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 potential impact of ambulance station closures on ambulance response times in (a) Shropshire (b) rural areas and (c) England.

No specific assessment has been made. Responsibility for the delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for services ultimately rests with the appropriate National Health Service commissioner. The West Midlands Ambulance Service have two hubs in Shropshire and no current plans to change that.

Integrated care boards are best placed to work with and consult local health and care organisations, local authorities and local stakeholders to decide how to best deliver and meet their local population care needs and national targets for ambulance response times. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.