Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to implement the recommendations in the Chalk Stream Recovery Pack for the (a) Loddon, (b) Whitewater and (c) Lyde rivers in North East Hampshire constituency.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Over the next five years water companies will spend more than £2 billion to deliver over 1,000 actions for chalk stream restoration and reduce their abstraction from chalk streams by 126 million litres per day. The Government is investing £1.8 million through the Water Restoration Fund and Water Environment Improvement Fund into chalk stream projects for locally-led chalk stream clean-up projects across affected regions.

This funding is going to essential local project, to deliver real improvements to chalk streams. In 2025/26, South East Rivers Trust are receiving £25,000 from the Environment Agency’s Chalk Partnership Fund for the ‘Fish Recovery on the Whitewater’ project. This will enable the development of a fish recovery plan, focusing on improved fish passage and resilience to low flows. At Basingstoke Wastewater Treatment Works on the River Loddon, a reduction in phosphorous discharge to 0.25mg/l is planned for delivery by 2030, with storm overflow improvements following in future AMP cycles to meet government targets.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the annual investment in partnership projects to improve chalk catchments will support the National Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Over the next five years water companies will spend more than £2 billion to deliver over 1,000 actions for chalk stream restoration and reduce their abstraction from chalk streams by 126 million litres per day. The Government is investing £1.8 million through the Water Restoration Fund and Water Environment Improvement Fund into chalk stream projects for locally-led chalk stream clean-up projects across affected regions.

This funding is going to essential local project, to deliver real improvements to chalk streams. In 2025/26, South East Rivers Trust are receiving £25,000 from the Environment Agency’s Chalk Partnership Fund for the ‘Fish Recovery on the Whitewater’ project. This will enable the development of a fish recovery plan, focusing on improved fish passage and resilience to low flows. At Basingstoke Wastewater Treatment Works on the River Loddon, a reduction in phosphorous discharge to 0.25mg/l is planned for delivery by 2030, with storm overflow improvements following in future AMP cycles to meet government targets.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people who obtain weight loss injections through (a) private providers and (b) online services are able to safely dispose of used needles.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is important for needles to be disposed of safely, as inappropriate disposal methods create a risk of accidental needle-stick injuries to pharmacy or general practice staff, waste management operatives, and other members of the public, potentially leading to infection with blood-borne diseases. All needles should be disposed in sharps bins, which can be obtained on prescription or purchased. Local authorities are obliged to collect clinical waste, including needles bins, from householders upon request, but under section 45(3)(b) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, they may make a reasonable charge for this service. Patients can find out how to request a clinical waste collection from their local authority on the GOV.UK website.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NICE on the recommended frequency of infant head measurements.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Department officials have spoken to colleagues at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about its guidance on infant measurements following a meeting between my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Harry’s Hydrocephalus Awareness Trust in 2024. NICE is responsible for deciding whether its clinical guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of the (a) fines and (b) other penalties levied on water companies will be used for projects to clean chalk streams.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Water Restoration Fund, which launched in April 2024, was established to reinvest water company environmental fines and penalties back into projects to improve the water environment. A total of £11 million, based on fines and penalties from April 2022 until October 2023, will be invested into local projects to improve our waterways. Over the next two years, the Water Restoration Fund will invest over £795,000 of water company fines and penalties specifically into chalk streams.

Going forwards, this Government has announced that over £100 million in fines and penalties levied against water companies since October 2023, as well as future fines and penalties, will be reinvested into projects across the country to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure adequate funding for Natural England to protect biodiversity on new housing developments.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

For the 2025-2026 financial year, Natural England received a total of £248 million funding from Defra to deliver their strategic aim of recovering nature for growth, health and security. In addition to this the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is due to provide up to £325,000 new funding through the New Homes Accelerator scheme, to help Natural England accelerate the processing of planning applications and secure environmental improvements.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on animal sentience.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 already recognises vertebrate animals, decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs as sentient beings. The Act created an accountability mechanism which aims to ensure that UK Ministers have due regard to their welfare needs when formulating and implementing government policy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making misogyny a hate crime.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Tackling misogyny, both online and offline, is central to our mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. We will address the drivers and root causes of VAWG as part of our upcoming cross-Government Strategy, due to be published in September.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support community energy initiatives in North East Hampshire constituency.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Great British Energy (GBE) will deliver a step change in investment in local and community energy projects, putting communities at the heart of the energy transition as owners and partners in clean energy projects across the UK.

In 2025/26, we have made £5 million available in grant funding through the GBE Community Fund to support community energy groups in helping communities develop their own clean energy projects, delivered through the Greater Southeast Local Net Zero Hub for initiatives in Northeast Hampshire. The latest application round closed on the 7th July.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to support people with Family Court cases who are unable to afford legal representation but are not eligible for legal aid.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is already taking steps to ensure that financial hardship does not prevent parents from engaging with the family court system. To support access to justice, the Help with Fees scheme provides full or partial remission of court and tribunal fees for those on low incomes or in receipt of certain benefits. This includes applications made in the family courts such as applications for child arrangement orders.

The Ministry of Justice also provides funding to support the delivery of wider legal support services, which provide advice and support to individuals facing social welfare legal problems, including family matters. In 2025-26, the Ministry of Justice will provide over £6 million of grant funding to 60 frontline organisations to improve access to free legal support and information, both in-person and online, and to help people resolve their problems as early as possible. This includes funding for organisations including some local Citizens Advice and Law Centres, as well as AdviceNow, which provides online support on their website across a range of civil, family and tribunal issues.

The Government recognises the importance of supporting separating families, where appropriate, to resolve their issues without the need to come to court. The Mediation Voucher Scheme provides up to £500 towards the cost of mediation to help families resolve their child arrangement disputes outside of court, where this is safe and appropriate. The voucher is non-means tested and is available to anyone with a private law dispute relating to children. The scheme will be in place until at least March 2026 and has helped over 44,000 families to date.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward regulations for estate agents to help improve accountability for people who breach ethical standards.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN PQ 49125 on 7 May 2025

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that survivors of (a) domestic violence and (b) stalking are given (i) regular and (ii) timely updates on their case to equip them to safeguard themselves from further risk.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and our manifesto set out an unprecedented mission to halve it in a decade.

The Victims' Code is statutory guidance that sets out the minimum level of service that victims of crime should receive from the criminal justice system. The Victim's Code includes the Right for a victim to be provided with updates on their case and to be told when important decisions are taken. If their case goes to court, the victim also has the Right to be told the time, date and location of any hearing and the outcome of those hearings in a timely way. Furthermore, the Victim's Code includes the Right to be told the outcome of the case and, if the defendant is convicted, to be given an explanation of the sentence.

The Government will consult on a new Victims' Code in due course to ensure that we get the foundations for victims right. We will also spend time developing the right framework for oversight of the delivery of the Code this year, making sure we make the most effective use of data and get the metrics right.

Additionally, through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government is introducing provisions to issue multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking. This will set out, for the first time, a robust framework for how agencies such as the police, local authorities and healthcare should work together to pursue perpetrators and support victims. The Government is also introducing statutory guidance to set out the process by which the police should release identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims so appropriate safeguards can be put in place.

Repair Cafés

Shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy

New blood cancer drug

Restless legs syndrome

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2025

Review into breast cancer screening

Implications for rural communities of the Autumn Budget 2024

Carers and social care reform

Food waste

Provision of trained Family Liaison Officers

Funding and support for SEND

UK-based medical charities in Palestine

Cool hubs

Found: Tuesday 29 October 2024 Members present1 Sarah Owen, in the Chair 2 Alex Brewer David Burton-Sampson

Found: Watch the meeting Women and Equalities Committee members present: Sarah Owen (Chair); Alex Brewer; David

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Bennett Dr Danny Chambers Mr Lee Dillon Mr Paul Kohler Ian Roome Susan Murray Andrew George Alex Brewer

Found: Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Found: Gordon Martin Wrigley Calum Miller Charlotte Cane Mr Angus MacDonald Ian Roome Josh Babarinde Alex Brewer

Submit Evidence (by 30 Sep 2025)

The Committee is following up its previous work on women’s reproductive health, with a focus on better meeting the needs of girls and young women. It is assessing progress in diagnoses, treatments and pain management of conditions including endometriosis, adenomyosis and heavy menstrual bleeding.

The Committee is examining progress in access to British Sign Language (BSL) - particularly the effects so far of the BSL Act 2022 – and other issues of concern to the Deaf signing community