Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many local authority swimming pools have closed in each year since 2015.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to swimming and leisure facilities.
Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, monitors facilities stock through their Active Places dataset. As of March 2026, 308 local authority swimming pools have closed since 2015 and 272 have opened. A yearly breakdown of closures is below:
| Swimming Pool (Facility) Count | |||||
Closure Year | Diving | Learner/Teaching | Leisure Pool | Lido | Main/General | Total |
2015 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 40 |
2016 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 36 |
2017 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 31 |
2018 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 23 |
2019 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 31 |
2020 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 40 |
2021 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 28 |
2022 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 29 |
2023 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
2024 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
2025 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 15 |
2026 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Total | 23 | 91 | 27 | 5 | 162 | 308 |
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many shifts were recorded as not fully-staffed on England’s maternity units in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Animal Welfare Strategy consultation on dog breeding will include (a) brachycephalic dogs and (b) extreme conformities.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government has committed to launch a consultation on dog breeding reform to improve the health and welfare of breeding dogs and their puppies. This will include proposals to improve the health and welfare standards which all licensed breeders must meet. The consultation is expected to consider a range of welfare issues, including those associated with brachycephalic dogs and extreme conformations. The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders as this develops.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives started working in the NHS in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. This covers staff working for hospital trusts and integrated care in England. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. The published data includes information on the turnover of staff, including the number of staff who have joined active service in the preceding 12 months. This information can be found in the file NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Turnover – data tables, at the following link:
Joiners are defined as any member of staff who was not active in the workforce 12 months previously who is present in the latest workforce data, hence joiners may include staff who are returning from longer periods of unpaid leave as well as those newly recruited, who may have been working in other health and social care settings previously.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many undergraduates enrolled for a midwifery degree in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data published by the Office for Students in the Higher Education Students Early Statistics Survey (HESES) collates figures submitted by individual higher education providers to give an indication of the number of students studying in each academic year.
HESES data includes figures on undergraduate midwifery courses in England. The latest published data is for those starting courses in 2025. The following table shows the number of undergraduate starters on midwifery courses in England for 2016 to 2025:
Year | Starters |
2016 | 1,860 |
2017 | 2,150 |
2018 | 2,550 |
2019 | 2,930 |
2020 | 3,460 |
2021 | 3,565 |
2022 | 3,305 |
2023 | 3,255 |
2024 | 3,245 |
2025 | 3,340 |
Source: HESES 2018 to 2022.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to address noise pollution, reduce noise poverty and the harm to physical and mental health.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively to promote good health and minimise disruption to people’s quality of life. Defra manages noise through the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006.
The Regulations require noise mapping and the adoption of Noise Action Plans based upon this mapping. The Action Plans identify ‘Important Areas’, where the 1% of the population affected by the highest noise levels is located. The latest round of mapping is complete, with Noise Action Plans due to be published later in 2026.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to implement the recommendations of the 2023 House of Lords report on noise.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively to promote good health and minimise disruption to people’s quality of life. Defra manages noise through the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006.
The Regulations require noise mapping and the adoption of Noise Action Plans based upon this mapping. The Action Plans identify ‘Important Areas’, where the 1% of the population affected by the highest noise levels is located. The latest round of mapping is complete, with Noise Action Plans due to be published later in 2026.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
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 ensure that occupational therapists receive adequate training opportunities and support.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England recognises the vital role occupational therapists play across the health and care system and is committed to supporting a skilled, sustainable workforce.
Post registration training and development for occupational therapists is the responsibility of employers and is aligned to identified service requirements and individual learning needs. This support spans the full career pathway, including preceptorship or foundation practice for newly registered staff, enhanced and advanced practice roles, and consultant level practice.
Employers are supported through a range of funded and accredited education and training routes. National Health Service trusts receive a dedicated Continued Professional Development funding allocation to enable registered allied health professionals, including occupational therapists, to access ongoing learning and skills development. In addition, a range of education and training grants are available, with funding routes and levels aligned to staff grade and stage of development. Training opportunities are designed to support priority service areas such as community and neighbourhood services, mental health, elective recovery, and population health, while also enabling occupational therapists to develop leadership, advanced clinical, education, and research capabilities.
These arrangements ensure occupational therapists are supported to maintain and enhance their skills throughout their careers, respond to service needs, and deliver safe, effective, and high-quality care.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to meeting with EDS UK before the end of the year.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and ministers regularly meet with a wide range of stakeholders, including patient groups and charities, to inform policy development and to understand lived experience. Officials from the Department have also engaged with organisations representing people affected by Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS).
While it is not possible to commit to specific meetings within a set timeframe, the Department remains open to continued engagement with EDS UK and other stakeholders as part of its ongoing work to improve care and outcomes for people living with complex and long‑term conditions.
Asked by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much financial support she has provided to Hampshire County Council specifically for pothole repairs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
During financial year 2025/26, the Government provided approximately £1.6 billion to support local highways authorities across England, a £500 million uplift compared to the previous year.
As part of this, Hampshire County Council received a total of over £52.9 million from the government to support their highways maintenance activities. This represents an uplift of over £15.2 million compared to the previous financial year.
Local highways maintenance funding is provided by the government to local authorities to maintain all parts of the highway network, including carriageways, bridges, cycleways, lighting columns and footways.
Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 place a statutory duty on local highway authorities to maintain public highways, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances, including the repair of potholes.