Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to help improve access to care homes in rural communities.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. Last year we launched Care Quality Commission assurance of local authorities’ delivery of their Care Act duties, and all local authorities will be assessed over the next two years. We have also committed to setting national standards for commissioners and are investing in a pilot training programme for senior commissioners to improve practice and drive more consistency at local level.
The Government has also made available up to £8.6 billion in additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge. This includes nearly £2 billion over two years specifically through the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) and MSIF Workforce Fund. Both are designed to support increased adult social care capacity and improvements to adult social care services.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to subsidise minimum rural bus services.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Bus service policy in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. It would therefore be for the Executive to determine whether to subsidise minimum rural bus services.
In England, the majority of bus services outside London and Manchester operate on a commercial basis. Decisions such as where to run services and the frequency of those services are in most places, mainly a matter for the operator. Where there is not enough demand for a bus route to be commercially viable in its own right, Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) have powers to subsidise bus services. Responsibility for securing non-commercially provided bus services sits with LTAs who are best placed to determine what is socially and economically necessary, not central government. The Government provides LTAs in England outside of London with £42 million annually through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) for the purpose of subsidising socially necessary services that would otherwise be commercially unviable, helping to support rural routes. The Government also provides over £200 million directly to bus operators every year through the BSOG to keep fares down and help them maintain an extensive network. Also, we are providing £20m through the Rural Mobility Fund in England to trial 16 innovative demand responsive minibus services to better understand the challenges associated with introducing bookable bus services in rural and suburban settings
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Fourth Report of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee of Session 2022-23 on Rural Mental Health, HC248, published on 9 May 2023, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations in the section entitled Rural mental health service provision, policy and strategy development.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We remain committed to supporting thriving rural communities, as set out in our report Unleashing Rural Opportunity, published in June 2023.
Since the launch of the EFRA Committee’s inquiry in 2021, considerable progress has been made to help ensure access to mental health services in rural areas. The Government published its Response to the EFRA Committee Report on Rural Mental Health in October 2023.
The response recognised that people living and working in rural areas may face specific challenges in accessing the mental health services that they need and set out the various actions being taken forward to address mental health needs.
Key actions include:
To help improve the service and support on offer to farmers we will make up to £500,000 available to deliver projects that support mental health in the farming sector. This will build on the support already on offer through the Farming Resilience Fund, which has benefitted over 19,000 farmers to date.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of banking services to rural communities.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services, and is monitoring this issue closely. It is imperative that firms recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who need to use in-person services.
UK customers can access banking services through a number of different channels. This includes in branches, Post Offices or Banking Hubs, as well as via telephone banking and through digital means such as mobile or online banking.
The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business & Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK is within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office.
Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these all open as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of longwave radio on 31 March on people living in rural areas.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The BBC is not ending long-wave transmissions of BBC Radio 4 on 31 March 2024. The Corporation announced in 2022 that it would be ending the separate programming for Radio 4 on long wave only and moving to a single Radio 4 schedule.
The BBC has been communicating this change to ensure that listeners know how they can still hear Radio 4 programmes which are only broadcast on long wave on other BBC radio services or other platforms.
Under the BBC’s 2016 Royal Charter and Agreement, it is a matter for the BBC to determine how long to continue with its long-wave transmissions.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help support farmers with their mental health and wellbeing.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the vital work the charity sector is already doing to support farmers who are struggling to cope with the pressures of farming. Initiatives include in-person counselling support for farmers, crisis helplines, online services, mental health training for the farming sector and other outreach events designed to reach more farmers in need. Defra also established the Farmer Welfare Forum to bring together England's largest farming welfare organisations to ensure that Defra is fully informed on farmer wellbeing challenges.
The Prime Minister recently announced that Defra is exploring options to work with and support charitable organisations over the next 12 months. A share of £500,000 will be awarded to a number of farmer welfare charities to support their vital work in 2024/25. The main objective is to partner with charities that focus on farmer wellbeing, particularly those that help farming people struggling with stress, anxiety and/or depression and are in the most remote or hard to reach areas.
In addition, we are already providing expert business support to farmers under the Farming Resilience Fund. One of the key required outcomes for the Resilience Fund is that farmers’ mental health and wellbeing are supported, where required. Some delivery providers are offering this support from in-house experts and others are signposting support available from specialist external services. The Resilience Fund runs until March 2025 and any Basic Payment Scheme recipient in England is eligible to receive support. Further information is available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with banks on the closure of bank branches in rural areas.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury regularly engages with the banking sector to discuss a range of policy matters. The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services, and I would like to assure you that I am monitoring this issue closely.
Though the closure of bank or building society branches are commercial decisions, it is imperative that firms recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who need to use in-person services.
Guidance from the FCA sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. The FCA’s guidance is clear that firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place alternatives, where this is reasonable.
UK customers can access banking services through a number of different channels. This includes in branches, Post Offices or Banking Hubs, as well as via telephone banking and through digital means such as mobile or online banking.
The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business & Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK is within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office.
Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these Hubs open as soon as possible.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 137 of his Department’s annual report and accounts for 2022 to 2023, HC 1872, what the purpose was of the asset under development for the Rural Payments Agency; and for what reasons did it became obsolete before it became operational.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The published text is reproduced below followed by a more detailed explanation.
The Core department has recognised a constructive loss (£2.5 million) relating to a project that was abandoned as no longer required. Defra had been developing the non-current asset for the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), but at some point, this was cancelled while the Assets Under Construction (AUC) was still held in Digital, Data and Technology Services (DDTS) and therefore the AUC became obsolete before it became operational.
The purpose of the asset was an IT system called MS Dax that RPA used for its running costs and HR. The HR functionality included holding staff personal data, booking annual leave for employees and extracting data for the annual leave accrual.
The amount related to enhancement work done for the upgrade to this IT platform, the Microsoft Dynamics Running Costs Solution Release 3 from Release 2.
The reason for the obsolescence was the asset was decommissioned in January 2023 as the RPA took a strategic decision to move the management of RPA’s running costs and HR to the same IT system as other larger Defra bodies.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is providing additional (a) resources and (b) support to local authorities to help tackle rough sleeping in (i) rural areas and (ii) smaller towns.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government is committed to ending rough sleeping and the latest official rough sleeping statistics show rough sleeping levels are 28% lower than before the pandemic, when Government provided significant funding to support vulnerable rough sleepers from COVID-19. Although we are making good progress delivering our rough sleeping strategy, we also know times are tough for many people and there is no room for complacency. We have now delivered over 5,000 units of accommodation through our Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme. In May 2023, we rolled out the Ending Rough Sleeping Data Framework to support local authorities to make well-informed decisions about commissioning of services that best meet local needs, and measure progress to end rough sleeping.
We have extended our flagship Rough Sleeping Initiative to 2025, with over £547 million funding so that local areas can provide the tailored support needed to tackle rough sleeping in their areas. This includes an additional investment of £47.7 million since RSI 2022-25 was first announced in September 2022 to increase funding for rough sleeping services in local areas with the greatest need. The RSI is funding 300 local authorities around the country including rural areas and smaller towns.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff were in the Environment Agency's legal services team in each year since 2015.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The data in relation to Environment Agency Legal Services full-time equivalent numbers is detailed below:
| Legal Services |
Mar-15 | 137.1 |
Mar-16 | 144.6 |
Mar-17 | 136.8 |
Mar-18 | 137.8 |
Mar-19 | 141.5 |
Mar-20 | 146.4 |
Mar-21 | 142.7 |
Mar-22 | 137.2 |
Mar-23 | 145.4 |
Jan-24 | 148.4 |