Written questions by Morgan.

What the average waiting time is for an application for a controlled drug licence to be decided.

The Home Office Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) considers applications for premises and company specific controlled drug licences. All applications are considered individually and on their merits, after undertaking a physical site visit- if one is needed- and reviewing the evidence submitted to support an application.Application processing times can vary considerably depending on whether a site visit is needed or if the application can be decided with a paper-based review. Other factors, including site location and resourcing, company availability, timeliness of the submission of any additional information requested will also be relevant. On this basis, we do not publish average processing times as a statistical average may not be representative of the customer journey.Operational pressures in DFLU have meant that there are currently higher caseloads than we would wish, which has resulted in extended lead times for consideration of some applications at this time.

What steps she is taking to encourage police forces to apply the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s revised guidance on abnormal loads.

NPCC guidance for forces on managing abnormal loads was updated in May 2025. This seeks to promote greater national alignment across forces, where possible, noting the need for variations.Police Chiefs are responsible for decisions on escorting abnormal loads and for how guidance should be implemented in their areas. Local variation in the management of abnormal loads may be necessary to account for factors such as geography and road infrastructure.The NPCC has committed to review this guidance twelve months after publication to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

What consultation her Department has had with counterparts at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers.

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.

What consultation the her Department has had with counterparts at the Department of Envronment, Food and Rurual Affairs on the potential impact on the UK sheep industry of withdrawing the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers.

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers on the sheep industry.

Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.

What the cost to the public purse of (a) the Airwave network and (b) the Emergency Services Network was in each of the last five financial years.

The cost to the taxpayers of Great Britain for Airwave is as follows:2021/22 £293.66m2022/23 £318.55m2023/24 £197.01m2024/25 £153.48mAs the financial accounts for 2025/26 have not been finalised or audited yet, we cannot provide expenditure for that period.The costing information relates to England, Scotland and Wales Police Core only, as Home Office does not have visibility of Airwave costs borne directly by other Funding Sponsor Bodies.As the Emergency Services Network is currently not operational, it is not possible to provide these costs.Leveraging EE’s Commercial Network of circa 20,000 masts, the main build of ESN masts to provide mobile coverage across Great Britain is largely complete. Of the additional 1047 ESN masts due to be built, 987 are completed and operationally live. Specifically, an additional 13 new sites have been built in Shropshire, with 1 of these sited in the constituency of North Shropshire.Across Great Britain, this is already providing a benefit to the public by enabling over one thousand additional 999 calls every month to be made in areas where previously there was no coverage. Work continues at pace to provide network access in areas where localised coverage is needed; these include densely populated communities, as well as sports stadiums, and shopping centres.ESMCP’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that ensures user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is responsible for managing the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN is a critical communications system and will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain.ESN is currently in the delivery phase, during which ESMCP will implement systems, platforms, processes, hardware and software to be ready and assured for deployment. Current delivery timelines are from January 2025 to 2027 with phased deployment planned to begin in 2027 to emergency services users. The target date for transition to be completed is 31 December 2029 after which Airwave will be safely shut down.ESN is a capability which is still under development and as such it is not operational. The products and services under development have been tested at several public events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury and London New Year’s Eve Celebrations to validate progress and inform the next stages of the programme.This is not a data set held by the Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme centrally. Such Data is owned and managed by individual forces across the three emergency services and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.As in all Police force areas in Great Britain, the Home Office contract with Airwave provides for hand-portable coverage in built-up areas and vehicle coverage on all major and minor roads, including all rural areas.Police forces can then elect to further enhance coverage in their areas if deemed necessary to meet their own specific operational needs. West Mercia Police have contracted further areas of hand-portable coverage from Airwave using this option.Shropshire and North Shropshire are covered by West Mercia Police, together with Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Collectively, availability of the Airwave radio network across West Mercia throughout 2025 was strong.The contractual target for Airwave network availability for all police forces is 99.74% each month. In 2025 monthly network availability across the 89 Airwave sites in West Mercia varied between 99.79% and 100%, with an overall mean average across the 12 months of 99.94%.Each quarter a tri-party meeting is held between West Mercia Police, the Home Office, and Motorola to review the quality and availability of the Airwave network, along with any other Airwave related issues. During 2025 there were no major Airwave service issues raised by West Mercia Police.

What data her department holds on the number of incidents where emergency service response times have been impacted by communication network coverage.

The cost to the taxpayers of Great Britain for Airwave is as follows:2021/22 £293.66m2022/23 £318.55m2023/24 £197.01m2024/25 £153.48mAs the financial accounts for 2025/26 have not been finalised or audited yet, we cannot provide expenditure for that period.The costing information relates to England, Scotland and Wales Police Core only, as Home Office does not have visibility of Airwave costs borne directly by other Funding Sponsor Bodies.As the Emergency Services Network is currently not operational, it is not possible to provide these costs.Leveraging EE’s Commercial Network of circa 20,000 masts, the main build of ESN masts to provide mobile coverage across Great Britain is largely complete. Of the additional 1047 ESN masts due to be built, 987 are completed and operationally live. Specifically, an additional 13 new sites have been built in Shropshire, with 1 of these sited in the constituency of North Shropshire.Across Great Britain, this is already providing a benefit to the public by enabling over one thousand additional 999 calls every month to be made in areas where previously there was no coverage. Work continues at pace to provide network access in areas where localised coverage is needed; these include densely populated communities, as well as sports stadiums, and shopping centres.ESMCP’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that ensures user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is responsible for managing the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN is a critical communications system and will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain.ESN is currently in the delivery phase, during which ESMCP will implement systems, platforms, processes, hardware and software to be ready and assured for deployment. Current delivery timelines are from January 2025 to 2027 with phased deployment planned to begin in 2027 to emergency services users. The target date for transition to be completed is 31 December 2029 after which Airwave will be safely shut down.ESN is a capability which is still under development and as such it is not operational. The products and services under development have been tested at several public events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury and London New Year’s Eve Celebrations to validate progress and inform the next stages of the programme.This is not a data set held by the Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme centrally. Such Data is owned and managed by individual forces across the three emergency services and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.As in all Police force areas in Great Britain, the Home Office contract with Airwave provides for hand-portable coverage in built-up areas and vehicle coverage on all major and minor roads, including all rural areas.Police forces can then elect to further enhance coverage in their areas if deemed necessary to meet their own specific operational needs. West Mercia Police have contracted further areas of hand-portable coverage from Airwave using this option.Shropshire and North Shropshire are covered by West Mercia Police, together with Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Collectively, availability of the Airwave radio network across West Mercia throughout 2025 was strong.The contractual target for Airwave network availability for all police forces is 99.74% each month. In 2025 monthly network availability across the 89 Airwave sites in West Mercia varied between 99.79% and 100%, with an overall mean average across the 12 months of 99.94%.Each quarter a tri-party meeting is held between West Mercia Police, the Home Office, and Motorola to review the quality and availability of the Airwave network, along with any other Airwave related issues. During 2025 there were no major Airwave service issues raised by West Mercia Police.

What data her department holds on the (a) quality and (b) availability of the Airwave network in (i) Shropshire and (ii) North Shropshire.

The cost to the taxpayers of Great Britain for Airwave is as follows:2021/22 £293.66m2022/23 £318.55m2023/24 £197.01m2024/25 £153.48mAs the financial accounts for 2025/26 have not been finalised or audited yet, we cannot provide expenditure for that period.The costing information relates to England, Scotland and Wales Police Core only, as Home Office does not have visibility of Airwave costs borne directly by other Funding Sponsor Bodies.As the Emergency Services Network is currently not operational, it is not possible to provide these costs.Leveraging EE’s Commercial Network of circa 20,000 masts, the main build of ESN masts to provide mobile coverage across Great Britain is largely complete. Of the additional 1047 ESN masts due to be built, 987 are completed and operationally live. Specifically, an additional 13 new sites have been built in Shropshire, with 1 of these sited in the constituency of North Shropshire.Across Great Britain, this is already providing a benefit to the public by enabling over one thousand additional 999 calls every month to be made in areas where previously there was no coverage. Work continues at pace to provide network access in areas where localised coverage is needed; these include densely populated communities, as well as sports stadiums, and shopping centres.ESMCP’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that ensures user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is responsible for managing the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN is a critical communications system and will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain.ESN is currently in the delivery phase, during which ESMCP will implement systems, platforms, processes, hardware and software to be ready and assured for deployment. Current delivery timelines are from January 2025 to 2027 with phased deployment planned to begin in 2027 to emergency services users. The target date for transition to be completed is 31 December 2029 after which Airwave will be safely shut down.ESN is a capability which is still under development and as such it is not operational. The products and services under development have been tested at several public events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury and London New Year’s Eve Celebrations to validate progress and inform the next stages of the programme.This is not a data set held by the Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme centrally. Such Data is owned and managed by individual forces across the three emergency services and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.As in all Police force areas in Great Britain, the Home Office contract with Airwave provides for hand-portable coverage in built-up areas and vehicle coverage on all major and minor roads, including all rural areas.Police forces can then elect to further enhance coverage in their areas if deemed necessary to meet their own specific operational needs. West Mercia Police have contracted further areas of hand-portable coverage from Airwave using this option.Shropshire and North Shropshire are covered by West Mercia Police, together with Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Collectively, availability of the Airwave radio network across West Mercia throughout 2025 was strong.The contractual target for Airwave network availability for all police forces is 99.74% each month. In 2025 monthly network availability across the 89 Airwave sites in West Mercia varied between 99.79% and 100%, with an overall mean average across the 12 months of 99.94%.Each quarter a tri-party meeting is held between West Mercia Police, the Home Office, and Motorola to review the quality and availability of the Airwave network, along with any other Airwave related issues. During 2025 there were no major Airwave service issues raised by West Mercia Police.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of Airwave network coverage for emergency service delivery in rural areas.

The cost to the taxpayers of Great Britain for Airwave is as follows:2021/22 £293.66m2022/23 £318.55m2023/24 £197.01m2024/25 £153.48mAs the financial accounts for 2025/26 have not been finalised or audited yet, we cannot provide expenditure for that period.The costing information relates to England, Scotland and Wales Police Core only, as Home Office does not have visibility of Airwave costs borne directly by other Funding Sponsor Bodies.As the Emergency Services Network is currently not operational, it is not possible to provide these costs.Leveraging EE’s Commercial Network of circa 20,000 masts, the main build of ESN masts to provide mobile coverage across Great Britain is largely complete. Of the additional 1047 ESN masts due to be built, 987 are completed and operationally live. Specifically, an additional 13 new sites have been built in Shropshire, with 1 of these sited in the constituency of North Shropshire.Across Great Britain, this is already providing a benefit to the public by enabling over one thousand additional 999 calls every month to be made in areas where previously there was no coverage. Work continues at pace to provide network access in areas where localised coverage is needed; these include densely populated communities, as well as sports stadiums, and shopping centres.ESMCP’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that ensures user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is responsible for managing the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN is a critical communications system and will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain.ESN is currently in the delivery phase, during which ESMCP will implement systems, platforms, processes, hardware and software to be ready and assured for deployment. Current delivery timelines are from January 2025 to 2027 with phased deployment planned to begin in 2027 to emergency services users. The target date for transition to be completed is 31 December 2029 after which Airwave will be safely shut down.ESN is a capability which is still under development and as such it is not operational. The products and services under development have been tested at several public events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury and London New Year’s Eve Celebrations to validate progress and inform the next stages of the programme.This is not a data set held by the Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme centrally. Such Data is owned and managed by individual forces across the three emergency services and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.As in all Police force areas in Great Britain, the Home Office contract with Airwave provides for hand-portable coverage in built-up areas and vehicle coverage on all major and minor roads, including all rural areas.Police forces can then elect to further enhance coverage in their areas if deemed necessary to meet their own specific operational needs. West Mercia Police have contracted further areas of hand-portable coverage from Airwave using this option.Shropshire and North Shropshire are covered by West Mercia Police, together with Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Collectively, availability of the Airwave radio network across West Mercia throughout 2025 was strong.The contractual target for Airwave network availability for all police forces is 99.74% each month. In 2025 monthly network availability across the 89 Airwave sites in West Mercia varied between 99.79% and 100%, with an overall mean average across the 12 months of 99.94%.Each quarter a tri-party meeting is held between West Mercia Police, the Home Office, and Motorola to review the quality and availability of the Airwave network, along with any other Airwave related issues. During 2025 there were no major Airwave service issues raised by West Mercia Police.

If she will set out (a) when and (b) in which locations the Emergency Services Network has been used in an operational setting.

The cost to the taxpayers of Great Britain for Airwave is as follows:2021/22 £293.66m2022/23 £318.55m2023/24 £197.01m2024/25 £153.48mAs the financial accounts for 2025/26 have not been finalised or audited yet, we cannot provide expenditure for that period.The costing information relates to England, Scotland and Wales Police Core only, as Home Office does not have visibility of Airwave costs borne directly by other Funding Sponsor Bodies.As the Emergency Services Network is currently not operational, it is not possible to provide these costs.Leveraging EE’s Commercial Network of circa 20,000 masts, the main build of ESN masts to provide mobile coverage across Great Britain is largely complete. Of the additional 1047 ESN masts due to be built, 987 are completed and operationally live. Specifically, an additional 13 new sites have been built in Shropshire, with 1 of these sited in the constituency of North Shropshire.Across Great Britain, this is already providing a benefit to the public by enabling over one thousand additional 999 calls every month to be made in areas where previously there was no coverage. Work continues at pace to provide network access in areas where localised coverage is needed; these include densely populated communities, as well as sports stadiums, and shopping centres.ESMCP’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that ensures user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is responsible for managing the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN is a critical communications system and will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain.ESN is currently in the delivery phase, during which ESMCP will implement systems, platforms, processes, hardware and software to be ready and assured for deployment. Current delivery timelines are from January 2025 to 2027 with phased deployment planned to begin in 2027 to emergency services users. The target date for transition to be completed is 31 December 2029 after which Airwave will be safely shut down.ESN is a capability which is still under development and as such it is not operational. The products and services under development have been tested at several public events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury and London New Year’s Eve Celebrations to validate progress and inform the next stages of the programme.This is not a data set held by the Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme centrally. Such Data is owned and managed by individual forces across the three emergency services and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.As in all Police force areas in Great Britain, the Home Office contract with Airwave provides for hand-portable coverage in built-up areas and vehicle coverage on all major and minor roads, including all rural areas.Police forces can then elect to further enhance coverage in their areas if deemed necessary to meet their own specific operational needs. West Mercia Police have contracted further areas of hand-portable coverage from Airwave using this option.Shropshire and North Shropshire are covered by West Mercia Police, together with Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Collectively, availability of the Airwave radio network across West Mercia throughout 2025 was strong.The contractual target for Airwave network availability for all police forces is 99.74% each month. In 2025 monthly network availability across the 89 Airwave sites in West Mercia varied between 99.79% and 100%, with an overall mean average across the 12 months of 99.94%.Each quarter a tri-party meeting is held between West Mercia Police, the Home Office, and Motorola to review the quality and availability of the Airwave network, along with any other Airwave related issues. During 2025 there were no major Airwave service issues raised by West Mercia Police.

How many new telecommunications masts have been built for the Emergency Services Network in (a) total (b) Shropshire and (c) North Shropshire constituency.

The cost to the taxpayers of Great Britain for Airwave is as follows:2021/22 £293.66m2022/23 £318.55m2023/24 £197.01m2024/25 £153.48mAs the financial accounts for 2025/26 have not been finalised or audited yet, we cannot provide expenditure for that period.The costing information relates to England, Scotland and Wales Police Core only, as Home Office does not have visibility of Airwave costs borne directly by other Funding Sponsor Bodies.As the Emergency Services Network is currently not operational, it is not possible to provide these costs.Leveraging EE’s Commercial Network of circa 20,000 masts, the main build of ESN masts to provide mobile coverage across Great Britain is largely complete. Of the additional 1047 ESN masts due to be built, 987 are completed and operationally live. Specifically, an additional 13 new sites have been built in Shropshire, with 1 of these sited in the constituency of North Shropshire.Across Great Britain, this is already providing a benefit to the public by enabling over one thousand additional 999 calls every month to be made in areas where previously there was no coverage. Work continues at pace to provide network access in areas where localised coverage is needed; these include densely populated communities, as well as sports stadiums, and shopping centres.ESMCP’s priority is to achieve the right balance between credible plans that ensures user confidence and the need to deliver ESN as quickly and safely as possible to enable the shutdown of Airwave.The Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is responsible for managing the Emergency Services Network (ESN). ESN is a critical communications system and will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain.ESN is currently in the delivery phase, during which ESMCP will implement systems, platforms, processes, hardware and software to be ready and assured for deployment. Current delivery timelines are from January 2025 to 2027 with phased deployment planned to begin in 2027 to emergency services users. The target date for transition to be completed is 31 December 2029 after which Airwave will be safely shut down.ESN is a capability which is still under development and as such it is not operational. The products and services under development have been tested at several public events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury and London New Year’s Eve Celebrations to validate progress and inform the next stages of the programme.This is not a data set held by the Home Office’s Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme centrally. Such Data is owned and managed by individual forces across the three emergency services and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.As in all Police force areas in Great Britain, the Home Office contract with Airwave provides for hand-portable coverage in built-up areas and vehicle coverage on all major and minor roads, including all rural areas.Police forces can then elect to further enhance coverage in their areas if deemed necessary to meet their own specific operational needs. West Mercia Police have contracted further areas of hand-portable coverage from Airwave using this option.Shropshire and North Shropshire are covered by West Mercia Police, together with Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Collectively, availability of the Airwave radio network across West Mercia throughout 2025 was strong.The contractual target for Airwave network availability for all police forces is 99.74% each month. In 2025 monthly network availability across the 89 Airwave sites in West Mercia varied between 99.79% and 100%, with an overall mean average across the 12 months of 99.94%.Each quarter a tri-party meeting is held between West Mercia Police, the Home Office, and Motorola to review the quality and availability of the Airwave network, along with any other Airwave related issues. During 2025 there were no major Airwave service issues raised by West Mercia Police.

What steps she plans to take to help support the road haulage of meat products following the implementation of the EU Entry-Exit System.

The government continue to engage the European Commission and member states, and have been working particularly closely with France, to understand their plans for the progressive rollout of EES and to ask for flexible and pragmatic implementation to minimise delays for passengers and freight.We are also supporting ports and carriers to make sure they have the right technology and processes in place to make EES registration as smooth as possible.The government have been assured by Kent and Medway Resilience Forum that comprehensive traffic management plans are in place to monitor and respond to any disruption caused by EES registrations at the juxtaposed ports in Kent.

How many (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff were employed by the National Rural Crime Unit on 1 November 2025.

This Government recognises the excellent work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the National Rural Crime Unit. The NWCU and the NRCU play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups.This financial year the Home Office has provided a funding boost of over £800,000, which will allow these specialist units to continue their work in tackling rural and wildlife crime which can pose unique challenges for policing given the scale and isolation of rural areas.The NWCU employs five police officers and thirteen civilian staff and the NRCU employs two police officers and six civilian staff members.

How many (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff were employed by the National Wildlife Crime Unit on 1 November 2025.

This Government recognises the excellent work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the National Rural Crime Unit. The NWCU and the NRCU play key roles in helping police across the UK tackle organised theft and disrupt serious and organised crime groups.This financial year the Home Office has provided a funding boost of over £800,000, which will allow these specialist units to continue their work in tackling rural and wildlife crime which can pose unique challenges for policing given the scale and isolation of rural areas.The NWCU employs five police officers and thirteen civilian staff and the NRCU employs two police officers and six civilian staff members.

What resources she has committed to tackling rural crime in Shropshire.

Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft, anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will also ensure that every neighbourhood in England and Wales, including rural communities, will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their neighbourhoods providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses.This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 neighbourhood officers into teams by March 26, as part of our ambition to deliver 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this parliament.This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit, assists all police forces including West Mercia, in tackling rural crimeWe are also working closely with the National Police Chiefs Council to deliver their updated Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy for 2025-2029. The strategy will set out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities.

Whether she plans to include dental care professionals in the Temporary Shortage List.

On 12 May, the Government published its Immigration White Paper ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, and the first set of immigration rules giving effect to the policies in the White Paper was published on 1 July, including raising the skills threshold to RQF 6. At present dentists remain an eligible occupation as that occupation is skilled to RQF 6.

What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the removal of dental care professions from the list of eligible occupations under the Skilled Worker visa.

On 12 May, the Government published its Immigration White Paper ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, and the first set of immigration rules giving effect to the policies in the White Paper was published on 1 July, including raising the skills threshold to RQF 6. At present dentists remain an eligible occupation as that occupation is skilled to RQF 6.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on the effectiveness of NHS dental services of removing occupational codes (a) 3213 and (b) 6113 from the Skilled Worker visa eligibility list from 22 July 2025.

On 12 May, the Government published its Immigration White Paper ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, and the first set of immigration rules giving effect to the policies in the White Paper was published on 1 July, including raising the skills threshold to RQF 6. At present dentists remain an eligible occupation as that occupation is skilled to RQF 6.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of dental care professionals who will no longer be eligible for visa sponsorship following the immigration rule changes due to come into force on 22 July 2025.

On 12 May, the Government published its Immigration White Paper ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, and the first set of immigration rules giving effect to the policies in the White Paper was published on 1 July, including raising the skills threshold to RQF 6. At present dentists remain an eligible occupation as that occupation is skilled to RQF 6.

What steps she is taking to reduce rural business crime in North Shropshire constituency.

Rural crime has devastating consequences on countryside communities and the agricultural sector. Through our Safer Streets Mission, rural businesses will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent equipment theft and fly-tipping.Rural communities can also be assured that visible, neighbourhood policing is returning to our communities. On 10 April, the Prime Minister outlined further details about our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, including that by July, every community, including rural communities, will have named and contactable officers dedicated to addressing their issues.This financial year we are providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit, a national policing unit which help forces tackle rural crime priorities and is a great example of farmers and police working together at national and local level.As one part of efforts to help tackle theft of agricultural equipment, we are committed to the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 to tackle the theft and re-sale of high-value agricultural equipment.In addition, we are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police is tackling retail crime. This includes continuing to fund a specialist analysis team within Opal, the national intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime – in partnership with the retail sector – to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify organised retail crime offenders in every area of the county.