Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March 2026, whether they plan to publish the membership details of each Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In Protecting What Matters, we committed to promote the role of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) by supporting improved analysis of their annual reports, to better understand the role they play in communities including in relation to cohesion.
The Education Act 1996 sets out the four representative groups required for the constitution of a SACRE, but does not require publication of the members of a SACRE. A council may also include co-opted members.
We do not intend to publish the membership details of each SACRE as a part of this work. Many Local Authorities publish the details of SACRE members on their website, and many SACREs publish details of their members in the appendices of their annual report.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Command Paper Protecting What Matters: Towards a more confident, cohesive, and resilient United Kingdom on 9 March, what individuals, groups, organisations, businesses or bodies will help roll out Civil Service training on how religious hatred manifests itself and how it should be addressed.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Following the publication of the Command Paper Protecting What Matters: Towards a more confident, cohesive, and resilient United Kingdom, the Government is committed to rolling out training across the Civil Service, starting with senior leaders, to improve understanding of how religious hatred manifests and how it should be addressed.
Government Skills Group is working with policy teams to agree the approach and delivery arrangements for this training, exploring commissioning options including central Cabinet Office contracts (‘Learning Frameworks’) providing Civil Service departments with approved quality-assured routes to commercial training suppliers.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March (CP 1540), with which (1) individuals, (2) groups, (3) organisations, (4) businesses, and (5) bodies, will the Cabinet Office work to support the introduction of training on how religious hatred manifests and how it should be addressed.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is for individual organisations and employers to determine which training offer and provider is best suited to their sectors. As set-out in Protecting What Matters, tackling religious hatred requires a whole-of-society response, and improving understanding across society of how religious hatred manifests and how it should be addressed is vital.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March 2026, which (1) individuals, (2) groups, (3) organisations, (4) businesses, and (5) bodies will support the roll out of training on how religious hatred manifests itself and how it should be addressed.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is for individual organisations and employers to determine which training offer and provider is best suited to their sectors. As set-out in Protecting What Matters, tackling religious hatred requires a whole-of-society response, and improving understanding across society of how religious hatred manifests and how it should be addressed is vital.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March 2026, whether they plan to publish the details of which 40 areas they assess social cohesion to be under pressure and in line for the allocated £800 million of funding.
Answered by Baroness Blake of Leeds - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The list of neighbourhoods funded and full details of the selection methodology employed are available online here.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Command Paper Protecting What Matters: Towards a more confident, cohesive, and resilient United Kingdom on 9 March, what principles will be used to help providers assess when speech might be lawful but could enable a permissive environment for radicalising influences.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department will soon publish guidance on managing external speakers and events in higher education (HE) with regard to the Prevent duty. This will encourage HE providers to consider where there is a risk of speech that might amount to a terrorism offence, a risk of speech deemed likely to amount to a terrorism related offence and a speech that is lawful but may create a permissive environment for radicalising influences. Different options for mitigations should be considered depending on the risks identified. Further details will be set out in the guidance.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March 2026, by what date will they have refreshed the content of the Life in the UK Test.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government committed in Protecting What Matters to reviewing and refreshing the Life in the UK Test so that it better reflects modern life in the UK and supports integration objectives.
This work is underway. The Home Office is considering how the test can best reflect contemporary British society, values, institutions and civic participation, while remaining accessible and appropriate for those seeking settlement or citizenship.
Details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March 2026, which civil society organisations will help to spend the £11.5 million invested in Local Covenant Partnerships which also include local authorities and public service providers.
Answered by Baroness Mackenzie of Sherwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Following an open and competitive process, Locality UK in a consortium with Collaborate CIC, Renaisi-TSIP and Demos, was selected to deliver the £11.59m Local Covenant Partnerships Fund. The Fund will be delivered in 15 areas to support civil society organisations to work collaboratively with local authorities and public service providers, to better meet the needs of their communities. We are in the process of selecting the 15 target areas. The specific civil society organisations receiving funding will be identified and confirmed once these 15 areas have been selected.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the command paper Protecting What Matters, published on 9 March 2026, whether they will publish the details of how the £92 million Places of Worship Renewal Fund will be spent.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 20 May 2026, Historic England published its webpage and guidance for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund, setting out how financial support will be targeted toward areas of greatest need and deprivation. This publication coincided with the launch of the £92 million scheme, which Historic England administers on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Information regarding the successful applicants for Round 1 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Command Paper Protecting What Matters: Towards a more confident, cohesive, and resilient United Kingdom on 9 March, whether they will publish details of how the £1.5 billion invested in cultural organisations will be spent.
Answered by Baroness Mackenzie of Sherwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund is made up of the Creative Foundations Fund, Museum Renewal Fund, Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, Heritage Revival Fund, Places of Worship Renewal Fund, and Libraries Improvement Fund.
Funding details for each area are publicly available on gov.uk in the press release of 21 January 2026, titled “Government announces bumper £1.5 billion package to restore national pride”. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-bumper-15-billion-package-to-restore-national-pride
Details regarding the initial round of funding are also available in the 14 April 2026 press release, titled “130 cultural venues, museums and libraries to receive funding boost that will improve access to arts and culture across the country”. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/130-cultural-venues-museums-and-libraries-to-receive-funding-boost-that-will-improve-access-to-arts-and-culture-across-the-country
Details of further awards made in future funding rounds will be published in due course.