Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the numbers of GPs in South Shropshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2025, there were 57.8 full time equivalent doctors in general practice (GP) working in the South Shropshire constituency.
The Government is recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs. Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 2025/26 contract.
We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country which will increase capacity and take the pressure off those currently working in the system.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of training pathways to GP registration in (a) rural areas and (b) general.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme was an initiative that formerly offered a one-off payment of £20,000 to General Practice Specialty Trainees committed to working in a select number of training locations in England that either had a history of under-recruitment or were in under-doctored or deprived areas. It is, however, no longer needed as currently all general practice training places are oversubscribed and, therefore, filled. We will keep the distribution of the workforce, particularly in rural areas, under review.
On 18 February 2025, the Chief Medical Officer and the National Medical Director of NHS England jointly launched a review of postgraduate medical training. The review will cover placement options, the flexibility of training, difficulties with rotas, control and autonomy in training, and the balance between developing specialist knowledge and gaining a broad range of skills. The review will be based on feedback from current resident doctors and students, and locally employed doctors and medical educators, with a series of engagement events around the country starting from this March.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 medical students remain in the (a) UK and (b) medical profession after graduation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to listening to the concerns of resident doctors, and to enhancing and improving their working lives.
We are undertaking a range of work to tackle the issues that resident doctors are facing, including improving working conditions and reforming the current system of rotations and placements, working in partnership with the British Medical Association and other partners, as agreed as part of the pay deal last year.
NHS England’s Enhancing Resident Doctors Working Lives programme continues to implement a number of measures to support resident doctors, encouraging them to stay in training and the National Health Service. This includes measures such as less than full time training options, to allow trainees to continue to work in the service and progress with their training on a reduced working pattern, where this benefits their personal circumstances.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help promote reading for fun in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for South Shropshire to the answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35717.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to focus public sector procurement on locally produced food.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The new national procurement policy statement sets out requirements for Government contracts, favouring high-quality products that we believe British producers are well-placed to supply, aiding our ambition for half of food supplied into public sector catering to be from local producers or those certified to higher environmental standards.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 support (a) prevention and (b) recovery efforts by local flood action groups.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government’s new Flood Resilience Taskforce brings together representatives from national, regional and local government, the emergency services, and the third sector to improve co-ordination between organisations working on floods resilience so they can put in the support that the public needs and bolsters the nation’s floods resilience. The National Flood Forum, who support many local flood action groups, are a key member of our Flood Resilience Taskforce.
I recently met with the Chair and CEO of the National Flood Forum. We explored how their work to establish and support local flood action groups can be further promoted via the Taskforce.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
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 support for residents in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident of accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
Nationally, 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. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out “Young Futures hubs” in every community.
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. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICB) to commission care to meet the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help protect Post Office services in rural areas.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We recognise the key role Post Offices play in their communities, and branches in some rural areas are particularly important as the Post Office often acts as a community hub. We are listening carefully to stakeholders to ensure the whole network, including these important rural branches, is sustainable.
The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens. Government’s minimum access criteria for Post Offices mean that 99% of the UK population must be within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90% must be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department has provided to help support the operation of mayoral combined authorities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Details of funding provided to Mayoral Combined Authorities is published each year in annual devolution reports and can be accessed on gov.uk.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to allocate funding to support (a) sustainability and (b) innovation in the arts, tourism and leisure sector.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has included the Creative Industries as one of the priority sectors in the Industrial Strategy, and as part of this is considering opportunities to support sustainability and innovation in the arts.
At Phase 1 of the Spending Review the Government allocated funding to support the arts and cultural sector, including a £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund that will help to improve the financial and environmental sustainability of arts venues and a £60 million package for the Creative Industries announced at the Creative Industries Growth Moment in January that will help creative business to grow and facilitate innovation.
The Government also supports the tourism industry primarily through funding for the British Tourist Authority to support VisitBritain and VisitEngland.
Any new funding plans will be considered as part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review in June.