Written questions by Maguire.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of additional Government-funded Adult Education Centres across Cornwall.

Adult education, for learners aged 19 years and above, is funded through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) and delivered through further education colleges, local authority adult education services, training providers and Institutes of Adult Learning. Providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF allocations to meet the needs of their communities.Adult education is offered in college buildings, adult education centres, and accessible informal venues, such as libraries and community centres to meet local needs. It is for local providers to decide if a specific adult education centre is required for their community.The government believes that local areas are best able to meet local needs, which is why it is committed to devolving the ASF to parts of the country that want a devolution deal. Cornwall is due to receive a devolution deal for the 2025/26 academic year and will be able to use their share of the ASF to best meet their needs, including on reviewing how their funding is best distributed locally to adult education providers.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to help prevent international puppy smuggling.

As outlined in our manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling. The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to Great Britain’s pet market. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of a devolution deal for Cornwall that does not involve any other regions or counties in the South West.

This Government strongly believes that the benefits of devolution are best achieved through the establishment of combined authorities or combined county authorities over sensible economic geographies and supported by a mayor. This follows our minded-to decision in September to progress a non-mayoral deal with Cornwall Council as a first step towards deeper devolution subject to local agreement.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many sewage discharges into (a) rivers and (b) seas have occurred so far this year in Cornwall.

The Environment Agency (EA) will publish 2024 Event Duration Monitoring data, showing how long and how often storm overflows have been used, in March 2025. The data for previous years is available online, here. From 1 January, companies will be required to publish discharge data from storm overflows in near real time. This duty falls under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991, as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021. To support this, Water UK recently released its National Storm Overflow Hub to provide this data on the same site for the whole of England. The Water (Special Measures) Bill will strengthen these provisions. Clause 3 will require companies to publish discharge data for emergency overflows in near real time. This will ensure that discharge data from all sewage overflows will be published in near real time.

Communities and Local Government, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of a devolved Cornish assembly.

This Government was elected on a manifesto to widen and deepen devolution across the country. We believe that economic prosperity, productivity, and social cohesion are best achieved by devolving powers to local areas who best understand the needs of their communities. We will shortly be publishing a White Paper outlining an ambitious new framework for English devolution. The White Paper will present a clear and attractive offer, and we are eager to work with all areas, including Cornwall, to expand devolution across England. This follows our minded-to decision in September to progress a non-mayoral deal with Cornwall Council as a first step towards deeper devolution subject to local agreement.

Communities and Local Government, whether any parts of North Cornwall constituency will receive funding from the Recovery Grant announced by her Department on 28 November 2024; and what additional steps she is taking to tackle rural poverty in that constituency.

The government published a policy statement on 28 November 2024 that confirmed that local government will receive an around 3.2% real-terms increase overall in Core Spending Power as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement 2025-26. Places with a significant rural population will on average increase of around 5%.We are also introducing a new ‘Recovery Grant’, worth £600 million, distributed using a formula that is based on deprivation and council tax base. This will start to correct the unfairness of the current system by putting councils in the areas with greater need and demand for services on a more stable footing. This grant marks the first meaningful step towards preparing for reform that has been taken in over a decade.We will set out more detail at the provisional Settlement in December where we will consult on allocations for 2025-26, alongside launching a consultation on the objectives and principles of local government funding reform.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) extending the Future Farm Resilience Fund and (b) introducing any new schemes of monetary support for farms.

The Farming Resilience Fund (FRF) was developed to help farmers through the early years of the Agricultural Transition, specifically to assist farm businesses to adapt to the initial reductions in the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) by providing specialist business advice. To date, over 25,000 farmers have received 1-2-1 support. The FRF will conclude March 2025. Farmers yet to receive any support are therefore encouraged to contact the organisations listed on GOV.UK before the end of December 2024. Defra has received feedback suggesting many participants have recognised the value of the advice provided and it is our hope that many of the relationships and connections built through the FRF will continue beyond the scheme's official end date. In the Budget announced in October, the Government committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years. This Government has committed to environmental land management schemes. The budget included £1.8 billion for these schemes in 2025/26, the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history. This will deliver improvements to food security, biodiversity, carbon emissions, water quality, air quality and flood resilience. We will work with the sector to continue to roll out, improve and evolve these schemes, to make them work for farming and nature.

What her Department's estimated timescale is for HMP Dartmoor returning to full operational capacity; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of radon levels on the health of (a) prisoners and (b) prison staff.

The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be a top priority for His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service. Following the temporary closure of HMP Dartmoor in August, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to reduce levels of radon sufficiently to allow us to reopen the prison safely. While this process is ongoing, we are unable to provide an estimated timeline to return Dartmoor to its full operational capacity of around 680 places. We continue to work with Health and Safety experts to further our understanding of the impact that exposure levels could have on prisoners and staff.If it is concluded that it is feasible and cost effective to return the prison to use, we will complete a full options assessment for the site, including the possibility of increasing the capacity of the prison from that at which it closed. In the meantime, we continue to work with HMP Dartmoor and the trade unions to manage the impact of the closure on staff. No staff have been made redundant.We are in the process of redeploying staff, which for most will be to the neighbouring establishments HMP Exeter and HMP Channings Wood. We are ensuring they have access to the Department’s Employee Assistance Programme and are supported through the transition by their line managers.

What plans her Department has for readmitting prisoners to HMP Dartmoor prison; what the estimated timescale for readmission is; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the capacity of the prison.

The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be a top priority for His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service. Following the temporary closure of HMP Dartmoor in August, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to reduce levels of radon sufficiently to allow us to reopen the prison safely. While this process is ongoing, we are unable to provide an estimated timeline to return Dartmoor to its full operational capacity of around 680 places. We continue to work with Health and Safety experts to further our understanding of the impact that exposure levels could have on prisoners and staff.If it is concluded that it is feasible and cost effective to return the prison to use, we will complete a full options assessment for the site, including the possibility of increasing the capacity of the prison from that at which it closed. In the meantime, we continue to work with HMP Dartmoor and the trade unions to manage the impact of the closure on staff. No staff have been made redundant.We are in the process of redeploying staff, which for most will be to the neighbouring establishments HMP Exeter and HMP Channings Wood. We are ensuring they have access to the Department’s Employee Assistance Programme and are supported through the transition by their line managers.

What impact the reduction in operational capacity of HMP Dartmoor has had on the number of (a) staff redundancies, (b) staff retiring before state pension age and (c) contract length of contracted staff at the prison; and what proportion of affected personnel have been redeployed within the prison service.

The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be a top priority for His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service. Following the temporary closure of HMP Dartmoor in August, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to reduce levels of radon sufficiently to allow us to reopen the prison safely. While this process is ongoing, we are unable to provide an estimated timeline to return Dartmoor to its full operational capacity of around 680 places. We continue to work with Health and Safety experts to further our understanding of the impact that exposure levels could have on prisoners and staff.If it is concluded that it is feasible and cost effective to return the prison to use, we will complete a full options assessment for the site, including the possibility of increasing the capacity of the prison from that at which it closed. In the meantime, we continue to work with HMP Dartmoor and the trade unions to manage the impact of the closure on staff. No staff have been made redundant.We are in the process of redeploying staff, which for most will be to the neighbouring establishments HMP Exeter and HMP Channings Wood. We are ensuring they have access to the Department’s Employee Assistance Programme and are supported through the transition by their line managers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 244 on Dental Services: North Cornwall, how many dentists accept NHS patients in North Cornwall constituency; and what progress he has made on (a) providing additional dental care appointments and (b) setting up an innovative access pilot project in Cornwall.

As of 29 November 2024, there were 11 open dentistry practices in the North Cornwall constituency, none of which were showing as accepting new adult patients. This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website, and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentistWe are working to ensure that patients can start to access the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, targeting the areas that need them most.The responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB recently approved the Primary Care Strategy at its November meeting. This included information on work to improve dental access, such as the Lostwithiel Pilot Programme. This programme is a collaboration between the National Health Service and a Lostwithiel dental surgery, enabling children and the most vulnerable patients to access an NHS dentist. This pilot aimed to address unmet dental health needs by targeting priority groups and reducing waiting list backlogs.

Whether his Department provides financial support to Cornwall Air Ambulance; and if will he will take steps to mitigate the potential impact of proposed changes to employer National Insurance Contributions on that service.

The Department and NHS England do not directly fund air ambulances, which are operated by independent charities.The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance, by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance contributions (NICs) at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on penalties for theft of (a) livestock and (b) GPS farming equipment.

This Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.The government recognises the distress livestock worrying can cause animals and their keepers. We are considering the most effective ways to deliver our commitments in this area and will be setting out next steps in due course.We are also committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and support its intentions to fend off the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly equipment used in an agricultural setting.I met with Ruth Bailey, CEO of Agriculture Association on the 5th November 2024 .The Act requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We are currently considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, including manufacturers, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation, including what equipment it will include.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Future Farm Resilience Fund beyond March 2025.

Defra will carefully consider the findings from the Farming Resilience Fund (FRF), alongside other advisory programs, to shape what any future support might look like. The FRF was developed to help farmers through the early years of the Agricultural Transition, specifically to assist farm businesses to adapt to the initial reductions in the Basic Payment Scheme. Defra has received feedback suggesting many participants have recognised the value of the advice provided and it is our hope that many of the relationships and connections built through the FRF will continue beyond the scheme's official end date.

How many and what proportion of police officers are dedicated to rural crime teams in each police force in (a) England and (b) Wales.

The Home Office does not hold data on police officers working in rural crime teams.The Home Office collects and publishes data biannually on the size and composition of the police workforce, in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.Information is collected on the primary function of each officer however the specific team an officer is assigned to, such as “rural crime team”, is not collected.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure the technical resilience of the e-visa system; whether she has made a recent assessment of the implications for her policies of the experience of (a) identification requirements for members of the Windrush generation and (b) other recent data-related incidents.

eVisas have been tried and tested over several years, and millions of people in the UK already use them to prove their immigration status.We have designed our digital services to be highly resilient, with rigorous testing to build assurance, and deployed across multiple data centres. Our online services and their constituent parts are also proactively monitored for failures, which will highlight any potential problems to allow support teams to triage and resolve them as quickly as possible. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy, reliability and accessibility of our digital status services, including the View and Prove service which people can use to view their status and share it with third parties, such as an employer or a landlord. This includes proactive work to enhance the service as well as resolving issues reported to us by customers. The View and Prove platform is rigorously tested for security and stability and proven to be reliable in terms of availability. We understand that people may have concerns about proving their status in the absence of a physical document and are conscious in particular of the experiences of the Windrush generation. We are committed to ensuring that all people, including the most vulnerable, are properly supported to create a UKVI account, access their eVisa and share their status, in particular where they do not hold a BRP. We will create UKVI accounts for all new applicants with no valid ID documents, and all applicants applying under the Windrush Scheme. Legacy document holders (such as those with passports containing ink stamps or a vignette sticker confirming indefinite leave to remain) can transition to eVisas by making a free No Time Limit application. They will still retain their legacy documents and be able to prove their rights in the same way as they can now. More information on this process is available at www.gov.uk/eVisa. People who no longer have their legacy document can also make a No Time Limit application to transition to an eVisa. They will be additionally asked to enrol their biometrics as part of the application process. Successful visa applicants receive written confirmation by email or letter that they have been granted permission, which they can keep for their personal records. Where this document cannot be used as evidence of their status, these printed documents can be used when interacting with the Home Office should any subsequent issues be encountered with their eVisa. Customers may also wish to print out their eVisa profile page if they would like a physical version for their own records. Those who have previously been issued a BRP but no longer have it (and have no valid passport to verify their identity), can create a UKVI account by using the ‘Get access to their eVisa’ pages on GOV.UK. As part of the process, they will be redirected to a webform to provide their personal information and will then be invited to attend a video interview to verify their identity. Following ID verification, they can expect to receive their UKVI account log in details within 14 days (10 working days) of the video interview.

How the funds allocated to Cornwall through the Bus Service Improvement Plan will be accessed by the local authority.

The £10.5 million allocated to Cornwall Council in 25/26 to support and improve bus services will be paid directly to them by the Department for Transport.

What recent discussions she has had representatives of the National Rural Crime Network.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. We are clear that when you report a crime, it should be properly investigated with victims having faith justice will be delivered, and criminals facing meaningful consequences – no matter where you live. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and a cross-Government programme of work is underway through our wider Safer Streets Mission.Under our reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are also committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023.We are continuing to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit, a specialist police unit, and Historic England – both of which are partners of the National Rural Crime Network.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) produce and (b) implement a strategy on tackling rural crime.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities. We are clear that when you report a crime, it should be properly investigated with victims having faith justice will be delivered, and criminals facing meaningful consequences – no matter where you live. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas and a cross-Government programme of work is underway through our wider Safer Streets Mission.Under our reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are also committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023.We are continuing to work closely with the National Rural Crime Unit, a specialist police unit, and Historic England – both of which are partners of the National Rural Crime Network.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the (a) reliability and (b) longevity of back-up Voice over Internet Protocol phone batteries for vulnerable people; how many (i) telephone exchanges and (ii) mobile telephone masts have back-up generators; and if he will take steps to ensure that (A) the 999 service and (B) other critical infrastructure in Cornwall remains telecommunication operational at all times.

On 18 November, the Department published guidance which defines the groups of vulnerable people to whom Communication Providers must provide extra support as they are migrated from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony. The Department also published a checklist of actions that telecoms companies should take before migrating customers to VoIP without their active consent. One of the actions stipulated in the checklist is for telecoms companies to provide resilience solutions that go beyond Ofcom’s regulatory minimum of 1 hour of continued, uninterrupted access to emergency services during power outages for users that depend on their landline. The Department does not record the number of telephone exchanges and mobile telephone masts with back-up generators in the UK. However, the Communications Act 2003, mandates public telecom providers to take measures to protect the security and resilience of their networks, including critical infrastructure and access to 999. The sector does this by having backup generators in phone exchanges and allowing all 999 calls from mobiles to switch to another network if needed. Ofcom sets, monitors, and enforces these regulations. The Department is working together with Ofcom and other key stakeholders to enhance the power resilience of telecommunications across the UK.