Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) religious worker visas, and (2) minister of religion visas, have been issued to Iranians since March 2023; who those visas were issued to; and what plans they have, if any, to review that visa system.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa type and nationality in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on GOV.UK. Data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of March 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ on GOV.UK.
The data shows that 1 Religious Worker (RW) and 1 Minister Of Religion (MOR) visa have been issued since July 2024 with a total of 1 RW and 3 MOR visas issued since March 2023. For GDPR reasons, we cannot reveal the identity of the visa holders.
The Home Office keeps all immigration routes under review, including the T2 Minister of Religion and Temporary Work – Religious Worker routes.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) religious worker visas, and (2) minister of religion visas, have been issued to Iranians since July 2024; who those visas were issued to; and what plans they have, if any, to review that visa system.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa type and nationality in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’ on GOV.UK. Data on outcomes of visa applications are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of March 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ on GOV.UK.
The data shows that 1 Religious Worker (RW) and 1 Minister Of Religion (MOR) visa have been issued since July 2024 with a total of 1 RW and 3 MOR visas issued since March 2023. For GDPR reasons, we cannot reveal the identity of the visa holders.
The Home Office keeps all immigration routes under review, including the T2 Minister of Religion and Temporary Work – Religious Worker routes.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the representatives from (1) overseas governments, and (2) non-governmental organisations, that the Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition Working Group has met during the course of its research.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As noted in the Terms of Reference, the advice provided to government by the independent Working Group will be private. Once the Government has had time to review the advice, it will consider its next steps.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the government of Finland on that country's recent decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
His Majesty's Government (HMG) has noted that Finland has stated its intention to withdraw. We also acknowledge its sovereign right to make this decision.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Ottawa Convention) continues to play an important role in protecting civilians from harm caused by anti-personnel landmines. As a State Party to the Ottawa Convention, the UK's commitment to it remains unwavering. We promote universalisation and encourage all countries to join the Ottawa Convention and subscribe to its provisions, and we discourage States from using anti-personnel landmines. The UK continues to engage bilaterally with Finland to better understand the actions it may take following withdrawal.
HMG continues to express its commitment to the Ottawa Convention, most recently by Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Lord Coaker, in a Written Parliamentary Question, on 23 June 2025, in the House of Lords.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ongoing effectiveness of the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines following Finland's recent decision to withdraw from it.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
His Majesty's Government (HMG) has noted that Finland has stated its intention to withdraw. We also acknowledge its sovereign right to make this decision.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Ottawa Convention) continues to play an important role in protecting civilians from harm caused by anti-personnel landmines. As a State Party to the Ottawa Convention, the UK's commitment to it remains unwavering. We promote universalisation and encourage all countries to join the Ottawa Convention and subscribe to its provisions, and we discourage States from using anti-personnel landmines. The UK continues to engage bilaterally with Finland to better understand the actions it may take following withdrawal.
HMG continues to express its commitment to the Ottawa Convention, most recently by Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Lord Coaker, in a Written Parliamentary Question, on 23 June 2025, in the House of Lords.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of Finland's decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel landmines; and what plans they have to change their own position.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
His Majesty's Government (HMG) has noted that Finland has stated its intention to withdraw. We also acknowledge its sovereign right to make this decision.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Ottawa Convention) continues to play an important role in protecting civilians from harm caused by anti-personnel landmines. As a State Party to the Ottawa Convention, the UK's commitment to it remains unwavering. We promote universalisation and encourage all countries to join the Ottawa Convention and subscribe to its provisions, and we discourage States from using anti-personnel landmines. The UK continues to engage bilaterally with Finland to better understand the actions it may take following withdrawal.
HMG continues to express its commitment to the Ottawa Convention, most recently by Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Lord Coaker, in a Written Parliamentary Question, on 23 June 2025, in the House of Lords.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they maintain a central list of all departmental staff networks; if so, how often that list is updated; and whether that list is published or otherwise accessible to staff and the public.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Responsibility for, and management of departmental diversity networks is delegated to individual departments as the employer. Lists are not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Civil Service Muslim Network receives financial support from departments or other public funds; and if so, how that expenditure is recorded, authorised and scrutinised.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service Muslim Network (CSMN) is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staff. The majority of staff network time is voluntary. The CSMN network does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support and there has been no central funding.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what institutional governance arrangements exist to facilitate dialogue between civil service networks across government departments.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Cross Civil Service networks are volunteer-led networks. Representatives from these networks are able to come together periodically as a group to discuss appropriate issues. The arrangements for internal dialogue with and between individual departmental networks is a matter for departments.
Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what formal governance structures underpin the Civil Service Race Forum (CSRF), including whether it operates under a constitution or terms of reference; who is accountable for oversight of the CSRF; which department sponsors or hosts the CSRF; whether the departmental sponsor has changed since the inception of the CSRF; and what formal responsibilities the sponsoring department has in relation to CSRF governance, cost and activity.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service Race Forum (CSRF) was established in 2016 as a cross-government volunteer network. CSRF has developed their own Terms of Reference which govern their ways of working. These are informed by the Civil Service Code and CSRF’s own Governance Committee.
Cross-Civil Service networks do not have a sponsoring department. All network members are bound by the Civil Service Code. It is the responsibility of their employing department to make sure as civil servants they adhere to the Civil Service Code at all times including whilst conducting network activity.
CSRF does not hold a budget and there has been no cost to the public purse of the CSRF since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date.