The STEP prototype fusion powerplant will be delivered by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd. (UKIFS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), itself sponsored by DESNZ and fully owned by the UK Government. STEP will be delivered in several phases. The first has been completed producing the powerplant concept design, site selection (West Burton) and identifying the appropriate regulatory framework. Site characterisation is ongoing, and a live tender is underway to select industrial partners to work on the plant with UKIFS, and Fusion R&D Partner UKAEA.

The NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB) has received applications to open a branch surgery in the Village of Burton, near Christchurch in Dorset. Applications are currently going through the ICB governance process, which is expected to conclude following the ICB Prevention, Equity and Outcomes Committee on 23 April.

Following a local practice closure in August 2024, the ICB is assessing capacity in the area, which remains good. Access to general practice (GP) services for local residents remains very good, with a choice of five practices in the Christchurch area that are all accepting new patients and growing their lists. The NHS Dorset ICB is engaging with local partners, other GP practices, and the Wessex Local Medical Committees to ensure views are collated while going through our governance processes.

On 16 January 2025, the Government announced £410m of investment to accelerate development of fusion energy. This is to fund UK fusion programmes in 2025-2026, including STEP.

On the same day, UKIFS – the UKAEA subsidiary that will deliver STEP – announced the shortlist of construction and engineering partners selected for the next stage of the STEP procurement process. Contracts for successful bidders are set to be awarded by early 2026. By involving private industry early, the programme will maximise development of the fusion supply chain and adjacent sectors. Other progress in recent months includes the formal transfer of the programme’s leadership to the delivery body, UKIFS.

The Long-Term Workforce plan was published in June 2023 and the data on the number of Dentists in each integrated care board for 2023/24 is expected to be available from August.

The NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. The focus is not short-term recruitment but putting workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term.

We will expand dentistry training places by 40% so that there are over 1,100 places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.

Our plan for dentistry, to be published shortly, will build upon the first package of reforms agreed in July 2022, which included changes to banding and the introduction of a minimum units of dental activity value. Our plan will include addressing how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make National Health Service work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, we will expand places by 24% by 2028/29, taking the overall number that year to 1,000 places.

From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.

The Ivanhoe Line will be reopened under Network North. This is referred to at paragraph 63 of the Network North policy paper.

The average class size in Burton in January 2019 and January 2022 are as follows:

Data on class size is available at school level within the schools, pupils and their characteristics national statistics publication available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

This data contains the parliamentary constituency of each school which can then be aggregated to parliamentary constituency level.

The average class size in Burton in January 2019 and January 2022 are as follows:

Data on class size is available at school level within the schools, pupils and their characteristics national statistics publication available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

This data contains the parliamentary constituency of each school which can then be aggregated to parliamentary constituency level.

We are investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit so people in hard-to-reach areas can get gigabit broadband. As part of Project Gigabit, we will be launching a regional supplier procurement in Staffordshire, covering Croxden, Marchington, Denstone, and other rural areas in Burton. The procurement will target premises that would not otherwise get gigabit broadband through suppliers’ commercial plans.

In preparation, we have conducted an Open Market Review and a Public Review across Staffordshire to survey suppliers’ delivery plans and shape the areas that require intervention. The procurement is scheduled to begin between September and November 2022, with a contract expected to be awarded between July and September 2023.

Eligible premises that are not included in the chosen supplier’s plans will be able to apply for subsidy via the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband.

Constituents in Burton have made good use of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme; to date, approximately 80 premises in the constituency have claimed and received payment for a voucher through the scheme, with approximately 200 further premises awaiting completion, for a combined value of over £550,000.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

The information is not held in the format requested. However, evening and weekend face to face and virtual appointments are offered by East Staffordshire Primary Care Network, with practices providing appointments on a rota system. Weekend appointments are also available from a hub location within the East Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that work is underway across providers, CCGs and the local authority to optimise care provision in the area. The Staffordshire Integrated Care System continues the launch of general practitioner (GP) referrals into the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) and there are plans for East Staffordshire Primary Care Network, to begin implementing the GP CPCS later in the year.

The information is not held in the format requested. However, evening and weekend face to face and virtual appointments are offered by East Staffordshire Primary Care Network, with practices providing appointments on a rota system. Weekend appointments are also available from a hub location within the East Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that work is underway across providers, CCGs and the local authority to optimise care provision in the area. The Staffordshire Integrated Care System continues the launch of general practitioner (GP) referrals into the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) and there are plans for East Staffordshire Primary Care Network, to begin implementing the GP CPCS later in the year.

In order to increase access to dental care in the Midlands, NHS England commissioned a scheme from 8 January to 31 March 2021 to provide additional sessions at weekends. This initiative saw an additional 17,250 patients treated by 91 participating practices. NHS England has evaluated the scheme and is considering recommissioning the service to further improve access in the region.

The number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support

Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential so we do not provide this information, however, total asylum spends are published as part of transparency data https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data

Data is published on a quarterly basis from 31^st March 2014 with the latest information covering until 30th June 2020. The next quarterly figures are due to be released in November 2020

According to Thinkbroadband. currently, 97% of premises have access to superfast broadband, up from 57% in 2012.

Around 21.8% of premises have full-fibre connections which is above 12% the national average.

Burton, constituency falls under our Superfast Staffordshire project, which has received £9.6m of funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) towards the rollout of Superfast broadband.