Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Women’s Budget Group and the Traveller Movement Uneven Paths: Socio-Economic and Structural Inequalities Facing Women from Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller Communities, published on 5 February; and what plans they have, if any, to implement the recommendations of that report.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government thanks the Women’s Budget Group and the Traveller Movement for their work on this report which highlights the intersecting socio-economic and structural inequalities faced by women and girls from Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller communities.
The government acknowledges the multiple challenges these communities are facing and is committed to tackling inequality and discrimination in education, employment, health and the criminal justice system, and reducing violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The VAWG Strategy lays out the government’s ambition and action to halve these abhorrent crimes in a decade. All victims, including the Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller community are considered and integrated into our response, and every commitment set out in the Strategy will consider the Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller community.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 3 February (HL14086), what plans they have, if any, to use the ethnicity harmonised standards in published statistics; why the Offender Management Statistics use the 6+1 identity code system; and whether they plan to start to use the 18+1 identity code system.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In accordance with the principles embodied in the Code of Practice for Statistics; Trustworthiness, Quality and Value, we keep statistics for publication under continuous review. Uniform standards across Government are applied wherever appropriate, including in the reporting of ethnicity, where it is necessary to balance the benefit of a high level of detail in data gathering, against ease of interpretation for those reporting the information, and the value of consistency in reporting over time.
In the case of Offender Management Statistics, the 18+1 classification is used for the ethnicity information published in the annual prison population tables, which supplement the 6+1 series produced quarterly.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 3 February (HL14086), what steps they are taking to improve data collection for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller prison staff, prisoners, probationers and children.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Work was completed in the summer of 2024 to update systems to capture Gypsy, Roma and Traveller data for Ministry of Justice staff, using the “19+1” approach. This approach uses the standard 19 detailed UK census ethnicity categories, plus one additional category for “Not declared/Prefer not to say”. It enables more detailed analysis, while still allowing data to be grouped into broader ethnicity categories for reporting.
For prisoners, people on probation and children, in addition to the “Gypsy and Irish Traveller” category, “Roma” has been added as an ethnicity option in both prisons and probation data systems with effect from January 2025.
We are currently developing an e-learning product which will be made available to all HMPPS staff by May 2026. It is aimed at improving cultural literacy and the support provided to people from Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Traveller backgrounds in prison, on probation and within the Youth Custody Service. This product includes a focus on supporting people from Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Traveller backgrounds to disclose their ethnicity to prison, probation or Youth Custody Service staff.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 26 January (HL13694), why prisoners from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities are not recorded in the table attached to that Answer.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In accordance with the Office of National Statistics Census definitions (also reflected within the more detailed prisoner ethnicity data published as part of our Offender Management Statistics “Prison Population” annual tables), the 'Irish Traveller or Gypsy' and 'Roma' groups are counted as part of the "White" ethnicity group.
The ethnicity grouping presented in the table is consistent with that published quarterly for the prison population in Offender Management Statistics, for comparability.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to strengthen leak detection, odourisation and public health-related standards for gas used in domestic homes and other premises used for cooking fuelled by gas.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is already robust regulation in place to detect leaks and odourise gas. Gas Industry standards are set by the relevant industry standard setting bodies, for example, the Institute for Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM), British Standards Institute (BSI) and Liquid Gas UK.
The Health and Safety Executive has regulatory responsibility for public health-related standards in commercial premises, but not in domestic homes.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of India about the detention of Associate Professor Hany Babu.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK has a broad and respectful dialogue with Indian interlocutors about human rights and rule of law. In the case of Professor Babu, it was reported in December that he has now been released from detention on bail.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it plans to provide direction to the National Energy System Operator to account for marine energy in its Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The first iteration of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will not include spatial optimisation for wave and tidal energy projects as they are emerging technologies and volumes in development are currently very low. As policy and technology advance, the Government and NESO will keep this position under review and may consider the inclusion of wave and tidal energy in future iterations of the SSEP.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential generating capacity of UK tidal stream and wave energy resources; and what steps they are taking to realise this potential.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the potential of marine energy to support the UK’s transition to net zero. Independent studies, including those by the Carbon Trust and the Royal Society, have assessed the scale and value of the UK’s tidal stream and wave energy resources.
We continue to drive UK marine energy development through policy levers such as the Contracts for Difference scheme and innovation funding delivered via UK Research & Innovation. Through these measures, the UK is on track to deploy over 120 MW of tidal stream capacity by 2029, secured through the last three CfD allocation rounds.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan will account for tidal stream and wave energy technologies.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The first iteration of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) will not include spatial optimisation for wave and tidal energy projects as they are emerging technologies and volumes in development are currently very low. As policy and technology advance, the Government and NESO will keep this position under review and may consider the inclusion of wave and tidal energy in future iterations of the SSEP.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 2 December (HL12136), whether they plan to conduct a formal review of the law relating to (1) collective worship, and (2) religious education, in schools in England in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in JR87 [2025] UKSC 40; and if so, what the scope and timetable of that review will be.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are continuing to review the Supreme Court judgement to establish whether there are any implications for religious education or collective worship in England and will say more in due course.