Written questions by Morgan.

Innovation and Technology, how many properties had been connected to full fibre under the North Shropshire Project Gigabit contract on 1 May 2025.

As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre was awarded a contract to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises in North Shropshire that were not expected to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.As of 1 May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) had received reports from the supplier confirming the delivery for 845 premises under this contract in the North Shropshire constituency.

What steps he is taking to increase the proportion of public procurement contracts awarded to small and medium sized businesses.

The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate. The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs. In central government, we have also announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually. The Government will consult on further reforms to our public procurement processes to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Freedom Fibre on Project Gigabit contracts since 1 January 1 2025; and whether he will publish the minutes of those meetings.

As the executive agency responsible for delivering Project Gigabit, Building Digital UK (BDUK) holds regular meetings with suppliers, including Freedom Fibre, to discuss their progress with delivery of their Project Gigabit contracts. Ministers have had no such meetings with Freedom Fibre since 1 January 2025.

What steps he is taking to support small businesses with public procurement applications.

The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate. The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs. In central government, we have also announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually. The Government will consult on further reforms to our public procurement processes to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the (a) cost and (b) complexity of public procurement applications on the capacity of small and medium-sized businesses.

The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate. The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs. In central government, we have also announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually. The Government will consult on further reforms to our public procurement processes to drive economic growth, support small businesses, and better support innovation.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has made and assessment of the suitability of Freedom Fibre to deliver the Project Gigabit contract in North Shropshire constituency since the termination of Freedom Fibre’s Project Gigabit contract for Cheshire.

The Project Gigabit contract for North Shropshire was awarded following a procurement which was compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.Officials in Building Digital UK (BDUK) meet regularly with Freedom Fibre to oversee its delivery of this contract.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the progress of the Project Gigabit rollout in North Shropshire constituency since 1 January 2025.

As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre was awarded a contract to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises in North Shropshire that were not expected to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.As of 1 May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) had received reports from the supplier confirming the delivery for 845 premises under this contract in the North Shropshire constituency.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential savings to the public purse from reduced usage of on-framework staffing agencies.

We have answered this question referencing the Planning Guidance for 2024/25, where NHSE England stated that trusts should end the use of off-framework agencies.The 2025/26 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance aims to improve procurement, contract management, and work to accept operating models that meet commercial standards.Use of off-framework agencies, which tends to be more expensive, is at record lows, contributing to a forecast cost reduction of £1.4 billion from 2024/25 (approximately 38% reduction) - NHS England » Financial performance update.Off-framework use is actively monitored through NHS England governance mechanisms, with additional oversight applied to Trusts with recurring non-compliance.

Whether he plans to personally meet with cross-party representatives to discuss social care reform.

Building a cross-party consensus is fundamental to the national conversation that the Prime Minister has tasked Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock to facilitate.The commission is independent and Baroness Casey has the full support of my Rt. Hon. friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in taking this work forward and deciding how best to engage other political parties and in building cross-party consensus.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the planned 30 per cent reduction in agency spend outlined in the NHS Planning Guidance 2025-26 on nurse fill rates.

As outlined in the NHS Planning Guidance 2025/26, all trusts are required to reduce agency spend by at least 30%, with an additional focus on achieving a 10% reduction in spend on bank staff. This aims to transition away from a reliance on costly temporary staff and to promote investment in permanent roles.While this specific assessment has not been made, fill rates on temporary staff, including nurses, are monitored monthly. It is essential that patient safety considerations continue to be the most important priority.Spend on agency increased significantly in 2021/22 to £2.96 billion and to £3.46 billion in 2022/2023. However, spend appears to have peaked as 2023/24 spend was £3 billion and it has decreased further in 2024/25.My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, wrote to trusts and integrated care boards in early June 2025 to reinforce the message in the Planning Guidance and set the ambition to eliminate agency spend in this parliament as part of optimising costs and productivity. The expectation is that staff will move to bank and substantive roles.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has updated its contingency plans following foot and mouth disease outbreaks in mainland Europe in 2025.

Defra’s approach to foot and mouth disease (FMD) control is set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) keep preparedness under continual review but have refocused efforts following the recent outbreaks of FMD in mainland Europe. To this end, the FMD Control Strategy is being reviewed and will be published on GOV.UK in due course. The Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England is reviewed annually, and the next update is due to be laid before parliament in late autumn this year.APHA, which leads Government action on animal disease control in Great Britain, is in the planning stages of a national tier 2 exercise to test and validate our response to an outbreak of FMD, scheduled for late 2025.

What steps her Department is taking to help support pensioners in North Shropshire constituency whose pre-1997 contributions are not subject to indexation.

Most schemes do pay some pre-1997 indexation, because of scheme rules or as a discretionary benefit. Analysis published last year by the Pensions Regulator shows that as of March 2023, only 17 per cent of members of private sector defined benefit pension schemes do not receive any pre-1997 indexation on benefits. This information can be found at: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests#f3a5fe60511a445f91112bd7dd8a64aeBut for those affected by a lack of indexation I recognise the significance this can have.Members of these pension schemes are now understandably concerned at seeing inflation erode the value of their retirement income.It would be unreasonable to retrospectively increase the cost to schemes for benefits already earned, as these costs could not have been taken into account in the funding assumptions used to set contribution rates at the time.The Government’s upcoming pension reforms on the use of surpluses in defined benefit schemes will make it easier for individual schemes to make decisions that improve outcomes for both sponsoring employers and members, which could include discretionary benefit increases.

If he will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Transport on the adequacy of access to postal services in rural areas where (a) post office branches have recently closed and (b) postal outreach services have recently ceased.

The Government protects the sustainability of the Post Office branch network, including in North Shropshire and across the rural network, providing funding stipulating that Post Office meets its minimum access criteria ensuring 99% of the population live within three miles of their nearest Post Office, across the country. Government confirmed the network subsidy will be up to £83 million for Financial Year 25/26. Post Office are committed to consulting on any proposed branch changes, as set out in the Principles of Community Engagement document agreed with Citizens Advice. These consultations focus on customers’ access to Post Office products following any proposed change. Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, requires Royal Mail to ensure that across the UK, the premises of no fewer than 95% of users of postal services are within 5 kilometres of an access point.

What progress his Department has made in resolving Horizon Shortfall Scheme claims for sub-postmasters in North Shropshire constituency.

As of 30 April 2025, £507 million has been paid in redress via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS). This includes approximately £240 million in fixed sum awards and approximately £107 million in top-ups to previously settled claimants. DBT does not hold a constituency-level breakdown of HSS cases.

If she will ask Network Rail to install Overlay Miniature Stop Lights at Viaduct level crossing in Chirk Bank.

My department looks to Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager for Britain’s railways, to make operational decisions independent of government in accordance with its statutory safety duties and expertise. These include decisions on the appropriate safety arrangements at specific level crossings, which are informed by thorough risk assessments. These risk assessments consider a range of factors, including potential hazards, visibility, train speed and level crossing usage. It is important that these decisions are made by Network Rail, without any interference or direction from my department, to maintain its independence.I have, however, passed on this request to Network Rail, who will be able to advise on the appropriateness of the safety arrangements at Viaduct Level Crossing in Chirk Bank.

What steps he is taking to improve access to postal services in North Shropshire constituency.

The Government protects the sustainability of the Post Office branch network, including in North Shropshire and across the rural network, providing funding stipulating that Post Office meets its minimum access criteria ensuring 99% of the population live within three miles of their nearest Post Office, across the country. Government confirmed the network subsidy will be up to £83 million for Financial Year 25/26. Post Office are committed to consulting on any proposed branch changes, as set out in the Principles of Community Engagement document agreed with Citizens Advice. These consultations focus on customers’ access to Post Office products following any proposed change. Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, requires Royal Mail to ensure that across the UK, the premises of no fewer than 95% of users of postal services are within 5 kilometres of an access point.

When he plans to set out a timeline for negotiations with community pharmacies for the 2026-27 Contractual Framework.

There is currently no set timeline for commencing consultations on the future community pharmacy contractual framework beyond 2025/26. Departmental budgets beyond 2025/26 will be set through Phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will conclude in June.A mandate for the consultation will then be sought when internal departmental budgets have been set.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the full budget available to community pharmacies in 2025-26 is spent on the sector.

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This increased funding envelope is fully guaranteed for the sector.The funding allocated to Pharmacy First in 2025/26 reflects the growth of the service to date, with up to £215 million available to be earned by contractors in 2025/26. It is expected that changes to the remuneration arrangements, continued work on improving referral systems, and promotions to increase public awareness and knowledge around accessing community pharmacy services will ensure levels of activity that will see this funding fully utilised.

What steps his Department is taking to help prevent the mishandling of patient information by social care providers.

Responsibility for delivering shared care records sits with local integrated care boards (ICBs).The health and care organisations which participate in the Devon and Cornwall Care Record are joint controllers for the shared care record system and are responsible for determining who is authorised to access medical records in the system, the process for authorising users, how those users access records and the purposes for which the records can be accessed.Every ICB which shares records is required to look after an individual’s information in accordance with the Information Governance Framework for shared care records published by NHS England, to ensure that only authorised users access relevant information, and that access is governed by appropriate access controls. The framework is available at the following link:https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/summary-of-information-governance-framework-shared-care-records/information-governance-framework-for-integrated-health-and-care-shared-care-records/There are safeguards in place to keep information confidential. All care organisations accessing information via the Devon and Cornwall Care Record must be compliant with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit and sign a data sharing agreement. To access, a user needs an account which must be requested by an authorised sponsor in their organisation. Each time a shared record is accessed in the Devon and Cornwall Care Record, it is recorded in an audit trail.The registered managers of any care home are responsible legally for the safe management of information and ensuring all staff receive training and must agree to the terms and conditions of use, of which they are reminded on the login page.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of foot and mouth disease outbreaks in Hungary, Slovakia and Germany in 2025.

Defra has closely monitored the 2025 foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in Hungary, Slovakia, and Germany. Following Germany’s confirmed FMD case in January, its FMD-free status was temporarily suspended but reinstated by the World Organisation for Animal Health in April after swift containment. Hungary and Slovakia reported FMD outbreaks in March 2025, prompting immediate action. Defra assessed the risk of FMD entering Great Britain from these countries as medium, citing potential spread via wild animals and human activity. As a result, the UK imposed temporary import bans on live animals and certain products from affected regions. Defra also reinforced biosecurity messaging to livestock keepers and increased disease surveillance. To strengthen long-term resilience, the UK is investing £200 million into its animal health infrastructure, including Weybridge’s national reference laboratory. Defra continues to adapt its policies in response to developments and remains committed to protecting the UK’s biosecurity and livestock sector.