Written questions by Anderson.

Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure protections are in place for the provision of (a) sports, (b) physical activity and (b) green spaces in the consideration of planning applications.

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that access to high-quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and well-being of communities. The Framework includes strong protections for existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields, setting out that they should not be built on unless they are no longer needed, equivalent or better provision is made, or the development is for alternative sports or recreational provision which offers benefits that clearly outweigh the loss of the current or former use.

Whether his Department is taking steps to help support Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.

The Department does not directly fund air ambulance services on a routine basis. Air ambulances in England operate as independent charities and are supported by the National Health Service through the provision and training of key clinical staff.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve services for young people in South Shropshire constituency.

Local authorities play a key part in delivering youth services, reflected in their statutory duty to provide sufficient leisure-time activities and facilities in line with local needs. In 25/26 we are investing £8m in the Local Youth Transformation (LYT) Pilot to support local authorities to rebuild a high-quality offer for young people and transition back to local youth services leadership. Shropshire County Council is one of the 12 local authorities participating in the pilot, and they have been awarded £695,131. This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. We are co-producing a new National Youth Strategy to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this. The National Youth Strategy will be published later this year.

What steps he is taking to help improve access to dental care in South Shropshire constituency.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the South Shropshire constituency, this is the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB.We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025.ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of, NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.

What steps he is taking to help improve access to palliative care in rural areas.

We know that there are inequalities in access to palliative care and end of life care in rural areas and the Government is looking at how best to reduce these.Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.The statutory guidance outlines areas for consideration when commissioning services, which makes reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience.NHS England has also developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.

What steps his Department is taking to help support (a) innovation and (b) collaboration in improving public health outcomes in rural areas.

Upper and single tier local authorities have a statutory duty to take steps to improve the health of local people. Under this duty, local authorities commission a range of public health services and are responsible for determining the most effective approaches to the delivery of these services, taking account of different local needs, including the needs of rural areas. This can include testing new approaches to service delivery, implementing technology-based interventions or improving data analytics to better understand population health. In 2025/26, we provided funding of £3.884 billion to local authorities for their public health duty, through the Public Health Grant. This is an average 6.1% cash increase, or 3.4% real terms increase, compared to 2024/25.NHS England is responsible for commissioning further specified public health services, including national immunisation and screening programmes. The 10-Year Health Plan signaled innovative approaches in these public health services, including a transformed NHS app that will be linked with screening programmes allowing individuals to receive reminders and book appointments online for breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening. Working with integrated care boards, commissioning of these services should also take account of local needs, including the different urban and rural characteristics of communities.The 10-Year Health Plan also announced that, from 2026, we will set the expectation that every single or upper tier local authority participates in an external public health peer review exercise, on a five-year cycle, with the results directly informing local plans. These will support local government to improve public health services, including those in rural areas, through sharing innovations and adopting best practices.

If she will make it her policy to restore the academy conversion support grant.

The department has no plans to restore the academy conversion support grant. Voluntary conversion is a choice for schools and trusts to make.

What steps his Department is taking to help support (a) high streets and (b) town centres in South Shropshire constituency.

This Department is committed to support constituencies like South Shropshire grow their high streets and town centres. Our Plan for Small Businesses sets out how government will work across departments to tackle high street decline.This year 500 towns including Ludlow and Bridgenorth developed local plans, as part of the Safer Streets Summer, to develop bespoke local action plans with police, businesses and local councils to crackdown on crime on the high street.SMEs on the high street will also benefit from the new tools to unlock access to finance, action to address late payments and regulatory costs, improve digital adoption and create easier pathways to business support through the Business Growth Service.

What assessment he has made of the role of the NHS in social care delivery.

Social care delivery is part of our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service that shifts care from hospitals to communities, with more personalised, proactive and joined-up health and care services that help people stay independent for as long as possible. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will work towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and integrate health into the social fabric of places. This join-up is underpinned by improved national data and digital infrastructure to ensure health and care staff can access real-time information to improve the safety and quality of care.

What steps his Department is taking to help support households that are off the (a) gas and (b) electricity grid to improve their energy efficiency.

We expect transitioning to clean heat will involve installing a heat pump for most off-gas-grid properties as these are cost-effective, proven technologies. The government has announced measures to support consumers with heat pump installations. The government recognises heat pumps may not be a feasible option for all properties and we are committed to ensuring that there is the right solution for every household. Other low carbon heating technologies are available and the governments offers grants of £5,000 for biomass boilers under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Research is underway to collect data on the costs of different approaches to decarbonising the most complex housing archetypes.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the land use framework will support sustainable food production on farms.

The Land Use Consultation launched this year was underpinned by analysis of land use change for nature restoration and other objectives. This included analysis of potential spatial distributions of change to 2050, taking account of land’s suitability for food production. Alongside the formal consultation, Defra ran and participated in several different engagement events across England to ensure that farmers’ and food producers’ views were heard. The Department led six regional workshops and regional focus groups, supported five regional workshops run by external organisations, and attended several wider meetings, conferences and discussions. When published, the Land Use Framework will set out the evidence, data and tools needed to help safeguard our most productive agricultural land.

Communities and Local Government, what funding is available for community ownership projects.

The government is committed to supporting community ownership and empowering local people to take control of valued community assets.As part of the forthcoming English Devolution Bill, this government will legislate to introduce a new Community Right to Buy. This will enable communities to acquire assets such as empty shops, pubs, and community spaces when they come up for sale, helping to bring them back into community use and tackle the issue of vacant premises on high streets.In addition, the government has launched the Pride in Place programme, which will invest up to £5 billion over ten years, supporting 244 places across the United Kingdom. Community ownership projects such as youth clubs, libraries, community grocers, cultural venues, and health and wellbeing services will be eligible for support where they align with the needs and ambitions of local communities.We have also launched the Pride in Place Impact Fund, with £150 million to invest in up to 95 communities, helping to rebuild community pride in local areas. One of the objectives is to support community spaces; creating, extending, improving or refurbishing existing community facilities and enabling community organisations to take control or ownership of underused but valued local assets.

Communities and Local Government, what support his Department plans to provide through the Plan for Neighbourhoods to (a) towns and (b) villages in South Shropshire constituency.

On 25 September the government announced the Pride in Place Programme, supporting 244 of Great Britain’s most in need neighbourhoods with up to £20 million each over the next decade. This will serve as the cornerstone of this government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Plan for Neighbourhoods programme areas that were announced in March.New areas across England were selected using a robust, metrics-based methodology based on deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) and community need (the Community Needs Index) to identify areas with the poorest social and economic outcomes. The Pride in Place strategy sets out how this government will support all places throughout the UK, with communities given new tools and powers to shape their neighbourhoods in a way that is truly reflective of local need. We want to make it as easy as possible for communities in places such as South Shropshire to make the changes they want to see, acknowledging that local people are best placed to understand local priorities.The full list of areas and place selection methodology was published and is set out on gov.uk here.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to launch a smaller village halls grants scheme.

While there are currently no plans to launch a new smaller village hall grants scheme, we continue to support village halls through the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund. This scheme has provided grants to help modernise facilities, improve accessibility, and enhance energy efficiency.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken to implement gigabit rollout in rural areas on those areas.

More than £2.4 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over one million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These premises fall predominantly in rural areas. As of the end of March 2025, over 1.2 million premises had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes.The connections delivered by Project Gigabit benefit rural and hard to reach communities, helping households and businesses access the digital connectivity needed to transform lives and drive economic growth.We are committed to ensuring 99% of premises receive gigabit coverage by 2032.

If he will take steps to introduce a young cancer patients travel fund.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to the Rt Hon. Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill on 1 April 2025 to Question 42011.

Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) financial and (b) legal support has been made available for local nature recovery strategies.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) were established by the Environment Act 2021. Responsible authorities must follow the LNRS regulations and have regard to LNRS statutory guidance when preparing the LNRS for their area. Over FY23/24 and FY24/25, Defra provided a total of £14 million to responsible authorities to prepare LNRSs. Further funding has been made available to responsible authorities in the current financial year to support their transition to leading and coordinating delivery of the LNRS for their area. Defra and Arm’s Length Bodies have provided advice to responsible authorities to help them prepare their LNRS but have not provided direct legal support to individual responsible authorities. Responsible authorities are able to use the funding they have been provided to obtain legal support if they choose to do so.

What assessment she has made of the number of police forces.

This Government is committed to addressing the strategic challenges policing faces. We specifically recognise the problems around fragmentation and resultant inefficiencies across the 43 police forces, which many police system leaders have highlighted.The policing system must be equipped to serve the public effectively and to make efficient use of its funding and resources. This is why the Home Office will publish a White Paper on police reform later this year. It will include a comprehensive package of reforms to policing in England and Wales that will drive quality, consistency and efficiency.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of support for community land projects.

The government recognises that the community-led housing sector delivers a wide range of benefits including strengthening community participation in local decision-making, engendering community cohesion, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy. In March, we announced a £20m 10-year social finance investment to provide capital finance for community-led housing, which is expected to directly support the construction of more than 2,500 new homes over the next decade. These housebuilding projects will be led by communities to specifically address local needs in their area. The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December strengthened support for community-led housing, including through changes to the size limit on community-led exception sites and a broadening of the definition of organisations able to deliver community-led housing.

What steps he is taking as part of the Valour programme to support veterans in South Shropshire constituency.

This Government remains committed to delivering on our manifesto promise to ensure that veterans in South Shropshire and across the country achieve the recognition, support and opportunities they deserve.That is why we recently launched VALOUR, our commitment to establish the first-ever UK-wide approach to veteran support. This will be an institutionally resilient system that will reform the system at the local, the regional, and the national level, ensuring that support is available across the country, and that it is tailored to the needs of veterans in the communities where they live.The VALOUR pilot was launched on 26 June 2025, in partnership with Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire, and will help to develop a blueprint to roll out VALOUR across the country next year.Details regarding the VALOUR development funding will be released in the coming months. Existing organisations throughout South Shropshire will be able to apply for this funding and, if successful, will be recognised as a VALOUR support centre. This process will recognise existing best practice in local communities, while maintaining agility and flexibility across the sector.I would ask the hon. Member to encourage organisations and veterans in your constituency to sign up for updates and to register their interest in taking part in future surveys or focus groups on VALOUR. This collaborative approach will ensure that this service works for those who need it. More information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/valour-information-and-next-steps