Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that (1) BAME, and (2) Muslim, women’s organisations are allocated enough funding to meet service demands.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government?continues to play a facilitative?role?in ensuring?Government?understands?the needs of BAME communities, including Muslim women, and the challenges they?may be currently?facing?in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is some evidence to suggest that BAME communities may be disproportionately affected by coronavirus.
There is a substantial package of targeted support for charities on the frontline of responding to COVID-19. The £750m DCMS-led funding package that the Government has announced will support organisations working with vulnerable groups impacted by COVID-19, including some in BAME communities.
Of this funding, £370m will support smaller, local charities working with vulnerable people. In England, this support will be provided through the National Lottery Community Fund. More details of the funding criteria and application process will be released in the coming days via the National Community Lottery Fund. £60m of the funding will be allocated through the Barnett formula so the devolved administrations are funded to provide similar support in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. DCMS always strives to engage with and represent all British people in its work, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
A further £360m will be distributed between Government departments to provide targeted support to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. This funding will not be allocated via an open bid but will be awarded in line with agreed departmental priorities, with the first £76m going towards supporting survivors of?domestic abuse, sexual violence, vulnerable children and their families and victims of modern slavery announced on 02 May.
As part of this, MHCLG launched a £10m ‘Domestic abuse safe accommodation: COVID-19 emergency support fund’ for charities providing safe accommodation for domestic abuse victims to bid directly into (attached) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-abuse-safe-accommodation-covid-19-emergency-support-fund). This includes charities that provide specialist services such as those dedicated to supporting BAME victims. The deadline for charities to put forward an application is Thursday 21 May.
Departments, including MHCLG, continue to work at pace to ensure this funding reaches the areas of greatest need as quickly as possible, with the aim for our key partners to receive money in the coming weeks.
In addition, for 2020/2021, MHCLG has launched a new competitive grant scheme, with a budget of up to £2m for established community organisations and charities to carry out projects that promote shared values and integration, whilst tackling the harmful behaviours which lead to religiously and racially motivated hate crime. We welcome proposals from projects supporting the BAME community and Muslim women.
The Home Offices’ Building a Stronger Britain Together programme is also continuing to support BAME communities and Muslim women’s organisations within its network. These civil society organisations work within communities to tackle all forms of extremism; support victims of extremism and hate crime, as well as challenging the divisive, extremist narratives targeting minority communities. Preparations for 2020/21 delivery of the BSBT programme are currently underway. The programme uses robust grant standards to ensure our funding delivers the greatest impact for these organisations in tackling extremism issues.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 January (HL5141), who the "sixteen influential Muslim Women" were who met the Prime Minister on 14 January at a Community Engagement Forum.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Those who attended were:
Sajda Mughal OBE, Managing Director at JAN Trust
Syima Aslam, Organiser of Bradford Literary Festival
Sara Khan, Director and co-founder of Inspire
Diana Nammi, Executive Director of Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation
Aysha and Kiran Iqbal Patel, Directors of Odara
Fahma Mohamed, FGM activist and Trustee of Integrate Bristol
Faeeza Vaid, Chair of ‘Sister 2 Sister’ in Birmingham and Executive Director of the Muslim Women’s Network
Henna Rai, Director for the Association of British Muslims
Yasmin Khan, Director of Staying Put and Aspire-I
Hasina Khan, Chair and founder of Saheliyaan Asian Women’s Forum and Councillor on Chorley Council
Nahid Rasool, Director of Shantona Women’s Centre
Farmida Bi, Head of Islamic Finance and a partner at Norton Rose.
Zahra Al-Alawi, Presenter of Woman’s View on Ahlulbayt TV
Farah Mirza, TV Presenter and previous UN representative for Islamic Human Rights Commission
Sarah Joseph OBE, Chief Executive and Editor of emel magazine
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 January (HL5141), whether they will name the four members of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group referred to in that answer.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The four members of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group referred to are Akeela Ahmed, Shermeen Butt, Sarah Joseph and Julie Saddiqi.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often they hold community engagement forum meetings, and what the criteria are for selecting participants.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Community Engagement Forums are regularly hosted by the Prime Minister and are attended by different members of communities from across the country. The Forums focus on different themes and therefore participants are invited who have backgrounds in the relevant subject of the meeting.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 January (HL5140), which six projects are to receive some of the £20 million in funding, and for what purposes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have provided £8 million over three years to support six community-based English language projects delivered by e3, Faith Action, the Local Education Authorities Forum for the Education of Adults, Manchester City Council, TimeBank, and the Tinder Foundation. Together these projects will have supported 33,500 isolated adults by the end of March 2016.
No decisions have yet been taken on who will deliver the new £20 million programme. We will use the learning from our current projects, along with the findings of Louise Casey’s review of integration, to ensure it is targeted on and meets the needs of those who need it most.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government who are their advisers on matters related to Muslim women.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Government Ministers and officials regularly speak with a range of British Muslim women to seek their views on key issues. The Prime Minister hosted a Community Engagement Forum on 14 January with sixteen influential Muslim women, to discuss their role in Britain today and the importance of tackling issues of forced gender segregation, discrimination and isolation. In addition, four of the cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group’s ten independent members are themselves Muslim women. The Group discusses a range of issues, for example, hate incidents on public transport which disproportionately affect visibly Muslim women.
My Department funds a number of projects that work with Muslim women including community based English language courses, women’s empowerment initiatives and the development of leadership and networking skills. As part of this, my officials regularly engage with the project leads, associated charities and participants on relevant issues affecting Muslim women.
My rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has commissioned Louise Casey to carry out a review on how to boost opportunity and integration in our most isolated and deprived communities. She will report on her findings in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what formal mechanisms they have in place to consult Muslim women.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Government Ministers and officials regularly speak with a range of British Muslim women to seek their views on key issues. The Prime Minister hosted a Community Engagement Forum on 14 January with sixteen influential Muslim women, to discuss their role in Britain today and the importance of tackling issues of forced gender segregation, discrimination and isolation. In addition, four of the cross-Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group’s ten independent members are themselves Muslim women. The Group discusses a range of issues, for example, hate incidents on public transport which disproportionately affect visibly Muslim women.
My Department funds a number of projects that work with Muslim women including community based English language courses, women’s empowerment initiatives and the development of leadership and networking skills. As part of this, my officials regularly engage with the project leads, associated charities and participants on relevant issues affecting Muslim women.
My rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has commissioned Louise Casey to carry out a review on how to boost opportunity and integration in our most isolated and deprived communities. She will report on her findings in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Uddin (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of language classes for Muslim women in respect of radicalisation.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Our new English language offer, worth £20 million over this Parliament, will help women in our most isolated communities get the training they need. This new programme will be informed by six projects we have funded as part of our current community-based English language programme. By the end of March this year the projects will have provided training to 33,500 adults – the majority women, with over half from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Somalian ethnic groups.
Community-based English language programmes can help build women’s confidence in using English in daily activities such as engaging with their children’s teachers, interacting with public services and playing a full part in the local community.