Written questions by Cartlidge.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to include recommendations relating to Passive Infrastructure Access pricing structures in the next Statement of Strategic Priorities to Ofcom.

We recognise competition is key to promote investment and will help ensure low prices and more choice for consumers in the long term. As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product. We are engaging with Ofcom on this issue. In July, we published a consultation on our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices. We are reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact of changes to Passive Infrastructure Access pricing models on private and public investment in rural broadband in South Suffolk.

We recognise competition is key to promote investment and will help ensure low prices and more choice for consumers in the long term. As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product. For this reason, while officials are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, the Department has not made any formal assessment of the impact of the current PIA rental charges on investment in rural areas, including in South Suffolk. We have also not made any formal assessment of the economic impact of introducing changes to PIA rental charges.

Communities and Local Government, when Category 1 claimants of the Firefighters pension, who moved from retained to wholetime service between April 2000 and April 2006, can expect a final decision on pension aggregation.

My department understands that the delays in addressing pension aggregation for some scheme members with both retained and wholetime service may be frustrating. The matter is currently subject to litigation, and we will provide an update on the position as soon as we are able.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising rateable values from April 2026 on small community pubs currently exempt from Business Rates through Small Business Rates Relief.

If a business only occupies one property, and the property’s rateable value (RV) is lower than £12,000 from 2026, it will be eligible for 100% Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and will pay nothing in business rates. SBRR is also available if RV is between £12,001 and £15,000, and the rate of relief tapers from 100% to 0%. The 2026 revaluation began under the previous government to update values since the pandemic. If the property loses some or all of its SBRR or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result, then its bill increase will be capped at £800 for the year or the relevant transitional relief caps (5% or 15%), whichever is higher. That is part of this government’s support to pubs to insulate them from the effects of the revaluation. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. You can find more detail on these changes at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet

Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the impact Physical Infrastructure Access costs have on the deployment of fibre optic broadband in rural areas.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom, including on PIA, to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out across the UK, including in rural areas.Ofcom is finalising its Telecoms Access Review that will set PIA rental charges from 1 April 2026. In the Review, they will set out whether they will introduce changes following their consultation on their proposed TAR decisions.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has considered recommending changes to Ofcom’s Passive Infrastructure Access pricing structure as part of the Telecoms Access Review.

We recognise competition is key to promote investment and will help ensure low prices and more choice for consumers in the long term. As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product. We are engaging with Ofcom on this issue. In July, we published a consultation on our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices. We are reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.

Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with Ofcom on the economic viability of rural broadband in South Suffolk using Openreach’s Passive Infrastructure Access.

We recognise competition is key to promote investment and will help ensure low prices and more choice for consumers in the long term. As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product. For this reason, while officials are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, the Department has not made any formal assessment of the impact of the current PIA rental charges on investment in rural areas, including in South Suffolk. We have also not made any formal assessment of the economic impact of introducing changes to PIA rental charges.

Innovation and Technology, whether she expects Ofcom to review Physical Infrastructure Access pricing in the Telecoms Access Review.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom, including on PIA, to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out across the UK, including in rural areas.Ofcom is finalising its Telecoms Access Review that will set PIA rental charges from 1 April 2026. In the Review, they will set out whether they will introduce changes following their consultation on their proposed TAR decisions.

Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made in resolving the pension aggregation issue affecting firefighters who transferred from retained to wholetime service following the 2018 legal judgment.

My department understands that the delays in addressing pension aggregation for some scheme members with both retained and wholetime service may be frustrating. The matter is currently subject to litigation, and we will provide an update on the position as soon as we are able.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the impact of delays in resolving the firefighters’ pension aggregation issue on constituents in South Suffolk.

My department understands that the delays in addressing pension aggregation for some scheme members with both retained and wholetime service may be frustrating. The matter is currently subject to litigation, and we will provide an update on the position as soon as we are able.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support fair competition in the broadband market between national ISPs and alternative network operators in rural areas.

Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom’s principal duty is to further the interests of citizens and consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition.In July, we published a consultation on a draft updated Statement of Strategic Priorities to Ofcom that sets out the government’s view on the importance of competition to promote investment in broadband deployment across the UK, including in rural areas. We are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.Ofcom has powers to identify markets, determine whether a firm has significant market power (SMP) on those markets, and impose remedies as appropriate. Ofcom has not found any internet service provider to have SMP in the retail broadband market. However, in the wholesale fixed telecoms market, BT was found to have SMP and a range of pricing and non-pricing remedies were imposed on the company in order to promote network competition.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support investment in rural gigabit broadband networks in South Suffolk.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.As part of Project Gigabit, CityFibre is delivering a contract across Suffolk. This contract currently includes approximately 5,800 premises in the South Suffolk constituency, predominantly in rural areas.We will aim to cover the remaining premises that are not currently included in Project Gigabit or suppliers’ commercial delivery plans as far as possible as funding becomes available, in line with the objective of achieving nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032.

Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of using the Price Per Premise model rather than the Passive Infrastructure Access model with regard to rural broadband infrastructure pricing.

We recognise competition is key to promote investment and will help ensure low prices and more choice for consumers in the long term. As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product. We are engaging with Ofcom on this issue. In July, we published a consultation on our draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices. We are reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.

What discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail to ensure that (a) the NHS barcode system is fully operational and that (b) NHS bodies understand how to implement it effectively.

The Government supports the measures being taken to ensure important communications from the NHS reach households on time and we encourage NHS bodies to make use of this service. I recently met Alistair Cochrane, CEO of Royal Mail, and Martin Seidenberg, CEO of International Distribution Services, and raised concerns about Royal Mail’s performance with them. They reported continued targeted action to improve reliability and to deliver further sustained improvements. The government will continue to raise concerns with Royal Mail if the company’s quality of service does not improve. It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s obligations and has told Royal Mail it must urgently publish and deliver a credible plan that delivers major and continuous improvement.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to decrease levels of homelessness across the country.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 86837 on 10 November 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of the English countryside have been burnt by wildfires in the last twelve months; and what the cost was in terms of (a) fighting the fires, (b) loss of economic activity, (c) restoring the landscape and (d) NHS treatment of the effects of smoke pollution as a result of those wildfires.

Defra does not hold details on how many hectares of the English countryside have been burnt by wildfires in the last twelve months.MHCLG is responsible for fire policy and operations.

What steps his department is taking to help ensure that Royal Mail provide timely and reliable delivery of NHS appointment letters to patients in rural constituencies.

The government recognises the importance of timely delivery of NHS appointment letters, particularly for patients in rural areas. Royal Mail is required under the Universal Service Obligation to deliver priority letters six days a week to every UK address, and Ofcom monitors compliance with these standards. It is for Ofcom to decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.

Whether her Department plans to review its consultation process on Volumetric Concrete Mixers.

The Department has no plans to review its consultation process on Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). The outcome of my department’s review into VCMs was published on 18 March 2025. This can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/volumetric-concrete-mixers-review

If she has made an assessment of the impact of reducing beer duty by 5% across (a) draught, (b) packaged and (c) lower-strength beer on (i) growth and (ii) investment in the sector.

At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated by Retail Price Index (RPI) on 1 February 2026 to main its current real-terms value. The government considers uprating to be a prudent decision for the public finances that balances the important contribution of alcohol producers, pubs and the wider hospitality sector, with the tax’s role in supporting public health. The Chancellor heard a range of perspectives ahead of the Budget, including from beer producers, and considered the impact of alcohol duty rates on all affected groups. An assessment of these impacts is published within the Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN), available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rates-change/alcohol-duty-uprating#summary-of-impacts

Whether she plans to increase Small Business Rate Relief thresholds to prevent closures of pubs.

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.