Written questions by Morgan.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 58290 on Banking Hubs: Market Towns, if her Department will commission an independent review of LINK’s access to cash assessment frameworks adequacy to serve rural areas.

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or face challenges using alternative payment methods. The Government also understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets across the UK, including those in rural communities, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. In September 2024, The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is independent of Government, introduced regulatory rules for access to cash. The FCA’s rules require LINK to consider a range of factors in their assessments which will account for challenges in cash access faced by market towns. This includes travel times to nearby cash facilities and local population demographics, including the levels of vulnerability and the number of elderly people within the community. However, it is important to note that the FCA’s rules, and the LINK assessment criteria which it oversees, pertain only to access to cash, and the FCA has no power to require LINK to consider a community's access to banking needs. Any decision to change LINK’s independent assessment criteria to consider access to banking is a matter for LINK and the financial services sector.

Whether she received representations from medical professionals before reducing the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund's fair access limit.

The changes made to the criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund ensure that each child can still access a significant package of support. The department always considers the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

Whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the impact of increased business rates on the viability of high street businesses in market towns.

We are creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. To deliver our manifesto pledge, from 2026-27, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so, from 2026-27, we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties – those with Rateable Values of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. Ahead of these changes being made, the Government recognises that businesses will need support in 2025-26. As such, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and we have frozen the small business multiplier. When the new, permanently lower tax rates are set at Autumn Budget 2025, the Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.

What steps he is taking to support high street businesses whose shipping imports from Asia have to be re-routed around Africa.

For businesses to invest and thrive they need confidence in their supply chains. This government is committed to assessing where supply chains critical to the United Kingdom's economic security and growth could be vulnerable to disruption, including those in the growth driving sectors outlined in the industrial strategy.The Business Secretary has announced a new Business Growth Service which will make it easier and quicker for businesses across the United Kingdom, including those on the high street, to receive advice and support to help them grow and thrive. The Business Growth Service will bring together under one single, trusted banner a range of existing core services as well as new and improved elements of the business support offer that will be delivered both centrally and locally.

Whether her Department undertook a risk assessment before reducing the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund's fair access limit.

The changes made to the criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund ensure that each child can still access a significant package of support. The department always considers the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

Whether he has made a recent assessment with the Secretary of State for Transport of the potential impact of public transport services in rural areas on the viability of high street businesses operating in market towns.

The government recognises that rural residents must often travel further to access their local high street. We know that this can affect business viability for high streets in rural areas as employee and customer accessibility is a significant barrier.The government is providing over £650 million for local transport outside city regions in 2025-26 to ensure that transport infrastructure and connections improve in our towns, villages and rural areas as well as in our major cities. Addressing intra-regional transport, connecting rural communities to their local high street will increase the viability of high street businesses in market towns. The government is also providing over £1 billion funding to support and improve local bus services and keep fares affordable where we can and increase connectivity to high streets in rural areas.

Whether his Department has produced a timeline to implement the recommendations of the Kerslake Review.

The Government has commissioned a new Defence Housing Strategy, due for publication later this year, that will set out a roadmap to deliver a generational renewal of military accommodation. The Ministry of Defence remains committed to improving military housing, widening entitlement, and the new consumer charter announced in April 2025. With Strategic Defence Review and Spending Review only recently published and as part of ongoing Defence Reform activity we are actively working on producing a detailed timeline on how to implement the recommendations from the Kerslake review, aligned to the priorities set out by the Secretary of State for Defence. A new taskforce has been formed including HM Treasury, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that is reviewing how estate disposals are conducted.

What steps he is taking to improve the quality of military accommodation at Clive Barracks.

The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire Service Family Accommodation portfolio which will include Clive Barracks. The review will also include how the Department will make best use of the properties that have been reacquired from Annington, and which homes and locations can most benefit from investment.The Defence Housing Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out wider plans to improve the standard of Service family homes. The sites that will be refurbished are being worked through carefully, with the ambition to fairly make improvements across the UK.Clive Barracks has been identified for closure, as such, work has been largely limited to ongoing works to improve and maintain ablutions.During Financial Year 2024-25, a project providing new temporary Single Living Accommodation SLA with ensuite bathrooms, comprising of 88 single occupancy bedspaces, with supporting kitchens and utility rooms, was delivered to replace old accommodation that comprised of four-man rooms with shared ablutions, and address a shortfall of bedspaces.No other SLA improvement works are programmed.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8912 on Armed Forces: Housing, how much and what proportion of the (a) £41 million funding for refurbishment, heating, and room conversions to provide extra bed spaces and (b) £7.5 million funding for improving the condition and heating she plans to spend on single living accommodation in North Shropshire constituency.

No major improvement projects are currently planned for Single Living Accommodation (SLA) at sites in the North Shropshire constituency. However, routine maintenance and improvement works take place at all sites as required. Previous works at Clive Barracks in Financial Year 2023-24 and 2024-25 included: The provision of an additional 88 self-contained en-suite facilities (circa £5.2 million).Work to remove damp and mould from rooms and ablutions with additional works identified for improved ventilation.New carpets installed throughout the SLA.Fire Safety Works have been completed to improve fire safety for personnel.

What steps he is taking to improve the quality of military accommodation at (a) RAF Shawbury and (b) of armed forces personnel in the surrounding area.

The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire Service Family Accommodation portfolio, including RAF Shawbury. The review will also include how the Department will make best use of the properties that have been reacquired from Annington, and which homes and locations can most benefit from investment.The Defence Housing Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out wider plans to improve the standard of SFA. The sites that will be refurbished are being worked through carefully, with the ambition to fairly make improvements across the UK.No major improvement projects are currently planned for Single Living Accommodation at RAF Shawbury.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8912 on Armed Forces: Housing, how much of the funding for (a) maintaining and (b) improving Service Family Accommodation in 2024-25 will be spent in North Shropshire constituency.

In Financial Year 2024-25 circa £3.3 million was spent on maintaining and improving Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in the North Shropshire constituency. Circa £400,000 was spent on maintenance costs and circa £2.9 million was spent on improvements to SFA. The figures provided do not include the core maintenance costs of the Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) Accommodation contract as we are unable to break the costs down into constituency.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund's fair access limit on the financial stability of adoptive families.

The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) is continuing to play an important role in the overall stability of adoptive families, alongside other forms of support. This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity. The ASGSF is an important part of this, but other sources of support are available to adoptive children and families. For example, this year, we are making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help and Child Protection nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention.

What steps his Department is taking to support high street businesses in North Shropshire.

Revitalising our high streets is a priority for this government. We are addressing anti-social behaviour and crime, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of the vacant properties, strengthening the Post Office network and reforming the apprenticeship levy, alongside our plans to reform business rates.We have announced a new Business Growth Service that will make it easier for businesses across the UK to get the help, support and advice they need. It will bring together existing offers including the Business Support Service, which provides tailored information, advice, guidance and signposting on any business topic, and the network of local Growth Hubs across England. The Marches Growth Hub provides businesses of all sizes and sectors across Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin with advice and support throughout the business journey.Our forthcoming SME Strategy will set out our further plans to help businesses on the high street and beyond.

What steps she is taking to improve (a) access to and (b) the (i) frequency and (ii) affordability of bus services in North Shropshire constituency.

The government recognises the importance of accessible, frequent and affordable bus services in keeping communities connected. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including in North Shropshire.In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which Shropshire Council has been allocated £4.5 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.  Future funding for buses will be announced following the conclusion of the multi-year spending review.

Pursuant to Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 33135 on Agriculture and Business: Inheritance Tax, what the evidential basis is that the alternative clawback mechanism to the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief would raise much less revenue.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. A “clawback” would mean inheritance tax would only be due if the relevant assets are sold within a specified time period after a death. Introducing this mechanism, as some have suggested, could mean some of the wealthiest estates pay less inheritance tax compared to the proposed reforms. The Government disagrees with suggestions that a clawback would raise the same revenue as the reforms being introduced from 6 April 2026; it would raise much less, which would mean raising taxes elsewhere or lowering public spending. It would also add complexity to the tax system and continue to attract the very wealthiest to tax plan since beneficiaries could hold onto the assets over the specified clawback period just to escape the tax. In accordance with standard practice, the Government does not publish internal modelling of alternative tax proposals that are not Government policy.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for diagnostic scans in North Shropshire constituency.

In March 2025, the diagnostic waiting list at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was 14,808, 3,229 of which, or 21.8%, were waiting over six weeks. This compares to a waiting list of 12,771 in March 2024, where 3,165 people, or 24.8%, were waiting over six weeks.To date, the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) has taken a number of steps to reduce waiting times for diagnostic tests. The Shrewsbury Telford and Wrekin Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Telford is providing additional capacity to see patients away from hospital sites, reducing unnecessary hospital visits. This fully operational, standard CDC is providing cardiorespiratory services, which include echocardiograms, spirometry, and electrocardiograms, as well as radiology, which includes computed tomography, x-ray, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging scans, phlebotomy, and teledermatology services. The CDC is providing capacity for approximately 13,000 diagnostic tests each month.In addition to the CDC, there are currently two mobile magnetic resonance imaging scanners on site at the Princess Royal Hospital, and an additional room for scanning non-obstetric ultrasound patient referrals has been opened. Through the introduction of this additional capacity, imaging waiting lists have reduced by 41% from the end of January 2025 across the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin ICB. In January, 58% of imaging patients had a scan within six weeks of referral and, in May, 87% of patients had a scan within six weeks of referral.The Shropshire Telford and Wrekin ICB recognises that there is further to go in reducing diagnostic waiting times, and the system is now looking to extend opening hours at the Shrewsbury Telford and Wrekin CDC, in order to provide additional diagnostic capacity across all radiology services, alongside current magnetic resonance imaging services that are already open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. This will be supported by continuing work with the independent sector, through the outsourcing of reporting, to ensure scan results are available in a timely manner. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are committed to sustaining the improvements they are making to ensure patients are having the tests and scans they need at the right time.NHS England is also engaging with the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin ICB as part of the process to identify the most appropriate locations for new CDCs, and therefore there is the possibility of a second CDC for the population of Shropshire. This process considers that any new CDC will be positioned in a location that addresses local need and health inequalities. Details of future CDCs will be communicated in due course.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of LINK’s banking hub criteria for market towns.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in market towns and across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 230 hubs have been announced so far, and over 160 are already open.Where a branch closure is announced or a community has submitted a cash access assessment request, LINK, the independent industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments, assesses a community’s access to cash needs. LINK will recommend appropriate solutions where it considers that a community requires additional cash services, such as a banking hub or deposit service.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require LINK to consider a range of factors in their assessments which will account for challenges in cash access faced by market towns. For example, firms are required to consider the actual travel times and costs to reach cash access facilities and identify gaps in provision where these are unreasonable, which may be particularly the case in rural areas. LINK also takes into account local population demographics and levels of vulnerability within the community. The criteria also assess whether there is likely to be seasonal demand for cash, which may be the case in certain market towns. These considerations help to ensure the specific needs of a community are assessed.Any decisions on changes to LINK’s independent assessment criteria are a matter for LINK and the financial services sector. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that adequate access to (a) banking and (b) postal services is considered during the planning process.

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should plan positively for the provision and use of community facilities and other local services to enhance the sustainability of communities and residential environments. Polices and decisions should also guard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services, particularly where this would reduce the community’s ability to meet its day-to-day needs.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support town and parish councils with the costs of developing Neighbourhood Development Plans.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 55389 on 5 June 2025.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Estates Safety Fund: 2025 to 2026, updated on 30 May 2025, whether the site for the funding allocated to the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is correct.

The published list for the Estates Safety Fund has been updated to reflect the correct allocations for the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB). Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estates-safety-fund-2025-to-2026We apologise for the confusion caused and thank you for drawing this error to our attention.The following table shows the value of the estate infrastructure work, along with the site location and a short description of the work, for the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB:RegionICBTrustValueSiteDescription of worksMidlandsShropshire, Telford and WrekinShropshire Community Health NHS Trust£500,000Bridgnorth Community Hospital, Whitchurch Community HospitalImprovements to electrical systems and ventilation systems. Nurse call system replacement. Lift upgrade or replacement.MidlandsShropshire, Telford and WrekinThe Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£400,000The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic HospitalImprovements to ventilation systems.MidlandsShropshire, Telford and WrekinThe Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust£6,797,000The Princess Royal Hospital, Royal Shrewsbury HospitalImprovements to electrical systems and energy systems. Lift upgrade or replacement. Nurse call system replacement.