The Government is investing a record £58.5 billion in research and development between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to support growth and the creation of high-skilled jobs across the UK. This includes funding for UKRI-supported Centres for Doctoral Training in the North West, helping to develop the next generation of researchers and innovators. Around the country, UKRI is investing in around 5000 new PhD studentships each year.

Alongside this, the Government has invested £200m in the TechFirst programme that will reach one million students across every secondary school in the UK, including 400,000 students attending the most disadvantaged schools. This will also provide funding for scholarship, research and employment opportunities for thousands of young people across the country. This includes supporting a pilot in the North West that will combine AI skills training with Level 3 apprenticeships, creating a direct pathway for young people at risk of becoming NEET into skilled employment and informing future national rollout.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 will ensure people can have the security they need by giving eligible workers the right to guaranteed hours.

The next stage in implementation is a full public consultation on how the measures are implemented. Consultation will be key to ensure that the regulations deliver the benefits envisaged.

Ahead of implementation, the government will publish clear guidance for employers and workers on the new right to guaranteed hours, ensuring that everyone understands their responsibilities and entitlements.

In addition to providing funding, the Department uses a range of non-financial levers to drive improvement. These include requiring local highway authorities to publish annual highway maintenance transparency reports and to demonstrate compliance with best practice in asset management, including a greater focus on preventative maintenance.

In January 2026, the Department also introduced a new traffic light rating system which assesses local highway authorities in England based on the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads, and whether they do so using best practice. Lancashire County Council received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green for spend and amber for best practice.

These ratings will be updated annually, providing an incentive to authorities to adopt best practice, and enabling the Department to identify where to target support to ensure road condition improves nationwide. The Department is also updating the Code of Practice this year, the first update since 2017, to ensure the Code reflects the latest developments in relation to the effective management of highways maintenance works.

The UK dairy sector is highly resilient and adaptable and continues to supply healthy and affordable products in spite of the many challenges it has faced in recent years.

This Government recognises that food security is national security, and that it requires a resilient and healthy food system that works with nature and supports farmers. That is why we are introducing new deals for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen food security.

Ensuring fairness in supply chains is key for UK dairy farmers and supporting the sustainability of the sector. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which fully came into force on 9 July 2025, improve fairness and transparency, requiring dairy contracts to include clear terms on pricing, termination, and prohibiting unilateral changes.

The Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authorities and other stakeholders continue to work in partnership with local communities to deliver innovative and alternative flood risk management practices. This includes Natural Flood Management measures, demonstrated most notably in Ribchester with an £80,000 investment. Advice and support are given to flood action groups, and the Environment Agency continue to issue flood warnings to residents. Collectively, all these measures serve to reduce the risk of flooding for households within the Ribble Valley.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country.

Further information on these actions and progress on the plan can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-acts-to-make-thousands-of-extra-driving-tests-available-each-month.

The driving test centres that serve candidates in the Ribble Valley are Blackburn, Nelson, Skipton and Preston. Blackburn and Nelson are part of the same cluster of centres. From recruitment campaigns, DVSA has recruited two new entrant driving examiners (DE) and offered a further four DEs a position for this cluster. Following successful completion of training the new entrant DEs will be in post late autumn. A further DE has also been offered a post in Skipton. After successful completion of training, they will also be in post by late autumn.

Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector. That is why this Government is committed to reducing crime in rural areas.

Under our Safer Streets Mission reforms, rural communities will be safeguarded, with tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent theft of farm equipment and fly-tipping.

The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing for everyone in England and Wales, wherever they live. 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 local issues.

This financial year we will be providing the first Home Office funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU), as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). The funding boost of over £800,000 in total will help the units tackle those crimes that predominantly affect our rural communities.

This 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 National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities NPCC-Wildlife-Rural-Crime-Strategy-2022-2025.pdf (nwcu.police.uk). We are working closely with the NPCC and Defra to deliver the next iteration of their strategy, to ensure the Government’s Safer Streets Mission benefits every community no matter where they live, including rural communities.

The percentage of girls and boys in the Ribble Valley constituency at the end of key stage 2, that met the expected standard in mathematics and science in 2023/24, is provided in the table below.

The Department is not currently able to provide constituency data on Pension Credit applications and awards.

Statistics on Pension Credit application volumes, for Great Britain only, were published on 29^th May 2025. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, and outstanding, from week commencing 3^rd April 2023 up to week commencing 19^th May 2025: Pension Credit applications and awards: May 2025. The next quarterly release of Pension Credit applications and awards statistics for Great Britian has been announced for late-August 2025: Pension Credit Applications and Awards Statistics: August 2025 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.

I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend.

Economic growth requires people to be able to get to work. This morning, yet another road traffic accident happened on the stretch of M6 motorway that goes through my constituency and yours, Mr Speaker. This has a hugely disruptive impact on the mainly small roads around it in my constituency. Yet again, my residents in Longridge, Grimsargh and all the surrounding areas woke up to the prospect of another journey to work that takes two hours instead of 20 minutes, and that is becoming a monthly—if not weekly—occurrence. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what can be done?

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the scheme in March 2025 for Ribble Valley was 104.

The NHSBSA does not currently hold data on the number of people who are eligible for the scheme. An issue was identified with the source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. The NHSBSA has therefore removed data for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards.

The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they were eligible.

Q7

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Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con):

Mr Speaker, as your former Deputy Speaker, I want to say that nobody who has sat in that Chair has done more to defend and promote the rights of LGBTI people in this country and throughout the world. When so many people live in fear of being born the way they are, I salute you. Thank you.

The Guardian reported last week that the largest number of happy people live in the Ribble valley, and I believe that the Prime Minister has the capacity to make them happier. Will he ensure that Ribble Valley gets its fair share of the 153 extra police who are coming to Lancashire, that we get our fair share of rural funding for health services such as the Slaidburn health centre and that we get equal funding per pupil in our schools? Finally, for the 57% who voted Brexit and for the almost 100% who believe in democracy, will he ensure that after the general election, when he is Prime Minister, he will deliver the Brexit people voted for?

I can certainly give my hon. Friend an assurance on his second point. The only way to deliver a great Brexit is to vote for the Conservative party and this Government. I can make him happier still by pointing out that those 153 police are just the first wave for Ribble Valley, as part of the 20,000 more police who we will be putting on the streets of this country.

Using the Annual Population Survey, the Office for National Statistics estimate constituency level employment rates at a 95% confidence level between a lower and upper bound. As can be seen in the table below, a reliable trend cannot be identified at this geography, due to the sample size being too small.

Official Statistics, published by the Office for National Statistics and based on the Annual Population Survey, do not provide reliable estimates at this geography, due to the sample size being too small.

However, using the Labour Force Survey, the Office for National Statistics estimate the level of unemployment in the North West was 143,000 in the quarter to December 2018. The data shows:

• A decrease in unemployment of 5,000 on the same quarter of 2017,
• A decrease in unemployment of 38,000 on the same quarter of 2016.
• A decrease in unemployment of 152,000 since the quarter to April 2010.

As part of the preparation of the revised National Planning Policy Framework, representations were received from local authorities and neighbourhood planning groups across the country, as well as groups that have a focus on countryside issues.

Officials also proactively reached out to communities through a series of regional events run by the Planning Advisory Service and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

The Framework confirms that in rural areas, planning policies and decisions should be responsive to local circumstances and support housing developments that reflect local needs.

It is for local authorities to consider how to implement the National Planning Policy Framework in their area through the plan-making process.

My hon. Friend is right to say that the accessibility of local officers is a vital principle of British policing. He will know that we have provided a strong and comprehensive settlement that is increasing total investment in the police system by more than £460 million in this financial year, and for Lancashire police specifically, we have provided more than £6 million for 2017-18. As he says, decisions about resources, including the use of police stations, are a matter for police and crime commissioners and chief constables, but I encourage those who make those decisions to listen to their local communities to best assess their needs.

Q4

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Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con):

As a proud Welshman and a proud Brit, I say, “Come on England!”

Crime is on the increase in the Ribble Valley, including antisocial behaviour orders, but the response from the Labour police and crime commissioner is to close front desk services at police stations, including Clitheroe police station. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we do not better protect the public by degrading the service that they pay for?

The Government has no plans to make such an assessment. The development of former burial grounds, whether or not they are consecrated, is subject to planning regulations and to any conditions placed on the granting of individual planning permissions. Relevant health and safety and environmental legislation would also apply. Monitoring compliance with these requirements is a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance.

The disturbance of human remains in ground consecrated to the rites of the Church of England must be authorised by the Church of England. For unconsecrated ground, authorisation is required from the Secretary of State for Justice. The unauthorised disturbance of human remains is a criminal offence and, therefore, a matter for the police.