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 work with Integrated Care Boards to ensure that every Neighbourhood Health Service has sufficient specialist menopause expertise to deliver high-quality and accessible care.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy, published in April, identifies menopause as a core women’s health priority and shifts menopause care into primary and community settings, including neighbourhood women’s health services and women’s health hubs, making care easier to access and closer to home.
Each region will have a specialist centre to support group-based clinics in women’s health, such as menopause services, improving access, peer support and consistency, with early rollout focused on areas of highest need. Integrated care boards (ICBs) will be responsible for commissioning these specialist centres.
ICBs are also responsible for assessing the workforce needs of their local population and for commissioning services with the workforce and skills mix required to meet that need.
The Renewed Women's Health Strategy commits to developing a skills framework for women's healthcare in community settings, which will set out the capabilities needed to deliver care at basic, intermediate and advanced levels, including for menopause. This framework, once completed, will be shared with ICBs to map their existing workforce and skills, and plan for a workforce that matches clinical need.
In the future, our vision is that every neighbourhood will provide proactive, specialist and preventative women’s health care that complements and extends the primary care offer.
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 have made of the effectiveness of the deadline of 16 July for the Government to commit to a compensation scheme for women affected by pelvic mesh and sodium valproate set by the Patient Safety Commissioner.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 14 July in response to Question 16121.
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 the government are taking to support and compensate women who have been treated with Trans Vaginal Tape Mesh.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 14 July in response to Question 16121.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a national take up strategy for later life entitlements, including Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting pensioners and ensuring they receive the financial support to which they are entitled. Maximising Pension Credit take-up is a key priority, as Pension Credit provides a vital financial safety net for pensioners on low incomes and can also act as a gateway to a range of additional support.
We have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign across Great Britain. We are building on that with our new autumn campaign which will launch in October 2026, urging pensioners and their families to check their eligibility and make a claim. We are also taking a range of further actions to increase Pension Credit take-up, including targeted communications, partnership working and close engagement with councils, both directly and through Local Authority Welfare Direct bulletins.
We are also using data and targeted approaches to identify potentially eligible households and encourage claims. These activities help pensioners access the wider support available to them, including Housing Benefit and, where applicable, Council Tax Reduction.
Housing Benefit continues to support pensioners who rent, while pensioner homeowners on income-related benefits, including Pension Credit, may receive Support for Mortgage Interest to help with interest on eligible secured loans.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of broadening the scope of the proposed Defence Readiness Bill to include national resilience and other risks identified in the national risk register.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Defence Readiness legislation is a key part of the Government's work to strengthen the UK's resilience and readiness. In line with the Strategic Defence Review, the Government intends to bring forward this legislation later in this Parliament.
The legislation will help ensure the Government has the powers needed to respond to sub-threshold and hybrid threats, while providing a framework of reserve powers that could be activated during a national crisis or escalation towards conflict.
Work is underway across Government, and consideration is being given to how the legislation can support wider national resilience objectives.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with delivery platforms on ensuring riders use only safe and road-legal e-bikes.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers have previously written to food delivery platforms on this matter, and those letters are available in the Library of the House.
In addition, the Department has commissioned research on the road behaviours of food delivery riders, the level of illegal e-bike usage and the extent to which the business practices of food delivery platforms may influence this. The Department’s researchers are currently in contact with food delivery platforms to inform this work, which is expected to conclude by March 2027, and we will publish the findings from it.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to share technical expertise and threat intelligence with humanitarian mine action organisations in Ukraine to protect personnel from targeted missile and artillery strikes.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to her on 17 July 2026 to Questions 17642 and 17643 which remain extant.
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 she is taking to recover Government funding lost during the VIP contract lane during the Covid Pandemic.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the final report of the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, which examined these matters in detail and was published by HM Treasury on 9 December 2025, and which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces pensions remain unclaimed.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
There are 17,018 Unclaimed Armed Forces Pensions for the financial year 2025-26.
This information is already in the public domain and can be found on page 70 of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme Annual accounts report here: