Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) applied for and (b) been awarded Pension Credit in Ribble Valley constituency since 10 July 2024.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department is not currently able to provide constituency data on Pension Credit applications and awards.

Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes, for Great Britain only, were published on 29^th May 2025. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, and outstanding, from week commencing 3^rd April 2023 up to week commencing 19^th May 2025: Pension Credit applications and awards: May 2025. The next quarterly release of Pension Credit applications and awards statistics for Great Britian has been announced for late-August 2025: Pension Credit Applications and Awards Statistics: August 2025 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of attainment was of (a) girls and (b) boys under 11 in (i) maths and (ii) sciences in Ribble Valley constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The percentage of girls and boys in the Ribble Valley constituency at the end of key stage 2, that met the expected standard in mathematics and science in 2023/24, is provided in the table below.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in levels of rural crime in Ribble Valley constituency; and what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support (a) local police forces and (b) rural communities in tackling rural crime.

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

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent theft of farm equipment and fly-tipping.

The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing for everyone in England and Wales, wherever they live. On 10 April, the Prime Minister outlined further details about our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, including that by July, every community, including rural communities, will have named and contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues.

This financial year we will be providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU), as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). The funding boost of over £800,000 in total will help the units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.

This will allow these specialist units to continue their work in tackling rural and wildlife crime which can pose unique challenges for policing given the scale and isolation of rural areas.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities NPCC-Wildlife-Rural-Crime-Strategy-2022-2025.pdf (nwcu.police.uk). We are working closely with the NPCC and Defra to deliver the next iteration of their strategy, to ensure the Government’s Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) increase the provision of and (b) improve autism services in (i) Ribble Valley constituency and (ii) Lancashire.

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

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help integrated care boards (ICBs) and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.

The NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has secured £1.8 million in funding to improve the Neurodivergent Pathway across Lancashire and South Cumbria, which the ICB has decided will primarily focus on children and young people (CYP) in the first instance, given the complexities and inconsistency of current CYP pathways. This investment will support frontline services, digital systems, a redesign of clinical pathways, and an increase in direct support available for families and young people. The ICB is working closely with Lancashire County Council and local schools to ensure the offer is joined up. The ICB has also commissioned an all-age online pre- and post-diagnostic support resource.

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 provide financial support to professionals in the creative sector.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The government provides financial support to creative professionals through DCMS funding programmes, grants from arm’s length bodies and wider government support, including through InnovateUK.

The Creative Industries Sector Plan sets out an ambitious target to increase annual investment in the Creative Industries from £17 billion to £31 billion by 2035 and delivers £380 million of targeted spending in the sector over the next Spending Review. This builds on the £40 million in funding announced earlier this year, supporting cross-sector initiatives plus programmes in music, video games, film and TV.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will make an assessment of the sustainability of local news outlets in (a) Ribble Valley and (b) Lancashire.

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

Sustainability of local journalism across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government, including in Ribble Valley and Lancashire. The Government understands the important work that local news does across the UK, including outlets such as the Lancs Live and the Lancashire Telegraph. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story.

We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors to discuss our planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has now been set up to consider the issues in more detail and we will announce more in the coming months.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Mr Lee Dillon; Maya Ellis

Found: meeting Members present: Florence Eshalomi (Chair); Lewis Cocking; Chris Curtis; Mr Lee Dillon; Maya Ellis

Found: Hayes Dame Caroline Dinenage Luke Myer Catherine Fookes Jas Athwal Sarah Smith Rachel Blake Maya Ellis