Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Black Child Clean Air Report published by Global Black Maternal Health in June 2023, which indicated that almost half of all Black mothers do not feel educated on the foetal impact of air pollution exposure during pregnancy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment has been made, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) are working with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to review the Air Quality Information System to ensure members of the public, and vulnerable groups, have the information they need to protect themselves and understand their impact on air quality. UKHSA’s Cleaner Air Programme also aims to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution and achieve better outcomes for all, particularly for the most vulnerable populations including pregnant women and ethnic minority groups.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funds are available for organisations that aim to reduce air pollution in England.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has allocated £883 million of funding for local authorities under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations.
Defra also annually runs a Local Air Quality Grant to help local authorities across England reduce air pollution in their areas. This year we have committed to spending at least £6 million to fund projects targeting particulate matter, behavioural change campaigns and those aimed at reducing levels of NO2. The successful local authorities for this year will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Air Pollution and Inequalities in London report published on 30 June 2023 and commissioned by Greater London Authority, which found that Black people in London are more likely to live in areas with more polluted air.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Air quality matters in London are devolved to the Mayor of London.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the evidence that Black communities in London are more likely to breathe illegal levels of air pollution than White or Asian communities.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Air quality matters in London are devolved to the Mayor of London.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly that approximately half of London’s recorded childhood asthma hospitalisations between 2021 and 2022 were from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of the findings of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly on childhood asthma hospitalisations in London. NHS London’s Children and Young People’s Asthma programme run a yearly #AskAboutAsthma campaign to raise the awareness of asthma across the whole system. The focus in 2022 was on health inequalities and asthma care for all, and to support the work around implementing Core20plus5 for children. This included raising awareness amongst asthma clinicians and commissioners to improve the care for children and young people from specific ethnic minority groups. As part of Core20plus5, NHS England has also worked with integrated care systems and their paediatric asthma networks to focus on these groups.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reference race equality in the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
In line with the government’s legal duties and its commitment to equalities, care has been taken to ensure that our proposed legislation is informed by assessments of their impacts for those from protected characteristics. The Impact Assessment of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill was published on 18 May 2021 and includes an assessment of the impacts of its measures on those who share protected characteristics, including in reference to race. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-and-post-16-education-bill-impact-assessment-and-jchr-memorandum.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the (1) guidance, and (2) duty being placed on colleges, to review local skills provision includes guidance on advancing race equality in further education.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Draft statutory guidance makes clear that in carrying their reviews, the governing bodies of colleges will need to ensure that they comply with their existing statutory obligations, including those related to equality law, under the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the (1) guidance, and (2) duty being placed on colleges, to review local skills provision, to include an explicit reference to ethnicity.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Draft statutory guidance makes clear that in carrying their reviews, the governing bodies of colleges will need to ensure that they comply with their existing statutory obligations, including those related to equality law, under the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support schools which seek to create (1) equal, (2) racially diverse, and (3) inclusive, environments for their pupils.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
All schools must offer a balanced and broadly based curriculum, which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
In November 2018, the department published Respectful School Communities, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline: https://educateagainsthate.com/school-leaders/?filter=guidance-and-training-school-leaders. This can combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind. It will help schools to identify the various elements that make up a whole school approach, consider gaps in their current practice, and get further support.
Citizenship education also plays an essential role in developing knowledge and understanding about the world today through teaching politics, democracy, power, the law, human rights, justice and the economy, as well as the changing nature of communities, identities, diversity in the UK and the UK’s relations with the wider world.
From September 2020, relationships education became compulsory for all primary school pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary school pupils, and health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and for difference.
The teaching workforce has become steadily more racially and ethnically diverse over the last decade, which is the period for which we have comparable data, although we know there is further to go to attract and retain diverse teachers who are representative of the communities they serve: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Our recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students/recent graduates and potential career changers of all ethnicities and characteristics.
Finally, it is important all children and young people are treated fairly and there is no place for discrimination in our education system. The Equality Act 2010 ensures that schools cannot unlawfully discriminate against pupils or staff because of their sex, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief. The department has published guidance on the Equality Act 2010 for schools, which includes advice on how they can meet their duties under the act: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315587/Equality_Act_Advice_Final.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether highly skilled Tier 1 (general) migrants were notified of the sharing of their tax return data between Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the Home Office for visa decisions; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The following information is provided to potential applicants, before they chose to ‘apply now’. This outlines information may be shared with other public organisations in the UK:
How we use your data
The Home Office will use the personal information you provide to decide whether to grant your application. We may also share your information with other public and private sector organisations in the UK and overseas. For more detail please see the Privacy Notice for the Border, Immigration and Citizenship system. This also sets out your rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 and explains how you can access your personal information and complain if you have concerns about how we are using it.
In addition to this, where highly skilled Tier 1 (general) applications had been refused, individuals were notified their information had been shared via their refusal notice.
Those applications we are considering post Balajigari (and others) v the Secretary of State of April 2019, also have concerns put to them in a minded to refuse letter.