams, and has a designated anti-social behaviour lead. These measures ensure a consistent, visible and responsive neighbourhood policing across the area.

Based on their £3,108,283 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, West Mercia Police are projected to grow by 51 FTE NHP officers in 2025-26. As at 30 September 2025, West Mercia Police have grown by 36 (FTE) Neighbourhood Policing officers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to promote police visibility in rural areas.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee has named, contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues in every neighbourhood, including rural areas.

Forces are ensuring neighbourhood policing teams spend the majority of their time within the areas they serve, delivering visible patrols across communities and engaging directly with residents and businesses.

In addition, forces are increasing targeted patrols in local hotspots, based on demand and intelligence, to provide enhanced visibility and reassurance. This is supported by the commitment to deliver 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament, strengthening visible policing across England and Wales, including rural areas.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to support British SMEs in public procurement.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.

Since coming into office, this Government has published a new, more ambitious, National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) setting out our vision for public procurement. The NPPS requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).

We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.

We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many family hubs there are in a) urban and b) rural areas.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

At present, there are 675 Family Hubs in 88 local authorities funded by the department. Of these, based on the Office of National Statistics classification of Rural and Urban, 627 are based in urban areas and 48 are based in rural areas.

The department has set a clear ambition for 70% of hubs to be in the 30% most disadvantaged areas. From April we will be rolling out hubs nationally, meaning they will be in every local authority.

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 improve mental health in rural areas.

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

Whilst there may be mental health benefits associated with living in rural areas, such as through increased access to green space, living in rural areas may also present risks to mental health. For example, some people living in rural areas may have reduced access to services or experience loneliness and isolation. Latest data show that 22.6% of people have a common mental health condition in England and regional disparities are evident, as 20.6% of people in the North West had a common mental health condition compared to 24.6% in the North East and 16.3% in the South East.

The Farmer Welfare Grant supports projects improving the mental health and wellbeing of farming people in England. The projects aim to support farmers and their families by offering essential services such as online resources, workshops, training, networking, and one-to-one help.

We are making it easier than ever to access mental health support through the NHS App and expanding access to NHS Talking Therapies. This will benefit people living in rural areas who may be far from a physical service provider. We’re expanding Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029. This means all pupils will have access to mental health support in England. We are also opening new 24/7 Mental Health Centres around the country, backed by £473 million of capital funding for local systems.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase reading for fun in South Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change, during 2026 and beyond. It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.

We are raising awareness of the National Year of Reading through a range of methods, such as via departmental communication channels, the National Year of Reading mailing list and social media, communications from the National Literacy Trust, and promotion via the English Hubs network.

The Reading Agency are also providing public libraries with resources, toolkits and print and digital materials to activate the National Year of Reading. Schools and Early Years settings in South Shropshire and across the UK can access a range of engaging online webinars, resources and activities throughout the year. More information can be found at: https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/schools/.

This government is also providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, as well as committing over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament.

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 improve access to NHS dentistry in South Shropshire constituency.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. For the South Shropshire constituency, this is the NHS Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin ICB.

The Government is committed to ensuring people can access urgent dental care when they need it. Over the past year, ICBs have been commissioning additional urgent dental appointments and there is now an urgent care safety net available in all areas of the country. 1.8 million additional courses of NHS dental treatment have been delivered in the seven months between April 2024 to October 2025 compared to the corresponding months prior to the general election.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help support hairdressing businesses.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The hair and beauty sector play an important role in supporting jobs, high streets and local economies. We’ve introduced permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties and have provided £4.3bn to shield ratepayers from bill increases.

We continue to back employers who take on apprentices, by providing £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged 16-19; employers are not required to pay National Insurance Contributions for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year). Additionally, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care, when their employer has fewer than 50 employees.

I will continue to engage closely with the sector, including through the Personal Care Roundtables, to ensure the industry’s long-term growth. This includes working with hair and beauty businesses as we bring forward a new High Streets Strategy later this year.

Found: Stuart Anderson: That is a good question.