Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency spent on flood defences in Cheadle constituency in the last Parliament.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) undertook the following activities in Cheadle constituency over the course of the last parliament:

• Maintenance of 7 debris screens in Cheadle and Gatley. The screens prevent debris from blocking culverts or damaging infrastructure.
• Weekly maintenance of the debris screens in winter.
• Refurbishments of Chorlton Drive and Daylesford Road debris screens.

o Major refurbishments of Abney Hall and debris screens on Heald Green Brook are planned.

• Debris walk throughs on Micker Brook, Gatley Brook, Bruntwood Hall Brook twice yearly and on Chorlton Brook and Heald Green yearly.
• Yearly grass and weed cuts on Gately Brook, Chorlton Brook and Bruntwood Hall Brook.
• Modelling to update flood risk mapping and flood warnings, covering Micker Brook and Chorlton Brook.
• Installation of gauge and flood warning area work for Micker Brook
• Initial appraisal work including of Micker Brook Flood Alleviation Scheme
• There are flood defences on sections of engineered high ground on Micker Brook near Councillor Lane, and the River Mersey near Manchester Road.

Many of these activities were undertaken across multiple constituencies, meaning that the cost of each cannot be solely attributed to Cheadle constituency. Consequently, the EA cannot provide an exact number spent on flood defences in Cheadle Constituency.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an Injury on Duty Award Scheme for members of the emergency services.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office will continue to consider proposals for new awards for members of the emergency services. It is only right that we recognise the sacrifices made by the emergency services, and it is important to make sure this is done in a proportionate and effective manner.

Any official award is a gift from the Government, on behalf of His Majesty The King to recognise individuals within the service. The creation of a new award requires cross Government consensus and approval from the Committee on The Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (“HD Committee”), before advice is put to HM The King to make his final decision.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason the Flood Recovery Framework was not activated following the flooding on 1 January 2025 in Stockport.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

My thoughts remain with all householders and business owners impacted by flooding at the end of December last year and early in January 2025; flooding is a devastating experience for all those affected.

Government recovery support in the aftermath of flooding is only provided in exceptional circumstances. The scale of impacts in early January were not significant enough for the Flood Recovery Framework to be activated in any area. For comparison, when the Framework was activated following Storms Babet in October 2023 and Henk in January 2024, together over 8,500 homes and businesses were impacted across England.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to ensure a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We welcome the agreement to end the fighting in Gaza. It is the first step in ensuring long-term peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region, bringing much-needed stability, but we have always been clear that an immediate ceasefire is just the first step towards a lasting solution to this crisis. The UK is ready to play a leading role with international and regional partners, in securing a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian people, based on tangible progress towards a Palestinian state, with Gaza and the West Bank united under one government. Palestinians must be given a credible route to a Palestinian state, which is the right of the Palestinian people. We will continue working with partners to support a path to long term peace and stability with a two-state solution: a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purpose his Department has provided funding from the critical infrastructure risk fund to Stepping Hill Hospital.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a vital part of our ambition to create a National Health Service that is fit for the future.

In this context, Stockport Foundation NHS Trust has been provided with £11.5 million in 2024/25 to facilitate the restoration of outpatient capacity at Stepping Hill Hospital. In December 2024, construction work began on the new outpatient building, which will deliver much needed improvements to capacity as well as patient and staff safety.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the number of sole employer self-employed people that may face increased national insurance payments in the next 12 months.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The self-employed do not pay Employer NICs unless they hire employees to work for them. Sole traders who are registered as self-employed will therefore not be paying ER NICs, and therefore not be affected by the changes coming into effect from April 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve women’s access to healthcare services.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government will prioritise women’s health as we reform the National Health Service, ensuring that all women can access the care that they need. We are committed to the Women’s Health Strategy and are continuing work to deliver it. For example, support for pregnancy loss through a full rollout of Baby Loss Certificates, menopause support in the workplace, and boosting women’s participation in research and clinical trials.

We have also taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, and piloting gynaecology pathways in Community Diagnostic Centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding. Women’s health hubs also have a key role in shifting care out of hospitals and reducing gynaecology waiting lists. As of December 2024, 39 out of 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) reported to NHS England that they had at least one operational women’s health hub. We continue to engage with and encourage ICBs to use the learning from the women’s health hubs pilots to improve local delivery of services to women. Our longer-term priorities for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy will be aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan and our missions.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will recognise Palestine as a state.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We support a two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and Palestinian people. We must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands. We oppose moving Palestinians in Gaza to neighbouring Arab states against their will. There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza strip. Palestinian civilians should be able to return to and rebuild their homes and their lives. We must give the people of the West Bank and Gaza the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future, and it needs to be irreversible. Our long-standing position has been that we will recognise a Palestinian State at a time that is most conducive to the peace process.

Injury on Duty Award Scheme

Social care day of action

Impact of tool theft on tradespeople

Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide charity

Supporting British farmers

Citizenship for refugees

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication shortages

Refusal of Citizenship to refugees who have made irregular crossings

Royal Mail's universal service obligation

Blue Flag status for rivers

Female football boots

NHS targets

Proposals to forcibly displace and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza

Children's Mental Health Week

US proposals for Gaza

Marking World Cancer Day 2025

Electric vehicle charging costs

LGBT+ History Month 2025

Drug-resistant superbugs

National Apprenticeships Week 2025

Hospital maintenance

World Cancer Day and Leukaemia UK’s Take Action, Save Lives report

World Cancer Day 2025

Heathrow airport third runway expansion

Women's health hubs

Free-to-air television coverage of the Six Nations

Detainment of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya

Found: of Small Businesses Helena Coe Confederation of British Industry Oliver Heath Citizens Advice Tom Morrison

When a division is called in the House of Commons, Members present on the Estate who wish to cast a vote must then proceed to the division lobbies located adjacent to the Chamber to do so.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, due to social distancing requirements, Members were able to vote electronically in some divisions in the House (then known as ‘remote voting’),  but these arrangements lapsed in mid-2021 alongside other pandemic-era procedures. Several other legislatures around the world – including the House of Lords – currently operate some form of electronic voting arrangements, therefore providing different models that could be compared to those in the House of Commons which require a physical presence in a certain location for a valid vote to be cast.