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 encourage more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to become blood donors in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England.
Recruiting donors from black heritage backgrounds is a strategic priority for NHSBT, driven by the clinical need to provide better matched blood for patients with conditions like sickle cell, which disproportionately affects people of black heritage. As a result, NHSBT is delivering marketing and communication activities that target key diverse areas. Greater Manchester is one of NHSBT's key target regions for their Giving Types campaign, with proactive public relations and regional media stories being deployed to drive the appeal for more blood donors using real-life case studies from the local area. Further information on the Giving Types campaign is available at the following link:
https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/campaigns/giving-type/
The NHSBT Community Grants Programme funds community and faith/belief organisations to drive awareness, understanding, and behaviour change amongst black, Asian, mixed heritage, and minority ethnic communities to build support for blood donation. NHSBT has two Community Grant Programme groups operating in Manchester, specifically Become United and the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN). They host events, webinars, and produce videos on behalf of NHSBT to promote blood donation within their communities. Further information on the NHSBT Community Grants Programme is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/how-you-can-help/get-involved/community-grants-programme/
NHSBT attends and hosts specific events which will attract a high number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds to encourage blood donation, for example the recent attendance at CAHN’s Windrush Day 2025 in Alexandra Park, Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will make an assessment of the availability of secondary school places in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department collects annual data from local authorities about primary and secondary state-funded school places, local authorities’ pupil forecasts and local authorities’ planned changes to school places. The data is published at local authority level in the annual School Capacity statistics publication, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2023-24.
The latest data relates to school capacity as at 1 May 2024. The latest school capacity data for secondary schools in Stockport local authority and latest modelled estimates of the future number of secondary school places needed to meet predicted demand for Stockport local authority can be found in this publication.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to review Government contracts with Fujitsu.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The impact of the Horizon scandal on postmasters and their families has been horrendous. The Government is determined to hold those responsible to account and will continue to seek to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues currently being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Government are carefully considering volume 1 of the report. Once the inquiry has established the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, where appropriate.
In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes. It will bid for work with existing government customers only where it already has a contract with them or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.
Individual contracting authorities are responsible for the award and management of contracts. With regard to scrutiny during procurement processes, the Procurement Act 2023 enables and, where appropriate, requires the exclusion of suppliers where they pose particular risks to public procurement. The Cabinet Office has issued substantial guidance for departments, available on gov.uk. The exclusions regime provides a framework within which contracting authorities must consider a supplier’s recent past behaviour and circumstances (or their presence on the debarment list) to determine whether it should be allowed to compete for or be awarded a public contract.
The National Procurement Policy Statement asks contracting authorities to ensure they have the appropriate procurement and contract management skills and capability necessary to deliver public contracts and encourages the use of collaborative procurement frameworks, where appropriate, to deliver value for money.
To provide transparency, the government regularly publishes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for its most important contracts, and the performance of the vendor against those KPIs.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will have discussions with Greater Manchester Police on the potential impact of not supplying naloxone to frontline officers on levels of drug-related deaths.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Naloxone is an important lifesaving medicine to respond to suspected opioid overdoses, when used alongside other first aid measures, and is mitigating the threat posed by synthetic opioids.
Work has been ongoing for several years led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office to support police carriage of this medicine, leveraging officers’ frequent interactions with individuals at risk of overdose to reduce drug-related deaths. In September 2024 and May 2025, I wrote to Chief Constables in England and Wales to reiterate my support for all police forces to roll-out the voluntary provision of naloxone to operational officers.
The Home Office and NPCC recently published data showing that, as of December 2024, approximately 7,300 police officers in England and Wales regularly carry naloxone. The medicine had been administered over 550 times by police since June 2019, and only two out of 43 police forces had no plans to carry. One of those forces is Greater Manchester Police.
Whilst the provision of naloxone for police officers remains voluntary and is an operational decision for Chief Constables, the Government is strongly supportive of forces making this highly effective antidote available.
The NPCC and the Home Office are in ongoing dialogue with all police forces on this topic.
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 his Department has made on the adequacy of waiting times for audiology appointments in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold specific data on audiology waiting lists in the Stockport constituency, Greater Manchester, or nationally.
In May 2025, the waiting list for Ear, Nose and Throat, which includes audiology appointments, stood at 4,492 in the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and stood at 37,477 in the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB). In the same month, Ear, Nose and Throat performance against the 18-week referral to treatment standard was 54.6% at the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and 50.5% in the NHS Greater Manchester ICB.
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, how many people are on the waiting list for tinnitus treatment in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on this particular condition. However, the latest published data on the waiting list for Ear, Nose and Throat, which includes those waiting for tinnitus treatment, stood at 4,492 in the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust as of May 2025. This represents a 2.8% reduction compared to the start of July 2024.
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 7 July 2025 to Question 62269 on IVF: Finance, whether his Department has had discussions with NHS Greater Manchester on the proposed reduction in the number of NHS-funded IVF cycles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such discussions have taken place.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards, and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions his Department has had with Fujitsu Ltd on its involvement in the Horizon IT system failures; and whether his Department plans to pursue accountability for the company’s involvement in the wrongful prosecution of sub-postmasters.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We welcome Fujitsu’s acknowledgement of their moral obligation to contribute to the cost of the scandal.
On 7 March 2025, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Fujitsu’s global CEO agreed to begin talks on Fujitsu’s contribution to the costs of the scandal, prior to the conclusion of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report.
The extent of culpability for the scandal of Fujitsu and others – and hence any further accountability measures – will not be clear until all parts of Sir Wyn Williams’ Inquiry report are published.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 58271 on Driving Tests: Stockport, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the average waiting time at the Bredbury driving test centre.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is aware that car practical driving test waiting times remain high and understands the impact this is having on learner drivers. All staff at the agency are working tirelessly to reduce waiting times at all test centres, including at Bredbury.
There are currently 13 driving examiners at Bredbury test centre. This has risen from 9 examiners in 2022. Bredbury test centre is part of a cluster of test centres, including West Didsbury and Sale, that serve customers in Stockport.
DVSA continues to deploy examiners within the cluster to test centres based on demand.
Within the cluster of test centres from recruitment campaigns, one potential new driving examiner (DE) started their training course on 23 June for West Didsbury. A further potential new DE for Sale will start their course on 25 August. DVSA has made three further offers, with applicants scheduled for courses in the late summer/early autumn.
DVSA is continuing with its recruitment campaigns, including for this cluster of test centres. DVSA will continue to assess recruitment needs of all test centres in Great Britain when it launches any future recruitment campaigns.
DVSA continues to offer overtime incentives to its driving examiners, including those in this cluster.
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, what steps her Department is taking to support disabled people from lower socioeconomic groups to be more physically active.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone. Sport England, the Government’s Arm’s Length Body for grassroots sport, is committed to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for all underserved communities, including disabled people, and those from lower socioeconomic groups.
Sport England's Movement Fund invests over £20 million of Lottery and Exchequer funding every year to help people play sport and take part in physical activity. The Movement Fund prioritises projects that give opportunities to least active groups, including disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. Sport England also has partnerships with organisations such as Disability Rights UK, Activity Alliance, Aspire, and Sense, to help more disabled people get active.
The Government also recognises that the barriers which disabled people face around improving their physical and mental health are often compounded by socioeconomic factors. To address this, the Government is investing £100 million in 2024-25 through the Multi Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme to build and upgrade high-quality grassroots sports pitches and facilities in the communities across the UK that need it most. The Multi Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme’s aims include regular, weekly use by under-represented groups, including disabled people, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, so that everyone has the opportunity to participate.
On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to ensure disabled people from lower socioeconomic groups are at the heart of plans to help more people get physically active.