Baroness Jenkin of Kennington

The Government looks forward to hosting Safe to Be Me: A Global Equality Conference which will bring together government representatives, businesses, civil society and international parliamentarians on 29 June - 1 July 2022 to address important issues around the safety of LGBT+ people at home and abroad. The Conference will explore four key themes: making progress towards legislative reform that advances equality and legal protections for LGBT+ people globally, including decriminalisation; tackling violence and discrimination; improving access to public services; and working with businesses to strengthen the economic case for LGBT+ inclusion. This will be the UK’s first global LGBT+ Conference, and we will work closely with Lord Herbert of South Downs as Chair of the Conference, and in his role as Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on LGBT+ rights to ensure this event is ambitious.

The overall budget allocated to the delivery of the Conference is still being finalised. As of December 2021, there are 8.25 FTE staff within the international LGBT+ team in the Cabinet Office who are working on the Conference with oversight from a Deputy Director. Additionally, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently has 8.25 FTE staff within the international LGBT+ rights team whose work includes the Conference, as well as substantial oversight from the relevant Director General. We expect resourcing to increase in the run up to the Conference.

The CPS has legal guidance for all prosecutors dealing with potential cases involving female genital mutilation, which it keeps under review. This guidance has recently been revised to reflect the practical challenges in these cases and to provide clarification on piercing and cosmetic surgery. This was done in consultation with key stakeholders and published in autumn 2019.

The Downing Street complex is a working building, as well as containing two Ministerial residences. As has always been the case, refurbishments and maintenance are made periodically. The Government is legally required to maintain the Downing Street buildings to the high standards appropriate to its Grade 1 and 2 listed status in consultation with Historic England. The listed status, as well as security and other relevant factors, significantly add to the cost of maintenance and repairs, compared to normal properties.

Across successive governments, Prime Ministers have received an annual allowance of up to £30,000 a year from the public purse to contribute towards the costs associated with maintaining and furnishing of the residency within the Downing Street estate.

Such works contribute to assets owned and held by the nation for use by Ministers, including for example for hosting official guests.

Figures for outturn spending from that allowance on the No 11 flat (the residence of the Prime Minister since 1997) are as follows.

To assist public scrutiny, they are presented in cash terms at the time of the payments, and in real terms (equivalent costs today).

^{*Using HMT figures for GDP deflator for 2019-20.}

^{Note: The annual allowance may be combined or spread to support works across financial years.}

^{Figures exclude essential works to make good the premises prior to occupation.}

No works took place in 2019-20 partly due to the general election and the covid pandemic.

Audited figures of spending from the allowance for the 2020-21 financial year are not yet available; works have taken place by long-standing Downing Street contractors on painting, sanding and floorboards. Any costs of wider refurbishment in this year have been met by the Prime Minister personally.

The Government has been considering the merits of whether works on parts or all of the Downing Street estate could be funded by a trust; this could mirror long-standing arrangements in place for Chequers (a private trust) or for Dorneywood (a charitable trust), reducing the need for subsidy from the public purse. Such matters are legally complex and policy development is ongoing. The Government engaged with the Leader of the Opposition’s Office on the proposals in July.

Matters concerning works on the Downing Street estate, including the residences, will be covered in the Cabinet Office’s forthcoming annual report and audited accounts.

This information is not held centrally. Data on children being taken into care does not identify the cases where female genital mutilation (FGM) was the reason for the child going into care.

FGM is child abuse and it is illegal. The government is determined to eradicate FGM here and abroad and it cannot be condoned or ignored on the basis of it being a 'cultural tradition'. Services should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse. The statement of the knowledge and skills required by child and family social workers includes that they should be able to take account of harmful practices in specific communities such as female genital mutilation.

This information is not held centrally. Data on children being taken into care does not identify the cases where female genital mutilation (FGM) was the reason for the child going into care.

FGM is child abuse and it is illegal. The government is determined to eradicate FGM here and abroad and it cannot be condoned or ignored on the basis of it being a 'cultural tradition'. Services should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse. The statement of the knowledge and skills required by child and family social workers includes that they should be able to take account of harmful practices in specific communities such as female genital mutilation.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and it is illegal. Services, including schools, should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse.

Keeping children safe in education is statutory safeguarding guidance. All schools must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance sets out that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and that all school staff should receive appropriate safeguarding training at induction and that the training should be regularly updated. The guidance states that all staff should speak to the school’s designated safeguarding lead with regard to any concerns about FGM. It then goes on to explain the specific legal duty placed on teachers to report an act of FGM on a girl under the age of 18 to the police. The guidance is available here and attached: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September 2020, we are making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.

The statutory guidance states that by the end of secondary education, pupils should have been taught about FGM. Schools should address the physical and emotional damage caused by FGM. They should also be taught where to find support and that it is a criminal offence to perform or assist in the performance of FGM or fail to protect a person for whom you are responsible from FGM. As well as addressing this in the context of the law, pupils may also need support to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are unhealthy or abusive (including the unacceptability of neglect, emotional, sexual and physical abuse and violence, including honour-based violence and forced marriage) and strategies to manage this or access support for oneself or others at risk. All teaching for these subjects should be age as well as developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs of the pupil. This includes ensuring that no pupil feels stigmatised. Schools for example should work closely with the local community and key partners such as school nurses, as well as draw on local health data, when planning their teaching for any aspect of these subjects.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and it is illegal. Services, including schools, should safeguard children from this abuse as from any other form of abuse.

Keeping children safe in education is statutory safeguarding guidance. All schools must have regard to it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance sets out that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and that all school staff should receive appropriate safeguarding training at induction and that the training should be regularly updated. The guidance states that all staff should speak to the school’s designated safeguarding lead with regard to any concerns about FGM. It then goes on to explain the specific legal duty placed on teachers to report an act of FGM on a girl under the age of 18 to the police. The guidance is available here and attached: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September 2020, we are making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.

The statutory guidance states that by the end of secondary education, pupils should have been taught about FGM. Schools should address the physical and emotional damage caused by FGM. They should also be taught where to find support and that it is a criminal offence to perform or assist in the performance of FGM or fail to protect a person for whom you are responsible from FGM. As well as addressing this in the context of the law, pupils may also need support to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are unhealthy or abusive (including the unacceptability of neglect, emotional, sexual and physical abuse and violence, including honour-based violence and forced marriage) and strategies to manage this or access support for oneself or others at risk. All teaching for these subjects should be age as well as developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs of the pupil. This includes ensuring that no pupil feels stigmatised. Schools for example should work closely with the local community and key partners such as school nurses, as well as draw on local health data, when planning their teaching for any aspect of these subjects.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health’s report, Women's Lives, Women's Rights: Strengthening Access to Contraception Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic, has raised a number of important issues. The recommendations, including those relating to the workforce, will be considered as part of our upcoming work to develop the sexual and reproductive health strategy.

The average waiting time for a woman accessing long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is not collected centrally. Data on restricted access to long-acting reversible contraception due to the COVID-19 pandemic in general practitioner surgeries and community sexual health clinics is also not currently available centrally.

The provision of LARC services is particularly challenging currently due to access not being possible remotely.

The Department is working with Public Health England and others to reduce waiting lists and backlogs that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare have also published clinical advice to support ongoing provision of effective contraception which health professionals should work to.

The average waiting time for a woman accessing long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) is not collected centrally. Data on restricted access to long-acting reversible contraception due to the COVID-19 pandemic in general practitioner surgeries and community sexual health clinics is also not currently available centrally.

The provision of LARC services is particularly challenging currently due to access not being possible remotely.

The Department is working with Public Health England and others to reduce waiting lists and backlogs that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare have also published clinical advice to support ongoing provision of effective contraception which health professionals should work to.

National Health Service referral pathways are in place locally to respond to the physical, mental and sexual health needs of women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) through maternity and specialist paediatric services. Non-pregnant women over 18 can access a new pilot of eight FGM support clinics launched in September 2019 which provide a range of services, including deinfibulation if required.

Commissioning of FGM services is informed by NHS Digital’s FGM enhanced dataset.

Local authorities in England are mandated to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services for people present in their area based on an assessment of local need.

National Health Service referral pathways are in place locally to respond to the physical, mental and sexual health needs of women and girls who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) through maternity and specialist paediatric services. Non-pregnant women over 18 can access a new pilot of eight FGM support clinics launched in September 2019 which provide a range of services, including deinfibulation if required.

Commissioning of FGM services is informed by NHS Digital’s FGM enhanced dataset.

Local authorities in England are mandated to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services for people present in their area based on an assessment of local need.

In July 2022, the UK will host an international Ministerial conference to promote freedom of religion or belief for all. The conference will demonstrate the UK's international leadership on supporting partner countries towards freedom and openness, underpinning the Network of Liberty the UK is committed to building around the world.

A conference budget will be finalised next year in line with all future programme budgets under the FCDO's business planning process for 2022 onwards. A conference team is being built and will be further boosted by additional surge staff in the summer.

To maximise the Government's strategic focus in the use of ODA next year, the Foreign Secretary will run a short cross-government process to review, appraise and finalise all of the UK's ODA allocations. This will involve all current ODA spending departments. It is the Government's intention to conclude this process as soon as possible and communicate the outcome to the departments concerned.

The Government intends to return to the 0.7% target when the fiscal situation allows. We cannot at this moment predict with certainty when the current fiscal circumstances will have sufficiently improved.

The Government is clear that we want people who are transgender to be able to live their lives as they wish. We believe that the process of legally changing one’s gender is a serious and legally meaningful undertaking which requires appropriate checks and a level of formality.

Home Office policy is to allow a customer to change their gender without requiring a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), in line with the Equality Act 2010, which does not allow discrimination between people who have changed their gender through medical intervention, for example via surgery, and those who have not.

Statements from medical consultants are accepted if they are registered on a medical website, can provide proof of their medical qualification and HM Passport examiners can verify; if not HM Passport Office examiners request another letter from another medical consultant if the original person cannot meet the necessary criteria.

The Government has begun an internal review into name change more generally. The review is looking at the formal and informal methods by which someone can change their name provide assurance that, where necessary, appropriate safeguards exist.

FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. We significantly strengthened the law in 2015 in order to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.

The first UK conviction for FGM took place on 1 February 2019 and the perpetrator was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Home Office does not collate information on prosecutions centrally. Information on FGM prosecutions can be found in the Violence Against Women and Girls Reports, which are published annually by the Crown Prosecution Service.

We have not previously collected data on the number of FGM cases received under the mandatory reporting duty. However, to improve understanding of the prevalence of so called ‘honour-based’ abuse, including FGM, the Government amended the police Annual Data Requirement (ADR) to require police forces, from April 2019, to record where a crime has been committed in the context of preserving the ‘honour’ of a family or community. This new collection is also capturing police recorded offences of FGM which were initially reported to the police under the mandatory reporting duty. Subject to data quality checks, we expect the first dataset under this new mandatory ADR collection to be published by autumn 2020.

The Government will continue to keep the changes made in the Serious Crime Act 2015 under review in order to ensure that they are working effectively.

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on the number of FGM Protection Orders (FGMPOs) issued by the family courts in England and Wales, which can be found via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly.

The figures from 2015-2019 are set out in the table below. To note that FGMPOs were introduced in July 2015 and the figures for 2019 cover the period up to 30 September 2019. Figures for the final three months of 2019 will be published in due course.

FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. We significantly strengthened the law in 2015 in order to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.

The first UK conviction for FGM took place on 1 February 2019 and the perpetrator was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Home Office does not collate information on prosecutions centrally. Information on FGM prosecutions can be found in the Violence Against Women and Girls Reports, which are published annually by the Crown Prosecution Service.

FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. We significantly strengthened the law in 2015 in order to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.

The first UK conviction for FGM took place on 1 February 2019 and the perpetrator was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Home Office does not collate information on prosecutions centrally. Information on FGM prosecutions can be found in the Violence Against Women and Girls Reports, which are published annually by the Crown Prosecution Service.

FGM is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong physical and psychological suffering to women and girls. We significantly strengthened the law in 2015 in order to improve protection for victims and those at risk, and to break down the barriers to prosecution.

The first UK conviction for FGM took place on 1 February 2019 and the perpetrator was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Home Office does not collate information on prosecutions centrally. Information on FGM prosecutions can be found in the Violence Against Women and Girls Reports, which are published annually by the Crown Prosecution Service.