Water Safety

Maya Ellis Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Darren Paffey]

The hon. Gentleman raises some important points about the gaps that still exist in the jigsaw of different services, support and funding; I will return to that later.

The Royal Life Saving Society is producing a report on the last six years of child drowning deaths data, which will be released next week, Drowning Prevention Week, at our APPG meeting. I encourage everyone to look at that report; it will help us to learn the lessons that we need to.

The Government must play their role in preventing further drownings. I recognise the Government’s decision to include water safety in the relationships, sex and health education guidance last summer. I was grateful that the Minister for School Standards, my hon. Friend the Member for Queen’s Park and Maida Vale (Georgia Gould), visited to meet campaigners, including Vanessa. However, as people who spend our time creating laws and guidance, we know that guidance without some sort of enforcement or support is an aspiration, not a policy.

Will the Minister and the Government accept and recognise that drowning is a preventable public health issue? It kills more than 600 people in the UK every year. It disproportionately effects children. It is demonstrably preventable.

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Darren Paffey]

I will.

[Esther McVey (in the Chair)]

I call Maya Ellis, who has just arrived.

[Maya Ellis]

A few weeks ago, 12-year-old Junior Slater tragically drowned in the River Ribble in the heart of my constituency. We will cover many things to prevent such senseless losses in this debate, but what struck me most in the village on the day that it happened was the hundreds of young people who were there from surrounding towns looking for something nice to do on a sunny day. Does my hon. Friend agree that, in order to prevent tragic deaths such as Junior’s, we need to ensure that there is also funding for places where young people can go and enjoy the outdoors safely, and will he join me in sending best wishes to the Slater family ahead of Junior’s funeral this Thursday?

[Esther McVey (in the Chair)]

Before Mr Paffey replies, I should tell all Members that it is rude to join during a speech and then ask a question first thing. It is not the etiquette of the House. Please come at the start of the debate in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Maya Ellis Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s support for the Batters review, which is an important part of ensuring that the sector remains profitable. I am always listening to farmers. I have had many welcome propositions to visit farms, and I will see what I can do to fit him into the grand tour.

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

Last week, I visited Gisburn auction mart in my constituency, with my constituents John Alpe and Graham Young, where I heard the challenges that farms are currently facing with the rapidly dropping milk prices. Indeed, two farmers were there to sell up their farms entirely, while others are pushed into further intensification just to survive. As a former head of innovation, I know that sometimes productivity and innovation can mean bringing back strong old ideas in new ways. In that spirit, does the Minister think that we should consider bringing back the Milk Marketing Board?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

The milk price has certainly had a very difficult adjustment down, as part of the global glut in milk supply, so having been in a period of high prices, we are now in a different kind of period. What my hon. Friend is suggesting is almost a form of price control. I think the best thing we can do is think about fair-dealing obligations, and ensure that the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator does his job and makes certain that there are no unfair contracts in the market.

Oral Answers to Questions

Maya Ellis Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

The hon. Member makes an important point; this Government are working very hard to do that. The settlement for the CPS that I referred to was an extra £49 million, and it is spending some of that on increasing the number of prosecutors who are able to do the important work to which he refers.

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

2. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases involving violence against women and girls.

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

11. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases involving violence against women and girls.

[The Solicitor General]

The scale of violence against women and girls in this country is intolerable, and the Government are treating it as the national emergency that it is. The CPS has begun securing convictions of offenders who breach domestic abuse protection orders—a scheme that the Government introduced in November 2024 in order better to protect victims of domestic abuse. Although there is much more to be done, that is just one example of the clear action that the Government are taking to meet our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

[Maya Ellis]

The national conviction rate for domestic abuse cases is woefully low, standing at 4.5%, but the picture is even worse in rural constituencies such as Ribble Valley, where the overall conviction rate is only 3%. What does the Solicitor General regard as the unique challenges in rural areas, and what steps is she taking to tackle them specifically?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue. She is right to highlight the unique risks faced by women in rural areas, including her constituency; increased isolation can bring with it more risk. To tackle violence against women we need to address the overall number of prosecutions, which unfortunately is still far too low. That is why, working with the CPS and the police, we have brought in the domestic abuse joint justice plan—which I am pleased to say is already leading to a modest increase in referrals of domestic abuse cases—to improve the investigation, prosecution, and handling of domestic abuse cases.

Farmland Flooding

Maya Ellis Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jerome Mayhew]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The basis behind my seeking this debate is to highlight the need for continued, not new, Government support. ELMs is a Brexit dividend. It would be a crying shame if the Government failed to build on the very good work of the last Government, as I will come to in a minute.

ELMs is the flagship scheme. The last Government honoured their commitment to provide £2.4 billion every year, from 2019 onwards, to support the transition from area-based payments to public money for public good. The sustainable farming incentive supports soil quality, water quality, hedgerows, tree planting and riparian buffers. There are also the countryside stewardship scheme, and the landscape recovery scheme which I have already mentioned. Other schemes include the England woodland creation offer and the nature for climate fund. All those schemes back up the transition to nature-based solutions, and allow farmers to recognise and mitigate for changes in rain distribution and intensity. They provide funding for the changes necessary for biodiversity and food production.

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

The hon. Member has rightly highlighted the intricate and technical knowledge required to understand some of the mitigations, so I welcome our Government’s commitment to a floods resilience taskforce. Does he agree that it is integral that farmers are involved every step of the way in the development of solutions, particularly because of the changing nature of flooding?