Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Avanti West Coast’s management of Stockport railway station.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Avanti West Coast (AWC) is responsible for the day-to-day management of Stockport Station, which includes staffing, facilities management and cleaning. The Department meets with AWC regularly to discuss these responsibilities and to ensure any issues are addressed as soon as possible for passengers.
Responsibility for repairs to the structure of the property lies with the station’s landlord, Network Rail. AWC works with Network Rail seeking improvements on behalf of passengers where this is required.
Operators are also required to achieve customer experience targets across a range of measures, including at stations. These standards are regularly and independently inspected via the Service Quality Regime and there are accountability and financial consequences for failure.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to increase participation of (a) girls and (b) women in cricket.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport.
Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has also inspired millions of women and girls to get active in a way that suits them including through cricket. In addition, Sport England funded the Dream Big Desi Women programme, run together with the ECB, which encouraged 2,000 South Asian women to take up coaching in cricket, with 84% saying they were very likely to take part again in 2023.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the average waiting time for podiatry appointments in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Stockport Borough.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data reports from the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust show that the average wait time for their podiatry services in 2023/24 was 13 weeks, and that the average wait time reported for August 2024, the most recent data available, was 17.9 weeks.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to refurbish Stockport railway station.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Avanti West Coast and Network Rail hold the responsibility for the operations, maintenance, and refurbishment activities at Stockport station. I understand that the lift on platform 0 and the station entrance doors have recently been refurbished. More substantial work is being planned for the underpass in due course.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the protection of religious minorities in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In our public statements, we urged an end to the violence and a de-escalation of the situation. We were clear that a full and independent UN-led investigation into recent events is important. The UK Government welcomed the appointment of the Interim Government in Bangladesh, and it has the UK's support as it works to restore peace and order as well as ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation. The UK is committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, as guaranteed under international human rights law.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reported attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In our public statements, we urged an end to the violence and a de-escalation of the situation. We were clear that a full and independent UN-led investigation into recent events is important. The UK Government welcomed the appointment of the Interim Government in Bangladesh, and it has the UK's support as it works to restore peace and order as well as ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation. The UK is committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, as guaranteed under international human rights law.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require train operating companies to accept cash payments for onboard catering purchases.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Catering services are a commercial matter for each train operating company. Train operators are responsible for considering the equality impacts of operational changes such as to catering payment methods, and are expected by the Department for Transport to take local needs into account.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to provide funding for step-free access at (a) Brinnington Station and (b) Heaton Chapel Station.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognise the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2024 to Question 23057 on Dentistry: Mental Health Services, what her Department's expected timetable is for publishing the findings of its review into its mental health and wellbeing offer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England is in the process of reviewing its mental health and wellbeing offer for National Health Service staff, and has committed to completing this review in 2024/25.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of audiology services in England that have been outsourced to private providers by NHS (a) trusts and (b) integrated care boards.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Audiology services are directly commissioned via integrated care boards (ICBs), which have responsibility for overseeing the quality and effectiveness of these services. Waiting times are recorded for audiology assessments through the national diagnostic activity and waiting times collection. This data is reviewed and monitored monthly across ICBs and NHS England. The data is available at the following link: