Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group is obliged to take into consideration the views of adherents of any other religion besides Islam.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable and have no place in our communities.
In the most recently published Home Office statistics the number of religious hate crimes targeting Muslims accounted for 38% of all religious hate crimes. The number of religious hate crimes targeting Jews accounted for 33%. These together make up 71%, and show government action here is urgently needed and whilst the government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition for antisemitism, it does not have an equivalent definition to aid its work in tackling hate directed towards Muslims.
The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group’s objective is to develop a working definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia which is reflective of a wide range of perspectives and priorities for British Muslims. The Chair will agree a work and engagement plan with the Minister for Faith and Communities and will use this as the basis for the work of the Group.
The Group’s proposed definition will be non-statutory and will provide the government and other relevant bodies, including the police, with an understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
Full terms of reference for the Working Group have been published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group will meet with representatives of any other religion besides Islam.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable and have no place in our communities.
In the most recently published Home Office statistics the number of religious hate crimes targeting Muslims accounted for 38% of all religious hate crimes. The number of religious hate crimes targeting Jews accounted for 33%. These together make up 71%, and show government action here is urgently needed and whilst the government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition for antisemitism, it does not have an equivalent definition to aid its work in tackling hate directed towards Muslims.
The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group’s objective is to develop a working definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia which is reflective of a wide range of perspectives and priorities for British Muslims. The Chair will agree a work and engagement plan with the Minister for Faith and Communities and will use this as the basis for the work of the Group.
The Group’s proposed definition will be non-statutory and will provide the government and other relevant bodies, including the police, with an understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
Full terms of reference for the Working Group have been published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the police will be expected to use the working definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia once it is formulated by the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable and have no place in our communities.
In the most recently published Home Office statistics the number of religious hate crimes targeting Muslims accounted for 38% of all religious hate crimes. The number of religious hate crimes targeting Jews accounted for 33%. These together make up 71%, and show government action here is urgently needed and whilst the government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition for antisemitism, it does not have an equivalent definition to aid its work in tackling hate directed towards Muslims.
The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group’s objective is to develop a working definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia which is reflective of a wide range of perspectives and priorities for British Muslims. The Chair will agree a work and engagement plan with the Minister for Faith and Communities and will use this as the basis for the work of the Group.
The Group’s proposed definition will be non-statutory and will provide the government and other relevant bodies, including the police, with an understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
Full terms of reference for the Working Group have been published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to formulate official definitions of hatred or abuse of adherents of Sikhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other religions besides Islam.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable and have no place in our communities.
In the most recently published Home Office statistics the number of religious hate crimes targeting Muslims accounted for 38% of all religious hate crimes. The number of religious hate crimes targeting Jews accounted for 33%. These together make up 71%, and show government action here is urgently needed and whilst the government has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition for antisemitism, it does not have an equivalent definition to aid its work in tackling hate directed towards Muslims.
The Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group’s objective is to develop a working definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia which is reflective of a wide range of perspectives and priorities for British Muslims. The Chair will agree a work and engagement plan with the Minister for Faith and Communities and will use this as the basis for the work of the Group.
The Group’s proposed definition will be non-statutory and will provide the government and other relevant bodies, including the police, with an understanding of unacceptable treatment and prejudice against Muslim communities.
Full terms of reference for the Working Group have been published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Christians have been recorded as victims of Islamophobic hate crimes in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG has policy responsibility for racial and religiously motivated hate crime, but all hate crime data recorded by the police is collected by the Home Office.
In the year ending March 2024, there were 140,561 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. There was a 5% decrease compared with the previous year on total hate crimes recorded, but there was a 25% increase in religious hate crimes compared with the previous year. 38% of religious hate crimes were targeted against Muslims, a 13% rise on the previous year.
The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on religious hate crimes which is recorded by the police in England and Wales. This is broken down by the perceived religion of the victim, but information is not collected on the actual religion/identity of the victim, so it is not possible to disaggregate the number of victims of Islamophobic hate crimes who were not Muslims.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many non-Muslims have been recorded as victims of Islamophobic hate crimes in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
MHCLG has policy responsibility for racial and religiously motivated hate crime, but all hate crime data recorded by the police is collected by the Home Office.
In the year ending March 2024, there were 140,561 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. There was a 5% decrease compared with the previous year on total hate crimes recorded, but there was a 25% increase in religious hate crimes compared with the previous year. 38% of religious hate crimes were targeted against Muslims, a 13% rise on the previous year.
The Home Office collects and publishes official statistics on religious hate crimes which is recorded by the police in England and Wales. This is broken down by the perceived religion of the victim, but information is not collected on the actual religion/identity of the victim, so it is not possible to disaggregate the number of victims of Islamophobic hate crimes who were not Muslims.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 23 March (HL Deb col 955), whether the remit of the Children’s Commissioner’s Family Review includes action to prevent family breakdown.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Children's Commissioner for England's independent review on family life explores how to improve the way public services understand the needs of children and families, so every child has the best start in life and the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The review involves extensive engagement with children and families from different backgrounds and locations across England, to understand their lives and what they value in family life. It will look at families' experiences, how they seek and gain support and look to better understand the prevalence of familial breakdown and how best to support children and families going through this. The review will also engage with local services, communities and other key stakeholders.
The Office of the Children's Commissioner aims to publish a report on the review by Spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of evaluating the Troubled Families Programme for their (1) National evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015 to 2020: early findings, published in April 2017; (2) National evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015 to 2020: emerging findings, published in December 2017; (3) National evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015 to 2020: interim findings, published in March 2018; and (4) National evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015–2020: Findings, published in March 2019, reports.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The national evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015-2020 publishes findings on a regular basis as new evidence becomes available. This means that the latest evidence can be used to inform the programme design on an ongoing basis. The publications referred to in the question are all part of a single evaluation project and therefore it is difficult to estimate the costs for each publication. The total spend on external evaluation contracts is £3,985,942, roughly 0.4% of the programme’s total budget. This includes data matching, case study research, longitudinal staff surveys, a longitudinal family survey and a cost benefit analysis for the programme. This does not include internal staff time which is difficult to estimate.
The evaluation has been pioneering in its use of data, matching data from four government departments with local data to provide a deep understanding of the lives of families with multiple complex needs. This is the first time this has been done and as far as we are aware, is the biggest data linking exercise in government.
The robust evaluation has been vital in demonstrating the impact of the programme and making the case for its continuation.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 9 January (HL Deb, col 113), which projects funded by the Homelessness Prevention Programme have been successful in reducing family and relationship breakdown.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The 84 projects funded through the Homelessness Prevention Programme are multi-faceted and do not concentrate on one particular reason for a household’s homelessness.
They aim to help to ensure that more people have tailored support to avoid becoming homeless in the first place, and receive the rapid support they need to make a sustainable recovery from homelessness.
We are supporting 84 projects working across 205 district and unitary local authorities in England through our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme.
Spending includes:
£20 million for local authorities to trial new initiatives, working with a wider group of at risk people to help families and individuals before they reach crisis point;
a £20 million rough sleeping fund to help new rough sleepers, or people at imminent risk of sleeping rough, get the rapid support they need to recover and move on from a rough sleeping crisis; and
£10 million of funding for Social Impact Bonds to provide targeted support for entrenched single homeless people.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 9 January (HL Deb, col 113), which projects funded by the Fair Chance Fund have been successful in reducing family and relationship breakdown.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The £15 million Fair Chance Fund (FCF) was an innovative three year programme designed to improve accommodation, education and employment outcomes for homeless young people aged 18 - 24, who did not have priority need under the homelessness legislation but had a range of support needs which presented barriers to securing and sustaining, accommodation and getting on in life.
Many of the participants had multiple needs, often resulting in on-going problems and issues. This included a history of family and relationship breakdown, alongside other vulnerabilities. The causes of homelessness can be multiple and complex. Where family and/or relationship breakdown is present, it is often just one part of the wider picture. That is why the FCF key workers in all 7 areas worked intensely with the young people by offering tailored support to meet their needs.
Two interim evaluations of the FCF were published last year [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fair-chance-fund-evaluation-interim-reports], and the final evaluation will be published later this year. Findings are being used to inform future policy work on supporting young people experiencing homelessness and on the use of social investment.