Business of the House

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I know that my hon. Friend is a great campaigner for her constituency. I can assure her that these are not trivial matters, and I congratulate her on getting developers to take this matter seriously and to provide residents with the grit bins they want. That is not an easy achievement, and she should be commended for it. As she points out, unadopted roads can cause a range of issues for residents, and we are consulting on how to speed up and simplify the process for the adoption of roads. She may wish to raise the matter in an Adjournment debate, but when the Government have something to say on these matters, we will bring forward our findings.

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

Earlier this week, Baroness Amos published her interim findings on maternity care in England. Unfortunately, some of the readings are absolutely harrowing, and I apologise for the graphic nature of the following accounts. Women were left for hours to bleed out in toilets, and their concerns about a lack of foetal movement were completely ignored. There is a disturbing trend, which appears to show that women from black and Asian backgrounds receive notably worse care. The investigation into maternity care at Leicester royal infirmary has been postponed, but many mothers have told me that they felt ignored on when and where investigations should take place. May I ask the Leader of the House to please make time for a Back-Bench debate, or a debate in Government time, on the state of maternity care in England?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The situation that the hon. Gentleman describes is by no means acceptable, and systematic failures have been highlighted time and again. Preventable tragedies cannot be ignored, and families show extraordinary courage in bringing forward these matters. In the new year, we are setting up the national maternity and neonatal taskforce to address these issues. It will be chaired by the Health Secretary. I am sure that the matter can be brought before the House for further discussion then.