Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the new Water Regulator replacing Ofwat will be structured; and if she will ensure that water companies cannot play the two proposed bodies against each other.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has committed creating a powerful new regulator.
Defra will work closely with the current regulators to ensure a smooth transition; detailed organisational structure and design of the new regulator is still under development.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the goals are of the new Water Regulator replacing Ofwat.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has committed creating a powerful new regulator.
Defra will work closely with the current regulators to ensure a smooth transition; detailed organisational structure and design of the new regulator is still under development.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the safeguards recommended by the Covid Inquiry will be put in place to prevent political connections from being used to secure privileged access to public contracts.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is fully committed to supporting the work of the Covid-19 Inquiry and to learning lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the UK is better prepared for a future pandemic.
The Inquiry published its report on Module 5 (Procurement) in July. The Government will consider its findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her department has had on improving dementia research, diagnosis and treatment, which haven’t seen significant improvements for nearly 20 years.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.
We will publish the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to set a clear direction and a long-term blueprint to improve outcomes for people with dementia. It will cover research, diagnosis and treatment. We are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with frailty and dementia.
We will also appoint a Dementia Tsar to bring strong and meaningful national leadership to drive forward the prevention, treatment and care of dementia.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the South of England maintains required water levels for additional housing in the context of predicted heatwaves.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Government is committed to a twin track approach to improving water resilience. This involves urgent action to improve water efficiency and reduce water company leaks, alongside investing in new supply infrastructure, including new reservoirs and water transfers. With £8 billion unlocked, projects like the Havant Thicket Reservoir in Hampshire and the proposed White Horse Reservoir in Oxfordshire will help ensure water security in Southern England.
Water companies must also maintain their statutory plans to secure water supplies and are required to review the plans annually to take account of changes, such as housing growth and the impacts of climate change.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England's January 2026 call for evidence on the impact of making the Accessible Information Standard mandatory, whether a cost-benefit assessment was subsequently produced, and whether it has been submitted to her Department.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Further to the answer provided on 8 June in response to Question 5682, consideration is underway as to the extent to which the Accessible Information Standard meets the criteria for new mandatory information standards. A cost benefit assessment is one part of that. As the process is ongoing, a cost benefit analysis would not be published at this stage.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's commitment to spend £343 million on opening 159 NHS mental health centres in England to provide people with earlier local support and specialist crisis care outside of A&E, whether provisions within this will provide support for young people who fall between early intervention and crisis care.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The recently announced community-based mental health centres are based on a pilot aimed at adults with severe mental health needs. The new centres announced are for adults. However, following the formal evaluation of this pilot, we will be looking at relevant learning to complement existing and future transformation of services for children and young people.
For children and young people in distress or struggling with their mental health, fast access to early, high-quality support is critical. That is why we are expanding mental health support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029. We are also continuing to provide £7 million top-up funding to 24 Early Support Hubs to expand their services, enabling them to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of whether the incidence rate of postpartum haemorrhage differs by (a) ethnicity, (b) deprivation, (c) geography; and how his department is ensuring better data collection for incidences of postpartum haemorrhages.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving maternity safety and reducing inequalities across the country is a priority for the Government, including in Surrey Heartlands. The Maternal Care Bundle sets clear standards across services by bringing together best practice to help tackle the leading causes of maternal death and harm, improve consistency of care, and reduce inequalities. One of its five elements focuses specifically on obstetric haemorrhage, including postpartum haemorrhage, and sets out best practice to support its prevention, recognition, and management.
NHS England publishes annual trust-level data on reported postpartum haemorrhages involving blood loss of 1,500 millilitres or more, including data for trusts in Surrey Heartlands, through the Maternity and Neonatal Equalities Dashboard, with further information available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/maternity-and-neonatal-equalities-dashboard
Monthly data from April 2019, together with information on data quality, is available in the Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, which are available at the following link:
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the reasons why Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board recorded the highest rate of postpartum haemorrhage involving blood loss of 1,500 millilitres or more in England in 2025.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving maternity safety and reducing inequalities across the country is a priority for the Government, including in Surrey Heartlands. The Maternal Care Bundle sets clear standards across services by bringing together best practice to help tackle the leading causes of maternal death and harm, improve consistency of care, and reduce inequalities. One of its five elements focuses specifically on obstetric haemorrhage, including postpartum haemorrhage, and sets out best practice to support its prevention, recognition, and management.
NHS England publishes annual trust-level data on reported postpartum haemorrhages involving blood loss of 1,500 millilitres or more, including data for trusts in Surrey Heartlands, through the Maternity and Neonatal Equalities Dashboard, with further information available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/maternity-and-neonatal-equalities-dashboard
Monthly data from April 2019, together with information on data quality, is available in the Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, which are available at the following link:
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her department are taking to support those living with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) particularly in relation to there only being 2 PoTS specialists.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 15 June to Question 6594.