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 steps his Department is taking to help encourage more people to become blood donors in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) the North West.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England. NHSBT runs marketing and partnership activity across England, including in Stockport, to encourage new donors to come forward. For example, on 11 November it launched a new campaign to ask the public to give the best gift this winter, to inspire people to fill the 100,000 vacant appointments in the run up to Christmas. It has also been working with the BBC on the Casualty Christmas Special, which will focus on blood stocks.
In addition, there are three NHSBT Community Grant projects based in the North West to promote blood donation, including a Caribbean and African Health Network, One Wirral Community Interest Company, and the community charity Become United. These focus on raising awareness in black heritage communities via events, webinars, videos, and web content.
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.