Written questions by Anderson.

What steps she is taking to help promote reading for fun in schools.

I refer the hon. Member for South Shropshire to the answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35717.

What steps her Department is taking to improve transport infrastructure within rural communities.

The government is committed to delivering the better, more reliable bus services that passengers deserve. In the Budget, the government confirmed investment of over £1 billion to support and improve bus services and keep fares affordable in England outside London, including in rural areas. Shropshire Council has been allocated over £4.4 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services. Local authorities can use this funding to improve bus infrastructure and make services more frequent for local communities. We have also committed to reforming bus funding to give local leaders more control and flexibility to allow them to plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. Shropshire Council will also receive a share of the £650 million-plus funding for local transport announced in the Budget. This funding aims to support everyday journeys and improve transport connections in our towns, villages, and rural areas.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of bank closures on access to (a) cash and (b) in-person banking services.

Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefiting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. While branch closures are commercial decisions for banks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly. The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 200 hubs have been announced so far, and over 100 are already open. The FCA introduced regulatory rules for access to cash in September 2024. Its rules require the reasonable provision of free cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts. Where a branch closure is announced or a community has submitted a cash access assessment request, LINK (the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network) assesses a community’s access to cash withdrawal and deposit needs, and can recommend a new service if necessary. Where a resident, community organisation or other interested party feels access to cash in their community is insufficient, they can submit a request for a cash access assessment. Further information about submitting a cash access request can be found on LINK’s website. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

Whether she plans to allocate funding to support (a) sustainability and (b) innovation in the arts, tourism and leisure sector.

The Government has included the Creative Industries as one of the priority sectors in the Industrial Strategy, and as part of this is considering opportunities to support sustainability and innovation in the arts. At Phase 1 of the Spending Review the Government allocated funding to support the arts and cultural sector, including a £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund that will help to improve the financial and environmental sustainability of arts venues and a £60 million package for the Creative Industries announced at the Creative Industries Growth Moment in January that will help creative business to grow and facilitate innovation. The Government also supports the tourism industry primarily through funding for the British Tourist Authority to support VisitBritain and VisitEngland. Any new funding plans will be considered as part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review in June.

Communities and Local Government, how much funding her Department has provided to help support the operation of mayoral combined authorities in each of the last five years.

Details of funding provided to Mayoral Combined Authorities is published each year in annual devolution reports and can be accessed on gov.uk.

What steps he is taking to improve mental health support for residents in rural areas.

People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident of accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out “Young Futures hubs” in every community.In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICB) to commission care to meet the needs of their local population.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote the availability of funding for small charities.

This government recognises the vital role that charities play in providing crucial support to different groups and communities. This Government is committed to resetting the relationship with civil society and treating them as an equal, expert partner who are integral to the delivery of the Government’s vision for national renewal.DCMS is promoting the availability of funding for smaller charities in several ways. This includes delivery of a number of grant schemes, such as the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund and the £25.5m Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is supporting frontline organisations across England to improve their energy efficiency and sustainability.Support for charities is also available through social investment which provides access to grants, repayable finance and a blend of the two. This government is continuing to look at how dormant assets can be used to support the availability of finance to facilitate VCSEs becoming more entrepreneurial and financially resilient. An estimated £350 million will flow into the Dormant Assets Scheme between 2024-28, with details on how this money will be distributed to be provided in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support (a) prevention and (b) recovery efforts by local flood action groups.

The Government’s new Flood Resilience Taskforce brings together representatives from national, regional and local government, the emergency services, and the third sector to improve co-ordination between organisations working on floods resilience so they can put in the support that the public needs and bolsters the nation’s floods resilience. The National Flood Forum, who support many local flood action groups, are a key member of our Flood Resilience Taskforce. I recently met with the Chair and CEO of the National Flood Forum. We explored how their work to establish and support local flood action groups can be further promoted via the Taskforce.

If he will take steps to help protect Post Office services in rural areas.

We recognise the key role Post Offices play in their communities, and branches in some rural areas are particularly important as the Post Office often acts as a community hub. We are listening carefully to stakeholders to ensure the whole network, including these important rural branches, is sustainable.The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens. Government’s minimum access criteria for Post Offices mean that 99% of the UK population must be within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90% must be within one mile of their nearest post office outlet.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help increase mobile phone coverage.

The government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage.4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile operator has now reached over 95% of the UK landmass through the Shared Rural Network. The programme is continuing to deliver 4G mobile connectivity to places where there is either limited or no coverage.Our ambition is for all populated areas having higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition. As part of this work, the government intends to reform the planning system to make it easier to build digital infrastructure. We have also increased funding for our 5G Innovation Region programme to £43 million to drive adoption of standalone 5G across key sectors.We will continue working with Ofcom to ensure that their coverage reporting is more accurate.

What steps she is taking to support unpaid carers in rural areas.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.The Government is committed to giving families the support that they need. I recently met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets in the Department for Business and Trade, and the Minister of State for Social Security and Disability in the Department for Work and Pensions to look at how we can work together more closely to support unpaid carers.The Government has already taken steps to support unpaid carers. From April 2025 we are increasing the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance; this is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.The Accelerating Reform Fund’s (ARF) second tranche of funding worth £22.6 million for 2024/25 has also been released. More than half of the ARF projects, and at least one in each integrated care system area are focussed on identifying, recognising and supporting unpaid carers.The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why we are launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The Commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to support park home residents with the cost of utilities.

Park home residents on low incomes are eligible for support with their household bills. The government has extended the Household Support Fund in England until 31 March 2026 with an extra £742 million in support, with additional funding for the Devolved Governments.Park home residents are also eligible for a one-off £150 discount off electricity bills under the Warm Home Discount scheme. The payment is in addition to other payments such as the Cold Weather Payment and Winter Fuel Payment.Any park home resident who is struggling with their energy bills contracts can contact their local authority to see what support they can receive.The government’s mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently, including park home residents. This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run, is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past.

What support is available to retrofit homes in rural areas.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 February 2025 to Question 30705.

What steps she is taking to tackle childcare deserts in rural areas.

It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent.In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for early years entitlements, a more than 30% increase compared to the 2024/25 financial year, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare from September this year. To support the sector during this period of expansion, the government is providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant. We also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. On top of this, providers will receive £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance Contributions grant for public sector employers in the early years.The government’s plan to deliver 3,000 school-based nurseries and will help deliver on our commitment to ensure families right across the country have access to high quality childcare and early education. Funding will be allocated to the first wave of nursery projects in spring 2025 to support delivery for the first cohort of places from September. We know that families in some areas are struggling to find childcare places which meet their needs, so we will be working with schools and local childcare providers to deliver much-needed places across all our communities.Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ’Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The department has regular contact with local authorities in England about the sufficiency of childcare and any issues being faced. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. We do not currently have any reports of sufficiency issues in any local authority.

What steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) quantity of apprenticeships within the (i) Armed Forces and (ii) associated supply chains.

The Armed Forces is the largest single deliverer of apprenticeships in the UK, with over 23,000 personnel employed on a nationally recognised apprenticeship programmes at any one time and over 95 per cent of our non-commissioned military recruits offered an apprenticeship aligned to their trade training. That represents an annual average of 7.5 per cent of Armed Forces personnel starting an apprenticeship in the last three years and over 10 per cent on programme at any one time. The Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list 2024 (as ranked by the Department of Education, DfE) saw all three Services named in the top five places. The Armed Forces provided 16 per cent of all apprenticeship places within the Top 100 and continue to add more apprenticeships every year. Defence needs a skilled, sustainable, capable workforce that are trained and equipped to defend the nation’s interests. The Armed Forces apprenticeship programme is intrinsic to the achievement of this aim. The majority of the apprenticeships completed by military personnel are delivered at level 2 (GCSE) and level 3 (A Level), but they are increasingly available at higher levels up to degree level (level 6), which supports an individual’s through-career personal and professional development. The apprenticeship opportunities coupled with the inclusion of Functional Skills in Literacy and Numeracy also act a key contributor to social mobility through military Service. All apprenticeships are rigorously evaluated with the DfE to ensure quality and applicability. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is also actively involved in ‘Trailblazer’ groups which develop new apprenticeship standards. The standards are developed in collaboration with other employers from the different sectors of industry, meaning Armed Forces personnel are being equipped for Defence roles whilst also qualified to contribute to wider society when they transition to new opportunities at the end of their Defence careers. The MOD is also an active and valued member of apprenticeship network groups where we help promote and champion the opportunities on offer. The two key bodies to which we contribute are the Government backed Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and the 5% Club, the latter being an employer movement working to drive forward a nationwide ‘Earn and Learn’ agenda. The MOD is a Platinum member of the 5% Club, with over 10% of our workforce in ‘Earn and Learn’ positions. The MOD is unable to comment on the quality and quantity of apprenticeships within our supply chains as this is a matter for individual companies.

What steps she is taking to increase capacity within the prison system.

This Government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with prisons operating at over 99% capacity and on the brink of collapse.The 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy was published on 11 December 2024, alongside the Annual Statement on Prison Capacity. The former set out our aims to: deliver 14,000 prison places by 2031, invest in maintenance to refurbish the prison estate and improve safety, buy new land for prison development, and introduce planning legislation to build prisons faster.The previous Government promised to deliver 20,000 places, but ended up only adding around 500 to the prison estate. This Government will build where the previous administration failed to do so. Of the 14,000 prison places, we will deliver around 6,500 places in new prisons (of which HMP Millsike is the first and is due to open in Spring 2025). 6,400 prison places will be delivered through houseblocks at existing sites and around 1,000 through Rapid Deployment Cells, and we are also refurbishing residential units, facilities and ancillaries across the estate.As well as the 10-year capacity strategy, in October we launched an Independent Review of Sentencing with the aim to ensure we are never again left in a position where we have more prisoners than prison places.

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 25742 tabled by the hon. Member for South Shropshire on 22 January 2025.

An answer to Question 25742 is being prepared and will be provided as soon as possible.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on police recruitment.

The 2025-26 final police funding settlement provides funding of up to £19.6 billion for the policing system in England and Wales. This is an overall increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 and represents a 6% cash increase and 3.5% real terms increase in funding.This includes an additional £230.3 million of funding for territorial police forces to cover the costs of the increases to National Insurance Contributions.The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to effectively tackle crime. That’s why we have committed £200 million to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs in communities across the country.

How many local authorities reported an (a) underspend and (b) overspend on public health grants in the last five financial years.

Local authorities must account for the full allocated Public Health Grant and must accrue any money that is not committed to a ring-fenced reserve. These reserves serve an important purpose, for example to support strategic changes which may involve a one-off change in spending patterns, or as provision against future spending plans. The following table shows the movement of public health reserve levels as reported by each local authority from 2019/20 to 2023/24: Movement of reserve levels2019/202020/212021/222022/232023/24Decreased reserves7311215883Increased reserves501101016945Source: local authority revenue outturn data, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financingNotes:the data for 2020/21 and 2021/22 includes the impact of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund on Grants and the impact of COVID-19 on services, the information published for 2023/24 does not include any reserve outturn data for two local authorities, Birmingham and Westmorland and Furness, and the data for Barking and Dagenham was only partially completed.the reserve outturn data refers to the whole of the Department’s local authority Public Health Spend, not just the Public Health Grant.the total number of local authorities may vary across years due to local government structural changes.Local authorities do not report underspends on the Public Health Grant.

What steps he is taking to support local authorities with the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on public health contracts.

In determining Public Health Grant allocations for 2025/26, we considered a range of cost pressures affecting local authority commissioned or provided health services, including increased operational costs. 2025/26 Public Health Grant allocations have been increased by an average of 5.4% relative to 2024/25.