Question follow-through · 87673

Infrastructure: Rural Areas

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support essential infrastructure in rural communities at risk of depopulation.

answeredDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Tabled
3 Nov 2025
Target answer date
5 Nov 2025
Answer
12 Nov 2025 · 9 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

More questions by this MP on Environment and energy

Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.

Votes on this topic

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Recorded timeline

  1. 3 Nov 2025

    Question tabled

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support essential infrastructure in rural communities at risk of depopulation.

  2. 5 Nov 2025

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 12 Nov 2025

    Answer published

    Rural policy is a devolved matter. Defra regularly publishes statistics on a range of social and economic topics including rural population trends, and rural service provision in The Statistical Digest for Rural England. Net internal migration within Engl...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Water Supply

4 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) improve water efficiency and (b) reduce leaks in the public water supply network.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Nature Conservation

10 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent offences against protected species.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Food Strategy Advisory Board

17 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people appointed to the Food Strategy Advisory Board uphold high standards across the food system, including on animal welfare.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Food Strategy Advisory Board

17 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of appointing people from organisations that have recently undertaken remedial action on animal welfare issues on the Food Strategy

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Food Strategy Advisory Board

17 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria her Department uses to determine eligibility for appointment to the Food Strategy Advisory Board.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Rural Areas

18 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential impact of rural depopulation on land management, biodiversity and progress towards national climate targets.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Climate Change: Rural Areas

18 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of demographic decline in rural areas on long-term climate adaptation needs for remote communities.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Public Sector: Rural Areas

18 Nov 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of rural depopulation on the carbon intensity of delivering public services in remote and sparsely populated areas.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Fire and Rescue Services: Scotland

10 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to meet the National Fire Chiefs Council to discuss the Scottish Government’s Strategic Action Plan on Wildfires, published on 5 March 2026.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Timber: Imports

13 May 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her department has made of the risk to UK national security posed by the country importing over 80% of its timber requirements.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Timber: Imports

13 May 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has plans to establish a cross-government taskforce to develop a strategy for reducing the United Kingdom's dependence on imported timber and strengthening domestic supply.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Poultry: Animal Housing

20 May 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his department plans to take in response to the consultation on the use of cages and crates for laying hens which closed on 9 March 2026.