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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Rural England’s State of Rural Services 2025 report and what steps they are taking to improve access to services in rural areas.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government welcomes the work of the Rural England CIC and Professor Martin Phillips on their fourth State of Rural Services report. This important research underlines the importance of our commitment to improve the provision of services for rural communities going forward, including healthcare and education.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increasing A Level attainment gap between the North East and London and what steps they are taking to reduce this gap.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter where they are from. However, we know pupil attainment varies considerably across the country and between regions. These disparities are not acceptable.

Through the Opportunity Mission, the department will improve opportunities and life chances across the country for all children and young people.

High and rising standards are key to strengthening outcomes and closing gaps for every child and young person. We are driving these improvements through new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, and our commitment to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools and in our colleges, over the course of this parliament.

Despite this, there is further work to do, which is why our schools and post-16 skills white papers later this year will set out our vision for a system that drives educational excellence for all, regardless of background or where they live.

Found: Finlay of Llandaff; Lord Goddard of Stockport; Lord Goodman of Wycombe; Lord Markham; The Lord Bishop of Newcastle

Found: Stockport; Lord Goodman of Wycombe; Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town; Lord Markham; The Lord Bishop of Newcastle

Found: failure of implementation, HL Paper 10046 support.167 Lord Palmer of Childs Hill and the Lord Bishop of Newcastle

Found: LORD PALMER OF CHILDS HILL THE LORD BISHOP OF NEWCASTLE 78_ After Clause 17, insert the following new

Found: LORD PALMER OF CHILDS HILL THE LORD BISHOP OF NEWCASTLE 78_ After Clause 17, insert the following new

Found: LORD PALMER OF CHILDS HILL THE LORD BISHOP OF NEWCASTLE 78_ After Clause 17, insert the following new