The Newton Abbot to Heathfield line is currently out of use, having last carried freight traffic in 2015 and passenger traffic in 1959. Network Rail consider it important to safeguard the line in case it is restored for passenger and/or freight services in the future, subject to any viable future business case.

Network Rail has previously examined the case for reintroducing passenger services between Newton Abbot and Heathfield. While improved connectivity could deliver benefits, forecast demand was relatively low and was not considered sufficient to justify the significant costs of upgrading and operating a conventional rail service. The business case could, however, change in future if costs reduce or demand increases.

Interest has emerged in using the route as a trial corridor for battery powered Very Light Rail (VLR) vehicles. This could provide a lower-cost way of reintroducing passenger services while also testing innovative low-carbon transport technology. Before any decision could be made, further engineering, commercial and economic assessments would be needed to confirm whether a VLR scheme is viable. This work would need to examine funding and operating arrangements, technical and regulatory requirements, and the potential impact on any future plans to reinstate heavy rail freight services.

Network Rail considers that further work on the VLR option would help establish whether it could offer a practical and affordable means of restoring passenger services on the route.

The Government is committed to helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Newton Abbot and across the UK to grow and succeed. Businesses in Newton Abbot can access the Business Growth Service and tailored advice through their local Growth Hub for any stage of their business journey through a free and impartial local point of contact.

Backed by the Small Business Plan, we are delivering 200 measures to improve the business environment for SMEs, including strengthening business support, improving access to finance and helping more firms reach new markets and grow.

The Government recognises the important role that Dartmoor ponies play in the landscape, biodiversity and cultural heritage of Dartmoor. There are no plans under this Government to reduce the number of Dartmoor ponies, and we are working closely with Natural England and other stakeholders to support a thriving pony population alongside the recovery of Dartmoor's protected habitats.

This government is committed to protecting consumers from rogue traders. Consumer legislation already sets out the standards consumers can expect when a trader supplies goods and services, including building work, as well as remedies if these rights are breached.

TrustMark, sponsored by the Department and licenced by the Government, is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme that covers work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home. In addition, the Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced competence requirements for both individuals and businesses working in the built environment.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 29th May is attached.

Local authorities are responsible for commissioning alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services as part of their public health responsibilities. As a condition of the Public Health Grant, local authorities are responsible for improving the uptake of, and outcomes from, their alcohol and drug treatment services, based on an assessment of local need and a plan which has been developed with local health and criminal justice partners.

From 2026/27, all alcohol and drug treatment and recovery funding will be ringfenced and channelled through the Public Health Grant. All funding is provided at the Devon level, and it is for Devon County Council working with a wider partnership to determine how to meet needs in Newton Abbot. Through the ringfenced funding, Devon will receive £8,375,361 in 2026/27 and indicative totals of £8,724,672 and £9,142,038 for 2027/28 and 2028/29 respectively.

The Department works closely with local authorities, providing guidance tools, data, and expertise to help them assess and plan alcohol and drug prevention and treatment. To support delivery, the Department, with the support of partners from the devolved administrations, has developed and published the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice and improve the quality of service provision, resulting in better outcomes for people experiencing harmful drinking and alcohol dependence.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. For the Newton Abott constituency, this is the One Devon ICB.

The Government is committed to ensuring people can access urgent dental care when they need it. Over the past year, ICBs have been commissioning additional urgent dental appointments and there is now an urgent care safety net available in all areas of the country. 1.8 million additional courses of NHS dental treatment have been delivered in the seven months between April to October 2025 compared to the corresponding months prior to the general election.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

If the hon. Member were to formally request a meeting in writing, I would be happy to consider his request.

Due to the quasi-judicial role of MHCLG Ministers in the planning system, neither the Secretary of State nor I are able to comment on the details of specific planning proposals, including discussing them with the relevant local planning authority.

Enforcement against breaches of planning control and non-compliance of imposed conditions are matters for individual local planning authorities.

The Government's initial focus for EDPs is nutrient pollution, with Natural England currently exploring their development for a number of specific catchments. A list of EDPs currently being prepared by Natural England, and the areas they may cover, was published on 22 December 2025. Wolborough Fen SSSI does not fall within the catchments currently identified for the early nutrient EDPs.

Due to the quasi-judicial role of MHCLG Ministers in the planning system, neither the Secretary of State nor I are able to comment on the details of specific planning proposals, including discussing them with the relevant local planning authority.

The Department for Transport has plans in place and underway with industry to adapt to and mitigate the risks of extreme weather caused by climate change. In 2024, the rail industry agreed a set of climate scenarios. This will harmonise data and methods and will help the industry develop consistent approaches to assess physical risks.

Network Rail is undertaking a programme of adaptation pathways across the network, including in Wales and Western region, which covers the Newton Abbot constituency, to develop a long-term strategic adaptation plan and identify priority areas for further adaptation investment. This approach will help identify those parts of the network which may require transformational change to enable safe and reliable services to continue in the future. Network Rail has also produced regional weather resilience and climate change adaptation plans (WRCCA). These explain Network Rail’s understanding of how weather and climate change can affect infrastructure at a more targeted, local level. This work is already informing discussions for future funding periods.

In addition, the Department has requested its train operating companies, including Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and CrossCountry, to produce their own WRCCA strategies due at the end of January 2026 and these will add further detail to our understanding of regional risks.

The point at which agreements relating to telecoms infrastructure installations pre-dating the 2017 reforms to the Electronic Communications Code will transfer onto the legal framework established through those reforms depends on the type of agreement previously in place and whether or not the agreement is renewed.

The provisions that determine which legal framework applies to renewal agreements were set out in the Digital Economy Act 2017.

Sections 61 - 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Act 2022 introduced measures extending the “no network” valuation scheme established by the 2017 reforms to certain agreements still regulated by pre-2017 frameworks when they are renewed. Regulations relating to these provisions were made on 15 December 2025. Agreements affected by these regulations will move onto the “no network” valuation scheme on renewal after the regulations come into force on 7 April 2026.

Local authorities can recover costs incurred from their work on private water supplies from the relevant person for the supply. Defra expects all local authorities to undertake their statutory duties.

Pay for most staff employed by National Health Service organisations is set at a national level. The Government has remitted the independent NHS Pay Review Body and the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration to make recommendations on headline pay for NHS staff. Within their reports they make an assessment of the level of pay to recommend, with regard to various factors such as recruitment and retention. The process for the 2026/27 pay round is already underway, with the Department publishing its evidence to the Pay Review Bodies on 30 October.

The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority. Local employers across the NHS have in place arrangements for supporting staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. At a national level, NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism and sexual harassment in the workplace.

We recognise that more can be done to support working families. That is why, through the Employment Rights Bill, we are making Paternity Leave a ‘day one’ right, which will bring an extra 32,000 fathers and partners into scope of the entitlement.

On 1 July we launched the Parental Leave and Pay Review, which will consider all existing and upcoming parental leave entitlements, including Paternity Leave and Pay. When considering calls to increase entitlements for parents, the Government will balance the needs of parents, the impact on employers, and affordability for taxpayers.

We have interpreted question 90429 to relate purely to individuals with a custodial sentence and not all convicted of an offence. In the last 5 years, there have been no failures by Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS) suppliers to return or take an individual to a prison following an order to do so from a Magistrates or Crown Court.

On 11 November, I wrote to all Members of this House with an update on actions taken to date.

Where a pharmacy goes into administration, administrators will work to rescue the pharmacy business or sell it.

Where pharmacies close, integrated care boards will work with other local pharmacies and general practices to ensure patients can continue to access their medicines. If the closure of a pharmacy causes a gap in pharmacy provisions, new pharmacies can apply to provide NHS pharmaceutical services. Patients may also use distance-selling pharmacies, which are required to deliver prescription medicines directly to patients’ homes.

Pharmacy staff are not employed by the NHS but by pharmacy businesses. Therefore, any dispute between staff and a pharmacy business should be raised with the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service which has powers to provide arbitration and binding decisions in such matters.

Statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children are published annually and provide various breakdowns including by households with someone earning.

The latest publication, with April 2025 data, is published here: Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2025 - GOV.UK data by Parliamentary Constituencies can be found in tables 12A, 12B, 12C in the published spreadsheet.

All previous releases of these statistics are published here: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children - GOV.UK

Data is not held on the number of National Health Service dental appointments offered each month.

As of 3 November 2025, there were nine NHS dentist practices in the Newton Abbot constituency, with two showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and two showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’.

This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

The data for the Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes the Newton Abbot constituency, shows that 29% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, compared to 40% in England.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the ICBs across England.