Maya Ellis MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Jul 2025 · Parental Leave Review · Hansard source

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  May I first pay tribute to the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary, along with many others, for leading from the front on the importance of their role as fathers? I truly believe that paternity leave is the single most important area where the Government can improve the lives of families and women, too. I hope that we can get to providing six weeks’ paternity leave paid by the Government at 90% of pay. Employee support, though, will be critical to making that a success. Does the Minister agree that the review is an opportunity to engage and provide clarity to businesses on how to work with paternity leave and parental leave?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Infant Feeding · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Member for the work we are doing together on the all-party parliamentary group for infant feeding and for her passion in this space. Breastfeeding is a full-time job. Only last week, Carrie Johnson, the wife of one of our former Prime Ministers, highlighted how easy it is to neglect your own needs as a mother while breastfeeding. Does the hon. Member agree that it is essential that the Government establish six weeks of paid paternity leave, so that breastfeeding mothers can focus on feeding their baby and partners can focus on looking after mum?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Rights of Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  5. What steps his Department is taking to protect the rights of women and girls globally.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Rights of Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  Yesterday, we welcomed an ambitious and much-needed industrial strategy, which will rely on bold trade deals with countries around the world. Britain has a strong tradition of promoting human rights in its work around the world. How is the FCDO ensuring that we uphold our commitment to rights for girls and women as we develop trade deals with other countries?

• 19 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The battle of Bamber Bridge in my constituency, 82 years ago, was a powerful moment in history when local people stood in solidarity with black American soldiers against segregation. I am hugely grateful to councillors, like the wonderful Chris Lomax, who have worked so hard to keep the memory of this special moment in history alive. I know that the community will have a great time celebrating the anniversary this weekend with a proper American barbecue. Will the Leader of the House join me in wishing the Bamber Bridge community a wonderful celebration at the Ye Olde Hob Inn this weekend, and will she consider holding a debate on the long history of our British values of bravery and inclusion?

• 19 Jun 2025 · Water Safety Education · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for bringing forward this critical debate. We think a lot about water safety in the Ribble Valley constituency; indeed, the River Ribble is in its name. In the River Ribble catchment, which covers my constituency and some lovely neighbouring constituencies, we also have the Hodder, Calder, Darwen, Douglas and Wyre. The Ribble Rivers Trust is a Lancashire-based charity working to improve the River Ribble and all its tributaries for people and wildlife. Along with the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, it does a phenomenal job in advocating for water safety as well. Lancashire is one of the counties in the UK with the highest water safety risk, which is likely due to the geography, as we have coasts, rivers, canals, reservoirs and quarries. One thing that has changed a lot in this country in recent years is that people move around much more. I grew up in Ribble Valley, so it was built into me not to swim in open water or reservoirs, or we at least knew where the really dangerous areas were. However, with a more transient population across the country, it is far more critical to have universal education to ensure that people who have not grown up around water understand its risks. Another thing I am keen to raise is that, alongside the excellent case being made for lessons in schools, it is critical that children are able to learn water confidence through their own exploration and play. As others have said, that requires local accessible pools for them to explore. I am grateful to those working with me locally to begin a campaign for a proper public swimming pool in the town of Longridge in my constituency, which is one of the things that was most requested on the doorstep there. Finally, I take this opportunity to encourage all adults who have never felt fully comfortable with swimming to learn, because it is never too late. I never learnt to swim as a child, but a few years ago when my daughter at quite a young age started diving under the water—something I could not do—I realised that I could not be encouraging her to be confident if I could not do it myself. It is a humbling thing to be a 30-something taking swimming lessons, but I am grateful to legendary Preston swimming teacher Karen Smith for her patience. The first time I swam 40 lengths was a very special moment and I am grateful that now, as a parent, I can be confident in adventures with my family. That joy and confidence should be available to everyone in our island nation and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen for pushing the Government on this matter.

• 18 Jun 2025 · Businesses in Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I thank the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) for securing this brilliant debate. My constituency is a fantastic mix of urban pockets and vast rural areas, with some incredible businesses, including Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, James’ Places hotels and Massey Feeds. I have just come from the Countryside Alliance awards in the House of Lords, and the hottest restaurant in the north-west, Eight at Gazegill, has just won the rural enterprise award. Hon. Members have raised really important issues, including affordable housing, transport and congested country roads, but I want to focus on a particular point that I am concerned about following the spending review last week. My rural constituency in the county of Lancashire and many other areas across the UK are about to lose the last pockets of business support funding. The areas that remain without a mayoral devolution deal are predominantly rural shire counties, and in the spending review it was confirmed that the shared prosperity fund will end in 2026. It was obviously meant to be a bridging fund to replace the millions of pounds of regional development funding that areas such as Lancashire used to receive from the EU, and it predominantly funded business growth hubs and other business support. As of next year, all local growth and business support funding will be channelled into mayoral areas. I would be grateful if the Minister could assure us that further plans will be made to continue supporting innovative and high-growth businesses across our non-mayoral areas; otherwise, we are set to miss out on huge opportunities for innovation in the often more community-driven and community-embedded businesses that we value and want to encourage. I am conscious of time, so I will end by saying that I look forward to the Government building out our strategies to understand rural economies more. I support the calls for a proper strategy. We need to grip the rural opportunity in this country, and that starts with the rural businesses that keep those areas thriving.

• 17 Jun 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I rise in support of new clause 1 and new clause 20. I am someone who chooses the spend the majority of my time in this place focusing on women, who make up 51% of the population —on mothers, parents, women’s health and maternity—and I would like specifically to address comments that have been made in the Chamber today which pit the life of a foetus against that of a mother. Despite the fact that 40% of MPs are now women, and that every single one of us represents a constituency that will be 50% women, I rarely hear women’s issues being discussed here. On every issue in this House there is an angle that affects women differently, and that especially affects those caring for children differently, yet we do not speak about it. When people speak against abortion in any form, I am stupefied by the bubble from within which they speak. Will they also speak out about the risk of giving birth when two-thirds of maternity wards are deemed unsafe by the Care Quality Commission? I doubt it. Will they speak out about the fact that more than 1.6 million women are kept out of the labour market because of their caring responsibilities, which are seven times those of men? I doubt it. Will they speak out about children in temporary accommodation, the extortionate cost of childcare, medical negligence and the decimation of Sure Start? I doubt it. Until hon. Members have done their time making this world one thousand times better for mothers and parents, as it needs to be, I suggest that they reflect on the audacity of making a judgment in isolation today that cries, “Life.” Every decision we make in this place comes relative to its context. A woman who ends up in the truly agonising position of having an abortion is protecting a life—she is protecting her own life. Hers is the life that hon. Members choose to vote against if they vote against these amendments; hers is the life hon. Members would be choosing to discard. As others have said, in reality, the amendments before us today will affect very few people, but will critically mean that while a woman is the carrier of a child, she will not be criminalised for anything to do with or within her body. Given how little the world tends to care about women and their bodies, I personally trust those individual women far more than I trust any state or judicial system that has yet to prove it can properly support the rights of women. That is why I will be voting for this and any amendments that further the rights of women over their own bodies.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Government data released last year shows that homeschooling figures have doubled since 2019. Although I wholeheartedly welcome the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ensure that all children are safe, many parents in my constituency actively and positively choose to home-educate their children, and it is safe and reasonable for them to do so. On behalf of her Cabinet colleagues, will the Leader of the House reassure home-educating parents in my constituency and across the UK, who are doing a fantastic job of educating their children, that the Bill will safeguard educational freedom and honour the incredibly positive impact that parents can have on their children’s development? Will she consider a debate on the merits of alternative forms of education?

• 12 Jun 2025 · Covid: Fifth Anniversary · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) on securing this debate, so that we can learn from the covid years. I first pay tribute to the amazing health workers, volunteers and key workers who supported us through that turbulent time, and I will focus my brief contribution on the often overlooked impact that covid had on maternity services and pregnancy, and on the lived experiences of women. We know that women were shut out of the highest levels of decision making during the pandemic, and their voices were sidelined. Research from the London School of Economics and Political Science found that the Conservative Government consistently failed to consider gender in their response to covid-19. During covid, the Maternal Mental Health Alliance reported a sharp rise in maternal anxiety, and the already concerning gaps in perinatal mental health services widened further. Informed support networks, which are so vital to new mothers, were decimated by lockdowns and restrictions. The withdrawal of home birth services and the closure of midwife-led units during the pandemic curtailed women’s autonomy over how and where to give birth. That shift saw many women forced to deliver in hospitals where covid-19 was actively being treated, heightening the health risk for mothers and newborns. Post-natal services also suffered immensely. A coalition of 13 pregnancy and baby charities gave evidence about covid-19, and they spoke about the way that the needs of mothers and new parents were consistently overlooked in critical healthcare decisions. For instance, one-year assessments were done by video call; there was a lack of replacement for in-person baby classes; and there were no health visitors or community practitioners. We are running short of time, so in conclusion, I remind the House that roughly 1.85 million babies were born during the UK pandemic years, and all those children have mothers who had to face that time alone, confused and forgotten. We owe it to every parent, midwife and newborn to ensure that never happens again. Let that be our legacy—not just remembrance, but the resolve to build a health system that is resilient, compassionate and prepared. The next generation deserves to be welcomed into a world that has learned from its past and strives for better.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy · Hansard source

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  To build on that point, I recently met the parents of a young man in his 20s who absolutely reinforced the need to get givinostat funded properly across the country. I was also struck by how the lives of both parents—they are teachers—and their other child were deeply affected by having to support their son and brother. Does my hon. Friend support my plea to the Minister to reassure my constituents that adult social care services will continue to support people like them, so that their lives can be enriched?

• 12 Jun 2025 · SEND Funding · Hansard source

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  My constituency of Ribble Valley sits under Lancashire county council, which recently received a damning Ofsted report for its SEND provision. One parent, Selina Shaw, told me that her son Monty lost two years of education while the council spent more than £146,000 on a school he never attended, as the council did not seem to understand that that school could not meet his needs. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government and local authorities must listen seriously to the voice of the child and to parents to improve SEND provision and must stop wasting precious resources in the immediate term, as well as providing the long-term financial improvements that the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) proposes?

• 11 Jun 2025 · Outdoor Education · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. Viki Mason is a forest school practitioner in my constituency who provides amazing outdoor education for primary schools, but the schools continually struggle to find funding for her services and those of providers like her. Does he agree that if we want young people to grow up with the benefits of the experiences he describes and with an appreciation for the natural world around us, so that we can protect it and encourage them to protect it, we must ringfence education funding for outdoor education at the very earliest stages of learning?

• 10 Jun 2025 · Net Zero Transition: Rural Economies · Hansard source

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  Many happy returns, Mr Speaker. Chipping Community Energy in my constituency is a brilliant ground source heat loop feasibility project. We know that grid infrastructure is weaker in rural areas, and there is a risk that more remote areas get left behind in the move to decarbonisation, in the same way that they did with the broadband roll-out. Will the Minister share what role she sees local initiatives, like Chipping Community Energy, playing in our overall plans for energy security and affordability, and what steps she is taking to help such projects to provide more cheap energy to our rural communities?

• 10 Jun 2025 · Net Zero Transition: Rural Economies · Hansard source

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  9. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the transition to net zero supports rural economies.

• 15 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Economic growth requires people to be able to get to work. This morning, yet another road traffic accident happened on the stretch of M6 motorway that goes through my constituency and yours, Mr Speaker. This has a hugely disruptive impact on the mainly small roads around it in my constituency. Yet again, my residents in Longridge, Grimsargh and all the surrounding areas woke up to the prospect of another journey to work that takes two hours instead of 20 minutes, and that is becoming a monthly—if not weekly—occurrence. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what can be done?

• 15 May 2025 · Youth Services · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) for securing this critical debate. Youth services are integral to enabling young people to live safe, healthy and happy lives, but we cannot deny that issues and policy relating to children and young people often get pushed aside. We must recognise the contribution that they make and will make to our society by ensuring that they have access to youth services. I was so pleased to hear the Government’s announcement earlier this year on developing a new national youth strategy. Just last week, I held a strategy session in my Ribble Valley constituency and heard from the fantastic Bowland high school council about what young people in my area need and want. It was a chance to hear them talk openly about their concerns. I was taken aback by the number of students who discussed the stress, worry and pressure that they felt, particularly in relation to their exams—I wish all those starting their GCSEs this week good luck. That emphasised the need for youth services to support young people through these big life stages. They also discussed the lack of places to go where they could feel truly safe. Youth provision is personal for me. I have been a member and volunteer of Girlguiding since I started Brownies when I was seven, and I served on the Girlguiding national board for six years, so I have seen at first hand the impact that such youth movements can have on young people. I would like to think that my confidence and self-belief as I stand in this House today come from that provision. That is the power that good youth services have. I highlight to the Government how powerful investment can be when it follows existing infrastructure and good practice. Many organisations, such as guides and scouts, have existed for over a century, but they are reliant on volunteering, and modern lifestyles cannot sustain that. The frameworks that those organisations have developed are cutting-edge, however, so I welcome building on those provisions. One young woman I spoke to recently said that the private stage school she had enjoyed proved too expensive for her in the long run. I would love it if we subsidised great local youth offers where possible, rather than reinventing the wheel. Doing so would also support local businesses. We must ensure that youth provision is extended to our rural communities and can be accessed across the country. I would echo my—

• 15 May 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  HARP—Haweswater aqueduct resilience programme—is a 10-year project about to commence for United Utilities to tunnel water through my constituency from the Lake district to Manchester. I recently met residents of the communities that this work will disrupt for a decade. Will the Leader of the House assure my residents that this Labour Government strongly expect big infrastructure stakeholders such as United Utilities to be proactive in providing regular communications and engaging with the communities they have active projects in? Would she consider allowing time for the House to debate how community impacts should be mitigated in areas disproportionately affected by new water infrastructure projects?

• 24 Apr 2025 · Data · Hansard source

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  Too often, when I am trying to get to the bottom of problems for my constituents in Ribble Valley, I get responses to written questions saying that Ministers just do not have the data available. I applaud the Government for putting data at the heart of their plans, but I worry that we could get too carried away with looking at AI solutions before we get to solutions for actually collecting data in the first place. Could the Minister reassure me on how we are working with local government to make sure we are collecting data from all possible sources in one place to start with, before we get to how we can make that more efficient?

• 24 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Girlguiding and its volunteers provide endless opportunities for girls and young women in my constituency of Ribble Valley. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Waddow Hall Trust group of Girlguiding members on successfully campaigning to secure Waddow Hall, which provides adventure and outdoor education for future generations of young people? Will she make time for this House to discuss the importance of outdoor education within the Government’s national youth strategy?

• 23 Apr 2025 · Hair and Beauty Sector: Government Policy · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez) for securing this important debate on a sector that, as she rightly says, is often overlooked but is a critical part of many of our communities, including mine in Ribble Valley in Lancashire. As I am sure my colleagues will reference, the hair and beauty sector is a thriving economic powerhouse, contributing huge amounts to the UK economy while increasing visitors to high streets and promoting community wellbeing. Given its impact on not only the economy but our physical wellness, we must ensure that the whole sector is regulated effectively. I want to highlight my concerns and those of the Ribble Valley residents I have spoken to about the regulation of the beauty sector in particular. It is deeply concerning that aesthetic medicine, a medical speciality recognised by the Royal Society of Medicine, is often considered just another part of the hair and beauty sector. If it were cardiology or dermatology, there would rightly be huge concern over non-medical professionals performing high-risk procedures. Aesthetic treatments are not cosmetic extras; they can be invasive medical procedures with serious risks, including blindness, tissue necrosis and death. I have recently read several tragic news stories of individuals—such as Alice Webb, a mother of five—who have died after undergoing non- surgical treatments, including the increasingly popular Brazilian butt lift, known as the BBL procedure. No charges have been brought because it is still not illegal. However, it was promising to hear that last December, Save Face, a Government-approved register of trusted practitioners, met with the Government to share Alice’s story and discuss potential solutions to stop untrained individuals from performing such procedures. One of my constituents, Dr Natalie Haworth, has said that as a medical professional with her own aesthetic clinic, The Doctor & Company, she has to routinely manage complications previously caused by poorly trained practitioners. Legitimate, medically-trained professionals such as Dr Natalie undergo training built on years of foundational medical education, ethical standards and regulatory oversight. A three to seven-day course cannot replicate that. The increase in unreputable training providers across social media is increasingly worrying. We must look into training standards to rectify the situation. Across the UK, invasive procedures such as fillers, liposuction and facelifts are being performed in unregulated salons. These are overwhelmingly carried out on women, reflecting a systemic failure to take the risks seriously—often dismissed as a women’s issue or vanity. In a society where our beauty standards are shaped by social media and celebrity culture, there is no doubt that aesthetics treatments will continue to grow. In 2024 alone, the UK aesthetics industry grew by a considerable 8.4%. Unregulated actors in this space lower the reputation of the whole industry, which in turn impacts the success of safe and legitimate services like those provided by my constituent, Natalie. We must therefore work to tackle the rise of unregulated cosmetic procedures. Will the Minister confirm whether the Government plan to follow up on the previous Government’s consultation on non-surgical cosmetic procedures? The Government must listen to women’s stories and work to act and legislate on aesthetic medicine to ensure that people’s safety is secured. Meanwhile, the NHS shoulders the burden. A&E departments are seeing increasing complications from fillers, botox and laser treatments that should have been managed in a clinical setting. The industry must not be overlooked. We need to support trained practitioners and advocate for women seeking treatments by prioritising the raising of standards across this dynamic sector.

• 22 Apr 2025 · “For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling · Hansard source

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  Like many of my colleagues today, I am truly exhausted by the cynicism of the culture wars around this topic. I hope we can focus on how we make any changes work practically. Does the Minister agree that all of us in this House should be mindful that human beings are affected by every comment we make on this matter, and that how we behave here will inform how the wider public behave, which I hope would be with kindness and compassion?

• 1 Apr 2025 · Relationship Education in Schools · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for securing this debate. When I became a new parent, I was shocked to my core to see in my communities, both in person and online, the extent to which relationships between new parents can suddenly descend into coercive control, gaslighting, financial abuse and, in the worst cases—still far too many—physical abuse. The For Baby’s Sake Trust found that 40% of parents who experienced domestic abuse said that it occurred during their baby’s first 1,001 days—from pregnancy until the baby’s second birthday. It is critical that we embed healthy relationships early on. I am the vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on sexual and reproductive health in the UK, and I recently chaired a roundtable to celebrate 20 years since the teenage pregnancy prevention framework. The key asks were about focusing reforms on upstream prevention, rather than downstream crisis management. I would love to see more support for parents as their children receive relationship guidance in school. A huge number of young people will receive strong, progressive advice from schools about relationships, then go home to a place where those progressive relationships do not exist. If, via the information that a child brings home from school, a parent realises that they are in a relationship that is not okay—such as one that is financially abusive or controlling—so much the better. Chloe Combi recently wrote a powerful piece in T he Independent about the TV show “Adolescence”, in which she pointed out that very little commentary on the show has asked what young people themselves thought about it. Multiple organisations, including Brook, have highlighted the importance of including the student voice in RSHE curriculum design. In the 2009 guidance, schools were instructed to consult parents; however, for RSE to be relevant, the needs and preferences of pupils must also be reflected in the lessons taught in schools. I pay tribute to Chloe Combi and others such as Jo Davies at the WILD Young Parents Project, for being on the frontline of how we can instil great relationships among young people. Finally, as a society, the reality is that we are often not great at relationships as adults. Therefore, as we protect and extend relationship advice to young people, I hope that we have the humility to learn alongside them, too.

• 3 Mar 2025 · Levelling-up Projects · Hansard source

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  May I first thank the Secretary of State for visiting Preston last week to attend this year’s convention of the north? It was a fantastic event and reinvigorated the case for northern investment to be a key determinant in Government decisions. In that vein, can the Minister outline what conversations are being held with departmental colleagues to ensure that the opportunity of investing in the north is fully realised and understood?