Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how she plans to roll out at-home electric vehicle charging points for people in terrace housing with no off-street parking.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is working with local authorities to encourage the use of cross-pavement solutions and on the 13 July, announced the £25m Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel grant to further support local authorities in England to adopt pavement channels. This will allow EV drivers to access their domestic electricity tariffs by safely connecting a home EV charger to their vehicle parked on-street and adds to published local authority guidance and home charging grants that the Government already provides.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of applications to the vaccine damage payment scheme since 2020 have been successful on appeal,by vaccine type.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), shows that 22,408 VDPS claims were received between 1 November 2021 and 4 July 2025. 1.1% of these have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful following an appeal, known as a mandatory reversal. Of the claims received:
These figures are based on total applications received. Some of these applications will not yet have been assessed or were invalid.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of applications to the vaccine damage payment scheme since 2020 have been successful, by vaccine type.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), shows that 22,408 VDPS claims were received between 1 November 2021 and 4 July 2025. 1.1% of these have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful following an appeal, known as a mandatory reversal. Of the claims received:
These figures are based on total applications received. Some of these applications will not yet have been assessed or were invalid.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications have been made to the vaccine damage payment scheme since 2020, by vaccine type.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data from the NHS Business Services Authority, the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), shows that 22,408 VDPS claims were received between 1 November 2021 and 4 July 2025. 1.1% of these have been successful, with a further 0.1% having been successful following an appeal, known as a mandatory reversal. Of the claims received:
These figures are based on total applications received. Some of these applications will not yet have been assessed or were invalid.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 plans to take to encourage the recycling of re-usable vapes once they have reached end-of-use.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since April 2024, businesses selling vapes have been legally required to offer in-store takeback, making recycling vapes accessible for consumers and preventing vapes being littered or incorrectly disposed of.
In addition, the Government is introducing legislation to create a new category of Electrical and Electronic Equipment for vapes, to ensure that the costs of collection and treatment fall fairly on those who produce them. As part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations, producers can pay into a Producer Compliance Fee, funding consumer awareness campaigns including on the correct disposal of vapes. You can find your nearest recycling location online by searching "Recycle Your Electricals."
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the statutory walking distance for free school transport.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport.
Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there due to the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families, intended to help them exercise school choice.
The government is committed to creating opportunities for all children so that they can achieve and thrive and is working with department officials to understand how well home-to-school travel supports children to access educational opportunity.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to increase the uptake of measles vaccines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working alongside its partners to increase vaccine uptake across all childhood vaccination programmes, including the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) programme.
In light of a surge in measles cases in the North West, the UK Health Security Agency and the National Health Service are working with local partners to monitor the situation, provide advice, and support local communities to be aware of action they can take to protect themselves, including getting vaccinated.
Building on the MMR coverage gains achieved in 2023/4, NHS England continues to deliver national and regional improvement plans that include activities to strengthen the routine vaccination offer and to address inequalities by supporting MMR catch up vaccination by school age vaccination services in schools and community settings. For example, summer ‘catch up’ immunisation clinics are being stood in some of the areas with the lowest MMR uptake including Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, and St Helens.
National childhood vaccination communication campaigns are planned in August and September 2025 for children returning to school. This will be a re-launch of the 2024 childhood vaccination campaign aimed at increasing the awareness of childhood vaccinations and encouraging parents to book catch-up appointments.
It is vitally important that everyone takes up the vaccinations they are entitled to, for themselves, their families, and wider society. The MMR vaccine is highly effective, safe, and is the best way to prevent measles.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the impact of (a) diamorphine assisted therapy, (b) safe consumption rooms and (c) needle and syringe exchange services on rates of skin and soft tissue infection.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not collect information on the impact of diamorphine assisted therapy (DAT), safe consumption rooms and needle and exchange services on rates of soft skin tissue infections (SSTI). The Department is aware of the dangers of SSTI to people who inject drugs and in 2021 issued guidance for commissioners and providers of drugs services on being ‘wound aware’. This recommends that a range of local services can help prevent SSTIs and stop them getting worse through early identification and treatment.
DAT is an option that remains open to local areas under the existing legal framework, where the relevant licences are obtained from the Home Office. There is good evidence that needle and syringe programmes alongside opioid substitution treatment are associated with reduced rates of HIV and hepatitis C infection in the target population. The review of the evidence is available at the following link:
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2025 to Question 61211 on Asbestos: Ovarian Cancer, if she will direct the Health and Safety Executive to collect data on asbestos-related ovarian cancer cases.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Collecting data on individual cases of asbestos-related ovarian cancer is not feasible due to difficulties attributing them to historic exposure with confidence. Significant resource would be needed to produce estimates based on epidemiological evidence. These are likely to be small in comparison to other asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma (which is more clearly linked to past exposure) and would have considerable associated uncertainty.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 it her policy to provide free menstrual products to homelessness shelters.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government does not directly commission homelessness shelters or services. In 2025/26 the Government is investing £1 billion in homelessness services, an increase of £233 million on the previous year. Local authorities can use this funding to provide a range of services to meet local need, which may include the provision of menstrual and other sanitary products.