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 access to healthcare facilities in rural areas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since June 2022, the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) across England have been responsible for arranging National Health Service healthcare services which meet the needs of their respective populations, reflecting the diversity of need within these. The local ICB is therefore responsible for ensuring that NHS services are accessible in their area.
NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to ICBs. This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA).
The ACRA endorsed the introduction of a new community services formula, that they believe will better recognise needs for much older populations with higher needs for certain community services which on average tend to be in some rural, coastal, and remote areas.
Work is also underway across the Department and with NHS England and the regional directors of public health to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities. In line with the Government’s Health Mission, the Department’s goal is to create a more equitable healthcare system that leaves no person or community behind.
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, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 5 December 2024 from the hon. Member for South Shropshire, inviting him to meet farmers in his constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thank you for your invitation. Ministers regularly engage and visit farmers across England and have met with farming organisations and representatives nearly every week since coming into Government, and I hope to visit farmers in your constituency soon.
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 improve the quality of bathing water sites in (a) Shropshire and (b) the West Midlands.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bathing waters are a vital public amenity, and we are continually working to improve and modernise our bathing waters system. As such, the government announced planned reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 on 12 March following a public consultation. Changes to the Regulations will prioritise public safety and water quality so more people can enjoy our rivers, lakes and seas in the first shake up since 2013.
We know that local communities want to have a clearer picture of water quality at popular bathing spots, which is why the three designated bathing sites in Shropshire have been monitored during the bathing season since their designation in 2024.
On the River Teme in Ludlow the Environment Agency is involved in a project where innovative automatic water quality sampling technology has been installed to improve the understanding of water quality and to inform the public of daily E. coli concentrations. This advanced innovation project has recently been extended to the Shrewsbury bathing water site for the 2025.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve rural road safety.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government treats road safety seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. To this end, my Department is developing its Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Local authorities are best placed to decide on delivery of road safety initiatives, because of their knowledge of the roads for which they are responsible. We aid local authorities by providing guidance and initiatives such as our flagship road safety campaign, THINK!
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 improve the delivery of public services in rural areas.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government believes that it is important that rural communities have the opportunity to help shape decisions that affect them. As rural affairs lead, Defra continues to encourage all Government Departments to rural proof their policies, including engaging rural stakeholders in their public consultations and engagement processes. Defra also facilitates engagement with rural people and businesses via its Rural Insights Forum. The forum is a group of stakeholders that represent rural communities.Rural representatives and sector specific experts are also engaged with Defra’s Rural Taskforce, which is considering the value and contribution of rural communities and businesses in achieving the Government’s priorities.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Energy Networks Association’s report entitled Our common sense plan for planning, published in December 2023, if he will make it his policy to (a) amend permitted development rights for the upgrading of the electricity distribution network infrastructure and (b) implement the nine point plan.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will consult this year on an ambitious package of reforms to land rights and consents processes for electricity network infrastructure based on responses to a 2022 Call for Evidence and proposals put forward by the Energy Network Association in their nine-point plan. The consultation will include proposals to expand planning consent exemptions to include low-voltage connections and upgrades in England and Wales. Any changes made to these processes will be developed with full consideration of the rights of landowners.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans his Department has to accelerate complementary reforms on the electricity distribution network to ensure that grid connections are accelerated, in addition to reforms to the planning regime for electricity transmission infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will consult this year on an ambitious package of reforms to land rights and consents processes for electricity network infrastructure based on responses to a 2022 Call for Evidence and proposals put forward by the Energy Network Association in their nine-point plan. The consultation will include proposals to expand planning consent exemptions to include low-voltage connections and upgrades in England and Wales. Any changes made to these processes will be developed with full consideration of the rights of landowners.
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 proportion of the agriculture budget will be spent in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
At February’s NFU Conference, the Secretary of State announced a raft of new policies to put money in the pockets of farmers in South Shropshire, and across the country.
We remain committed to a farming budget of £2.4 billion for 2025/25 and are on track to do so.
We will be working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced following the spending review in summer 2025.
We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome; and we are making £110 million available for new grant competitions to support research and innovation, technology and equipment for farmers.
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 support (a) schools and (b) parents with school transport in rural areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities are responsible for arranging free home-to-school travel for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, a disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families.
In addition, the Bus Services Bill will put the power over local bus services in the hands of local leaders to ensure networks can meet the needs of communities who rely on them.
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 has taken to improve the condition of Sites of Specific Scientific Interest.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
SSSIs continue to be one of the most effective tools for protecting and enhancing biodiversity and deliver a wide range of health and socio-economic benefits.
Defra is working with Natural England to improve the efficiency of SSSI monitoring and drive delivery of a prioritised programme of action to improve SSSI condition. This includes advising farmers on land management changes, working at a catchment-scale with partners to improve water quality and regulating fairly and proportionately to prevent harm and improve site condition.
In the autumn budget we also allocated £13 million to Protected Site Strategies which will develop and implement spatial restoration plans for priority sites. These strategies will put action in place to restore protected sites and manage the impact of environmental harm.
The Nature Restoration Fund in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will also allow us to take a more strategic approach to the restoration of protected sites and species, and deliver improved environmental outcomes.